Even with Bailey’s instructions, finding April’s address was a bit of a wild goose chase. But when he finally found it, it was easily recognizable. He stands on the steps leading to the mint-coloured building. Hanging planters are under the window sill and the curtains are drawn. The door in front of him is bone white, with a silver handle and peephole. Kyle knocks on the door and waits for an answer. After a few seconds, a short woman opens the door and looks up at him.

“Uhm, who are you?” she says.

“Hey! I’m Kyle, uh, are you April?”

“Yeah, do you… need something?”

“Bailey told me you guys were paranormal investigators. I wanted to–” Before he can finish, April’s eyes light up and she jumps up excitedly.

“Oh! Do you want to join us!?”

“Er. I guess?” Kyle is caught off guard by the sudden shift in April’s tone.

“Of course! Come in!” She grabs him by the arm and drags him inside the house. He nearly trips over the door frame before regaining his balance. Two other people are lounging in the living room, on a couch and beanbag respectively, and look over to see who’s just come in.

“Change of plans, Julia! Meet Kyle! He wants to join us!” April says, enthusiastically using jazz hands towards Kyle. He waves hello with his hand.

“Nice to meet you,” the one on the couch says, shifting her position to face him, “I’m Julia.” Across from her, another guy waves his hand at Kyle.

“Hey! I’m Tim, what brings you here?”

“Oh, uh, I heard ghost hunting was pretty fun,” Kyle says as he puts his thumbs up and weakly smiles.

“We don’t just hunt ghosts, but alright,” Julia playfully adds.

“So, what’s the new plan then?” Tim asks. April skips over to the living room’s wall and stands in front of a large whiteboard on wheels.

“Okay. So originally, we were going to try and find stuff in the woods, but since Kyle is here and it’s his first time, I say we try going around town instead!” Popping off the lid of a marker, she draws a rough map of San Guines Harbour. Kyle goes to take a seat on the couch with Julia, watching April present the plan. “I’ve heard suspicious activity was going on in town, namely the less populated streets and the old docks by the water!” She circles parts of the town, then taps the board so all of them can see.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Oh! Especially near the abandoned fishery,” Tim remarks.

“Yup! I’ll let you and Julia scope it out there,” April turns to Kyle and points at him, “and you’ll come with me, so I can show you how we do this!”

“Okay, so, how do you do this?” April drops her arms and puts her hands on her hips.

“We’ll get there when we get there!”

“Well, what now?” Kyle says, fiddling with the polaroid camera in his hands. April unpacks some equipment from her backpack, pulling out some things and her own camera. She turns around and faces Kyle.

“Okay, from what I’ve heard, there’s been some suspicious activity going around this specific part of the town.” She points in the general direction ahead of them, “ What we’re here to do, is to find out whether or not these rumours are true! When we find anything weird, we’ll take a picture, then after… let's say two hours-ish, we go back to the cafe to discuss what we find!”

“Right, so what would be weird things?” Kyle asks, nervously looking around.

“Hmmm… well, it could be anything, like people doing odd things, mysterious graffiti… things that are generally not normal,” she taps her chin to think, “Honestly, not too sure, rumours were a bit broad, except for something about…” April waves it off, “Eh, just follow my lead! Better if I show you.”

Quickly zipping her backpack up, she swings it back on and promptly begins walking. Kyle walks beside her, camera in hand ready to catch anything ‘weird’. Contrasting the main street, this place was far from the welcoming tourist area he had seen moments before. There are bits of trash hiding away in corners and dull paint peeling from the vacant buildings. He gets the eerie sense that something might be watching them, but from the windows and roofs, he can’t see it back. If anything, it’s probably just anxious feelings from being found out. Figuring that there’s probably not much to find, he tries to make some small talk.

“So, uh, come here often?” He asks and immediately regrets it.

April looks at Kyle with a raised eyebrow, but casually responds, “Well, for as long as I’ve lived here, I haven’t gone to the more secluded areas in town like this one that often. There’s not much here anyways, just empty houses that some people come back to each summer or rent out.”

“Huh, that explains why it’s so… empty here,” He says. The lack of activity bothers him somewhat, like the wind not blowing and the locals nowhere to be seen. The only reassurance being April next to him, like a small light in a dark room illuminating the way.

She tilts her head, “You’re right, it is empty here, more so than usual. That’s weird,” She spins around and looks back at the road. “Maybe we should get a picture of how empty it is!”

“Sure, I can do that,” Kyle turns around and holds up the camera. With a tiny click, he snaps a photo of the road and after a second, a sheet rolls out of the camera. He takes the photo out and sees nothing.

“You gotta wait for these ones to develop, isn’t that neat?” April beamed, holding her hands close to her chest. “I’m a sucker for vintage things, especially technology. Those pictures you see in the cafe? Yeah, I took those,” she proudly smiles.

“That’s impressive,” he says with well-meaningness. The photo is slowly fading into view. “Should I just put this in my pocket?”

“Yeah! It’s best to keep it out of the light while it’s still developing. Try not to bend them, though,” she turns back around and waves her arm forward, “come on, let’s keep going! This is just the beginning!”