There exists in every house an aura—a feeling that permeates through the walls, down to the very foundation of the place. Some are happy and cheerful, with radiant light illuminating kind rooms and welcoming hallways. Others are melancholy and depressed, shrouded by darkness. The house looming above me was downright dreadful.

I could hear the walls wailing in the wind. They creaked and moaned, crying out for deliverance from whatever abhorrent abomination had taken up residence inside. Shadows crept along the cobblestone path from the door, spilling out onto the sidewalk.

“This is the house, buddy.” Lotus cheerfully called out, her voice a jarring juxtaposition to the scene in front of me.

“You don’t say.—This one is a poltergeist, correct?”

“From the details I gathered, yes. Though, there were a few discrepancies…”

People rarely do get their stories straight when it comes to the paranormal. I have learned to not place too much trust in any information they give. I prefer to figure things out on my own, since I can always rely on myself.

“I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Ready?”

“Did you check my glasses yet?”

My most important possession, by far, are my digital glasses. Aside from allowing Lotus to see the world around us whenever we go out, they have the unique property of being able to shift the visible light spectrum. I can see things that the naked eye would not ordinarily be able to. It comes with the side-effect of making other things invisible, such as the living, but I find that I am not very bothered by that.

“Sure did. I tested them this morning before I struggled to get your lazy bum out of bed.”

“Well, someone is in a mood today.—I’m ready, then.”

I stepped onto the cobblestone pathway and began walking to the door. Every step forward carried with it a peculiar sense of dread. Those shadowy tendrils on the sidewalk, cast down by a mesh of dead branches hanging above, seemed to want to shift and coil around my feet.

I knocked on the door; its cracked and peeling white paint assaulted my skin with its rough texture. After waiting a long minute, a gaunt middle-aged man appeared and welcomed me inside.

“Ah, you must be Atlanta. We’re so thankful that you decided to take our case. We’ve been at our wits end, trying to make sense of everything.”

“Is there anyone else in the house right now?”

The man sighed and looked me up and down for a moment before answering.

“If you’re talking about my family, no. I sent them away for the day—as you requested.”

“You’re welcome.” Lotus quietly interjected, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

I had to give her props for that one; she does always make these jobs easier for me by ironing out the details while I'm asleep.

“But, if you’re talking about the thing in our house, well…I must say that it is most definitely not empty.” The man continued. “What do you need to know?”

“Nothing, frankly. There’s nothing that I won’t be able to figure out through my own investigation. Go spend some time with your family. I’ll take care of this for you.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Be nice, Atlanta.” Lotus sighed, ever unhappy with my dislike for talking to people only as much as I need to.

“Well, I’ll be off then. The house is yours. I hope that you don’t run into too much trouble.”

“Thank you. I’ll be alright.”

I entered the house. The foyer yawned open, as if it wanted to swallow me. Everything in the house had a muted and drab look to it, as if the dark energy in the place had been feasting on their color. Within my first few steps inside, I could feel that something was watching me—stalking me from whatever dark nest it had conjured up within the walls.

“Lotus, you can turn them on now.”

“Will do.”

My vision blurred for a moment as it adjusted to the shift. After settling, I began to make out charred footsteps running up the staircase and claw marks raked across the wall. I walked to the stairs to investigate the markings and noticed that even the furniture in the room had smears of ash and singed handprints. Nothing was exempt from the influence of whatever dark spirit lurked inside.

“I’ve never seen this from a poltergeist, Lotus…”

“Well, you are always saying that every one of them is different.”

“Yes, but charred footprints? The claw marks are one thing, but this just seems off.”

“Well, let’s do a proper investigation and figure it out then.”

Well, she had me there. It was still early in the day, so it was unlikely that the spirit in the place would manifest itself to me; but I could at least investigate the house in its entirety while I waited.

“Agreed. Run the footprints through the database to see if you can find anything.”

“Alright, but it may take a few minutes. I don’t have a very good connection here. You could say that it’s a bit of a dead zone.”

“Wow.”

I could tell that she was incredibly pleased with that one. Lotus has a somewhat pleasant quality of being able to take the edge off otherwise terrifying and stressful situations, which I always quietly welcome.

I continued walking up the stairs. I decided to check the children’s bedrooms first, since that is where activity is most often concentrated.

The paranormal seems most at home with children, I have found, as they are typically more welcoming of strange things happening around them. A ghostly friend or oddly shaped shadow is just a part of their active imagination, so they think. We are, after all, always telling them that the monster under their bed does not exist.

When I entered the upstairs hallway, a deafening roar rattled through the house. I dropped to the floor and covered my ears, crushed by the weight of the sound. After a few agonizing moments it ceased, and the house was left in a chilling silence.

“Lotus…have you gotten anything back yet?—Something is wrong.”

Disoriented and left with ringing ears, I struggled to get back onto my feet. Flecks of white drifted through the air. The force of the noise had shaken the house to its core, knocking loose months of built up dust.

“Atlanta…your phone’s battery is being drained. I have to shut off everything that isn’t essential.”

“Damnit.” I was sent into a coughing fit after speaking, having swallowed mouthfuls of dust.

Electronics being messed with during our investigations is not uncommon, but the ghosts are usually not powerful enough to completely kill my battery. The thought of having to continue without Lotus having my back was a genuinely terrifying one.

“Are you alright, dear?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Do everything you can to at least keep my glasses on. And, well—yourself.”

“Will do. I know that you cannot stand to be apart from me for even a single minute.”

Though still the middle of the day, the house was drowned in darkness. The sun seemed to be afraid of the place, hiding itself behind a cover of grey clouds. Gnarled branches from the trees outside left wicked shadows along the hallway. Out of the corner of my eye, I could swear that I saw them creeping toward me as I walked, but I convinced myself that it was a mere figment of my imagination.

My glasses allowed me to see in the dark decently well, but the lack of light furthered the feeling of hopeless and terrifying dread that had begun to take hold of me. I entered one of the bedrooms and nearly fell over in terror.

All along the walls, the floor, and even the wooden bedpost there were claw marks and charred handprints. Whatever was in the house had spent many nights preying on the energy of the child sleeping in the room. My nostrils were assaulted by the putrid and distinct smell of sulfur.

“Lotus…this isn’t a poltergeist.”

No sooner had those words escaped my lips when I began to feel a frigid chill seize my back. I spun around and slid a rosary from my wrist into my hand, holding it out into the shadowy face grinning at me from the doorway; its ember eyes alight with pleasure as it feasted on my fear.

“It’s a demon!”