Free Ghost Hunt 2: MORE Chilling Tales of the Unknown by Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson

ways about it.
    Jason held up several sheets of paper. They were filled with bold, blocky handwriting. There was also a diagram showing the living room. All the furniture had been sketched in. The drawing also showed one set of footprints in red ink, another in black.
    Lyssa turned to the two boys. “So you each drew your own footprints?”
    Ron, the older brother, shook his head. “No,” he said. “The black footprints show where
we
went—from the doorway to behind the couch.”
    “And the red footprints?” Jason asked.
    “That’s where the ghost walked,” Dave said.
    “We heard his footsteps,” Ron added. “Kind of a scraping sound. It was hard to tell exactly where he was. All we could tell was that he kept coming closer.”
    “But then I stood up,” Dave said. “And I
saw
him. He was standing near the fireplace.” He pointed to a red
X
on the drawing.
    Grant pulled another paper from the folder, a drawing of a man in old-fashioned clothing. He wore boots, pants that came just below his knees, and a long, black coat.
    “Is this the man you saw?” Grant asked.
    Dave nodded. “Except his clothes were dirty and torn up. It was kind of hard to draw that.”
    Ron pointed to another piece of paper. “That’s where I wrote up our notes. So we wouldn’t forget anything.”
    “This is excellent. You guys did a great job,” Grant said.
    “They did,” Mrs. Sandstrom agreed.
    “And you’ve seen the man, too?” Lyssa asked her.
    “Yes. I saw him by the front door,” Mrs. Sandstrom said. She shuddered. “He scared me. The strange clothing, the scraping footsteps, the look in his eyes… It was as if he wanted something, but I couldn’t imagine what.”
    “Is that what you boys thought?” Lyssa asked.
    “I’m not sure,” Dave said slowly. “I thought the man just looked tired and sad.”
    Lyssa had one more question for their mother. “And you’re sure you saw the same man as your sons?”
    Joyce Sandstrom gave a quick laugh. “I wouldn’t call myself
sure
about
anything
at the moment. But the boys and I compared notes. Everything matches up. We
think
it’s the same man.”
    “Have you seen him anywhere else in the house?” Grant asked.
    Mrs. Sandstrom shook her head. “No. Just near the front door and over by the fireplace. Nothing upstairs at all.”
    “Okay,” Jason said. He shut the file folder with a snap and stood up. “Thanks for giving us such a great head start. We’ll take it from here. Come on. Let’s get set up.”

     
    “Are you getting any readings?” Lyssa whispered later that night.
    She and Grant stood in the entrance to the living room. The room was very dark. This made the ceiling feel even lower.
    The only lights in the room came from Lyssa’s flashlight and the two red lights along the top of Grant’s EMF meter.
    “Nothing yet,” Grant whispered. “Let’s head into the living room. I want to check out the fireplace.”
    “Right behind you,” Lyssa replied.
    She followed Grant into the room. Jason and Mike were covering the hallway near the front door. Mark and Jen were in the Command Center in the back of the house, keeping an eye on both locations.
    Grant held the EMF meter out in front of him. As he walked, he moved it slowly up and down and from side to side. The detector had a line of red lights across the top. At the moment, just the first two lights glowed.
    The lights are probably on because of the TV set and DVD player,
Lyssa thought. She knew the EMF detector reacted to an increase in the electromagnetic field, which could be caused by electronic devices.
    Lyssa carried a voice recorder in addition to the flashlight. The team also had put voice recorders and video cameras in the room.
    “This is Grant and Lyssa. We’re in the living room,” Grant said in a low voice into the recorder.
    He went over to the fireplace. Lyssa walked around the edge of the room. Then she went over to the couch. She stopped behind it. She stood right where the boys