Cemetery Tours (17 page)

“That’s why the EMF is so important to our investigations.
  It’s easy for us to believe we’re in the presence of a spirit, but for those who aren’t there to actually experience it, it’s nice to have some scientific evidence that yes, something is happening around us.  This is the proof,” he said.

“Sounds like a little kid at Christmas, doesn’t he?” Kate asked Michael.
 

“Something like that,” Michael remarked.
  Luke didn’t even hear them.         

“Okay.
  This is what we’re going to do.  Kate, as soon as we start rolling, I want you to turn on the digital recorder.  You can carry it around if you want, but I recommend sticking it in that little strap on your backpack since I also want you snapping pictures.  Take as many as you want, totally at random.  Just like the name, point and then shoot.  Don’t even look.”

“Right,” Kate said.

“Mikey, your job is easy.  You just film.  You see anything strange, any movement, or if you hear something, you try to capture it on camera.  Got it?”

“I think I can
handle it,” Michael told him.

“Guess we’re ready then,” Luke announced, heaving his own camera onto his shoulder.
  “Before we start, I usually like to say a few words, let the spirits know who we are, why we’re here, so I’ll do that now.  Kate, would you mind switching on the recorder?”  Kate pressed the button as Luke cleared his throat.  “We’re here at the old Bluebonnet Cemetery in Waxahachie, Texas.  Just a little background information.  This historic cemetery dates back to the mid-1800s, and a lot of pioneers and cotton barons are said to be buried here.”  Then, he addressed the ghosts.  “To anyone who might be listening, hello, my name is Luke.  These are my friends, Kate and Mikey.  We’re just here to talk to you.”  

Kate felt a heavy silence descend on the graveyard.
  She glanced over at Michael.  His brow was furrowed and his eyes scanned the entire cemetery.  It almost seemed like he was looking for something.  

“Do you guys want to add anything?” Luke asked.
  Michael remained silent, so Kate spoke up.

“Hi, everyone.
  If you’re here, please let us know.  I’d love to see you.”  She hoped she didn’t sound too foolish speaking to the wind.  

The investigation began as soon as what remained of the soft glow of daylight began to fade from the sky.
  In the darkness, the ethereal beauty of the scenery surrounding the graveyard gave way to an eerie stillness; one that caused the hairs on the back of Kate’s neck to stand on end.  Illuminated only by the light of the waning moon, the headstones of the graveyard seemed far more sinister and ominous.  If she didn’t know better, she’d have sworn that the eyes of the angels perched atop several graves were following them as they made their way to the center of the cemetery.

“Okay, I’m not really picking anything up on the EMF Detector.
  Kate, I think I’m going to ask a few questions to see if we get any responses on the digital recorder.  Mikey, you just keep an eye out for anything... unusual.”  Luke cleared his throat.  “Hello?  Is anyone there?”  He paused for a few seconds.  “Who are you?  How did you die?”  

Somewhere, just beyond the perimeter of the cemetery, something rustled through the tall grass.
  Kate gasped and, thinking it might be something paranormal, whirled around and snapped a picture.  

Eager to see if she’d captured anything, she pressed the “play” button on the camera and reviewed the photograph; lots of dry grass, the iron gate, a headstone or two, and the startled eyes and long ears of a wild Texas jackrabbit.
 No ghost.     

~*~

“Anything?” Luke asked Kate after she’d taken the picture.

“No.
” She sounded disappointed.    

“Mikey?
  You see anything?”

“Nope,” Michael replied without tearing his eyes away from the camera’s screen.
  As long as he kept his eyes glued to the screen, he knew he wouldn’t see anything.  It wasn’t impossible to catch a spirit on camera.  Luke and his crew had proven that enough to land them their own television show.  But more often than not, they barely had the energy to manifest themselves to the general public.  It took a lot more than that to be able to allow themselves to appear on video or in a photograph.  For example, he could take one hundred pictures of Brink and chances were he wouldn’t appear in any of them.  

“Do you hear anything?”

“Just crickets.” 

The only ghost he’d seen all night had been hanging around the entrance to the forest.
  He’d been sitting at the base of a tree, looking lost and forlorn.  The cemetery, however, was as still and silent as a church on a
Monday
.  It was possible that it was haunted and they’d just hit it on an off night.  It was more likely, however, that those who’d made the claims of ghostly noises and apparitions had just let their imaginations and fear get the better of them. Michael had found that was often the case with cemeteries.  People expected them to be haunted, so they took every little noise or movement caught out of the corner of their eye as a sign from the other side.  In his experience, however, he’d found most cemeteries to be far less spiritually active than other, more public, places.  

Brink’s theory as to why that was
was that no one wanted to hang around a cemetery all day.  Ghosts were still the people they’d been in life.  Unless they just really liked hanging around at graveyards or thought it was the “ghostly” thing to do, they would more than likely spend their time around loved ones or places that brought them joy and comfort.  The ones who did haunt cemeteries, he guessed, were the ones that were either bitter about their passings or still so attached to their lost lives that they wanted to remain as close to their earthly bodies as possible. 

“Well, the night is still young,” Luke observed.
  “Kate, why don’t you try snapping a few more pictures?”  

She did.
  When she went to review the pictures, Luke and Michael leaned in over her shoulders.  Most pictures showed nothing out of the ordinary.  However, they did come across one with a tiny ball of light floating in front of one of the headstones.  

“Look!
  An orb!” she exclaimed.  “Do you think it’s a spirit?”  

Michael could have told her that it wasn’t, but seeing the delighted look on her face was enough for him to keep his mouth shut.
  Luke, however, didn’t seem to have the same reservations.

“It could be, but more often than not, these orbs are debunked as light anomalies or bugs.”

“Oh,” was all Kate said before they were all caught off guard by the blinding beam of an LED flashlight.  

“Who’s there?” the rough and deeply Southern voice of an older man called through the darkness.
  Trying to avoid staring directly into the light, Michael was able to make out a man’s broad silhouette marching toward them.  “You kids aren’t supposed to be out here.  No one’s permitted after dark.” 

“I’m sorry, sir, we didn’t know,” Luke stood and held out his hand.
  “I’m Luke Rainer.  You might recognize me from the Discovery Channel?”

“I don’t get cable.
  What are you doing out here?”  Michael’s eyes had adjusted enough to make out the man’s features.  He looked to be mid-fifties, but he was so weathered that he may have actually been younger.  His light brown hair was graying and frazzled, and he wore an old red plaid shirt and tattered jeans.  

“Well you see, I’m a paranormal investigator.
  Actually, a
famous
paranormal investigator.  Have my own show and everything,” Luke explained, brimming with pride.

The man wasn’t impressed.
  “If you’re so famous, what are you doing filmin’ out here?”  Luke’s face fell.  Michael tried not to smirk.  

“We heard your cemetery was haunted and we thought it might be fun to check it out,” Kate explained.
  “We’re sorry we disturbed you.  We didn’t know there was a curfew.”  The man finally seemed to understand.  

“Oh, so you’re one of them ghost hunters.
  I get it,” he said to Luke.  “Well, I’m afraid you’re not gonna find much out here.  Worked here for almost twenty years now and I’ve never seen hide nor hair of any sorta spook.”

“Dammit,” Luke sighed, looking defeated.
 

“However,” the man continued.
  “I hear lots of reports of a girl haunting the old bridal barn a few miles that way.”  He pointed west.  

“Bridal barn?” Luke asked.

“Oh yeah.  Few years back, the Chapel at Bluebonnet Trail was one of the most popular spots for weddings in the county, and all the brides were allowed to stay and primp in the bridal barn.  Then one evening, a girl was found stabbed to death in her weddin’ dress, just moments before the ceremony.”

“Oh my God,” Kate whispered.

“Yeah, it was a real shame.  The fella that did it wound up killin’ himself, too.  Jealous groomsman.  Always had a thing for her.  Anyway, they tried to open it up a few months later, but almost every bride after her ended up reporting really strange things happening in the barn.  A few even saw her.  It got so bad that they decided to shut it down, but the barn is still there.  And if talk is to be believed, so is she.”  Luke looked at Kate and Michael.

“What do you think, guys?
  Want to check it out?” he asked.

“Do whatever you want.
  Just get out off this property,” the older man ordered before he turned and left them, disappearing into the darkness.     

“Well?” Luke prodded.

“I’m down,” Kate said.  “Besides, we drove all this way.  Might as well make the most of it while we’re here.”  They both looked at Michael.  He knew he was outnumbered.

“Sure.
  Let’s go.”

Once they were back in the car, Luke handed his iPhone to Kate and asked her to get online and see what she could find out
about the haunting.  She typed
Bridal Barn Murder Waxahachie, Texas
into the search engine and selected the first link that appeared.  

“
What was supposed to be a joyous occasion quickly turned into a family’s worst nightmare when Grace Bledsoe, a Waxahachie native and bride-to-be, was found slaughtered in her wedding dress.  She was 24 years old
,” Kate read.  “
Her body was discovered by her bridesmaids, who went searching for her after she failed to show up for a photo shoot
.” Kate read on silently.  “They found her fiancé’s best man, Daniel Ford, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after someone reported seeing him leaving the barn.  His fingerprints were discovered at the scene and they found a knife covered in Grace’s blood on his person.”  

“Well, they definitely weren’t lacking evidence,” Luke remarked.
  “When did all this happen?” 

“About two years ago.”

“What was her fiancé’s name?” Luke asked.

“Jim Loveday.
  Neither he nor his family made any sort of statement.”  

“That’s okay.
  At least now we’ve got something to go on.”

“How long ago did they shut it down?” Michael asked.
 

“Only a few months.
  It says that the people who own it are hoping to reopen it again sometime, but after what happened, they just can’t find anyone interested in having a wedding there.”

A few minutes later, they came upon a weathered sign that read,
Chapel at Bluebonnet Trail
.  Luke turned into the driveway.  They drove through pitch darkness for another thirty seconds or so before a building appeared off to the right.  Most of its windows were boarded up, but Kate could still make out the circle of stained glass just below the steeple.  Luke parked a few meters away.

“If the chapel’s here, the barn can’t be much further,” he reasoned.
 

Again, they clamored out of the car and began to assemble their equipment.
  This time, however, the world around them was so dark that they each needed their own individual flashlight to see a few feet in front of them.