#Dr.Jaime Anderson

[noblesandsstories]

The Paranormal Research Journals of Doctor Jaime Anderson: The Electrical Lavender Mouse

The 5th of September, Around 9 P.M.

My official investigation of the attraction center Amped Up Arcade was meant to be just that, a simple investigation so I could see for myself just what was happening and figure out what to do from there. However, I had theorized that a place recorded to have held so much suffering may require more immediate action. 

The facts of the case were very blurry, but a concrete fact was Amped Up was founded by two gentlemen: Mr. Issac Kingston and Mr. Kevin Stilmen. Kingston was in charge of the advertising, publicity, and the overall look of the place while Stilmen focused on the inside, keeping the building up to code and maintaining the arcade games and attractions. The place boomed and ran smoothly for a few years. But soon the place fell into a small pit where they needed to be more cost efficient, resulting in them cutting corners, which resulted in a slight loss of business. 

In the end, that was not what caused the biggest issues. The biggest problems were the missing children reports that began piling up. Kids would suddenly disappear from around the building, and police investigation led to partial remains of the kids being found all around the city.

Kingston was already pushing the idea of closing the place and starting again somewhere else, however Stilmen was against it.

Then about 15 years ago, almost to the day, Stilmen’s daughter went missing. Her missing persons report was barely out in the public for 48 hours when they announced the building was closing to the public and the two looked for a different location. Stilmen came into possession of the property; however, he refused to do anything with it, allowing it to fall into disrepair. 

Over the years, there has been a handful of reports of paranormal activity happening inside the building. Most of them were just the sounds of children and strange electrical phenomena from inside, but the most believable report was of a blood curdling scream that would be heard, if only once in a blue moon.

I personally dismissed them as hoaxes (as they usually are) until an acquaintance of mine told me that I should look into it.

That was how I had found myself in front of the building after getting the city’s mayor to allow my investigation. The building itself was quite large for an attraction in a medium sized town, and that wasn’t even including the outdoor area for the go carts. One could only assume it had grown over time. Most of the windows were boarded or were covered by tarps or sheets in an attempt to keep people from poking around. The brick of the building didn’t show much in terms of damage, but I figured that conclusion would be better left till I got inside.

One thing was for certain however. I could feel the presence of lost souls, and I wasn’t even in the building yet.

It took me a few minutes to bust the doors open at the front, since there was no key to get in from the outside and the hinges were rusted almost beyond repair. Once I entered the front lobby, I decided to start with my usual investigation procedure. I activated the calming rune on my arm so if I met any wary or benign spirits, they would not view me as an immediate threat. I began to explore.

From what I could see of the interior, the building looked to be well in order. Besides some rather tattered looking decorations and chipping paint, the place looked like it was still decently well kept. No signs of cobwebs or extreme amounts of dust.

I decided I would check the front offices before I went deeper into the attraction center to see if I could find a map, blueprints, or anything else helpful for my investigation. There were two main offices directly across from each other, one with Kingston on the door and one with Stilman. I figured that the information I would most be interested in would be in the latter of the two.

The door was unlocked, and on the desk, there were a couple of notes that seemed to track things that needed maintenance. In fact, there was a giant binder full to the brim of nothing but maintenance complaints. I was not all that surprised, since I understand how hard it can be to keep a large place that has a good deal of people coming in and out up to code. But I was interested in the numerous reports of electrical issues. I only skimmed through the papers, but it seemed like there would always be weird phenomena that would occur where the power would cut off randomly for only seconds before coming back on or the power surged and people would end up getting slightly shocked by the machines. According to the notes to the sides, they could never find out what was going on and even Stilmen was stumped.

I quickly erased the idea that it was anything paranormal related as I would have felt any disturbances that could cause such results. As I flipped through more papers and through the desk’s contaminants, I did not find anything else on the power issue beyond the usual complaint and confusion. 

I did, however, find a series of notes that talked about another interesting thing that brought amusement to the attraction, their robots. Mr. Stilmen had a talent for engineering, and would build, design, and operate robotic animal puppets. This was the one thing that they never cut back on when they started lowering expenses. Looking at the notes, it seems like Kingston wanted to assign a mascot for the attraction. But he was not fond of all of the robots they had so far and pushed Stilmen to come up with something. I couldn’t find out what they agreed on.

After searching a little longer and not finding anything else helpful, I went and looked at Mr. Kingston’s office. However, the office was completely empty. There was not even any furniture. 

(That did not entirely phase me, as Kingston* had almost completely removed himself from the attraction center all together by the time the place had closed.)

I moved on from there and just decided to wander my way around. I activated my wrist compass’ charm. This allowed me to be able to track any spirits that have a simple amount of power.

The compass started to glow faintly and then a small spear of light, acting as the needle, started to spin before pointing in a direction.

I went down the hallway attached to the lobby and found that the direction my compass was guiding me towards was the arcade. The arcade was a well and large room that was practically packed with arcade games of all kinds. Of course, none of them were on, as the power coords on all of them were unplugged. 

I followed the cords and upon inspection, realized that all of them connected at some point to the far outside wall. The outlets were in fact more like multiplugs (very heavy duty, in fact) that came from cut out holes in the wall. I knocked lightly on the wall, and sure enough, it sounded hollow. There were probably passage ways of some sorts throughout the building so that they could keep the wiring out of sight of the guests so they would not get damaged or tampered with.

I was quite impressed with this discovery, but before I could start searching for an entrance to these passages, I sensed a presence. In fact, I sensed quite a few. How odd.

I slowly scanned the room from where I stood, hoping to spot some sign of who (Yes who for it was not powerful enough to be a what) was with me. I ended up looking around for a small while before I caught a glimpse of someone small tucking to hide behind a machine. 

I quickly glanced at my wrist and saw that this was not who the compass needle was pointing to. Nevertheless, I slowly strode over to where I saw the person. I was a few feet away, but before I could get closer,  I heard the distinct crackle of electricity.

I quickly turned its direction and saw a purple streak of lightning hit an arcade game on the far end of the row of games I was in. 

The game sparked to life for a second, flashing frames of pixels and notes of digital music, and then the purple lightning went into the next game and the next, distorted speakers and bright strobes of color making its way down the line rapidly towards me.

I could quickly tell that whoever it was was not pleased to see me and that they definitely meant to do harm. I moved away from the machines and made a bolt to the archway that led to the next room, hoping to get away from the electrical machines. As I crossed the room, I was suddenly having projectiles thrown my way. Prizes from the ticket booth and tokens where chucked my way as I ran. I glanced over to see what looked to be the apparitions of children, looking as if they were on the warpath. (Obviously they were doing no damage, but it truly is the intention that counts.)

I was no longer being battered by their vicious attacks when I got out of the arcade and into the next room, however, I was unsure if the electrical being was able to pursue me in their stead.

Looking around, I was in what seemed to be a giant playground that consisted mostly of suspended tunnels that had translucent plastic bubbles made for windows and there were a few slides. There were also many places for children to climb up in many different manners. All in all, it looked like a hamster pen. 

Getting over my initial confusion, I promptly started looking to see if there was anything electrical off the bat. There were two security cameras and light fixtures on the ceiling, but I could view nothing else.

I turned back to the way I came in to observe the behavior of the lightning, but it was nowhere to be found. The arcade was as dark and silent as before. The only sign of anything happening was the items strewn about on the ground.

It didn’t need explaining to me that whatever that purple lightning was was what my compass was most likely pointing to, unless there was another being of similar power, which I highly doubted. 

In my experience, children's spirits are harder to work with, especially if you are not trained to work with them. They can be very emotional and one wrong move can greatly upset them. Another issue is that they seem to have a great struggle trying to explain what is wrong and what they are feeling. However, it is balanced out with the fact that not many children stay behind in our world, and usually when they do it is for a simple reason that usually caused or led up to their deaths.

To see what appeared to be a good handful of children that all were immediately aggressive and/or terrified is very concerning. This means that all of them were either killed or were here before they died. By the quick glances I got, they all could not be any older than 10 years of age. So now the question is, how do I help them?

Their instant aggression shows that they are not very trusting of me, probably because I’m a stranger and an adult. But that means it will be difficult trying to find a way to figure out what they need to pass on. I decided to keep investigating the building to see if I could find any clues as to what may have happened. 

The playground area was a bit smaller than the arcade and, at first glance, definitely seemed to be the most unassuming place so far. I wanted to see if I could find any more signs of the passageways in the walls, so I went about checking the perimeter of the room, careful as to not get close to the doors of the arcade, just in case. It was then I felt the presence of another soul in the room; however, I did not address it. 

I instead observed that there was a hidden opening, no more than half a foot wide. Upon pearing in I saw what looked to be a door that would lead into the wall. The opening looked like it could keep most full grown adults out and since there was nothing else there, no child would stay around it long, as long as the door stayed shut and locked. It was also positioned behind other equipment in the back, therefore it would be almost unnoticeable unless you were practically in the playground. 

As I was investigating, I could feel the soul creep closer to me and by the time I had finished my observations from above, they were only a few feet away. I started to slowly move, causing the soul to freeze in their tracks. I walked slowly around, pretending I was interested in something or another, keeping my back towards them. I slowly made my way to one of the benches on the opposite side of the wall from the playground and sat, leaning my head back and closing my eyes. 

 After a minute, the soul began creeping closer to me again. This time when they were only about a few feet away, I quietly addressed them.

“You really needn’t try to be so sneaky. I promise I don’t mean any harm.”

I felt the soul flinch at my words and quickly retreat behind the plastic slide in front of me.

“Don’t be scared,” I cooed softly. “I’m not going to do anything. Look, I even have my eyes closed. You don’t have to come out if you don’t want to. I understand that strangers can seem threatening.”

The soul stayed in their place, and for a small moment it was completely still. And then the soul came out from the slide.

“Can you see me?”

It was such a small voice, one that could only belong to a child.

“Yes I can.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always been good at seeing people.”

I felt them come only a hair closer.

“Nobody has ever seen me after I died. Are you a ghost hunter?”

That was an alarming statement. Children ghosts rarely ever fully knew that they were dead. This meant that either they were told or that what ever had killed them made it hard for them to deny what happened.

“No. I’m a ghost helper. I help ghosts find a way home.”

“So, you can help us leave?”

“Yes, indeed I can.”

“How?”

“It depends. I will need to know more.”

“Know more about what?”

“I need to know more about you and your friends and what happened.”

By this point, the child had crept over and was only about a foot in front of me. I slowly opened my eyes and looked down at the child.

“Would you be ok with that? Me asking questions?”

The child sat for a second and then gave a nod.

“If you want, I can show you where everyone is.”

“That would be nice. Thank you.”

The child gave me a small smile, and then proceeded to lead the way. We left the playground, and into the main hallway. Across from the doors, there was another hallway, but there were signs indicating that it was only for employees. The child went down this hallway anyways, and kept going until we came to a door that was labeled “Maintenance Room.” 

Before I even opened the door, I could feel the amount of spirits inside. Once I did, I noticed that they all were sitting down, almost in a huddle. Upon seeing me, their eyes went wide and they all tensed up. The child who led me quickly glided over to where they were, while I decided to sit down at the door.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry! He said that he could help us go home!” At his pleading, the other children still seemed to be nervous about me being there. The child then walked back over and sat beside me. “See look! He’s not hurting me!”

I smiled warmly. “You’re alright. I promise I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to talk about what happened to you.”

One of the children, a young one at that, started to burst into tears.

“Oh, no no nononono, I’m sorry.” I quickly backpedaled. “You don’t have to think about it. I’m sorry.”

Suddenly, one of the lamps in a different corner of the room flickered before a trail of electricity moved over to the children. Once it was almost among them, it shifted form and went up the upset child.

The new apparition was that of a robotic mouse that was about the size of a large rabbit. Her spirit glowed a faint lavender hue. A protection spirit. 

“Shhhhh, it’s ok, it’s ok. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Her voice was different from other spirits, having more of a robotic sound to it. Almost like she was talking through a voice changer of some sorts. But even then, it was far more comforting than I could have possibly been. Once the child was calmed, she then turned towards me. 

She stared at me for a bit, like she was assessing the situation. 

After a moment, she spoke.

“Is it true that you can help them?”

“Yes. I can.”

At that, she moved away from the children and closer to me. The child that had sat beside me moved over to where the others were and watched the events unfold. She stood before me, looking deeply into my eyes.

“How?”

I gave her a smile and explained, quiet for only her to hear, “I know practically everything there is to know about helping ghosts move on. All I need to know is more about how you ended up this way and from there I can determine the proper technique to use.” 

She gave me a curt nod, sat on her hind legs in front of me, and took a deep breath before she whispered, “Murder. They were all murdered by a man from this place.” Her voice trembled slightly.

“Are there any objects that they could potentially be attached to?”

“No, no. It’s just...them.”

I nodded and then gave her a smile. “Thank you. That’s all I need.” I stood up and slowly walked over to where the children sat. “Now the question is, who wants to go first?”

The hand of the first child I met popped up. I smiled and gave him a nod. “Ok then. Wait a moment while I get ready.”

For privacy purposes, I went to the father corner of the room, which was hidden by a table and some boxes of spare parts. As I took off my coat and began folding up my sleeves, I heard the faint whispers of goodbyes from the children. I sat down and waited for them to come over when they were ready. As they came over, I motioned for them to sit in front of me.

“May I take your hands?”

They gave me a small nod and put out their hands. I took them in mine, and positioned them where the child’s were on top.

“Are you ready?”

“Will it hurt?”

“Not at all. It’ll be like falling asleep.”

The child gave me another small nod.

“Now, close your eyes for me and just relax.”

Once I felt he was calm, I activated the wings tatoos on my back and directed the power to my hands. Soon the child started glowing faintly.

“What’s your name?”

“Jack.”

“Well, Jack, what do you want to do when you leave?”

“I want to go find my little sister. She got left on the playground alone and got scared. I was going to help her out.” His spirit started to dim slightly.

“You’re a very good big brother Jack, but I’m sure she’s home and safe now.”

“You mean it? She’s okay?”

“Absolutely. Now relax. Remember, like falling asleep.”

Jack took a deep breath in and as he exhaled, his spirit completely faded away into a small light. Using a small amount of power, I moved it towards me and sealed it into a bead on my holding charm. This would make it easy to transport their spirits outside, where they can be let go and carried away into the next place beyond.

After a moment to make sure his spirit was secure, I spoke out, “Who ever wants to go next can come over?”

And just like that the process repeated until all of them, besides the lavender spirit remained. (I later looked into a list of all of the children that went missing and matched the ones I met here to that list, which I will have at the end of this entry.)

I could tell she was practically besides herself with emotion, witnessing the children she’s cared for finally being freed from this place. She was completely silent and stared at the spot where they were all once huddled together.

“Are you ready?”

She paused and then spoke slowly. “Is there anything else you have to do now?”

“I have to take what’s left of the spirits outside so they can completely leave. But that can wait until you’ve been helped.”

She didn’t respond for a small time, then she turned to me. “Go ahead and take care of them. Then come back for me. I have something to show you.”

“Very well then.”

I picked up my coat and was putting it on when a thud came from the halls.

I looked to the spirit, only to find she had gone back to her lightning form and zapped into the wall.

I braced myself and quietly slipped out the door (which was left ajar) and peered into the hallway. While there was no sign of a physical presence, yet, I heard the sound of movement from the direction of the lobby. It was then brought to my awareness that spirits in the charm (which I had looped into my belt) were reacting in a manner of fear. As I quickly added another seal over the charm to keep them from accidentally slipping out, I began to think of a plan.

I had no means of defense if whatever was there was a physical threat and not supernatural. This meant that I would be in trouble if the encounter got confrontational. I would have to try to avoid that by all means necessary.

As I looked across the hall, into the room with the playground, I noticed a lavender glow, though I couldn’t see where it was coming from. After checking to make sure the hallway was empty, I quietly slipped in.

I was partially expecting to see the lavender spirit, however the source of the glow came from behind the hidden opening I had found earlier. When I went to look in, I saw that the door at the end had been opened. 

He shouldn’t be able to get me in here.

An echo of a whisper, barely audible to the point where most people would ignore it, not realizing it wasn’t just a random thought in their head, but a memory of sorts. What they were hearing was someone’s thoughts and/or words right before their death. Echos rarely occur for no reason, mostly being triggered by a similar event or the presence of someone who was present before the spirit’s demise.

By the sound of it, she was being chased by someone. 

I decided that it would be best to follow the echo, instead of risking getting caught by whatever was now here. I managed to squeeze into the opening and began shuffling towards the door. As I got to the end, I heard the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps. I turned around and through the sliver of the opening, saw a tall figure, who was definitely not dead.

Come on sweetheart, it’s not safe back there!

I had nearly missed the faint voice of an adult male in my attempt to stay out of sight. As quietly as I possibly could, I opened the door a hair farther and slipped inside, shutting it behind me. 

The passageway was barely 5 feet wide in total and had long thick wires running along the floor’s edges. The floor itself was about an inch or two below the level of the building. The light was only bright enough to illuminate the immediate area around the door.

However, before I could observe it more, it bolted down the hall, and I had to nearly sprint to keep up with it. Once I was about where the arcade would be, I noticed the amount of wires had nearly doubled. So much so at some points there were wires across the center which were torn from the amount of times they had been walked on.

The air itself became damp and there were a few times I could have sworn I saw moss. The farther along I went, the more I started to hear dripping from the roof.

Eventually the light came to a stop at a tiny opening that was at the corner of the building. From there on out, the passage was almost more of a crawl space. But here I could see where all the wires led to. There was a small chain of older power generators that was connected by various cords.

The arcade machines were powered by the generators which were connected to the main power system by vast amounts of wiring. Between the age of the generators, the leaks in the roof, and the constant treading on the wires, the place was almost beyond hazardous.

And it was at that, everything clicked.

Penelope!

I’ve got to hide.

It was then I saw the faint ripple of a figure in the light. It quickly moved into the crawl space. I was so focused on following the girl’s spirit, that I didn’t sense the pursuer until they were almost on me.

“You’re not supposed to be back here.”

I spun around and came face to face with the monster of this place, whom I had seen many photos of in my research.

“Mr. Stilmen. It's a pleasure to make your...” He cut me off with a growl.

“Don’t be smart with me. You’re trespassing on my property and you need to leave.” Before I could reply, he raised a gun and pointed it in my direction.

“I’m doing no such thing. The city gave me permission to investigate these grounds for activity.”

“What activity? The place is closed.”

“I understand that. I just was trying to look into the mysterious activity and the children that were murdered.”

He growled, “No kids died. They went missing!”

“No. They were killed, you can’t deny that to me now. I’ve seen enough.”

“Seen what? What could you have seen that would suggest that?”

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you were suffering from depression. Your wife did die from childbirth and not only that, you lost the baby too.”

“How-”

“It must have hurt you then. To see so many young children not pay heed to their mothers. I mean, technically, it was a child that took your wife away.

“The first time was probably an accident. That’s how it usually starts. But then you got carried away. And soon you had a lot of blood on your hands. Figuratively, of course.  Not only that, but what were you going to do with the remains? Well you had to dump them of course. But I’m sure you know how that went.”

He gave a small chuckle before tightening his grip on the gun. “And how did you figure all of that out? Huh?” It was hardly there, but I caught the slight waver in his voice.

“I pity you Mr. Stilmen. You really are a man who is followed by misfortune. But that will never excuse you for what you did.” 

“SHUT UP! That’s enough talking from you!” He screamed, pain laced in his voice. And then he pulled the trigger.

I braced myself for the hit, but instead a bolt of electricity struck the bullet and shocked his hand, making him drop the gun. 

A lavender girl stood between us, small sparks coming from her hands. As soon as Stilmen looked at her, his face went pale.

“Y-you… you can’t be…” His eyes held a look of surprise as he moved a half step towards her, turning his head in an attempt to get a better view of her face. “Penelope?”

“Daddy…” she choked out. I didn’t need to see her face to know what she felt, her voice was full of pure grief. “Daddy…” 

“Yes? Sweetheart, what is it? Whatever it is,” his words tumbled out, a faint shake in his voice.

“Daddy… please stop it.” Despite her originally trying to put on a brave face, she began to start sobbing. “I don’t want you... to hurt people... anymore. I just want you… to be… happy again.”

At her words, he broke falling to his knees with a sob. I then walked a bit closer to her, but to the side.

“You didn’t mean for her to know. But she eventually found out didn’t she?” I channeled my power into the air and space around me.

The echoed footsteps of a young girl running towards us soon played. It then turned to sloshing as she came closer from where the tunnel had a small layer of water. A faint figure of a girl came running into the area, and then stopped, breathing heavily. In her arms she held a robotic mouse close to her chest.She appeared terrified for her life. She then turned her head, as if hearing someone calling for her.

But instead, she slipped into the crawl space.

There was a sudden loud pop from the generators. And then...

A blood curdling scream. Loud enough to be heard from outside of the thin exterior walls. 

As the vision faded, the man sat there in silence with nothing but pain and grief. He then choked out, “I couldn’t get to her fast enough. Once I got there...” He looked up from the ground to Penelope, who was now crying. “I’m so sorry. Let me make it up to you. Whatever you want, I’ll do it. I promise.”

“All I want,” she whispered,” is for you to get better.”

“I’ll do it then. I’ll turn myself in. I’ll answer for my crimes,” he rambled. 

Then she gave a faint smile. “Thank you.”

Stilmen went along with the police with full cooperation and as they were loading him in the car, I saw his face. His expression was that of pure relief, as well as sorrow as he looked back to the old amusement building.

Once everything was said and done, he was probably going to hand it over to Kingston for him to do with it as he wished. But before they drove him away, he had one wish.

“Dr. Anderson… Can you take care of Penelope for me?”

“It would be my honor. Don’t worry. She will be in safe hands.”

Afterwards, of course, the police wanted my full report; however, as you may know, I have a strict policy regarding the privacy of my patients so I gave them a very short statement.

“I found him as I was walking and I managed to talk him down.”

After a while, the police gave up on me and began to prepare to scout the building.

I asked the person in charge to allow me a few minutes inside to grab some things, so they would not be considered evidence accidentally, and while they were more than disgruntled about it, they gave me permission.

By that point, the sun was starting to rise, and even with the windows boarded, the building was a bit more illuminated.

I made my way back to the area with the generators, this time using the official door that was in the back wing, next to the maintenance room. When I arrived, I saw Penelope sitting on the ground. 

“I was hoping you would come back in.” She looked up at me and gave me a small smile. “I’ve been thinking about...me… moving on.”

I smiled back towards her. “Yes. I was wondering about that myself. How do you feel?”

She hesitated, and then replied thoughtfully, “I don’t think I’m ready to go. But I can’t stay here. There is no reason to, and besides, they will probably tear the place down eventually. I don’t know where I want to go.”

“Hmm, well…” I hummed, pausing briefly. “You could come stay with me.”

Her face lit up instantly. “Really?”

“Yes, of course. There is always space in my home for more. And you won’t be the only ghost, or child, on the premises. Not to mention, if the need arises and if you wish to, you can travel with me sometimes for work.”

She sprung up to her feet in a jolt of lightning, laughing cheerfully as she zapped across the room. 

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

“Yes! Yes! I want to go with you!”

I chuckled as she ran up to me, returning her hug in earnest. “Now, means of getting you out of here.” I looked off to the side in thought.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I can’t keep you in the charm, and it’s hard for a spirit to move on their own. It’s a lot more helpful when a spirit is connected to something, like a book or a tool.”

“Well… if it helps, I’ve been sleeping in something like that, but I don’t think I can move it.”

I instantly knew what she was talking about. Ghosts don’t exactly sleep, per say, but some of them need to rest in order to recharge their power. But if she was resting in something, that meant…

“What were you sleeping in?”

“Oh, it’s with... my body.”

“Alright then.” I pulled out my flashlight and set it on the dimmest mode. “Would you mind going back into it and exert a small amount of power through it? That will cause it to glow slightly.”

She nodded and then, turning back into a volt of electricity, she went down the wires into the crawlspace. Then there was a faint glow from just inside.

I used my flashlight to make sure I didn’t accidentally grab the wrong thing and began reaching for the glowing object. I tried not to focus on the mass that was next to it, and I managed to just grab it.

I could feel Penelope’s excited presence within it as I pulled it out. And once I brightened my light, I saw a small lavender mechanical mouse.

~Fin~