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“Alright so, I was thinking we could start with the yard? We could take a look at the spot where the shed was, maybe get some readings? Then head up to the attic.” Niall listed out, currently weighed down under a complex looking piece of equipment, made of what looked like an old radio, a wooden board, loads of duct tape and… Something that looked like an Alexa Echo Dot.
Harry nodded, silently following him and Louis into the backyard, pausing to glance back at The Nest. The moon wasn’t out, hidden behind thick grey clouds that looked like a sure thunderstorm tomorrow, but he could’ve sworn there was a glimmer he saw in the upper attic window.
It was probably one of the guests in the hallway though, he couldn’t have been sure which window it was in the dark. Or maybe it was just the clouds or the stars reflecting weird- Yeah, that had to be it.
He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, staring at the windows, a part of his brain wondering if they’d always looked like the gaping eyes of Argus, but maybe it was just tricks of the light. Not to mention they had been talking about ghosts this whole time, the whole day, nearly. The power of suggestion was always immense.
As he walked across the grass rippling in the warm night breeze, he stopped short-
He could’ve sworn there were four figures standing at the edge of the property, one hunched over, and three that were standing.
But that couldn’t have been. A few blinks, and it was just Niall and Louis. The investigator was crouching by the bald spot in the grass, which explained the hunched figure. Maybe that was it. It must’ve been their shadows. Sure, the moon was currently behind the clouds, but it had constantly been flickering in and out.
Shaking his head a little, he took in a deep breath, letting the familiar tang and salt of the air soothe him as he stood behind Louis, watching Niall hold up a little white box to the patch of soil.
“It’s a Trifield meter,” Niall explained before Harry could ask. “It measures any fluctuations in the electromagnetic field around it. Any sudden changes usually mean a surge of energy, which, of course, is linked with manifestations. And this,” He added, pointing to a small pen-like device in his pocket. “Measures sudden changes in temperature.”
Harry could’ve sworn he’d heard a low murmur at that, like someone humming their assent. And just then, he saw the needle on the display swing around in a semicircle before falling back to zero.
He wrapped his arms around himself, shivering a little, the small device in Niall’s pocket beeping at the same time.
“It did feel like a cold spot, didn’t it?” Louis murmured, moving slightly closer to Harry, looping his arm around his waist.
“Probably just the wind,” Harry whispered back, not wanting to disturb Niall, gratefully leaning against Louis.
At the very same moment, he heard a voice, seemingly echoing what he just said, and he whipped his head around, trying to look for the source.
“It was that device, Haz.” Louis murmured, pointing to the contraption Niall had been lugging around.
“What was that- Did you guys hear ‘ wind’? ” Niall frowned, fiddling with one of the dials on the device. “Was it about the cold spot?” He called out, voice carrying over the silent grounds, and Harry was in half a mind to tell him to keep it down, not wanting him to rouse any of the guests, but Louis gripped his hand tighter, shaking his head slightly.
“Because if it was, we felt it too.” Niall continued, and once again, Harry heard low murmurs in the silence between his words. “The meter's going crazy, I know you’re here. You can use our energy- Speak again, please. We just want to know what’s going on.”
Harry turned to Louis, an eyebrow raised, but he simply patted the air, nodding softly as if to say ‘give him time’.
A few more minutes passed, but nothing more came through on the device, and Niall sighed as he stood up, dusting off his jeans. “Guess they’ve lost interest,” He shrugged, picking up the contraption again. “I’ll just put up some trap cams here, if you don’t mind, facing away from the hotel, of course. Should be able to capture any anomalies.”
Louis nodded, watching Niall set up a small camera, digging in the legs of the tripods into the ground, mumbling out an apology as he did.
“Mind heading up to the attic now?” He asked, standing up with one hand supporting his knee. “Should be much more activity there,”
Harry nodded, and as he followed them up the stairs, he couldn’t help but be a little surprised at how much more talkative he’d become in the past few hours as compared to earlier that morning. Maybe something to do with him being in the zone, doing what he loved.
“I’m honestly surprised we even got a response out there, all things considered. Something’s definitely up with that spot. I’m assuming the attic’s full of stuff?” He asked suddenly, and as Harry jolted to a stop, he felt another one of the shivers pass through him, the device still nestled in Niall’s pocket giving a short shrill beep as he quickly silenced it.
“Another cold spot,” He murmured. “It’s almost like it's following us. Or they. Whatever it is.”
“Either way, I don’t like it,” Harry murmured, exhaling shakily, watching his breath plume out in front of his face. Oh yes, whatever ‘ it’ was, they were definitely being followed.
Louis gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, shifting it to a solid hold against the small of his back as they negotiated the narrow staircase heading up the attic.
“Okay so this camera’s going to take thermal stills every 5 seconds,” Niall explained, standing up as far as he could in the congested space between the unmarked cardboard boxes that took up 90% of the attic. “Any cold spots- Or odd heat signatures, should show up.”
Harry nodded, surveying the little set up. “Anything that you want us to help with?”
Louis chuckled at his eagerness, glancing at him in the dim light. The air was thick with dust- No cobwebs, though. Harry was intent on keeping everything clean regardless of how rarely they stepped up here. He was about to make a little comment when his eye caught on what seemed like a shadow, crossing across the narrow space behind Harry.
He stood still for a moment, wondering if telling Harry or Niall would mean freaking them out or making them further intrigued. He’d just decided to tell them, his mouth poised open when another shadow figure crossed behind Harry, taking the same path as the first one and Louis felt like he’d forgotten to breathe, his mouth hanging open.
He tried to form some words, but the only sound he could make was a dry croak. Harry remained blissfully unaware this whole time, moving to follow Niall through the narrow spaces when Louis finally regained enough of his composure to string a full sentence.
And just then- And even in his sheer surprise, Louis had time to dully note that whatever was doing this had a sense of humour- There was a loud bang, right from the place where he’d seen those shadows. Thankfully, this time, Harry and Niall noticed it too, as they came rushing over after a few seconds, Harry pausing as he saw Louis standing there, looking absolutely shell shocked.
Louis shook his head before he could say anything though, exhaling shakily. “‘M okay. Tell you later. We’ve got to see what it was, first-”
Harry looked like he wanted to protest, but sighed, giving in as he nodded, squeezing Louis’ hand reassuringly before gently pushing him ahead, keeping his hand on his waist as they walked between the stacks of styrofoam and cardboard.
They found Niall standing beside a precariously high pile of boxes, looking up at the support beams on the roof.
“Probably just a bat or something,” He mumbled, eyes still fixed on the wooden beams. “But, uh- What’s in all these boxes?”
Harry shrugged. “Most of it’s spare stuff. Some things from back when we were in uni. A few things the previous owners left.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Louis noticed the small device in Niall’s pocket lighting up, still silenced. Niall shivered just after that, so he must’ve noticed the drop in temperature too, Louis thought.
“Maybe mentioning the previous owners did this,” He said softly, thinking out loud. He felt a little cold, a little uncomfortable, but undeniably intrigued.
Sure, most of his jabs at Harry had been playful, and his watching the TV shows was nothing more than fond putting up with his interests, but in that moment he felt a sinking realisation. Maybe there really was something going on at The Nest. And maybe the old timers were true about the island and its powers.
As he and Harry followed Niall around the tiny attic, occasionally pausing as he explained the devices to them, Louis wasn’t sure if the surge of excitement he felt was a little reckless or not. As scared as he was, he found himself hoping they could make contact again.
Unknown to him, as he followed Niall around too, Harry shared the same sentiment. Especially after the voices he’d heard from Niall’s little gadget, not to mention all the cold spots.
Everything fell quiet after that, though, not a single detector going off as Niall finally turned to them, sighing, telling them they could leave and get some sleep, and that he’d keep investigating.
But even as Harry lay curled up next to Louis, watching the moon filter in through the curtains, his mind was fixed on the sparse pieces of evidence they had. He was determined to find out more now.
It was well after 12 pm when Niall came down for breakfast again, and Harry assumed he was simply one of those late risers. Though, in his defence, he probably stayed up well past midnight daily- Usually into the early hours of morning if the previous night was any proof.
“You guys are going to want to see this, both of you-” Niall mumbled, his eyes riveted to the laptop screen as he placed it on the dining table.
“Lou!” Harry called out, slipping in next to Niall, all the seats long empty. Breakfast rush was usually up till 9, after which the guests tended to leave to explore the island before it got too hot.
Louis came walking in through the back door a few seconds later, his hands caked with mud and Harry assumed he’d been messing around with the fences again.
As Louis took the seat next to Harry’s, he frowned at the screen, not understanding what he was supposed to be looking at.
“And I’m supposed to be seeing…?” He asked, raising an eyebrow slightly at the squiggles of colour on the screen.
“Those blobs, Louis.” Harry said, pointing out the four vaguely humanoid blobs.
“None of those are me,” Niall said suddenly, causing Harry to jump a little. “I was off to the other side, going through cartons. And two of them are orange- The other two are blue. The cold spots we kept feeling. I’m certain this is them, the ones we heard.”
Louis exhaled shakily, his eyebrows raised, his face a mask of complete surprise. “You’re telling me we just caught proof of the spirits in our Nest?”
Harry shrugged, unable to string together words. But it was right there. Undeniably there. Proof. Of spirits. He just couldn't believe his eyes.