Chapter Text
The building loomed above them, even in daylight like it looked creepy. The imposing grey stone, the dark windows, the eerie silence. It was like any wildlife chose to avoid the place, like they knew something was off about it. The St.Fergus School for Boys sat in the middle of nowhere in the highlands of Scotland. At least five miles from the nearest town, if you could call it that and hundreds of miles from the nearest city. It had lain empty for at least fifteen years, closing due to less people being enrolled and the upkeep of the building outstripping the costs to run the place. The place had stood empty for ten years before being sold, something about turning into a boutique hotel and wedding venue but five years later the place was still sitting empty. The new owners complained about how whenever they tried to do anything to the building things began to happen. Things like hearing voices of children laughing in the hallways. Screams in the middle of the night. Apparitions of a woman and man wandering both the grounds and the hallways. Nobody knew if it was true or not. Maybe it was all some clever ruse to get business. Because what could be more of a money spinner than a haunted hotel?
That's where S.A.S or the Supernatural Astrological Society came in. A group of investigators or both believers and non-believers who investigated such claims up and down the country. The group had been contacted a few weeks ago with the offer to be the first ever team to investigate the claims. The owner’s were also keen to make sure whatever was going on was harmless and would post no threats to any guests who stayed there. The team consisted of Lead investigators Mike Sadler and Johnny Cooper, both who had a keen interest in the subject, Mike on a more serious note and Johnny on a more casual basis. Reg Seekings their resident non-believer who not everyone was quite convinced didn’t believe in the supernatural. The last person to round out the team was Dave Kershaw, their tech guru, who didn’t really give a hoot about if the supernatural was real or not. When they had received the request they jumped at the chance to be the first to try and help to get to the bottom of the haunting. Mike had spent the weeks before they left researching the place and excitedly told the other’s all about it. He had also sorted all their travel plans and dealt with the owners. Outlining what they would do and how they would help.
The sky had turned an uninviting grey as the men stepped out of their rental cars. It did nothing to help the uninviting look of the building before them. The main building was three stories tall and surrounded an enclosed courtyard. There was a stable and other outbuildings off to the right and what looked like newer buildings on the left, which had been the student dorms and were in the process of being torn down and therefore inaccessible to them. Sighing deeply Mike then clapped his hands together and said “Shall we get started then? I’ve the keys here somewhere” as he spoke he stuck his hands into his jacket pockets and headed towards the imposing manor house. The rest sprung into action and began to follow him. They would do a quick check inside and establish where they would set up a base for them to stash their equipment and possibly sleep for the night if it came to it. Although everyone knew Mike would have them up all night investigating and would only stop if nothing was happening or the sun was coming up.
A quick look around told them that what must have been a reception room and then some sort of main office would be the best place. It was right next to the front door and large enough to house them all and seemed to be one of the few ground floor rooms free of an overwhelming amount of furniture or fittings of some degree. A quick couple of trips to the cars saw all their equipment brought inside and set up in a manner that it would be easy to access and to clear up if required. Another hour or so saw a plan drawn up on how to investigate the place and where they would set up some stand alone cameras. As all the activity was reported to only be within the main house it made things easier. They would still check out the other buildings but it would only be quick walk rounds to see if anything happened but the main focus would be the main house. A quick discussion saw them decide to split into two teams to cover more ground. They could always touch base and swap areas or teams as required. With everything decided they split into teams and began their investigation.