To Live Again by Ronald Lee (old books to read txt) 📕

Ronald Lee
920 Meadowbrook Road
Sumter, SC 29150
1 (803) 295-0077
[email protected]
TO LIVE AGAIN
by
Ronald E. Lee


Chapter One
Carlos Montego stood watching the electromagnetic meter dance wildly from side to side. The indicator light was steady on bright green.
“This is it!” He whispered excitedly into a microphone headset to his wife Susan. The forty-two year old Sumter resident ran a sweaty brown hand over his blue jeans then over his purple Clemson Tiger shirt. “Are we rolling?” he asked.
“Be careful honey,” his black haired green eyed wife said back. She was watching the events unfold through a computer screen in the couples black Ford cargo van parked outside the three story Rineheat estate located in Sumter South Carolina.
“I’m rolling now,” Sue announced her strong Irish accent coming through. “It’s 1:40 AM eastern standard time.” Sue reported softly watching the audio graph bounce up and down as the program captured the live audio and video feed.
“Carlos is investigating the former estate of Doctor Richard Rineheat in Sumter South Carolina. This is case number sixty-nine.” Sue quickly cut from the feed of her husband’s head cam to a wireless remote camera set up on a tripod just outside the van. It had a perfect view of the gargoyles, large front door, hedges, and dark shadows of the concrete mansion just off highway 378. “Built in 1802 by Doctor Rineheat this house has been reported as the sight of forty murders. All the murders were part of experiments the Doctor conducted do to his obsession with the subject of life after death.”
“Is Fay Childer’s here?’ Carlos interrupted. Sue quickly clicked back to a standing camera in the room where her husband formally from El Salvador stood. “If you are can you make your presence known to me? I mean you no harm.”
“Fay Childer’s is reportedly one of the last of Doctor Rinheat’s victims. Doctor Rinheat later died at the state mental hospital in Columbia South Carolina, but only after being tried and found guilty of those murders by reason of criminal insanity.” Sue said softly.
Mrs. Montego stopped to catch her breath. Even though she was dressed in blue jean shorts, pink t-shirt, and flip flops she was drenched in sweat sitting in the back of the cargo van. It was mid July and the low for the night was only going to be seventy-two degrees. The humidity clung to her soaking her skin and furthering her anxiety.
“Is anyone here?” Carlos asked reaching out to the unseen spirits around him. Susan hated this little side business her husband started up, but she promised to support him no matter what so here they were trying to talk to dead people.
“Is the electromagnetic microphone picking up anything?” Carlos asked his wife. Sue looked at the image of her husband standing in the dining room looking back at her through one of several cameras they set up earlier.
“No,” Sue reported looking at the flat green line below her voice over.
“I don’t get it,” Carlos said. “The needle on the EM meter is dancing like a stripper at hundred dollar night.”
“Maybe you’re in a place where nothing bad happened,” Sue suggested.
“Well, the meter’s telling us there’s paranormal activity in this house. This room.” Carlos countered. He looked up at the lavish chandelier then the twelve seat dinner table and tall black fireplace ahead in the center of the room. A look at the thick red curtains showed them blowing slightly in the breeze.
“I’m going dark to give anyone on the other side some energy to talk to us,” Carlos announced and cut off the EM meter. Sue got extremely nervous. It was one thing to try to talk to the undead through different means, but now her husband was going to try to strengthen them to talk back.
“I’m taking the batteries out and placing them on the table,” Carlos announced. It was a technique he felt would work because so many paranormal investigators reported the loss of battery power just before encounters. Sue watched and licked her lips. “I’m hooking up the voltage meter to these ordinary C batteries,” Carlos explained. “You can see the voltage reading is showing the batteries are fully charged.”
Sue flipped back to Carlos’ headset where he held it up for view. A green light was blinking and a sliver meter was bouncing slightly at six volts.
“He’s a genius,” Sue thought to herself. That’s what first attracted her to him at the university. He was a good looking tall, brown skinned black eyed male. Sue thought he wouldn’t have given her the time of day when she first saw him in the computer class. His major was computer science and hers was culinary. But he did fall for her and by their senior year the El Salvador and Ireland natives were married. They were drawn together by their common interest and strong Catholic faith.
“Honey are you getting this?” Carlos asked interrupting Sue’s trip down memory lane.
“Uh,” Susan checked the computer screen and stared in amazement. “Oh my God,” she exclaimed and made the Catholic motions of the cross as she watched the meter drop from six volts down to zero and the light go from green to red to dark.
“Doctor Richard Rineheat are you with me?” Carlos asked causing Sue to jump.
“Damn it honey, how about warn someone before you call on the chief spook!” Sue complained.
“Sorry,” Carolos replied. “I think I need to go somewhere else. I believe I’d do better in the laboratory.”
“Okay,” Sue said although she didn’t like the idea at all. “The laboratory is where the majority of the murders reportedly happened.” Sue whispered into the microphone.
The Irish woman watched her husband weave through the white covered furniture of the dining room to a large black oak door beside the fireplace. Carlos opened the door which groaned slowly with age and willingly walk to the site of nineteen murders.


Chapter Two

When the tall black oak door stood opened wide it revealed a long narrow corridor lined with old family photos. It ended at a flight of stairs the ascended to the upper levels of the home and descended to the in house laboratory and infirmary of Doctor Rineheat. There were four doorways in the hall. The first to Carlos’ left led to a billiard and trophy room he had investigated earlier. Across from that was the kitchen. The next door beyond the billiard room was a library and across from it the servant’s quarters.
Sue heard Carlos gag as he reached the flight of stairs.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” Sue asked fearfully.
“Sorry,” Carlos said pulling his arm up to his mouth. “As if the dust and mildew smell wasn’t bad enough I’m getting, I don’t know. I think I’m smelling embalming fluid, ammonia, or something.”
That statement didn’t help Sue relax. She had helped Carlos set up all the cameras and never smelt anything when they were in the lab.
“Honey, I don’t think this is a really good idea.” Sue said nervously tapping her long pink finger nails on the metal counter top welded to the van wall.
“It’ll be alright honey,” Carlos said reassuringly although he himself was skeptical about the sincerity of the statement. “Nothing living is down there or in this house.”
“That’s what I mean.” Sue countered. “This is the most activity we’ve seen since we’ve been ghost hunting.” Sue paused the recordings. “Besides, I got to go pee.” She whispered.
Carlos took off the head cam and turned it so his wfe could see his face.
“Look honey I love you. If you really want I’ll come back out and we’ll go home.” He offered.
“Really?” Sue asked.
“True. If you want run use the bathroom and I’ll start out.” Carlos smiled at his wife who grabbed a roll of toilet paper and opened the sliding door of the van. She was greeted by a blast of humid night air filled with smell of pine and sound of crickets, frogs, and owls. A whippoorwill sang in the distance.
Sue stepped down onto the gravel driveway and stretched. A look at the two AM sky revealed nothing but stars and crescent moon that just reached its zenith. In front of her was a tall pine forest that hid the mansion from Highway 378 on lookers, although Sue couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to look at the decaying monster.
The three story mansion loomed above her and the driveway. The crevasses, corners, and doorway shadows seemed to willfully resist the moonlight’s feeble attempts to penetrate the house. Sue shuddered for some unknown reason and stepped into the edge of the forest guided by the aid of flashlight. While his wife relieved herself, Carlos let his tenacity get the better of him. If Doctor Rineheat was in that laboratory then Carlos had to make contact. Sixty eight worthless attempts at finding true paranormal activity had come up empty. As the El Salvadoran computer programmer, and builder made his way down the narrow flight of steps he reviewed the couples reasons for getting into the business.
It was a simple matter. Since Carlos grew up in El Salvador and had strong Catholic ties, he had deep belief in the supernatural. The idea of ghost went against everything he had been taught about purgatory and the afterlife. Although his computer repair and programming business and Sue’s Catering business had the couple financially set a paranormal show sold to one of the cable network channels would have them set for life. Carlos stopped on the last wooden step before entering the foreboding laboratory. Even when they were in this room during the day setting up equipment it was a strange place to be.
The walls were blue green tile. The floor was waxed cement. A long metal exam table with one of those surgical lights hanging over it stood in the center of the room. Off to the left several cots were set up with old mattresses. A long row of shelves filled with old brown bottles covered the rest of the walls. Carlos could still smell the embalming fluid or ammonia. He pointed his flashlight around the room stopping on each surreal feature wanting to go in but hesitating.
Suddenly an image flashed in Carlos’ mind. He was looking at the exam table and saw dead bodies. A naked red haired female, then a blond haired man appeared. Several others each covered in blood staring blankly at the light. Carlos shook his head and looked at the table again. It was as before, untouched.
“Doctor Richard Rineheat, are you here?” Carlos asked out loud.
Sue finished using the bathroom and started back to the van. She stopped suddenly as an unexpected rush of cool air blew across her. The Irish woman looked nervously around then rubbed her shoulders and continued to the van. Sue decided she