With Spirit Part 6

Part 1 here

Lea was definitely at the centre of the orbs’ movements over the last few hours the room had filled completely except for one corner: the corner behind the hallway’s open door.  But even though the crew seemed oblivious to them; the loud noises had not abated.  Crashes, bangs and the sound of splintering wood had been getting louder.  The distant rumbling was moving closer to the room.  Lea still didn’t move, she just continues talking softly, urgently, desperately, almost as if their lives depended on it.

Wal noticed the vacant corner; he tried to remember what was on the other side of those walls.  He knew they were both internal walls and one was of course the hallway.  Wracking his brain he tried to remember the layout of this place.

Mike took his sensors closer to one of the orbs.  It was vaguely bluish, after the white orbs came some with a very faint silver or gold tinge, then these blue guys and some delicate violet hued white balls.  Now there were balls of every pastel hue although they were all basically white.  Mike loved the warm friendly feeling they gave off, he felt the blues were particularly warm.  They felt so warming that it was hard for Mike to believe what his sensors were telling him; these orbs were freezing.  The temperature reading dropping a full degree with every inch closer the sensor was moved toward the glowing ball.

Lea broke from her reverie and shouted; “Evil, there is great evil here, and danger, unimaginable danger!  We must leave!  We must leave now!”

Lea, honey, we can’t leave!  Are you insane?  This is the best footage we’ve ever got!  The network are gonna throw money at us!  Full season, full film crew, whatever you want!” cajoled Sean.

“Sean, there’s danger here, I’m sure of it.  I know we must leave now!”

Mike, start to pack up,” said Sean as he flashed Mike an aggressive stop hand signal; “Lea doesn’t care what happens to these poor lost souls.  Look at them all, how desperate they must be!”

“Sean, I can’t help anymore, well maybe I can, but you are in danger, darling, you are all in great danger!” cried Lea.

“Lea, I don’t mean to put this on you, Sweetheart, but if the network sees this footage & finds out we left in the middle…  You know who they are going to blame.  This is my dream, babe, my dream for us!  And they are gonna fire me, my feet won’t touch, I’ll be blacklisted!”  Sean moved from an imploring tone to an injured one.  “Baby, I can’t believe you’d do this to me, to us.  I thought you understood me!  I thought you loved me!”

Jerry started to pack up his equipment.  That corny ruse was so transparent, anyone could see through it.  Lea wasn’t going to risk her life for that self-serving parasite, even if she did seem to be willing to waste it on him.

Lea turned to the film crew with a grim determination none of them had even seen before, she spoke firmly, “Leave the equipment running, and leave!  Get to the van as fast as you can and lock yourselves in.  I feel the road is far enough away, it is safe.  But don’t look out the windows, don’t start the engine or make noise.  Get down on the floor, cover yourselves and stay there until dawn.”

Wal, Jerry, Mike, Paulo didn’t even need to look at each other.  They wouldn’t leave Lea to face God knows what on her own.  Much less alone with Sean; that bastard would barter her for his own benefit, or use her as a shield and then throw her to the wolves for an extra second to escape.

Lea started describing the crowd surrounding them.  To her they weren’t orbs of light they were people, normal people.  A young soldier stood near Wal, a mature matron in flowing skirts and an apron watched Paulo with concern, a group of schoolgirls all plaits and pinafores gathered around Mike, a miner, a rough-looking man with a rifle; they just kept coming.

Paulo took off his earphones.  Lea was motioning to him so he freed himself from the cables so he could go to her.  Suddenly the knocking returned but this time it was deafening.  The sound equipment was damaged, Paulo stared back in shock, if he hadn’t moved, if it had been just a touch earlier, at least he’d have burst an eardrum.  The booming sound continued, over 20 sets of a distinctive pattern of 3 ominous knocks each echoing, building, filling their ears and reverberating through their bodies till their teeth chattered and their hands shook.

Jerry & Lea were no longer the only ones who could hear the rumbling.  It was no longer distant moving closer every minute.  The sound built replacing the knocking with a more primal noise.  The ground beneath them moved.  Objects without sufficient weight to hold them down tumbled off tables and shelves.  Drinking glasses jumped, their contents sloshing then spilling.

Mike didn’t even see it coming!  The notebook flew 6 feet before it hit him squarely in the back of the head.  Another book whizzed past travelling almost half the length of the room before arcing towards the floor.  A painting, a cheap piece created & sold for commercial decorators, flew into the bookcase on the opposite wall, it’s pane of glass shattering mid-air showering the floor in jagged glass fragments.  As the painting hit; the room came to life!  A maelstrom of minutia began flying around the crew as if being thrown by dozens of madmen in the grips of a frenzied mania of destruction.  Chairs flew inches over their heads!  Their lighter equipment sailed around the room. Paulo’s speakers exploded with bright sparks as they swung as if trying to free themselves from the cables that held them down.   The smaller tables were hurled across the room smashing anything in their path.  The film crew were being constantly pelted with their own belongings & the agents’ kitschy décor.  Only Lea seemed immune, as she stood in the centre of the storm there seemed to be a force field 1 foot all around her deflecting even the smallest shrapnel.

Part 7.