The Stagecoach
The MPIG investigates a haunted stagecoach route.
“I’m ready. Let’s start our hunt after this break,” replied Jonah.
Nicole started her countdown. “One, two, three, four, five...cut.”
“Morgan, let’s do our thing. Everything should be ready, right? Let’s retest the batteries.”
“On it,” said Morgan. About a minute later she pronounced, “Still good.”
Nicole spoke. “Lighting is good. Camera ready; go at your convenience.”
“I’m ready as well,” Jonah replied. “Here we go then...one, two, three, four: Hello again, I’m Jonah Oliver…”
“I’m Morgan Burns, and we are the Mackenson County Paranormal Investigation Group.”
“Folks, Morgan and I are back to start our walk-through of a portion of the old Pine Hills to Clarkston stagecoach route. This area is rumored to be haunted by the phantom of a wagon driver who was slain in 1870. Morgan, we can see a couple of devices in your hands. Do you mind telling us what kind of tools you are using tonight?”
“Sure Jonah. In my left hand I am holding what’s called an EMF meter. EMF stands for electromagnetic field. An electromagnetic field is nothing more than electric and magnetic force. Many things that we’re familiar with in every day life emit electromagnetic fields and they’re harmless: Things like microwaves, laptops, and even cell phones produce that kind of radiation. When we use one out in the field on an investigation and we get notified of an EMF, we believe that it’s possibly an indicator of a disembodied presence, especially if the EMF level is high and we can reproduce it. Like most of the things we use, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
“In my other hand is a simple recording device. It’s called an EVP or electronic voice phenomena recorder. It’s just a voice activated recorder. We usually walk through an area in the attempt to get someone or something to speak with us. Oftentimes we won’t hear anything, but when we go through the evidence later we might discover that there is a voice on the recorder saying something to us. Sometimes the voice may answer our questions. At other times we might hear voices telling us to ‘get out’ or ‘leave.’ This particular model, and let me get this closer to Nicole’s camera, comes with a thermometer and a built-in flashlight. Those are just add-ons; all you really need is the recorder. By the way, Nicole is our awesome camera person and our main video editor, if you didn't know.”
“Now, I have one more item in my jacket pocket. The final piece of equipment in our hunting triad is this little device that looks a lot like an old transistor radio. It’s called a Spirit Box. It basically serves the same purpose as our EVP recorder, though some models don’t actually record anything. This device scans radio frequencies and detects voices in the white noise that can be heard. It’s really just that simple. You ask questions, and the box might quickly stop and allow you to hear an answer to your question.”
“Folks, that’s a very good rundown that Morgan has given us, and we’re about to put our equipment to use. We’re going to take another short break, and then we’ll be back to do our walk-through. Maybe we’ll learn more of the story behind the tragedy that struck the Pine Hills to Clarkston stagecoach route. Who knows? Are you ready, Morgan?”
“Ready and willing, Jonah,” she answered.
We all took a short break, and for the next hour Morgan and Jonah walked the stagecoach route, accompanied by Nicole with the camera. Brett and I busied ourselves by re-checking the sound and lighting equipment, and then we made ourselves scarce, resting against the trunk of a large pine tree. I sent a text to Max, telling him that it wouldn’t be much longer before he and Jenny would need to do their drive-by. He answered immediately. They were ready. We all were—and it was 1 AM already.
Morgan and Jonah used the tools of the ghost-hunting trade in the attempt to make contact with the disembodied spirits of anyone who wanted to participate. Naturally they directly addressed the man who supposedly lost his life to robbers. There seemed to be no responses. There were no returns on the EMF meter or the Spirit Box. They didn’t hear anything either, but it would be later in the day or even tomorrow before anyone listened closely to the EVP recorder.
I was getting sleepy when the crew pronounced themselves finished with the investigation. Nicole said, “Time to get Max and Jenny to ride through. I need to get footage of the coach.” She began to film. I texted Max again and he said they were on their way. It seemed like it was taking forever for the wagon to arrive, but eventually we could hear it coming through the woods.
It rolled by us going extremely fast: Too fast. The coach was going so fast that we were all worried. Had they lost control of the horses? We had no answers, and shortly the sound of the coach faded away into the distance. I never heard it stop.
I texted Max again as fast as I could. “Are you guys, okay?”
“Yeah, sorry,” said Max in his reply. “We’re stuck in the mud right now, but we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
We left the Oak Bayou area that night knowing that some old legends are, in fact, true. Unfortunately, we came away with very little evidence of that fact. Nicole’s footage of the stagecoach showed nothing. It was as black as the night sky.
Max and Jenny brought the horses to the trailer that night, and took them home. The next day several of us went out into the woods to retrieve the wagon. We took Nicole’s tractor and it easily pulled our coach from the mud. We didn’t stick around long, and we shot our secondary footage back at Nicole’s barn.
Later on that same day we reviewed the audio from the EVP detector. In the last 15 minutes, Morgan can be heard asking if anyone had anything they’d like to say. There was a short pause, and then a man’s voice said, “whoa.”
The End.
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