1 Something More

"Alright my name is Drew, and you are watching: Paranormal is the new Normal! The only show that takes you deep into the lair of darkness to expose the unknown to the light of day and uncover hidden truths not known to modern man!" Drew emphatically said in front of several television cameras. This was his show he had said that line a hundred times and each time he felt an emptiness. "Today we are investigating an old fort that was used during the revolutionary war. How many trapped souls are stuck there?! We hope to make contact and get evidence of the other side!"

Truth is his show was a lie. The moving objects they would show would be moved by wires that were invisible to the camera. The audio recordings with their evp evidence had been preprogramed to input certain phrases filled with static. The entire show was a hoax and yet it was extremely popular with great ratings. It was because of this paycheck that Drew continued hosting, but he longed for something more and longed for a real paranormal encounter.

Drew's show continued without a hitch and they wrapped filming. He always had his trusty camera woman Sam with him and his skittish partner Terry, who would always use over the top antics in portraying fear. He was an audience favorite. Drew looked to his crewmates and said, "Do you ever wish that this was real?"

Sam laughed to herself as she packed her camera away. "Real huh? You want to be chased around by ghosts? Or vampires or whatever it is we are hunting that day? That does not sound fun. No, I think I quite enjoy just faking it, the pay is good, and the work is low."

"I'm with her, man." Terry chimed in. "I mean I fake being a coward for ratings, but a real ghost sounds creepy as hell. I want no part of it."

"Oh, where is you all's sense of adventure?!" Drew replied. "Where is that drive for discovery?! Aren't you even a bit curious what it would be like?"

"Did you have something in mind?" Sam raised her brow and crossed her arms. She knew this round of questioning had to serve a purpose. "You know everywhere we film has to be okayed by the studio and meet certain safety requirements."

"I'm not talking about a shoot!" Drew shouted. "I want to have a real ghost hunt, in a real haunted house. Somewhere the studio would never let us go. I got an email the other day telling me about this old, haunted ranch out in the middle of nowhere. Every person who has ever lived there has died within a week, due to mysterious causes. It eventually became abandoned after the fourth death. It could be a real vengeful spirit! It could be what we fake hunt!"

Sam got a worried expression. "Look Drew, that place doesn't sound very safe." She said softly. "What if its some sort of fungus or virus that is killing everyone there? I want to live to my next birthday at least."

"Yeah dude, place sounds deadly." Terry said. "We need to just keep doing what we are doing. Have you seen our ratings?! We are going to clean up next contract renewal."

"I am going." Drew said. "I hoped you two would have some sense of adventure, but I guess I hoped for too much. It is on the way to the next gig, so I guess I will see you there." Drew sighed as he exited the room.

"Wait!" Sam shouted out. "If it means that much to you, I will come along. But we are wearing respirators just in case!"

Drew turned around and ran to his friend and gave her a hug. "Thanks!" He said smiling. "I really didn't want to do it alone. If it turned out to be real no one would have believed me."

"Yeah I guess I can't let you out of my sight." Sam laughed. "You are my meal ticket after all. There's no show if something happens to the host."

Drew glanced over to Terry, who was dismantling a pully they had installed earlier. "So, you in?"

"Man, why you two got to be crazy as hell." Terry sighed. "Fine, I will come along, but only to ensure you two don't get hurt. Sam has a point about you being our meal ticket."

"Well I guess I am happy I am at least something to you two." Drew sighed again. "Let us pack all this stuff up, it should still work as it was designed. We just won't tamper with it this time." With that the trio packed all their equipment and loaded it into their van. "It's a few hours away so let us drive there tonight and get a hotel room or two. It will be good to scope the place out during the day before we do our nightly investigation."

And so, the trio got in the van and drove to the town in question. Having plenty of money they opted to stay at a nice hotel. The kind of chain hotel that puts those fancy mints on your pillows and charges you an arm and a leg if you drink the water bottle they have sitting in the room. As they entered the lobby the clerk attending it jumped up in surprise. "Paranormal is the new normal!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "Oh my god! I cannot believe you guys are actually here! This is the best day of my life!"

The trio all sighed as they walked to the counter. They loved their fans, but the super fans could be quite taxing, and this clerk seemed like a super fan. "That's right young man!" Drew said trying to act cool for his fan. "We need a place to stay, either one room with three beds or three rooms with one bed. Think you can help us out with that?"

"Yes!" The clerk shouted. "I still can't believe Drew the paranormal legend is right there in front of me!" He started clicking away at the keyboard. "Yes, I have a multiroom suite on the top floor if you are interested. Let me just apply every discount I can and there, your rate is now fifty a night."

"My man!" Drew replied, while pointing both of his index finger's at the clerk.