The Investigation of Pennhurst

Quick Note: Part two of a series! Part One is titled - Deciding to Stay Overnight in Pennhurst. Check it out.

I took a look around the dining hall. There were cement poles in the middle of the room from one end to the other, with rust-covered tables and chairs. The wall’s paint was flaking off, and Mold was growing on the walls. The left wall has large windows. You can see the silhouette of the other buildings. On the right, there was an old rusted cafeteria serving line equipment.

“Ay guys, I’ll turn on the camera to start our time here,” Kade said, as he looked around nervously.

“Good idea, let’s get this over with," I looked down into my hands at the spirit box, “What do you think we should use first?”

Everly laughed, and we shifted to look at her.

“You guys, we are in Pennhurst, investigating the paranormal,” she continued to laugh, “Who would have thought we would do this?”

We exchanged looks.

“You guys don’t understand the evil that took place here. The things we may hear and see tonight can be disturbing, so prepare yourselves,”

Griff rubbed the back of his neck, “I think we should get started with the EMF detector. We can switch on the spirit box if there is a detectable spirit.”

“That’s a great idea! Everly turn on the EMF and set it in the middle of the table. We can take turns asking questions. See if we get a response.”

Everly turned on the EMF reader, it spiked to red, then went blank as she set it in the middle of an old rusted cafeteria table.

“My name is Everly. Any spirit who would like to communicate with us, can use this device?”

“I’m Kenzie. We are not here to hurt you. You can use our energy to communicate only if you need to.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes. We could hear disembodied footsteps at the far end of the dining hall. Everly gasped as she heard them, too. I looked at the boys. They were as white as paper.

Suddenly, the EMF reader spiked; it started going crazy. Then it stopped. I placed the spirit box on the other end of the table.

"We heard you, and you made our device go off. You can use a spirit box device to communicate with us if you have enough energy. What’s your name?"

The spirit box was loud with static.

*cht cht cht cht cht*

All you could hear was the spirit box flipping through radio channels.

“What’s"

"Name.”

The spirit box spit out.

“We gave you our names. What’s yours?

*cht cht cht cht cht*

“Boys.”

Boys? I looked at the boys, “Did you say your names?”

They shook their heads, unable to speak.

“Well, say your names.”

“Dudes, lighten up. We just started,” Everly said.

“Uh, the name is Griff,” he shifted, rubbing the back of his neck.

."Ay yo, the name is Kade. Give us what we came for."

I swear he was something else.

*cht cht cht cht cht*

“Kade.”

“Dining hall.”

“Leave.”

*cht cht cht cht cht*

We sat in silence as the spirit box flipped through the channels. Thirty minutes went by, and nothing else came through. I turned off the spirit box and handed Everly the EMF reader.

“It said your name.”

Kade looked at me with wide eyes, “I know, that was dope!” I playfully shoved him on the shoulder.

We walked around for an hour and a half, asking questions, and scanning the room, but nothing else happened. I looked down at my Nightmare Before Christmas watch and noticed it was only twelve-thirty in the morning. We still have four and a half hours to go.

“Hey Kenzie, we should hit up the main building since we have time. It should take us five minutes to walk there.”

“I agree with you. Let’s get going.”

I laced my fingers with the Everlys as we headed out into the yard of Pennhurst. We found no lights on the property, allowing the full moon and bright stars to light up our path. There was no wind tonight, and it was eerie.

We took the path toward the buildings bunched together, guessing they were the housing units. The boys followed along behind us while Kade kept the camera going.

“The building ahead says the main hall,” Griff pointed to the building on the far left. We shot that way, walking on the dirt path with the overgrown grass and debris.

When we reached the building, it sat with vines and roots growing in through the broken windows and moss covering the roof.

I looked at the group, “This is our last spot tonight. Are you guys ready?”

They all nodded as we headed inside; the door creaked open. Light poured in through the vast windows that covered the walls. There were wooden tables and chairs scattered everywhere. Some tables and chairs sat upright while someone or something knocked others over. Old laundry totes sat by the rooms’ doors, some full of molded clothes and linens with scattered clothes around the floor. Wheelchairs and a few random metal beds with mattresses filled the common room. It was a mess but still looked gorgeously terrifying. Most doors were closed as if patients were still sleeping.

“We haven’t used the rem pod,” I said, finally breaking the silence as everyone looked around, “I was thinking of setting it in one of those room doorways. We could sit in there and ask questions. If it goes off, that means someone joined us.”

“So you want us to isolate ourselves in a room, hope a ghost, possibly an evil one, comes in?”

“Yes, Griff, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Are you scared?” I said teasingly.

“Watch out, guys. Kenzie finally grew some balls.”

Everly joked and tugged on my hand to follow her to an open room. The room we approached looked untouched. The bed still had linens, nicely done with a nightstand perfectly intact, a lamp, a bible sitting on top: Kenzie, a standing mirror in the right corner, and a rocking chair with a teddy bear.

“Let’s sit in a circle, we can place the rem pod in the doorway, the EMF reader in the bed, and the spirit box in the middle of all of us.”

“Ay, we could even set the camera on the chair facing us. It can capture the entire room.”

“That’s perfect, Kade! Smart thinking.”

We all got comfortable in our circle, watching looks, “Are we ready? We already got footsteps and words on the spirit box, but this place feels different.” I spoke to the group.

“This building feels dark,” Everly replied.

“Agreed,” the boys said simultaneously.

“I’m” going to try something before turning in the spirit box, okay? First, let’s say our names, then I’ll ask questions." They all nodded in agreement.

“My name is Everly.”

“Hey, I’m Griff.”

“Ay, it’s Kade!”

I shook my head at him.

“And I am Kenzie. Before I turn on the spirit box, can you make a sound? A knock? Or move something?”

We sat in silence for around ten minutes, and nothing happened.

“I’m going to ask one more time. Please make a sound or move an object in this room. Let us know you are here. You are welcome to use our energy.” I’m

We sat in silence, waiting.

A few moments later, my phone rang. The caller ID is unknown. I showed the group my screen.

Everly grabbed the phone, putting it on speaker.

“Hello”

All you could hear was breathing. The call ended.

“What the he-“

We ran out of the room after the door slammed shut. We looked around the primary housing building, but everything looked the same.

“We need to leave. What if someone’s here? What if they try to hurt us?” Everly sounded panicked, pulling on my sleeve.

“I agree,” Griff said, rubbing the back of his neck as he shifted uncomfortably.

I looked at Kade, and he nodded his agreement.

“Um, no. You guys wanted to do this, not me. We have…” I looked down at my watch, “One hour. So grab the stuff, and let’s sit here in the open so we can watch our surroundings. I didn’t come here to lose out on two grand. So suck it up, buttercups.”

“Ay, Kenzie grew some balls, you guys. I’ll grab the stuff.”

The four of us walked out into the common room. We put our stuff down and put the camera on a dusty table. The boys looked to make sure nobody was here. Leaving Everly and me alone.

“How are you holding up?” Everly whispered.

“Better than you guys,” I snickered.

Everly rolled her eyes, “Whatever, I didn’t think doors wouldn’t be slamming. That’s physical, and I didn’t think spirits could do that.”

“If they conjure enough energy, they can do anything.”

Ten minutes later, the boys came back, and less than an hour left, we chatted and hung out. We heard knocks and creaks, but nothing too serious. When my phone alarm went off, we jumped.

“Time to go, grab the stuff. Let’s get out of here.”

We gathered our things, heading back to the dining hall to meet Brad and Melanie. It’s five a.m. The sun is rising over the top of the building, making me feel accomplished.

I stopped, and my friends stopped ahead, turning to look at me.

“What is it, Kenzie?” Everly said.

“We did it, guys. Time for a vacation.”

The boys, Everly, and I all high-fived.

Brad and Melanie were standing outside the building with a camera rolling. They asked us questions about our investigations, handed us over our two grand, and bid us farewell.

“Goodbye, Pennhurst.”