containing a plasma-screen TV, DVD player and several other electronics took up most of the wall opposite the doorway. A squashy black leather sofa lay along the wall across from the TV, its matching chair tucked into the corner next to the door. The love seat was situated along the back wall of the room. Long, dark red curtains covered the two tall, narrow windows in the outside corner, providing the only color in an otherwise unrelieved palette of black and gray.
www.samhainpublishing.com 45
Ally Blue
“Where’s that go?” Sam asked, pointing to a glass-paned door in the wall on the other side of the sofa.
“The back porch. There’s another door across the way, leading from the kitchen.” Bo paced across the floor toward the entertainment center. “Hm. EMF’s going up fast.
Seven, thirteen, twenty-five…” He stopped in front of the TV, his eyes going wide.
“Jesus, Sam. The EMF’s skyrocketing here. Look.” Sam went to stand beside Bo and peered at the EMF display. “One hundred and twelve?” He stared at Bo, shocked. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah.” Setting the EMF detector on a patch of empty shelf, Bo took a small flashlight out of his pocket and switched it on. He leaned over to peer behind the TV as best he could, aided by the light’s narrow beam. “There’s an absolutely insane tangle of cords and power strips back here. Good lord, no wonder the EMF’s so high.” He emerged from the narrow space with a grin. “This could explain a lot.” Sam smiled back, catching Bo’s excitement. Such a high EMF was known to cause a variety of symptoms—paranoia, nausea, even visual and auditory hallucinations.
Considering Lee’s assertion that many of the family’s experiences had occurred right here in this room, Sam wondered if they’d found their explanation already. Except…
“What about Sean and Adrian’s rooms?” Sam asked, though he hated to douse the hopeful shine in Bo’s eyes. “According to Lee, those are the other hot spots.” Bo’s smile didn’t dim one bit. “I know. But both of their rooms are on this side of the house. Adrian’s room is directly above us. Sean’s is next door, and his bed is positioned against the wall separating their rooms.”
“So when he’s in his bed, he’d conceivably be within the area affected by the EMF
leakage here.” Sam nodded. “It makes sense.”
Pulling the two-way radio off the waistband of his jeans, Bo thumbed it on. “Cecile, come in.”
The radio crackled. “Cecile here, Bo, go ahead.”
“Have you been in the boys’ rooms yet?”
“We’re in Sean’s room now.”
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www.samhainpublishing.com
An Inner Darkness
“Okay, listen. I need y’all to check the EMF levels very carefully, particularly in the area around Sean’s bed. Same thing for Adrian’s room.” “Sure thing.” Another muffled voice sounded in the background. “Dean wants to know if we’re looking for anything in particular.”
“The EMF levels in the family room are dangerously high, centering around the entertainment center. They’ve got all this equipment jury-rigged to death, and it’s leaking electromagnetic radiation all over the place. We’re wondering if it’s traveling up into the boys’ rooms as well.”
“Oh, my God, that could explain what the kids have experienced.”
“Yes, it could. Will y’all check that for me?”
“Of course. We’ll let you know what we find.”
“Great, thanks.” Bo turned to Sam, brown eyes sparkling. “An electromagnetism leak is fixable. I really hope that’s at the root of this whole business.”
“Me too.” Pointing the camera toward the back wall, Sam pulled Bo close and kissed him. “Let’s finish this room and move on, huh?” “All right.” With a quick nip of Sam’s bottom lip, Bo drew away and retrieved the EMF detector. “Let’s go clockwise around the room from the door, then cross the porch to the kitchen. We can get readings from the porch as well.”
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