Twilight: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 3

further trouble. The possibility of it reacting to the portals made his stomach clench.
Dean glanced at his watch. “We’d better head back to the boulder. It’s getting close to the time we saw the thing before, and I know we want to see if it shows at the same time or not.”
“Absolutely.” Bo drew back enough to look into Sam’s eyes. “Is it okay if I hang onto you, Sam?”
Smiling, Sam let his arm fall from Bo’s shoulders to his waist. “You know it is.”
Laughing, Dean turned and started back down the path. “I’ll just give y’all a little privacy.”
“You don’t have to do—”
“Shut up,” Sam murmured, cutting Bo off.
To his surprise, Bo did. He stood staring silently at Sam, eyes wide and solemn. This time, the apprehension was clear on his face. Shoving his notebook and pen in his pocket, Sam cupped Bo’s cheek with his free hand and kissed him.
When they drew apart, Bo gave him a tiny smile which made Sam’s heart thump. They started down the path with their arms around each other, Bo letting Sam help support his weight. Bo’s gait hitched with each step, the limp less noticeable than it had been near the boulder but still there. Sam only hoped he wouldn’t have to endure anything worse.
A few minutes later, the three of them veered off the trail and plowed through the snow toward the boulder. Dean pulled a flashlight out of the bag and switched it on. The mounded snow sparkled in the light.
“EMF’s three point four,” Dean said as they drew even with the large rock.
Slipping from Sam’s embrace, Bo took several slow steps. “The sensations in my leg are the same, but more intense than they were on the path.”
Sam took the notebook and pen out. “Dean, shine the flashlight over here so I can write this down.”
“Sure thing.” Moving closer, Dean shone the beam on Sam’s notebook.
Sam scribbled down the information from Dean and Bo. “Thanks. Now let me see what I can feel this time.”
Closing his eyes, Sam drew a few slow, deep breaths, letting his mind relax and his consciousness expand. He caught the thread of alien energy right away. It was just as blank and empty as before.
“No change from last time,” Sam said, opening his eyes again. “It’s no stronger than it is on the path, really. And it still doesn’t feel like an active portal.”
Silence. Dean opened his mouth as if to speak, shook his head and closed it again. Bo moved back to Sam’s side, his hand resting on Sam’s shoulder. Sam had a feeling they were all thinking the same thing. He hoped they were right.
A sharp indrawn breath from Dean and the sudden tension in Bo’s body told Sam the moment they’d come here for had arrived. He glanced up just in time to see a nebulous black shape flow from behind the boulder into the trees.
Without a word, the three men darted after it. Sam kept his arm around Bo and his psychic senses extended. With Sam supporting him, Bo managed to move fast enough for him and Sam to keep the thing in sight. As before, Dean was farther ahead, the video camera trained on the creature. The twilight echoed with the noise of three grown men crashing through the forest, but not a sound could be heard from their quarry. It moved with an eerie silence, the trees and bushes utterly undisturbed by its passing.
Sam wasn’t surprised when the thing passed like smoke through the police tape, the bright yellow material not even fluttering in its wake. He, Bo and Dean stood still and quiet, watching the scene play out before them exactly as it had before. Sam couldn’t see into the rhododendron thicket as well as he had the last time, but he saw enough. By the time the creature vanished, with no sign it had ever been there, Sam had no more doubt of what they were witnessing.
“This is a residual haunting, isn’t it?” he said softly, stroking Bo’s braid.
Bo nodded. “I believe so. This area has a good bit of slate in the ground, if I remember right, and that’s been associated with residuals.”
“The way the thing behaves sure fits that theory.” Pursing his lips, Dean rewound the video he’d just taken and started it playing again. His face glowed blue in the light of the small screen. “Yeah, this is just like before. And look here, when it passes the police tape it doesn’t even obscure the yellow. See?”
Positioning themselves on either side of Dean, Sam and Bo watched the video over his shoulder. Sure enough, the police tape was clearly visible through the