Ghost Hunt: Chilling Tales of the Unknown by Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, Cameron Dokey Read Free Book Online

a Navy cap on his head.
    Make contact, Lyssa,
she told herself.
Do your job!
    “Um. Hello,” she called. “I’m Lyssa and this is Jen. Can you hear us?”
    “We want to know who you are,” Jen spoke up. “Is there something you want to tell us? Something we can do to help you?”
    The figure shimmered and faded. The wind seemed to blow him away. Then he reappeared, rippling, shaking.
    “Is there a reason you return here?” Lyssa asked. “Is there something we should know about you or about this place?”
    Lyssa gasped as the ghostly figure rose into the air. It floated above her. It swayed from side to side. Like a kite carried by a strong breeze.
    Lyssa took a step back. But there was nowhere to go. No wayto escape from the spirit. Fear gripped her. She wanted to scream, but no sound came. She stood and waited for the ghost to board the boat…
    Then he vanished.
    Gone.
    The sky was black. The dock empty. The wind howled all around.
    Lyssa hugged herself tightly. But she couldn’t stop shivering. “Let’s g-go get J-Jason and Grant,” she stammered.
    She let Jen lead her back into the cabin.
    Out of the wind, she shut her eyes. But she still saw the ghost in front of her. Floating. Shadowy. And totally real!

     
    “Let’s go over it again,” Grant said.
    It was a few days later. The TAPS team was in the conference room back in their office.
    Lyssa was glad to be back on land. But the excitement of the case hadn’t faded.
    “Well, we had quite a bit of paranormal activity on this one,” Grant began. “The voice Lyssa and Jen heard comes through very clearly on the audio.”
    “And Lyssa and Jen also had a sighting,” Jason added. “Unfortunately that was out of the range of the video camera. But they both saw the same apparition.”
    Mike and his twin, Mark, stared at Lyssa and Jen. “How does it feel?” Mark asked.
    “I can tell you how it
felt
,” Lyssa said. “I was absolutely terrified. It was like every shred of training went right out of my head.”
    “The two of us…” Jen started. “It took us a while. Staring at that guy. But we finally got ourselves together. We tried to communicate with him.”
    “But he sailed off with the wind,” Lyssa said. She motioned with one hand. “Poof.”
    “Well, at least we can tell Mr. Martin that his daughter didn’t make the whole thing up,” Mike said.
    “Actually,” Mark started. He flipped open a folder and pulled out several pieces of paper. “We can do better than that.”

     
    The next day, Jason, Lyssa, and Mark returned to the Martins’ houseboat. It was a warm, sunny day. The storm clouds had moved on.
    “We think we have some explanations for what your daughter experienced,” Jason told Diana’s parents.
    “Not only that,” he continued, “Lyssa and her teammate Jen saw a figure of a man.”
    Diana’s face filled with surprise. “You saw
him
? For real?”
    “For real,” Lyssa said. “I’m going to remember it for the rest of my life.”
    “Wow.” Diana turned to her dad. “So now we know I’m not going nuts!”
    “Honey, I never thought you were going nuts,” her father said. “I just couldn’t understand.”
    “Well, maybe this will help,” Mark began. “While these guys were investigating here on the boat, I did some research about Heron’s Point. This whole island was private property until just a couple of years ago.”
    “Somebody owned the whole island?” Diana said.
    Mark nodded. “The man who owned this island was named Peter Stone. He lived on a houseboat—something like this one. Until there was a tragedy. One day his boat caught fire, and he was trapped inside.”
    “Did he die?” Diana asked. “Did he die in the fire?”
    “Yes, he did,” Mark answered softly. “Right here at Heron’s Point Dock. We think the spirit you saw may be Peter Stone.”
    “What about all the other things Diana told us about?” Mr. Martin asked. “The banging noises and stuff showing up in strange