A Day On the Job (Ben)

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Sofia got out of the cab at the end of the main road and paid the driver, taking her camera bag and closing the back door. There didn't seem to be much in Nebraska. There were some wooded areas, but mainly lots of farms and flat plains. It was dry and the weather was hot. Sofia was wearing tan khaki cargo pants and a white tank top, her hair long and kind of disheveled from the wind.

It took her around ten minutes to get to the house from where she'd had the cab drop her off. It was an old farm house on several acres of land, far out in the middle of nowhere.

At least no nosy neighbors will see me if I have to break in, she thought.

She'd had to break into several of the houses she'd been hired to photograph. Now she tended to expect it, though she hadn't brought anything with her to do any sort of breaking and entering with. A rock would do just fine if she could find one.

She stopped in front of the house to take a few photos of the front of the house. She took the digital camera out of the bag and screwed on the lens. She walked around the entire exterior, taking pictures of the place from all around, before trying to get inside. The house was pretty rundown, but it didn't look unstable. Then again, things weren't always what they appeared to be on the outside.

Sofia put the camera back in her bag, zipped it up, and shouldered the strap before heading up to the front door. She opened the screen door and tried the knob on the main door. It was locked, as she'd expected. She went around to the back and tried the back door, but it was locked as well.

"Of course," she muttered. "Abandon your home, but make sure to lock it first."

She tried opening one of the first floor windows, but it wouldn't budge. She tried another, but had no luck.

"Beautiful," she said with a sigh.

Sofia set her camera down and went hunting for a rock. She found a hefty one and walked over to one of the side windows. She couldn't leave a broken window right in the front for anyone driving down the road to see. Though she suspected this road wasn't well traveled.

She took a deep breath and threw the rock as hard as she could, closing her eyes. She heard the glass break and a thud. She looked up to see the rock lying on the ground, the window partially cracked. She picked up the rock and proceeded to smash the window, helping the cracks spread and the glass tumble and shatter. Once the bulk of it was gone, she cleared as much of the glass as she could away from the frame.

Sofia tossed the rock aside, grabbed her camera bag, and started climbing through the window.

"Ah! Mierda," Sofia hissed.

She looked down to see she'd scraped her leg on a shard of glass she'd missed. There was a tear in her pants just above her right knee, blood already seeping through. She climbed through the rest of the way and stood on the other side. Looking around, she found herself in what she figured used to be the living room. There was still very dusty furniture placed around. A dark stained hardwood floor, a matching coffee table, a beige sofa and matching armchairs.

Touching the cut on her leg, Sofia saw it was just a scratch and started taking pictures.

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Sofia observed the house as she took pictures. There was a large fireplace and everything was covered in a layer of dust. She was leaving dusty shoeprints along the floor as she walked around.

She wondered why the previous owners had abandoned this place, leaving all their furniture. Looking closer, she realized there were even framed photos still sitting on top of the fireplace.

"Why would someone leave these?" she said aloud.

She took a moment to pick up one of the photos and dust off the glass. It was a family. Two parents, two sons, and a daughter standing outside where Sofia had just been. She replaced the photo on the shelf and continued taking photos. She heard a creaking sound and snapped a few more photos, thinking a draft had blown a door open or something. There was a gaping hole in the wall now that she'd broken the window.

The footsteps made her freeze, the camera poised in front of her face.

Shit, she thought.

She didn't know who could possibly be wandering around in here aside from her. She'd been told this house had been abandoned for several years. How had they gotten in?

Sofia kneeled down slowly to pick her camera bag up off the floor. Holding the camera itself in front of her, she backed quickly into the dining room. It had no door, just an open doorway. She went inside and pressed her back against the wall beside the doorway so she could peek around the corner into the living room. She hoped she'd be able to run out the back door, wherever it was, if she needed to.

She stayed quiet, listening to the creaking footsteps.

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Sofia stood with her back against the wall, hearing the footsteps get closer and stop. She closed her eyes and tried not to breathe too loud.

Now what? she thought.

She opened her eyes and looked around. There were two doors in the room, but she didn't know where they led. One probably went to the hallway leading to the stairs, but she couldn't be sure.

She heard a male voice mutter something, but couldn't quite make out the words.

If I can make it to the back door without being noticed... she thought.

She guessed the back door was in the kitchen, and the kitchen had to be near the dining room. She could chance it and take the door on the far end of the room.

The footsteps got closer and then stopped.

"Is anyone there?"

The voice that had been muttering before was booming now and Sofia flinched. She stayed quiet, biting her lower lip nervously, eyeing the door on the other side of the room. This was probably a cop who'd happened to be driving by as she was crawling through a broken window. How would she go about explaining that?

Well, you see, officer, I tried both the doors, but they were locked. And then the windows just wouldn't budge at all, so you can see why I had to hurl a rock through the window there. Oh, no, I wasn't stealing. I'm a photagrapher. At that point she would hold her camera up for emphasis. What am I doing here? Oh, well, you see this young gentleman hired me to take some photos. He wants me to take pictures of spirits and let him know if this house his haunted... What was that? Put my hands behind my back? Oh, yes, certainly...

Sofia chuckled softly and quickly stifled it, covering her mouth with one of her hands.

"Look, kids, this place is dangerous. If you're in there, I need you to come on out, NOW,"

Sofia jumped and would've cried out if her hand wasn't still in front of her mouth to muffle it. So far it at least didn't seem like the man had seen her. Apparently he thought he was dealing with a group of kids.

At that moment, Sofia made a choice before she'd even thought about it. One moment she was standing with her back against the wall, the camera around her neck and the bag in her hand. The next she was running for the door on the other side of the room.

Sofia had managed to get through all of her less-than-legal jobs without getting arrested. She wasn't about to break that record today.

But as she turned the knob and pulled, the door wouldn't budge.

Oh, come on! she thought, pulling at the knob.

The knob turned freely, so the door was stuck, not locked. That meant there was hope. Setting down her camera bag, Sofia put one foot on the side of the wall and pulled at the knob with both hands and all her weight.

The door did open, but Sofia stumbled back, caught off balance. She managed to catch herself, knocking over one of the dining room chairs in the process.

Cursing under her breath, Sofia grabbed her camera bag. She was about to run through the door when it slammed loudly shut again. This time the startled cry escaped before she could stifle it.

"What in the hell...?"

She tried the knob, but again the door wouldn't budge.

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Sofia cried out when the door slammed violently shut and immediately started struggling to open it again. She hadn't noticed that the man had come into the room and tripped over the chair she'd knocked over. She was too busy trying to get out of this house before he caught up with her.

"What in the hell?" she said.

She gasped as she was suddenly grabbed and whirled around, suddenly eye-level with a broad chest.

"I was wondering the same damn thing."

Sofia looked up at the man, startled, as he looked down at her, an unpleasant expression on his face. He held a shotgun in his free hand and her gaze wandered to it as he spoke. She didn't like guns. They always made her nervous.

"You're in a lot of trouble, lady. What the hell are you doing here?! Don't you know this place is dangerous?!"

Sofia's gaze quickly returned to his as he scolded to her. She was both frightened and slightly insulted. After all, she wasn't a child and didn't appreciate being treated like one. If she wasn't so startled and caught off guard, she would've told him that.

Even then, though, the glare he gave her would've stopped her before the words made it out of her throat.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

Sofia blinked at him for a moment, the gun and his grip on her arm making her uncomfortable. If she didn't know any better, she would've thought he lived here and had just caught her rumaging around in his living room. Taking a breath, she tried to keep her tone calm and even when she replied.

"I'm Sofia. Who are you?"

Her voice carried a faint Spanish accent and was quavering slightly, though the tone was slightly defiant. She could hear a beeping sound, but wasn't sure where it was coming from. It seemed to get louder as they stood there.

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Sofia studied the man as he looked down at her. He seemed frustrated and a bit puzzled to her. His eyes kept wandering to her camera as hers wandered to his gun.

What in the world does he need that for? she wondered.

When she told him her name and asked for his, he smiled. That relieved her slightly.

And then he spoke again and the relief was gone.

"I'll ask the questions here, mam," he said.

Sofia wrinkled her brow when he called her 'ma'am'. People called her mother ma'am. Sofia didn't think she was in the ma'am age bracket, but apparently this guy did.

"Now, WHAT are you doing in this house?" he demanded.

"I am taking pictures," she replied, holding up her camera with her free hand. "And what are you doing?" she asked, nodding to the shotgun.

He didn't seem too willing to answer questions, but she would still ask them. She looked around, the beeping noise getting louder. She got a chill, like icy fingers running up her spine, and shivered.

"Do you hear that?" she asked. "The beeping?"

The chill lingered and Sofia felt very cold all the sudden. She had thought a breeze had come in from the window, but now she wasn't so sure. Her teeth chattered and her breath came out in clouds.

"Frio," she muttered. "Do you feel cold?" she asked nervously.

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Sofia wasn't sure where that beeping sound was coming from, and the sudden drop in temperature was uncomfortable, to say the least. Her teeth even started chattering. She saw the man breathe out a cloud of cold air and was slightly relieved that she wasn't the only one feeling the sudden chill.

"Son of a bitch," Ben muttered.

"What?" Sofia asked.

But the question soon answered itself as what looked like a cloud of smoke began forming between them and the door. Sofia gasped and backed up a few steps as the man instructed her to stay behind him. Sofia nodded, her confusion showing in her face.

She was stunned as she stared at what appeared to be a person standing before them, only less solid. But where had it come from?

"What are you doing?"

The man raised his shot gun, aiming it at the thing in front of them. What on earth was he planning to do? How could a bullet do anything to a cloud of smoke?

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Sofia watched, horrified, as what looked like a man appeared in front of them, out of thin air. Something was familiar about him, but she couldn't place it. It bothered her.

She didn't have much time to think about it as the man aimed his weapon and was thrown across the room. She gasped and backed away as he hit the floor a few feet away, groaning. She turned back toward the other man and backed away, shivering, her breath still coming out in white clouds.

A ghost, she thought.

Despite having taken spirit photos to make a large amount of her money, Sofia had never actually seen a spirit. She stared at it in wide-eyed fascination as well as terror. What was it going to do to her?

"YO! JETHRO!"

Sofia jumped, startled at the sudden outburst and looked at the man on the floor, aiming his weapon once again at the ghost. That made her more nervous than anything. She didn't like the idea of a gun being pointed anywhere near her direction. He made a cocky comment before firing the gun. Sofia screamed at the sound. Then the cold she was feeling dissipated almost immediately and she realized the spirit was gone. The man was at her side quickly.

"Dios Mio," she said. "What... What just happened?"

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The man started to answer Sofia's question, but he stopped and began looking around. Was he afraid of being overheard? He seemed a bit rattled, like he wanted to go in several directions at once, but had to pick only one.

"I'll tell you, though I doubt it'll do much good, but first... First, we are getting YOU out of here and to someplace safe."

Sofia frowned slightly, but nodded. She had a job to do here, but she couldn't do much of anything if she didn't know how to deal with this spirit. Sofia hung back as the man loaded two more shells into his shotgun and started heading for another room.

"Hurry lady!"

Sofia jumped at the sudden exclamation and walked quickly to catch up to him, looking around as she did so. She didn't even know what she was looking for, but she felt she should be vigilant and alert.

"Where will we go?" Sofia asked, walking closely behind the man.

She followed him back into the living room and out into the hallway leading to the front door and the staircase. Apparently he had more experience with breaking and entering than she did.
Sofia turned her head quickly toward the staircase as she heard a thud on the second floor. Her gaze traveled to the ceiling as another thud sounded. She grabbed the man's arm without thinking.

"Is it back?" she whispered.

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Sofia stood there gripping the man's arm, her eyes not leaving the staircase as she asked:

"Is it back?"

He and Sofia listened carefully for a moment. She didn't hear anything and he didn't appear to either. Sofia knew that should've been a good thing, but she had a bad feeling about it. She couldn't have explained it, but she knew there was something there with them.

"I don't know, but just in case, let's get you outsi-"

The man had started to lead her to the front door as he spoke, but he was cut off mid-sentence when the door slammed shut and he backed away. Sofia jumped, startled, and moved away from him as he backed up so she wouldn't get stepped on.

She gasped and put a hand over her mouth as the room got very cold. And then a cloud appeared in front of them and very quickly took on the shape of a woman. Sofia backed away as the man cursed and the ghost yelled at him, as a mother would yell at a child.

By the time he told her to run, Sofia had already turned and started racing back toward the kitchen. As she reached the threshold, the door swung forward and slammed shut, nearly hitting her in the face. She stopped short and, in trying to back away too quickly, she lost her balance and fell backwards, landing hard on her back. She cried out and her hands gripped the camera around her neck automatically as she fell, protecting it.

As Sofia sat up on her elbows and tried to catch her breath, another cloud began to form in front of the kitchen door. She gasped and started scrambling backwards as a little boy appeared in front of her.

"My mommy's sooo mad at you!" he said.

Sofia screamed.

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Sofia looked up, her eyes wide, as the ghost came closer. She scrambled backward, one hand still clutching her camera. She’d grown so accustomed to protecting it that it was almost a reflex.

She tried to get quickly to her feet, but before she could stand, the little boy lunged forward and shoved her with the strength of a full-grown man. Sofia landed hard on her back with a grunt, startled and frightened, staring up at this specter. She looked up when she heard a whistle. Still lying on her back, she could see the man standing in the doorway with his shotgun, though everything looked like it was upside-down.

Sofia stifled a scream, making a half-squealing noise, and covered her face with her hands as the man aimed the gun. But, when she didn’t hear a shot, she uncovered her face to see the ghost vanish. She gasped and sat up, getting to her feet just as she heard the click of the empty gun followed by the man’s curse.

The child shoved the man, and he went flying back into the living room. Sofia put a hand to her mouth, terrified and shaking all over, both from the cold in the air and her fear.

She looked around the kitchen as the ghost made his way into the living room. She pulled open drawers and cupboards, finding only dusty plates and silverware. She heard a strange cry, and then the cold began to dissipate.

Sofia walked cautiously to the kitchen doorway and saw Ben sitting on the floor.

“Wow… I always said I’d never hit a kid,” he said, “guess I never saw this coming…”

Sofia just stared at him for a moment, horrified.

“But… He… They… He’s not a little boy… is he?” she asked, tentatively. “He’s… he’s something else, isn’t he?”

She looked around the room uneasily. She’d never been a true believer in spirits or ghosts. She was partially relieved to discover there was truth behind their existence, knowing she hadn’t necessarily been scamming people every time she charged them for “spirit photos”, but she was also filled with a feeling of dread. Did that mean every time she’d gone somewhere to take these photos she’d been in the presence of spirits?

The thought made her feel uneasy and she tried her best to shake it as she walked over to the man and held out her hand to help him up.

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The man took Sofia's hand and got to his feet, explaining that the beings they'd encountered were angry spirits. Sofia frowned. She wondered if all spirits were angry, or just some. She hated the idea of angry spirits lurking around all the time.

Sofia winced as he re-loaded his shotgun.

"So... Sofia was it? We need to find somewhere safe to hold up before we continue this conversation."

Sofia nodded, though she wasn't sure where they could go. If this family was haunting the entire house and wouldn't let them leave, where could they go that would be safe?

"Let's get in the kitchen.... I have an idea."

Sofia walked with him to the kitchen, staying close. If another spirit attacked, she didn't want to get thrown across the room again.

"Why will we be safe in the kitchen?" she asked.