Kindred Spirits

That's why he needs to take his damn medicine, Carolyn thinks. He forgot to take his blood pressure pill this morning. She took hers, and she feels fine.

But Nichole feels a presence, too. She moves her EMF around, and they can't figure out why they're not getting a spike. "I'm not crazy," Pete keeps repeating. They walk a few steps, and the cold comes with them. The ghost is moving.

Anger, loneliness and fear flood through Pete all at once. He's picking up the spirits' emotions.

"It's like a cloud moving around me," he says. "I'm breathing clouds."
Terri and Katie don't feel anything paranormal.
The ghost hunters gather and debate hitting another cemetery and a haunted house down the road. But Katie has a test in the morning, Nichole's tired and Pete doesn't want a three-hour drive home. Pete says the St. Michael's prayer to tell the spirits to stay in the cemetery.

"I closed everyone out," he says. "We can go."
He thinks the spirits want them to leave.
"It felt like we were being watched," Carolyn says.

"We were being watched," Pete says. "We were." He saw shadows, and he thinks he heard something say, "Hey."

"Let me see how fast I can get to the car," Carolyn says.
"That's my brave Carolyn," Pete says, following her.
He takes one last look, scanning the tombs, listening to the owl in the trees and the dog barking behind them. "There's a lot of lost souls out there," he says.

To see Lone Star Spirits' photos of ectoplasm, check this story's links at www.houstonpress.com.