So Sunshine's just woken up after last night's weird events and feels a little ruffled. Actually, she's not sure how long she slept. Going back to that void is hard to achieve once your mother has walked in to your room growling for no apparent reason.

It was weird. So, so weird. She knows that some of her subscribers have — have been talking about stuff. She doesn't believe it. She doesn't even really believe people can be possessed. But even if it is real, Sunshine doesn't believe that it's happening to her mom.

Maybe she can take her mother to the doctor or something. If she agrees, of course. But Sunshine is positive things will resolve on their own.

Haven't they always?
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Thank God, Sunshine's mom is doing much better. She's lost her fever and her mood has certainly improved — her personality seems to be coming back. She's not so.. weird.

She's kind of amused so many people thought her mother was possessed. Funny joke. Doesn't exist, and Kat certainly isn't being held by some demon. That's insane. But now they don't have to go to the doctor. It all seems to be... good.

Oh. It took a lot of effort on Sunshine's part, but she's finally been able to convince a very established, well-known medium to come out and look at the place and help them out and everything. So, that'll be fun. Maybe. Kind of.

(Even if he doesn't really want to come out because he thinks her videos are fake.)

It should be interesting because.. well, he's coming tomorrow. She's excited.

Hopefully only good news is shared.
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Later that evening, Sunshine receives a voicemail from LeMaster.

"Greetings young girl, this is LeMaster, paranormal expert." Sunshine rolls her eyes and ignores his quick, worrisome tone. "I am looking in to the photo that you gave me, I need you to call me back as soon as possible. You are in grave danger." Her eyes widen with confusion and doubt as his voice shakes over the speaker. "There is a haunting at play."

She blinks slowly, pursing her lips and placing her phone down. Guess she'll have to call him back.
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"So, whenever you're ready, it's on."

Sitting on the gray living room couch is a decently-aged man. He's wearing a plain, pale tan business coat, with a white undershirt and khaki pants. His shoes are dressy and a tight belt wraps around his waist. His arms are resting along the sides of the pillows in a calm, passive sort of manner, and his light eyes reflect genuine curiosity. His white hair is slick and wavy on his head. "So I introduce myself?"

"Yeah, sure." Sunshine leans back on the other couch, eyes flickering down to the flashing red camera light.

"My name is Alistair Turnbull," the man begins, British accent heavy and grating against his throat. He almost sounds like the narrator on Planet Earth. "I'm a recognized medium and exorcist." He lifts his hands before they flop back down. "I work mostly in the ancient kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. In fact, the smelly ghost of leper castle is one of my greatest successes."

Full of himself, much?

"Haunted Sunshine Girl," he continues. "Very personable. Very attractive. Very believable. But, I think there is some trickery here."

Sunshine makes a face.

"You see — a poltergeist. A poltergeist literally means, in German, noisy ghost. A poltergeist.. generally haunts a specific person, usually a young adolescent. Puberty. Hormones. Racing. And that could explain." He pauses. "That could explain the unicorn moving, explain the doors slamming, it could explain the noises."

Alistair sighs. "But then in these videos I'm also seeing.. orbs and seeing shadow ghosts, I'm seeing ectoplasm. And I'm seeing full-bodied manifestations. That can't happen in the same, in the same arena, in the same house as an evil ghost such as a poltergeist. So, I'm beginning to wonder whether Haunted Sunshine Girl is for real."

What is he accusing her of again?

He waves a hand. "Now, I think she's incredibly personable but is this, what we're really seeing. Or is it phony."

"Right." Sunshine is growing annoyed. "So you're good?"

"Yes." He nods.

"Let's get started then."

She turns to her mother, who's been standing in the doorway, listening intently. Sunshine adjusts the camera to face the two women sitting across from Alistair, who smiles.

"Haunted Sunshine Girl," he begins. Sunshine rests her chin on her knuckles.

"You can just... call her Sunshine," Kat buts in.

"Sunshine." The medium sighs. "I referred to the possibility of some trickery here." She nods and Kat rolls her eyes. "Let, let me explain to you what the spirit world is. It's not a world, a physical world per se. This probably — an esoteric world, and a world of electromagnetism of individual vibrations."

Kat looks unamused as he goes on. "The soul leaves the body, the spirit leaves the body at death, the aura breaks away, leaving physical body... finished." He crosses his arms. "Lighter. And that spirit enters the lower aura of dimension. It hasn't quite worked out yet, its emotions, its human emotions, its own emotions. Often, unfulfilled emotions — hate, viciousness, sadness, usually the bad emotions."

Hm. Sunshine is pretty sure she's seen all of these emotions from ghosts. "And it lives in this lower aura, it's sometimes described as two plates. The human world is a plate, and the lower aura is another plate, and they are revolving around each other, different speeds. In the middle of each is a wrench, is a, a hole, is a method where we can see through each other as they coincide, as these holes coincide. And then that spirit — and especially that spirit — is able to communicate and will start to reach the higher level, a higher aura, we — we call it Summerland."

Kat raises a brow.

"Winston Churchill once called it —" Alistair looks up, "going on to our sunlit upland. Reaching sunlit upland, and then those spirits have become more... acceptable as to the new spirit world, and they will begin to part from us, but still there is that lower area of spirits that have not attained the higher level."

Sunshine looks bored.

"They are still yearning. Sometimes, wistfully, sometimes with great aging, sometimes with great sadness, sometimes with evil intent — the Ouija board, for example — to communicate with us. Does that make sense?"

Sunshine stares at him for a minute before exchanging a glance with her mother. "Mmmhm," she chirps.

"Well let's see — if we do have a spirit in this house —"

"Right! Let's get this party started! Cool."

Alistair looks at Sunshine and Kat grunts. "I think he's being serious."

"Oh, yeah. Okay." She smiles and the medium blinks, looking confused as to how he's gotten himself in a situation like so.

Kat pats Sunshine's leg and they all stand. Alistair lifts himself to his feet, holding his glasses. "So Sunshine," he commences, "we shall see if you have a ghost."

"Yeah," she murmurs, watching him withdraw a white beaded necklace with a cross on the end. Sunshine raises a brow and watches the man glance around.

Kat covers a laugh and Sunshine tries not to smile. "This guy's weird," she whispers. Her mother wheezes but hides it by clearing her throat.

Alistair moves slowly toward the kitchen and Sunshine follows. His hands are outstretched to his sides and his eyes are cracked shut. "I —" He turns, appearing to be genuinely startled. "I feel something."

No shit. Sunshine laughs and the medium walks past her, eyes narrowed. "I feel — no, I can see —" She moves the camera toward the empty curtains, "I can see a man. I see a man, but I can't see his eyes. I can't see his mouth. His head is covered."

Sunshine draws in a breath, all amusement gone from her face. What did he just say. "Some old... sack. A burlap sack." Kat rolls her eyes but Sunshine.. she knows this man is truthful. She hasn't shown him the pictures yet, and he has no idea about her being attacked by the bagged man twice. One in ghost form, and maybe.. one in human form..? Back at the creepy house?

"There's a — child with him." Sunshine blinks slowly then looks around, trying to contain her heavy gasps. "The child... can't see, either. The child's got a head covered in a sack. And yet, they're looking over you and your mom."

How is that possible, though? If she — if she was attacked by the bagged man so many months ago, before Creepy Lady blessed the house, and if that man was the man that chased her, then why would they have good intentions? Unless.. unless, perhaps, another ghost had pretended to be the bagged father? Maybe, maybe the man at the creepy house had been someone else completely? Not a ghost, but, but a worshipper of these spirits?

Maybe it was her dad?

Sunshine's blood turns to chips of ice. "I'm feeling.. something else," Alistair resumes, rounding back toward the kitchen. "A dark and sinister energy. I can't see — I can't see it, but I.. I can feel it." He backs away slowly. "It's closer to Earth, it's closer to us. It is more evil. Its energy is more malicious."

She grips the camera harder, trembling. "I'm losing sight of the two — the man and the little girl. This energy is becoming persuasive." The medium's voice quickens with worry. "It's becoming — more, more, more overbearing." He recoils. "It carries with it — great evil."

Sunshine's throat goes dry. "Great maliciousness. It's —" Alistair gasps, pressing the cross to his lips and closing his eyes. He leans against a beam for support as Kat stands.

"You alright..?" Sunshine watches the man shake.

"I, I, I — I need to use a bathroom. Where is your bathroom?"

"It's over there." She points in the direction to that terrible, terrible bathroom and swallows as he rushes inside.

"Are you okay?" her mother asks.

"Are you sure.. you're okay?" Sunshine's eyes widen as Alistair slams the door behind him.

Kat runs over and gapes at her daughter, clearly confused. "That was weird.."

"Very."

The two lean against the walls and wait for minutes, but hardly hear anything coming from the bathroom. "He's been in there forever," she whispers to her mother.

"I can't even hear anything," Kat murmurs, turning her head toward the door. "I — seriously, how long do you think it's been? Over twenty minutes? Thirty?"

"At least ten." Sunshine listens through the door.

"Do you think he climbed out the window?"

"Why would he do that?!"

Kat sighs and knocks. "Are you okay?" Silence. "Mr. Turnbull?"

Sunshine taps her foot. "Just — just go in!"

"Why?!" Kat shakes her head.

She snorts. "He's clearly not responding!"

Her mother sighs and hesitates before pushing open the door, cautiously glancing around the inside. Sunshine walks in first, eyes darting to the sink. She gasps softly at the dribbles of blood running over the edges.

"Are you okay — oh my gosh! What —" Sunshine looks in the mirror and sees Alistair sitting, shaking and seemingly convulsing. His lip is bleeding, or maybe it's blood dripping out of his mouth. "Did you fall?" Kat touches his shoulder. "Here, let's — help me."

Sunshine reaches forward and grasps the man's arm. They lead him out of the bathroom and to the living room. "J — just sit on the couch. I'm so sorry." Kat looks back at her daughter, shocked.

Alistair is unresponsive. There's a dark, horrified look in his eyes as he seats himself, cross curled in his hands. His knuckles are white.

"What happened?" her mother whispers, leaning down to his height.

"The dark energy," he breathes out. Kat touches his arm. "As the man and the — little girl were.. disappearing.. forced out by that energy —" He looks up. "Sunshine, can I.. talk to you alone?"

"Oh—"

"No, I don't think that's a good idea." Kat shakes her head. Alistair stares at Sunshine, like he knows something she doesn't, or like he — he knows something they both know but Sunshine doesn't want to admit. "What happened?"

The medium is shaking but doesn't take his navy gaze off of Sunshine. "She turned to me."

Kat presses her lips together. "Who turned to you?"

"The little girl." He blinks slowly and his eyes flicker to her mother, then back to Sunshine. "She said.." Alistair hesitates, hanging his head and wiping the blood from his lips. He slowly lifts his head to Kat, glare unmoving. "Don't. Trust her."

"Don't trust who—" Kat begins.

"Don't trust.." Alistair stares at Kat. "Her."

"Who..?" Sunshine has a horrible feeling she knows who it is, but doesn't want to admit it. The medium sighs heavily and curls his fingers around the beads of the necklace. "She meant —" He definitely doesn't want to say it. "She meant your mother."

"What?" Kat just sounds confused and offended.

"Don't trust her."

"You — you're crazy." Her mother stands and waves her arms. Sunshine stays silent.

"Don't trust her."

"Okay, that is not what she meant, you misunderstood."

"Don't trust her. Time —"

"Stop saying that!"

"—and time again. Don't trust her."

The two glare at each other and Sunshine slowly backs away.

"No, you're saying that!" Kat growls.

"I'm only channeling.."

"Mom, it's okay, don't freak out," she murmurs.

"No, it's not okay! You're not only channeling, you're coming in here to my home and accusing me, and scaring my daughter — you know what, we're done, you're out."

"Mom!" Sunshine watches in shock as Kat pulls the front door open, motioning toward the front lawn.

"No! My house, my rules, out."

He stands and makes his way toward the front door, but not before stopping by Sunshine. "Don't trust her."

"Get out." Her mother glowers furiously at the man. Alistair lifts his coat and stares at Kat. "Go," she snarls.

He walks outside and Kat slams the door on his back, locking it.

"Mom, you don't have to overreact," Sunshine sighs.

"I'm not overreacting," she snaps back.

"You were." She laughs lightly, but isn't being funny.

Her mother doesn't respond and stomps to her room.

"Well.." Sunshine faces the camera. "That didn't go well."

don't trust her