Episode number 142: The Nathan Hale Homestead

[onemillionsubscribers]

Gina was having a good summer. She was one year closer to finishing off her grad school degree at Duke Universoty. That said she still was planning on keeping up her growing business during the summer months. Talking about and visiting haunted houses and locations over the whole good old US of A was weirdly well loved. She was fairly sure that most of her patrons were people who just needed something exciting to watch on their phones late at night.

It still was fun for her and after the overhead netted her enough to cover expenses. It helped that this was something she liked doing. Investigating things that people didn't know the truth of.

Like if it was mold or actually bloody walls. In most cases she could confirm that it wasn't actually something paranormal. Then there were other times like now. The country home belonging to a Revolutionary War hero located in a small town in Connecticut looked incredibly well kept. She had gotten permission from the local historical society to do filming over here. She was told to be careful with the gardens and to stay off the local horse trails.

Simple enough. She had her van parked and was pulling out equipment when a shiver ran down her spine. It was weird but looking up at the house? Gina could have sworn she saw someone in one if the upper windows. That .Just be one of the locals who volunteered to help maintain the place.

With a flourish Gina pulls out her cell phone to start pre-recording.

"So by popular request? Guess what my favorite 'ghosties'," she hates the name her fan's gave themselves but whatever! They like it. "That's right, the one and only Captain Nathan Hsle Honestead located in Coventry down in Connecticut!"

Gina gives some background on the property. Captain Hale being the youngest son in the family with his father being a Deacon of the local church. There are a few other interesting points that Gina thinks are actually pretty interesting.

Such as this Hale family being connected to the same Reverend John Hale who was connected to the Salem witch trials. Gina really wanted to get into that right away but, experience told her to lead into that. Walk around inside and actually look at the whole house.

Virgina Matthews does not believe this place is as haunted as they think. She thinks it is far mire likely that the hype from being within a few hours drive of Salem and this being a slightly off the beaten path country home has the locals wanting more than there is. She has seen true hauntings and this doesn't feel like one. That is, of course, up until she steps inside and she swears this place shouldn't feel this chill right by the old kitchens. It should be warm still given how hot it had been on the drive out here.

"Okay ladies and gentlemen,this is where I'm going to be doing my set up for tonight. The staff told me earlier that they had no problem with me setting up my equipment." She sets her phone down and starts to pull out a few different pieces of monitoring equipment she had brought along. Gina has this weird feeling that keeps settling in.

She knows that something feels off. Since she ca not place it she keeps working. Later once she is filming different rooms and getting temprature readings then she will do whatever naval gazing is needed on why she feels bothered.

It should be nothing. Even if there sometimes really is something strange in the neighborhood.

Comments

[ivebeenslimed]

Venkman and the crew were busy chasing a hot trail in Connecticut. Their work took them everywhere even into other countries. It was something he never expected when they decided to start this gig and how big their work was well known. At first, he thought this was going to be a bust but some point late into the night they had the activity that people were complaining about. He was chasing after an apparition when something didn't feel right. Everything became static and suddenly dark. "Hey guys, can someone tell me what's going on here?" he called out a little nervous. This wasn't something he was used to. He suddenly felt himself falling and next thing he knew he landed himself with a thud on a wooden floor that threatened to cave in from his weight and impact.

"What the hell was this all about?" Venkman muttered as he went to pick himself up, dusting off dust and cobwebs. When he got up he found himself in completely different territory. This was not the house they were in. Yet, this house wasn't ordinary either. It felt similar to what they were dealing with earlier.

He gave a wary sigh. And decided to start exploring looking for something that could tell him what was going on. He tried calling out to his group over his walkie, but there was nothing but static. He was on his own.

[onemillionsubscribers]

Gina is setting up a battery pack unit. Something that she picked up to make sure she could keep her equipment going all night. Places like thus Homestead are only set up tk have very minimal power to help gave very minimal power.

The only thing they would care about is protection from vandals as well as any possibility of fires. It's unlikely that either senerio would cone to pass but Gina appreciates the care the locals put into preserving this place. If Gina is honest, this is one of the nicer locations she has worked.

That thud doesn't sound like something she would expect. Too big for a racoon and she had been told that they tend to stay out behind the big barn.

"Hello?" Gina grabs a flashlight as she starts to go check the ground floor. The lighting down here isn't great. Her plan was to use battery powered camp lanterns to light up the rooms.

"Anyone here? I believe I've been the only one authorized by the Coventry Town Historical Soceity to be here tonight," she calls out. Her voice carries well and Gina doesn't feel too bad about trying to sound like an authority.

[ivebeenslimed]

"The last I heard we were the ones given permission to investigate. Where ever here is now..." Venkman greeted and lowered the gun to his proton pack. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

He gazed at the younger woman with curiosity. He had no clue what happened, where he was, or who she was. Let alone what the Coventry Town Historical Society was. All that mumbo jumbo mess. It was time to feel things out and see how to get back to where he was supposed to be. Why was a young woman even here in a place like this? A

[onemillionsubscribers]

She almost curls a lip at his appearance. The way this guy dresses is a little dated and the part of her that has to look pretty enough for her fan base just doesn't care for his look right up until she notices the patches on his jump suit.

Weird. She hadn't seen something like that since a paranormal convention she had gone to a few months ago. There were some really cool educational panels she had wanted to sit in on.

"Duel purpose field work? I was contacted to help check out a possible haunting of the Nathan Hale homestead. I was setting up my equipment for an overnight observation," she explains. "I do some film work too...It's useful."

[ivebeenslimed]

"Kids these days...." Venkman shook his head not entirely believing the girl's story. Why was she even by herself? Even if they were just looking they just wouldn't send out one person to look. Well... they tried to, but on occasion that didn't go as planned. "You're trying to make a documentary then? This place isn't exactly safe too be doing this alone. Why don't you have a team?"

He did fall through some old flooring. And with the places he's been and seen this place gave him the creeps. The more she tried to explain herself, the more he doubted she could withstand things if things went out of hand. Dealing with ghosts was hard to predict. You had to be quick to improvise.

[onemillionsubscribers]

"Small town. I think they would have invited someone a little more prominate than myself...but I have decent enough credentials. I'm a post doctoral student at Duke. Parapsychology," she clarifies at the end because Duke isn't one of the usual suspects for a degree like hers.

"What I usually end up doing is debunking hauntings. While I have run into cases of hauntings they're usually benign in nature I can count on my hand the number of times I've been tempted to, you know. Call in an actual Ghostbuster." Gina breaks from her serious talk and mild defense of the level of risks she's willing to take to flash a faint grin.

"This place is... spooky? But not dangerous."

[ivebeenslimed]

He arched an eyebrow at the mention of being a post doctoral student, let alone the mention of Duke. That was news to him. Their line of work was often a joke and considered a waste of time in such prominent Universities. They were sacked for trying to do such work. Now they're offering degrees?

".....When did such places like Duke offer degrees of Parapsychology?"

They often debuked a lot of cases themselves. In fact a lot of haunted houses weren't haunted at all. It was rare when they actually found one. Yet, this place, Peter couldn't put his finger on it. He wasn't sure if he was on edge because of his confusion or if it was due to the place itself. Normally his gut feeling never failed him.

He snorted at her assessment. "And what makes you think that?"

[onemillionsubscribers]

"Since 2000? It's an extension of the theology department so occasionally I have someone tell me in very nice words I'm probably going to hell," Gina says with a sense of befuddlement and amusement creeping into her voice. This guy is a dead ringer for one of the more well-known figures in her chosen field.

One of the guys who was in no small part an inspiration for some of her work. The stuff that doesn't get put out on YouTube of course because the fans do not get to see her actually getting tossed out a window from a class three specter. It got upgraded to a four when she found out who it was shortly after.

"I did background research and conducted a few interviews today. The sightings indicate a possible class two specter. The reference picture Mrs. Green had was...interesting but it didn't have a fully defined shape. They have a young teenager girl on the grounds doing weeding here every week and she hasn't seen anything." Gina smiles faintly.

"Hobestly, this was expected to be a quiet night. My usual viewers were going to probably be bored....but you didn't come through the front door so now I have too many new questions and this probably won't end up going online. Which sucks, books and research do not pay for themselves."

[ivebeenslimed]

"So you did some basic research. A good star, but it's still not enough. Ghosts can be pretty tricky to read. They also always don't present themselves in the way you want them to. We've ran into cases that started out looking simple and it turned out to be pretty big. What got you into this? This isn't exactly a field that's popular," Venkman stated and as for her other statement...

"Who says I had to come through the front door?"

He wasn't ready to say who he was or where he came from. As none of this still made sense. The fact she told him it was in the 2000s said a lot. The last he saw they were in the 1990s. A time travel. They had experienced that a few times. But it was weird. Messing with time was never good. Was there a reason for him to be here?

[onemillionsubscribers]

"I..." She trails off frowning at him ever so slightly. "Wait, we?"

That caught her attention. He is taller than her so Gina gives him a slow once over. The jump suit, the boots, the patch. This guy knows his stuff.

"You work for one of the more official 'teams', huh." Gina rolls her eyes. "I admit, I'm not always absolutely one hundred percent safe but come on. Working on a budget. All the cool grants go towards people who want to hang out in a lab. I'm more of a.... I would like to closely observe the science and maybe give it a poke."

Gina will never admit it but without her fan's there's no way she could afford to drive out to locations like this. Gas and equipment are incredibly pricey especially in this economy.

"Okay. Then...how. This place seriously didn't come off as too weird. I wouldn't have expected this level of activity...I must have missed something in my early interviews."

[ivebeenslimed]

Teams? There were more of them? Venkman gave her a confused look briefly. He wondered if they really had started a movement with their work. And that now others were carrying on the torch. It was nice to learn that their work really meant something and inspired others. Had she been around their time they probably could have taken her under their wing and taught her more. It was clear she was trying and wanting to know more. He appreciated that and he knew the guys would have too.

"You have to remember that people don't always tell the truth and will exaggerate things. Especially if they are getting attention. And also what they perceive may be what the spirit wanted them to see. The time of things also can come into play too." Peter explained. As he spoke he ushered her for to follow him as he went to explore the house further. He was getting bored of just talking and standing around. He needed more clues too.

[onemillionsubscribers]

Considering she still has the vibe of someone working their way through school, Gina absolutely would benefit from someone more experienced taking her under their wing. At the very least Peter would have understood that social media marketing was how she was covering costs and between him and Winston they may have changed some of her approach.

"Hm. You're not wrong I had a.... fan? Of my work reach out. She wanted someone to convince her Mom that her Dad wasn't haunting them." Her look when referencing it wasn't unkind.

"Sometimes people want attention. Or they're expediting real pain and just want a little comfort or in my case a little bit of the truth. I'm not great at being soft."

Gina knew she wasn't the type to give real comfort. That just wasn't her but people did like to feel seen and heard. Sometimes that was the best she could offer.

The house isn't terribly big. The floor they are on had several bedrooms kept in the style of a Colonial era family farm house.

"We're approaching one of the rooms that people have seen things happen," Gina comments as she pulls out her phone. Strange that she can see there's suddenly no network access. There was a cellphone tower not too far away so this didn't make sense.

She makes a noise in the back of her throat but is too distracted to tell Peter what's going on. She doesn't think she knows his name anyways just that he looks like a young Peter Venkman.

"I'm Gina,by the way."

[ivebeenslimed]

And caught. "You're going on about how this place isn't creepy. When I explain who I am, you will realize this is another level of paranormal that people don't experience alot.

I was never one with bedside manners. I just gave them answers they needed. So I can relate with you. I also believe the social media is a good take on it, but needs some work.

I'm Doctor Peter Venkman of the Ghostbusters. We were busting some ghosts that somehow sent me here to another time. I'm trying to find my way back to my time, but I think the key is defeating what ever is here."

He carefully watched her reaction as he spoke. From what she said he had a feeling she knew who he was. They had set up the work she was doing.

[onemillionsubscribers]

She nearly drops her phone while checking to see what's going on with it when he starts talking. Gina has a moment where she wants to yell. There is so much she should be mad at.

His general attitude was one she was used to. She is a student still and there's so many people in the field who see her as incredibly young, she'll totally be thirty in three more years, or just anything else about her personally that can be picked at.

"....Okay. That means somehow you got sent forward about forty years into the future. It's 2025." Gina flies her phone and pulls her finger down the screen to show him.

"See this? Something's messing with the signal that connects this to a um, kind of wireless network. About four months ago I saw something similar when I was invited to go visit the home of a spirit medium from the 1860s, down in South Carolina. That was....an experience."

That sounded like a loaded statement. "If it wasn't for.... I'll just say you and your friends do a lot of work. Good work. Actually. Some of your work is what helped inspire the um, channel I run. I don't do well getting grants. My advisor says it's because I need to stop acting like I might set a table on fire just for data and I swear that only happened once. I had valid reasons."

[ivebeenslimed]

"It's probably dealing with me, why your equipment isn't working properly. Ray and Egon would have figured something out to solve that. But they're not here.

More then likely they are trying to find a way to get here to bring me back." Peter replied.

"So I think you have a good test with this situation. I doubt you can record any of it for your show. Your antics sound more like something Egon would do."

He couldn't help but laugh at some memories.

"So this is a hot spot? What would happen here?"

He began to examine the area some more. He wished he had some of his equipment to use.

[onemillionsubscribers]

"I have a million subscribers to my YouTube channel. You'd be surprised what people like to listen to....but I tend to go back in and talk about things less clinically so that probably helps." Gina is a little proud of the numbers.

"I try presenting facts that are digestible...there's enough people that like thus stuff."

Gina moves further into the room careful to not disturb anything and sets down her flashlight so it can act as a bit of a lantern while she swipes through her phone for a copy of her notes.

"Reports from the staff that works the grounds and the local volunteers have reported seeing an 'orb' up in the windows of thus room. Free floating. The high school student who tends the heritage garden claims to have seen a figure walking past the windows when she's here by herself." Gina frowns scrolling her notes.

"Cold spots up here to. Kiddid send me sone digital copies of a picture she tried taking but with the interface going on I can't seem to open that file."

She bites her lip trying to focus on the problem. "I could try my laptop. But later. I feel like this is just lije, a foot note. We know it's his sister's room do either it is the spirit of his mother lingering over regrets over how the girl died or.... repeated pattern of a young girl who grew up in this room."

She atarez at her notes again. Something is nagging at her brain about something from a past episode she had filmed.

[ivebeenslimed]

"The regular people want that sort of thing. They want to understand what is going on and being told in a language we can comprehend. It's something I have to constantly remind Egon and Ray about. Winston and I would like to understand what they're saying. We tend to dumb it down for those around us so they can understand. We also try to balance out the logic and tangible side to things where they're skating along the boarder of what ifs. It helps having a wide range of views, but it can also be a headache.

So basically these are very simple common occurrences. Which leads me to think there is something else behind it controlling them. Something stronger. Why would it drag me out here? I want to know what it's purpose is. I feel like they're using the spirits here for something."

Venkman turned to stand in the middle of the room. "Alright, you have me here. What do you want from old Venkman here. What did I do or my team mates do to cause trouble? Want to fill me in?"

Suddenly there was a familiar wail of distress as a green glob of a ghost came flying from no where and aiming right at Peter. "SLIMER WE TOLD YOU TO STAY HOME! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE AND HOW DD YOU GET PASSED IT?" He tried to shield himself from getting slimmed, but unfortunately failed. "Yuck.... Why do you always have to do that?"

The green ghost cowered and became to rapidly speech in gibberish. Something along the line the guys told him to follow him. Peter ran an annoyed hand down his face. "And this is the help I get....Gina this is Slimer our mascot."

[onemillionsubscribers]

"It's part of how I get viewers. I educate without trying to talk with any airs. People are curious. Why not indulge it in a safe way," Gina offers. Knowledge should be shared.

"I wonder..." Gina taps her foot thoughtfully. "You are right, this is a fairly standard haunting. I really think whatever thus is wouldn't be connected to a repeating pattern."

She jumps at Slimer's appearance. Her face slowly lights up and the young woman gives a small chuckle. "I grew up with a stuffed toy if his my Dad got me. He's a bit of a fan of yours. He told me I should have..."

She curs herself off and sighs. "Sorry, spoilers. I don't want to accidentally influence your future."

[ivebeenslimed]

Hmff. He wipes some off the goof off his uniform and placed it on her shirt. "It gets rather old." he said as he scowled at Slimer. Even though it wasn't very menacing one that he typically gave when mad. For the time being the ghost hid behind Gina.

"Sounds like your whole family is big into this. Any chance of what held your fascination for it?

As for the current situation...What ever is behind it is something big and hasn't revealed it's true purpose. I'm thinking the case we were working on was connected to this in some way. We triggered something that brought the gateway that lead me here. Something had to have caused a disturbance and is connected here.

Outside the casual haunting....what was the purpose behind this building? Were there any cemetery grounds near by or removed?"

[onemillionsubscribers]

"Not exactly?" Gina finds this whole situation just do weird. It's strange to run into a younger version of someone who was a bit of a childhood hero. Egon was moreso given the fact she had been reading his papers since she was an undergrad.

"My parents always thought it was a bit of a hobby. Exploring old buildings and stuff. I guess after I ended up really doing a deep dive into what happened to shut down the old hospital in my hometown I really got bitten by the curiosity bug. My younger siblings think I'm crazy. Dad thinks as long as I remember the rules he spelled out it's fine." Her relationship with her mother is terrible. Her mom cannot stand the fact Gina not only doesn't quite fit the mold of a normal daughter. Mama Matthews wanted a typical girly girl and ended up with a half feral scientist who would live out of her van if allowed.

"Well, Captain Hale's father was the local Reverend. Puritan family." Gina pulls her phone up again.

She scrolls through some saved pages and things she can get access to. "The closest cemetery is about a quarter of a mile up the road. The original plans for this place are fairly straight forward, family homestead kept in shape by his wife. The kids worked the field, they grew flax it was used for a variety of things, kept a few horses and some chickens."

Gina frowns when she hits something. The frown threatens to stay there for good. "They ran here perhaps. The good Reverend John Hale was the grandson of the same John Hale who was involved in the Salem Witch Trials. Looking at the dates, the grandfather would have been a child at the time. Whatever he actually saw looking at what became of the family they...tried to be good people after that."

[ivebeenslimed]

He took note on what she said about her family life. She did fit into the mold of things and wasn't too surprised.

"So my guess is we're dealing with what ever happened. Something wasn't resolved. I don't think we'll have time to delve into any records of history of what they've done. I think right now...I'm on borrowed time. And appearantly Slimer is too."

He shook his head while Slimer cowered behind him. " What else are you not saying?" He said noting the frown.

"I wonder if there's some kind of hidden basement or pathway? Old places like this typically would. Especially if they want to hide something."

[onemillionsubscribers]

"'A Modsest I query Into the Nature of Witchcraft' by Jonathan Hale," Gina says carefully. "I think I read it before. It's historical mostly. I didn't quite realize that Jonathan Hale was connected to Nathan Hale. People cared more about the good son who turned from a young educator to a spy. Of course I don't think that has a connection to this...it's just a weird fact."

It stands out however. She wishes she had more time because something feels wrong. Like perhaps the great grandfather stumbled across something dangerous.

"There was talk about the nephews being involved in the abolitionist movement. It's possible they added hidden rooms to help support their efforts." Now that's a problem they can solve. Gina can chew over her desire to understand the Hale family better later on. After they have resolved this.

[ivebeenslimed]

"Hey Slimer, do me a favor and check out the house really quick and tell me if something feels bad. In return I can tell you where Ray hides the cookies." Peter stated with a sly grin on his face. "You just don't tell him who told you."

Slimer gave an eager nod and a salute and disappeared immediately.

"One benefit of keeping him around... He can sense things we may not be able to." He explained.

[onemillionsubscribers]

Gina nodded after watching Slimer leave, It was so weird seeing the thing that had been so popular when she was small floating about.

"I'd like to check my equipment out. It may have started picking up on some of the happenings around this place." She has a feeling.

"There's...Something. Kind of like this old lighthouse I ended up going to check out in South Carolina. Turned out there were hidden books, down in the walls." What that has to do with right now? Not much at this very moment but she feels like there's something.

[ivebeenslimed]

Peter gave a nod. "Something like that might not seem important then, but it can be beneficial now. We don't know exactly what we're looking at here." He took out his PKE Reader to start doing some of his own investigating. While Egon or Ray usually did that... he had a basic understanding of what to look for when using it. He was one to usually do the busting or improvising. He left the science to them. Of course it really didn't want to cooperate either.

"Don't tell me you got busted in this mess." He said as he studied the device a little closer.