Dead Air - Michelle Schusterman (the read aloud family txt) 📗

“We told him about it yesterday,” Jamie replied, standing up and stretching his arms. “I think he’s in his room—I’ll see if he still wants to go.”

After Jamie left, I clicked over to the P2P forums to see if there were any more comments about the picture of Lidia. But the most recent thread update pushed all thoughts of the photo from my mind.

P2P FAN FORUMS

Do you believe? Think again.

Anonymous

I said I’d prove this show is a fraud, so here we go. P2P claims to be the most haunted show on television, starting back with the dead air during its first episode. What really happened in the lighthouse? As it turns out, it was just a botched attempt at tricking hapless viewers. Don’t believe me? Watch this little clip and see for yourself . . .

“It’s the same one,” I breathed, clicking the link to the video. “I bet it’s the same one . . .”

“The same one as what?” Hailey asked eagerly, but the video was already playing.

And sure enough, there were Sam, Lidia, and Emily seated around the same small table, holding hands, the single dim bulb dangling over their heads. Lidia shivered with anticipation, while Sam looked perfectly peaceful. Emily gazed at Sam in a worshipful way that hovered between laughable and creepy.

Hailey let out a low hiss. “This is the one you were talking about. The video that randomly started playing, then all the lights went out, right?”

“Yeah.” I glanced around my room. It was hard to feel creeped out with all the sunshine streaming in through the windows, but my arms and neck still prickled. “This is the scene . . . but it’s not the same video. Look.”

I pointed at the screen. A camera set up on a tripod in front of the table was just barely in the shot, capturing the video I’d seen. This camera sat at an odd, high angle, almost like it was hidden. And the quality wasn’t nearly as good for the video or audio. In fact, I was pretty sure it had been taken with a phone.

“Close your eyes,” Sam said softly.

“Are you sensing a presence?” Emily whispered loudly, her gaze still locked on Sam.

Hailey snorted. “I can’t stand her. Bernice was the best host. I mean,” she added quickly, “besides your dad.”

I smiled without taking my eyes off the screen. “His first episode hasn’t even aired yet.”

“Well, that’s true.”

The lightbulb flickered and I leaned forward. “Here we go. Watch this . . .”

Emily wiggled in her chair. “Sam, I think—”

Lidia’s eyes flew open . . . and she stared right into the hidden camera. Right at us.

Goose bumps broke out on my arms. Hailey gasped, recoiling a little. The lightbulb exploded, plunging the scene into darkness, and Emily shrieked. Shadows moved across the screen as Sam and Emily bumped into one another, knocking over chairs. Behind them, the door flew open. Light from the hallway filled the small room, and Roland stood framed in the doorway.

“Oh no, poor Lidia,” Hailey murmured, and I shook my head in disbelief. Lidia was sprawled facedown on the table, completely unconscious. Sam reached for her, but Roland beat him to it.

“Jess, hurry!” he yelled over his shoulder. “Lidia? Lidia, can you hear me?” Gently, Roland rolled her back into her chair, her glasses hanging askew. He took them off and placed them on the table, checking Lidia’s pulse with his other hand. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she sucked in a deep breath.

“Wha? ’Mokay,” she murmured. Roland’s shoulders slumped in relief, and Sam sank back down in his chair, looking shell-shocked. Emily stared at Lidia with a mixture of fear and irritation.

“What’s wrong with her?” she snapped. “And what was that? Did you use one of those trick lightbulbs Jess bought?”

Roland didn’t look up. “She fainted,” he said, jaw clenched. “Turn the camera off.”

Glancing around the room, Emily headed over to the camera on the tripod and flipped it off. A few seconds later, the video clip ended abruptly.

Hailey exhaled loudly. “Oh boy,” she said, clasping her hands over her head. “Trick lightbulbs?”

I grimaced, clicking back over to Anonymous’s post.

Whoops! Looks like they let a little secret slip there. Fake bulbs. For shame. Lidia puts on quite a performance, too. No wonder they ditched this footage and went for the dead air scam instead.

It’s all just a hoax, folks . . . more soon . . .

YourCohortInCrime [member]

Well, there you go. Thanks for the proof, Anon. Disappointing, but not surprising.

spicychai [member]

i am devastated

AntiSimon [member]

Hang on—Anon, how’d you get this video?

YourCohortInCrime [member]

Does it matter? The show’s a fake.

skEllen [member]

OMGOMGOMGOMGADFIOAWENG NOOOOOOOOO!!!! ROLAND WOULD NEVER SCREW UP SAM’S SEANCE LIKE THAT!!!!! EMILY IS EVILLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!11!!!!!!!1

Anonymous

Emily Rosinski was the best thing about this sorry show. She can do a lot better than Sam, believe me.

AntiSimon [member]

EMILY was the best thing about this show? Uh . . . do you even WATCH this show, Anon?

Maytrix [admin]

Okay, everybody calm down. All that video proves is that the exploding bulb *might* be fake. (Yes, MIGHT. Roland doesn’t confirm it.) And even if they’ve used fake bulbs, that doesn’t mean *everything* is faked. Also, I’m not convinced Lidia was acting. Remember Kat Sinclair’s recent blog post? Lidia passed out in Crimptown, and Kat’s right about her heart problems. Lidia’s mentioned that on the show before. She looked like she had some sort of seizure in this video, too.

Simon’s question is a good one. Anon, we welcome everyone on this forum, skeptics and believers alike, so long as the conversation stays respectful. Please register to be a member— you don’t have to publicly reveal any information about yourself. You and I can chat privately about your sources.

beautifulgollum [moderator]

Maytrix has a great point. The lightbulb thing is a bummer, but it doesn’t mean the whole show’s a fake.

YourCohortInCrime [member]

Your problem is you want to believe.

AntiSimon [member]

Your problem is you don’t.

skEllen [member]

THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE

“It’s Roland,” I said grimly. “I knew it was Roland.”

Hailey chewed her lip. “Yeah, it has to be someone from the show. Nobody else would have that video. It looked