18.98: An ONC 2023 Thriller

Chapter 4

SEVEN YEARS AGO

The track played silently on Helina's computer. She adjusted the volume, and turned her subwoofer so that it pointed directly at Liv, then sat back and closed her eyes.

After a few minutes, she spoke, using her psychologist voice. "How do you feel, Liv?"

On Helina's computer screen, a thin, neon green line moved up and down upon a grid—proof that they were being exposed to a frequency their eardrums couldn't quite detect. Liv imagined soundwaves slapping against her skin, sinking in, vibrating bones and sinews and organs. Her arms tickled like centipedes had been set loose on them.

"I feel like you should stop that track before it gives me a panic attack."

"See?" Helina said, pausing the track. "It works."

"I'm not a newbie, Helina. I've studied infrasound. It makes eyes vibrate and skin crawl."

"Did you know filmmakers have used it on movie soundtracks to up the creep factor?"

"Yep." Friday the 13th, The Birds, Paranormal Activity, to name a few. Eraserhead utilized sound just above that threshold. "Damned unsettling too."

"This track I played for you." Helina pointed to the frozen sound wave. "It's specifically 18.98 Hertz."

Liv knew where this was going. "I figured."

"You know what is speculated about that frequency in particular? The ghost frequency?"

"It's literally right in the name." Annoyed as she was that Helina was treating this conversation like it was a pop quiz, Liv played along. "Some people think that a spectral world can be accessed—heard or even viewed when they're exposed to the ghost frequency. It's an interesting theory."

"Do you think that theory can be proven?"

Liv turned onto her back, staring at the ceiling of the dorm she'd been sharing with Helina ever since Amanda secured a place at her sorority house. Helina was a much better roommate and possibly the best friend Liv had ever had, save for her sister. If she could make one tiny criticism, however, it would be that Helina latched onto impossible to prove ideas at the worst possible time. She'd never let go, no matter how many midterms they were supposed to study for, or how many clients they had lined up.

"People have tried. And many claimed to have had experiences linked to it. But all it gives me is anxiety, Helina. As for proving it..."

Helina scratched at a scab on the back of her hand. She'd scraped it against a rusty nail while working their last gig. Three stitches and a tetanus shot later and it had just about healed. "You've never really tried to prove it, though, have you?"

"It's not at the top of my to do list." Liv pulled her blanket over her as much for a sense of security as for warmth. Having Helina's damned infrasound reverberating into her brain made Liv want to curl into a ball and call it a day. "We've got a new client to meet in a half hour."

Helina sighed. "I love what we do, don't get me wrong. But it has its limits. Our equipment is subpar, most of the people who claim to have hauntings don't know a haunting from a draft, and we have yet to find real proof of anything. I'm beginning to think those shows with professional paranormal investigators are all faked."

"That's because they are all faked," Liv said, suppressing an eyeroll to avoid offending her friend. "If the spirit world was so easily accessible that any clown with an EMF meter could prove its existence, there wouldn't be a skeptic left on the planet."

"That's what I'm saying though." Helina reached into her duffle bag and pulled out their very own EMF meter. "We use one. It's not even an expensive model. Does that make us the clowns?"