EXCERPT from SPRG Book 1: Voices in the Theater

7/28/2019 EXCERPT from SPRG Book 1: Voices in the Theater

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Excerpt from Voices in the Theater by A.S. Santos Page 18

Sir Julius now looked directly at me.

It was my turn. And I honestly didnt know what to say.

Yes, I knew my reason for being here. But I didnt know if I could tell them

the truth.

I took a deep breath. Im here because I looked at the ten different faces

in front of me. Because Im looking for answers.

Migs deep set eyes grew more serious as he seemed to study my face. Aris

tilted his head. The four new people whod come in and sat behind them now leaned

forward to take a better look at me. Lanas face was now just inches away from my

cheek.

Can you explain? It was Sir Julius who asked. His voice was comforting in

the middle of all that scrutiny. His question sounded like an invitation that I could

either accept or refuse, and either way it would be alright.

I looked at Sir Julius, and tried to be honest. Im not sure I can.

Youve had a strange experience before, and you want to make sense of it,

said Migs suddenly. It was both a statement and a question. His voice sounded

slightly deeper when he said it, which made me look back at him. There was a slight

Voices in the TheaterExcerpt from

(Book One in the SPRG Series)by A.S. Santos
http://tinyurl.com/sprg-voiceshttp://tinyurl.com/sprg-voiceshttp://tinyurl.com/sprg-voiceshttp://tinyurl.com/sprg-voices


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darkening in his deep set eyes. Suddenly, a clear single thought flashed in my mind:

Hes talking about himself.

Yes, I answered, simply.

It was true.

Granted, it was an extremely abbreviated version of the truth, but the truth

nonetheless. I was beginning to realize that Migs really had a gift for summarizing

things so briefly yet accuratelywhether or not he was aware of it.

Oh, said Richard. He gave me a crooked grin. Id like to hear that story

sometime.

Chynna frowned.

I smiled politely. Maybe. Sometime.

Lana briefly squeezed my hand. Her smile was reassuring, as if she was

saying, Its okay. You dont need to say anything else.

Good. Sir Julius nodded. Thats a very good reason for being here. Is

anyone else looking for answers, like Sam?

An older-looking guy in a white collarless uniform raised his hand from

behind Aris.

Peter, he said, introducing himself. Peter Cartalaba. Aris turned a few

degrees sideways in his seat so he could get a better look at Peter, who was sitting

directly behind him.

Peters slightly wavy hair was clean cut, with a slight hint of bangs resting on


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his forehead. His voice was measuredculturedand coming from his chest.

Im actually in my second year of medical internship now. Which is why Im

lateI just came from a 24-hour shift from the hospital. He smiled openly.

Actually, the school doesnt really see me as a student anymore. And I really donthave much time for extracurricular stuff like orgs.

The girl to his right (who was also wearing a white uniform) nodded in silent

agreement.

But something happened to me, Peter continued. Well, something

happened to one of my patients. She died. But somehow we brought her back, and

when she woke up she said shed been to heaven.

Lana gasped beside me. The smile on her face was joyful as she hung on

Peters every word.

Shes only twenty-three. My patient. Lets call her Tina. Shes part of this

Charismatic group, so Im not sure if that influenced her experience.

She was leaving this building after a Bible study of some sort, when she gotsideswiped by a car. Dragged her almost ten feet down the street. Hit her head on

the pavement, broke a few bones. Her friends quickly rushed her to E.R. She was

gone for a few minutes. When she came back, she seemed very sure about what

she saw.

Tina said that after she died, she saw herself leaving her body. She said that

shed never felt so free in her lifelike she was everywhere and could feel

everything at once. Then she looked down at her body, and it looked so small and

worn out that she didnt want to come back to it.

Then she saw this bright light opening up from the ceiling. She went up to it,

and the next moment she found herself alone in this garden. But she could hear

music all around, so she didnt feel alone. In fact, the music seemed to come from

inside her, vibrating through her. Tina said the music was so comforting, like it was

embracing her with sound. For some reason, it made her absolutely sure that she


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was deeply and incredibly loved.

The breath I didnt know Id been holding came out in a gasp. But no one

noticed, because everyone was just as focused on Peters story as I was.

Music. I knew that kind of music Id heard it too . Once. The first time the

first time I started hearing things. Music so strong it vibrated through you. Music

that enveloped you until you felt like you were being embraced.

But then, she heard a voice in the music , Peter continued. It was telling her

to go back to her body, thatit wasnt her time yet. When Tina woke up, she was

back in her hospital bed, and every part of her was in pain. She keeps telling

everyone what happened, and the way she tells it, you want to believe her.

We were all silent for a few moments.

Peter smiled. You should see her. Her face is different. Like shes

incredibly happydefinitely not like a young woman in a neck brace and double leg

casts. Sometimes when I feel tired, I just pop into her room to say hi. I always feel a

bit lighter afterwards.

That was amazing, Lana whispered. Ive got goose bumps! She showed

me her arm.

A near death experience, said Sir Julius, nodding. Thats another angle wecan explore here.

Definitely, agreed Migs.

I looked at Migs when he spoke, and at that exact same moment his eyes met

mine.

His eyebrows were slightly knitted. He was asking me a question.


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What happened to you, Sam?

Did he know I could hear his thoughts? I was sure he didnt, but it bothered

me anyway. I looked away.

I have a not-so-heavenly experience,said the girl to Peters left.

She was slightly big boned, with golden brown skin and beautiful wavy hair

that seemed to reach her knees as she sat. Her smile was bright, and she began her

story with a flourish that assured us we would be entertained.

Actually, it happened just last term. Im part of the drama club, so of course

we spend a lot of time rehearsing for our plays. We usually practice in the Little

Theater at the third floor of this building. Youve all been to the Little Theater,

right?

Everyone nodded, except me.

So last term we were there, having our dress rehearsal forAvenue Q, with the

puppets and everything? It was, like, two in the morning, and our show was

scheduled for seven p.m. that night. So I was standing on the stage with mypuppetI was playing Kate

She now stood up, and went near the door where there was more space for

her reenactment. Im Eartha, by the way, she added, smiling. Eartha Tejada.

Eartha gave us a little wave, before she continued:

So I was standing over here, and my partner Jasonhe was playing

Princetonhe was standing on this side. There was just the two of us onstage, and

then there was Chris at the piano, with the rest of the cast seated in the front row as

the audience, Mark and Jethro were up in the booth, manning the lights.

Like I said, it was early in the morning, and we really wanted to finish and

wrap up. I was holding my puppet with both hands like this, and I was looking at

this cassette tape that my puppet, Kate, was holding. When I looked up at Jason to


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say my next line, I saw something move near the curtains behind him..."

One minute Eartha was speaking, and every head in the room turned to her

direction.

The next second I was hearing other things, other voices, and it was like

someone had taken the remote and put Eartha on mute.

Chapter 3

Do You Hear Them?

It was like being underwater.

Everyone was moving so slowly, and even though they were opening their

mouths, I couldnt hear their voices. Except for the ones in my head.

Get out!said the first voice. It belonged to a distraught young woman.

No!Dontdo it pleaded a guy.

Get out!This time the girl was hysterical. A sob caught at the end of her

scream.

I looked around the room, at the faces. Each one of them was still riveted on

Eartha, and Eartha herself was still talking.

And I still couldn't hear her.


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You can't stop meIts too late, no one can help me. The girl's voice was

resigned and sad.

Please don't do this... There was love in the guys voice now. Please dont

Nnoooo!

She's ours... she's ours... she's ourrsss...

The last words were cold, strange, a chorus of many voices that had no

gender. I shuddered.

...oursss... oursss... ourssss...

They sounded gleeful, in a sick sort of way. I shook my head, wishing I could

get their voices out of my head. But now their many voices merged into a sinister

low chorus of whispering and hissing.

...ssppsssttspssttssspssspspspsssttspssttkatrinamanuelsspsppsssttspssttpspppjose

phyumolssspssssppsssttspssttssspsssmitchieborjapsppssspssppsssttspssttssspsspssssand

rewdavidsonspsssppsssttspssttssspss...

The hissing sounds were overwhelming. They filled my head until I felt like I

was drowning.

Stop, please!I thought desperately. I suddenly had a horrible image of myself

tearing my ears out of my head with my bare hands. Please stop!

...ours... ours... ours... hahahahahahaha...!!!

"...and so we ran out of there as fast as we could, Eartha ended.

I looked up at Eartha sharply, and when I realized it was her voice I heard I

gulped in a huge breath of air.


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The hissing voices were gone.

Everyone was moving normally now, and I could hear their soft breathing.

My own breath was ragged, but no one noticed, thanks to Eartha's hold on

everyone's attention.

More importantly, my ears were still intact.

Eartha now flipped her long honey-colored hair. "Of course we still have to go

there sometimes, but now we always make sure to go in groups. And we bring

crosses and rosaries."

"What's a rosary?" I asked.

The heads now turned to me. Part of me wanted them to stop staring, but

another part of me wanted this new situation, if it meant I wouldn't have to hear the

chilling chorus of voices again.

"It's a Catholic thing," Lana told me, squeezing my hand gently again, in her

familiar friendly way. "They're beads that we use as a sort of guide when praying."

"So guys, do you think this should be your first case?" Sir Julius was suddenly

all business, promptly ending the staring fest and getting everyone excited at the

same time. I wondered if he knew I needed this distraction.

Migs was nodding thoughtfully. "Definitely. Especially since we already have

witness accounts."

"Alright. Sir Julius sat back in his chair, his eyes assessing. "So imagine you

were a professional paranormal research group. Your objective is to create a body

of research that will help you formulate theories and test hypotheses about

paranormal phenomena. What would you do?"


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"Interview the witnesses, said Aris, a half smile on his face. "Not just for this

incident, of course, but for the other similar incidents that happened in that theater."

"Good, good." Sir Julius was nodding. "What else?"

"Wait, we have to question them separately, Migs said. "We can't talk to

them in groups. I want to see if their accounts are the same."

"Yes. And we should have standardized questionnaires, not just for this

incident, but for future ones as well, said Peter.

Intake sheets, his mind said. I had no idea what that meant, but I was glad I

was hearing normal voices again, normal thoughts.

"I can come up with a questionnaire based on the intake sheets we have at the

hospital, Peter continued. "It can help us separate the subjective experiences from

the objective observations."

"Cool!" said Lana beside me. She giggled a little. "This sounds so

professional."

"Oh, and I want to find out the real history of the place!" said Eartha. She

seemed especially stoked, maybe because her story was getting so much attention.

"We can check actual records, see if anyone really died there."

"What kinds of records?" asked Richard, his head cocked slightly towards

Eartha. This gesture seemed to increase Chynna's pout.

"I dunno... student registrations maybe? Find out if we lost any students therein the past years...?" Eartha shrugged.

"How about tabloids?" suggested Karen, and Peter nodded beside her. "A

death inside a major university isn't really something you'd easily find in

respectable papers."


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"Right, said Aris. "We can Google for stories in the major papers...but I doubt

if local tabloid stories ever make it to Google."

"Unless they're in blogs!" said Lana. Her face brightened. "I remember seeing

a friend's note on Facebook; hed typed up this whole tabloid article about a

shootout that supposedly happened in his subdivision. He shared it with everyone

because the news report had so many errors, and he was really mad."

"Good, this is really good." Migs was half-smiling now. "So we Google AND do

Facebook searches for our university's name, the theater's name, and the word

death."

"Suicide," I said, before I realized I was going to say it.

The heads turned to me. Expectant, excited. There was no backing out of this

one. I took a deep breath.

"The cause of death was suicide. It was a girl, freshman. In 2005."

Six jaws dropped.

"Are you... sure?" Lana was looking at me with a hint of alarm. "How do you

know this?"

I was quiet for a beat. "I hear things," I said, simply.

To continue readingVoices In The Theateron Amazon.com, click here.

To learn more about the SPRG paranormal romance series, visithttp://StudentParanormalResearchGroup.blogspot.com
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EXCERPT from SPRG Book 1: Voices in the Theater