"Can you enlarge a little? What the hell is that?" With his eyes fixed on a screenshot of Malcolm's footage, Timothy asked.
"Okay, sure." Timothy did as asked, but this was not some movie technology - enlarging the screenshot did not increase its definition, only made the pixels more obvious.
To Wu Xiaoming, this was enough to raise some alarms. He had watched the clip at least three times, he could not rule out this being something malicious and supernatural. Though this to the rest of the crew was nothing short of a potential viral moment - it could be a creature! It could be a reclusive weirdo! It could be due to the lighting, but the important thing was it could be something!
"Where did you get this footage?" Timothy asked.
"It's just out there, behind some trees. " Malcolm answered.
"But it's not worth it to check it out again. We should check out our other footage of the surrounding area to make sure we did not miss anything." Wu Xiaoming still tried to curb any potential urge from the rest of the crew to go through the "tree gate". He could not tell what it was yet, but to him those two trees might as well have bodies dangling from them right now. "Timothy - this is what I meant by - "
"This is great! This is so freaking great." Timothy's eyes were practically glowing when he turned to Wu Xiaoming: "This is what we need! We don't have to actually capture ghost figures or random shadows. No no no - this kind of creepy, stalked atmosphere is what we need for the atmosphere!"
"What - what do you mean?"
"The stalking! The figures hiding in the shadows! The suspense! Oh! Ooof!" Timothy almost seemed too excited right now: "Okay! Folks! Let's do this - let's stay close for today, but keep all cameras rolling, pointing at all angles, okay? Let's see if we can capture anything else."
Matthew, Malcolm and Jake exchanged looks then fixed their eyes on Wu Xiaoming and Timothy. Malcolm's eyes were glistening with excitement and eagerness; Jake's legs were shaking, but his face was smiling; while Matthew seemed to be most calm, yet his fingers were tapping his elbows. They were expecting an answer from the two "leads" of the project.
"Wait! Wait! The footage you guys sent us last night, there's also a shadow, right? " Timothy snapped his fingers, still mostly drowned in his own thoughts. He turned to Matthew and Malcolm: "Can we compare the videos? And see if they're the same shadow?"
Wu Xiaoming had wanted to speak up and try to urge the director to stop the shoot right here right now, but with Timothy bringing this up, he also had the urge to check this out for himself.
Matthew pulled up the two videos side by side. On the left, was the footage captured by Malcolm. On the right was the video from the lost camera they had picked up yesterday.
The footage from the lost camera was much clearer. It was still inconclusive whether the shadows were the same one. The only commonality was the seemingly glowing eyes. But to Wu Xiaoming, it was already a pretty strong connection.
"So - director? I think - I think we probably shouldn't continue shooting here." Wu Xiaoming narrowed his eyes.
"It's a connection, but it's not any kind of super clear signs of danger, okay?" Timothy shook his head: "Nonono - we've just got something good. We should stick to the plan for now."
"What?! This is clearly very dangerous - "
"I know you're worried, okay? But we have, what, four people here?" Timothy looked around: "It's creepy, I know. But the video on the camera could just be some kind of fan-made movie, and what Malcolm got on might just be something with the lighting and the shadow of an animal. And we still have time - have the opportunity to record never-before-seen footage. Can you imagine how big this can be?"
"Yeah, but it's not worth it if - "
"Look, I know you're scared. If you want, you can absolutely stay with me and Tammy. But that's the best I can do for you, okay? But the shoot must continue."
"I - " Wu Xiaoming stammered. He looked around, then sighed: "Okay, I will stay. But if we actually encounter any signs of imminent danger - "
"Then you can go find us and we'll wrap up." Timothy nodded, letting out a breath of relief, "We'll be down there, just one call away."
"You'd better be. I don't want to have something happen to our crew." Wu Xiaoming shook his head. If there was no way to persuade the director into abandoning the shoot, then his being here would be the safest choice.
"Great! Glad you're onboard!" Timothy patted Wu Xiaoming on the shoulder: "But - since you're worried, let's stay close for today, okay? And keep all the cameras rolling - just in case whatever's out there decides to come closer, right?"
Timothy left the house in the same van, cheerful and excited. According to him, he would be re-reviewing all the footage he had copied, and see if he and Tammy could drum up a good narrative for the episode.
Though the satellite connection was still not fixed even as the evening came, Malcolm and Matthew still decided to put up several cameras in the house and around the house, almost covering all the corners both inside and outside.
"So - uh - Xiaoming - why do you feel so - nervous earlier?" When the group of four gathered around the work station to have their dinner break, Malcolm asked.
Jake and Matthew fixed their eyes on Wu Xiaoming at the same time.
"What - you didn't feel creeped out by the shadow?" Wu Xiaoming sighed, and decided to "raise the awareness" instead of defending his own hunch for now.
"I mean - it's a bit creepy." Jake nodded, then shivered: "And - the video from that camera? The shadow standing right outside the bedroom? It creeped the fuck outta me."
"I think it's - it's creepy but it really looks like some kind of low budget horror film." Malcolm shrugged: "But - I still gotta ask - this is your second episode, right? What happened on the first? The previous cameraman actually - did quit because he had some other projects or business, right?"
"I don't know." Wu Xiaoming shrugged.
"That's what I heard, yeah. I didn't really ask in private." Jake scratched his face.
"I know someone from MAGLAA." Matthew interjected: "And - from what he's told me, most things like this are fake. And - when things are real, there're usually signs."
"And what signs are we talking about? Are there any of the signs here?" Malcolm asked.
"Well … " Matthew cleared his throat, then leaned in and responded with a low voice: "There's actually some of it. You see - the shadow was obviously one thing we shouldn't ignore. My friend once told me that feeling stalked and followed is one of those early signs of being in the actual presence of something supernatural. This is because for things like spirits and ghosts, they often stalk their victims before actually doing harm to them. And another thing - " Before he could finish, a sharp beeping sound interrupted him.
Jake and Malcolm turned back and searched the bags behind them, for that was where the beeping was coming from. Before long they found the source of the sound - the EMF reader left by Timothy. It was already on, and right now the screen was flashing, with the bars in the graph jumping up and down. Malcolm turned the alarm sound off, but kept the reader on - just so everyone could still see what the readings were on the screen.
" - the other sign is abnormal reading of EMF readers." Matthew frowned: "I'm not tryna be alarmist, but we gotta be careful here."
"Yeah, duly noted." Wu Xiaoming nodded: "You guys brought salt with you?"
"Yes." Jake nodded: "I brought a bunch of evil repellent here - salt, crystals, crosses, jade buddhas, special signias, blessed coins and some basic stuff: cinnamon bark, sage, redwood sword - "
"Dude, how scared were you?" Matthew chuckled.
"I just wanted to be well prepared, alright?" Jake shrugged.
"Xiaoming - is that what you wanted us to do? Put salt and other evil repellent around us?" Jake turned to Wu Xiaoming.
"Yes. And I actually suggest we sleep in the same room today." Wu Xiaoming sighed: "I know you guys aren't worried, but - "
"Okay, I hate to be that guy, but - " Malcolm interrupted everyone, raising the EMF in his hand: "But shouldn't we check around and find out what caused the EMF to go off like this?"
"I was just about to say." Matthew nodded: "Let's, uh, - do a sweep? The cameras won't cover everything, so… All four of us together, and NOT split up, what'd you think?"
"Yes." Jake and Wu Xiaoming answered at the same time.
"And make sure that we have closed all the windows." Wu Xiaoming added.
"- and make sure that we have closed all the windows." Matthew nodded and snapped his fingers. "Exactly. Let's go."