An Invisible Man, Sleeping in…a Van?

I was really hoping that we could have stayed at our last location until we found the Carnival and then left with them, but things didn’t turn out that way. Sadly, Claude and I have had to leave our last location though not because of Zombies or because of how scared I was after watching Paranormal Activity. Apparently our last landlord was even more skittish than I, when it comes to possible paranormal disturbances and he sent some local ghost chasers to our building to check it out. It would have been nice if he had told us this when he came and told Claude and I that he was sending us to the local motel for two nights and picking up the tab for everything. In the process of getting all our props and gear packed up “just in case” we wound up leaving food and- more importantly- beer in the fridge. While the motel had decent room service, their beer selection was not good and Claude insisted, after the “crap beer” he’d snagged way back when at Peter’s flat, that he would never drink that kind of “rubbish” again. I believe he said that bathing with that particular beer was preferable to drinking it. So Claude went back for his beer. Normally, this would not have been a problem, even with investigators about, except for the fact that they’d put a thermal camera in our kitchen. Of all the rooms to put thermal cameras in, I, personally, would not have picked our former kitchen. The only invisible presence there was Claude. Now me, I would have put a thermal camera in the main bedroom or in the “closet” that Claude had used as a bedroom. While invisible to the unaided eye, Claude showed up clearly on the investigators’ thermal camera. You should have seen the colors he turned when our landlord collected us from the motel and told us that our kitchen was haunted and then he showed us the video “proof.” Claude made the excuse that I couldn’t sleep in a place that was haunted and went on to say that we’d be moving on as a result. I won’t tell you what Claude said once the landlord was out of earshot. I really wish I could have seen this coming but all the readings I had been doing for clients left me no time or energy to read for myself or even for Claude.

After all the trouble we’ve had with stationary buildings and what not, Claude figured we should get some kind of mobile home but not something too big. RV’s were out mainly because of how limited parking spaces for one are and we couldn’t find one reasonably priced that wasn’t a “stick.” Neither one of us can drive anything that isn’t automatic and Claude hates driving on the wrong side of the road etc. Then we got lucky and found this hippie type van. Sure it was old and Claude hated the paint job but the previous owners took really good care of it and it even has a small but comfortable living area and the built in fridge was a definite plus. Given that the Carnival we are seeking moves around a lot, I’m thinking that having our own van should be a plus. Of course Claude just had to call Maaco to repaint the van, because not only did he not like the paint job but he also didn’t want to be mistaken for the van’s former owners. While I look like one of the former owners I don’t really think Claude does. I’m sure this was a major factor in his decision to repaint as was the fact that the painters offered to raise the roof for free. See what you folks think:

Personally, while I do resemble Velma, I don’t really think Claude looks like Shaggy. Shaggy is kinda cute and all, but I much prefer Claude. Claude figures, with the new, white, and rather plain repaint job, that once we find the Carnival, we can just add their logo. I really would have preferred a Celestial pattern, or maybe even red and black but Claude insisted on just plain white. On the plus side, at least he didn’t tell the contractors to modify the inside, beyond raising the roof a bit. He actually really liked the interior especially the built in fridge. Now, we’re on the road again but at least we have our own wheels. All we really need to find at the moment is decent parking spaces until we can find the Carnival.