Speaker 1: Calarogu Shark Media, Hello and welcome to Ghost Scary Stories.
This episode is titled Spirits of the Speakeasy, a New
York Ghost Story, Part two Echoes of the Past.
Speaker 2: The soft glow of street lights filtered through the windows
of the Broken Bottle, casting long shadows across the empty bar.
Eddie Hernandez stood behind the counter, his dark eyes fixed
on the old photograph that had become his obsession. Sophia
Bellamy's face smiled back at him, a frozen moment of
joy from nearly a century ago. Two weeks had passed
since Eddie's chilling encounter in the basement, and the events
of that night continued to haunt him. He'd thrown himself
into researching the Broken Bottle's history, spending every spare moment
pouring over old newspapers and city records. The more he learned,
the more questions he had. As Eddie wiped down the bar,
lost in thought, a chill ran down his spine. The
temperature in the room plummeted, his breath visible in the
suddenly frigid air, and then, as it had so many
times before, came the whisper.
Speaker 3: Eddie.
Speaker 2: He whirled around, heart pounding Sophia, he called out, his
voice trembling slightly, Is that you? The silence that followed
was deafening, But as Eddie's eyes swept the room, they
landed on the basement door. It stood ajar, a sliver
of darkness, beckoning him against his better judgment. Eddie found
himself drawn to the door. As he descended the creaky stairs,
flashlight in hand, he couldn't shake the feeling that he
was walking into another world entirely. The basement was as
he remembered it, a maze of old crates and dusty bottles,
But this time, as his flashlight beam cut through the gloom,
something was different. The air seemed to shimmer like heat
rising from hot pavement, and then before his disbelieving eyes,
the basement began to change. The dusty crates melted away,
replaced by tables and chairs, the dank smell of mold
was replaced by the rich aroma of cigar smoke and perfume.
And there in the center of it all stood a
stage that hadn't existed moments before. Eddie blinked. Sure he
was hallucinating, but the scene before him remained. He was
still in the basement of the Broken Bottle, but not
the basement. He knew this was the Broken Bottle of
the nineteen twenties, with the energy of the jazz age.
And then he saw her, Sophia Bellamy in the flesh,
stepping onto the stage. She was even more beautiful than
her photograph, her dark hair styled in fashionable finger waves,
her dress sparkling under the stage lights. As she began
to sing, her voice filled the room, rich and soulful.
Eddie stood transfixed, unable to move or speak. He watched
as Sofia finished her song to thunderous applause, her smile
radiant as she basked in the adoration of the crowd.
But as she stepped off the stage, Eddie saw something
that made his blood run cold. A man approached Sophia,
his expensive suit and confident demeanor marking him as someone
of importance. Eddie recognized him from his research, Thomas Blackwood,
the original owner of the Broken Bottle. As Blackwood spoke
to Sophia, Eddie saw fear flash across her face before
she quickly masked it with a smile. The scene shifted,
melting and reforming like wax under a flame. Now Eddie
saw Sofia and Blackwood in what appeared to be Blackwood's office.
They were arguing. Sofia's face flushed with anger. Blackwoods twisted
in rage. You can't leave, Blackwood shouted, his voice oddly muffled,
as if coming from underwater. You belong to me to
this place. Sofia's reply was lost as the scene shifted again.
This time, Eddie found himself in a dark alley behind
the bar. Sofia was there, looking over her shoulder in
fear as she hurried through the night. Suddenly, a shadow
loomed behind her. Eddie tried to call out a warning,
but no sound came from his lips. He could only
watch in horror as the shadow struck and Sofia crumpled
to the ground with a gasp. Eddie found himself back
in the present day basement, his heart racing, sweat beading
on his forehead. The visions were gone, but their imp lingered.
He now knew with a bone deep certainty that Sophia
Bellamy hadn't run away, as the official story claimed, she
had been murdered. As Eddie climbed the stairs back to
the bar, his mind reeled with questions who had killed Sophia.
Was it Thomas Blackwood or someone else? And why was
her spirit still haunting the Broken Bottle after all these years.
He emerged from the basement to find the bar as
he'd left it, quiet and normal, But now Eddie could
almost feel the weight of the past pressing in around him.
The walls of the Broken Bottle held secrets, and he
was determined to uncover them. All Over the next few days,
Eddie dove deeper into his research. He discovered that Thomas
Blackwood had been more than just the owner of a speakeasy.
He had connections to some of the most notorious gangsters
of the era, using the Broken Bottle as a front
for more nefarious activities. Eddie also learned more about Sophia.
She had come to New York from a small town
in Georgia, drawn by dreams of stardom. Her talent had
quickly made her a rising star in the city's jazz scene,
but her success had come at a price. Rumors swirled
about her relationship with Blackwood, whispers of threats and coercion.
As Eddie pieced together the puzzle of Sophia's life and death,
strange occurrences at the bar, Intensified glasses would fly off shelves,
shattering against walls. The old jukebox in the corner would
come to life, playing jazz tunes from the nineteen twenties,
even when it wasn't plugged in. And always, always, there
was Sophia's whisper, growing more urgent with each passing day.
One night, as Eddie closed up the bar, he found
himself talking to Sophia's photograph, as if she could hear him.
I'm trying to help you, he said, softly, but I
don't understand what you want me to do. As if
in response, the temperature in the room plummeted. Eddie's breath
caught in his throat as he saw a figure materialize
before him. It was Sophia, but not as she appeared
in the photograph or in his visions of the past.
This Sofia was pale and translucent, her eyes filled with
a desperate sadness. She opened her mouth to speak, but
no sound came out. Instead, she pointed urgently towards the
basement door. Eddie nodded, understanding whatever answers he sought. They
lay beneath the broken bottle in the speakeasy where Sophia
had lived, performed, and ultimately met her tragic end. As
Eddie moved towards the basement door, Sophia's ghost faded away,
but her presence lingered a palpable weight in the air.
Eddie knew that he was on the verge of uncovering
a truth that had been buried for all almost a century,
a truth that some people might kill to keep hidden.
With a deep breath, Eddie opened the basement door. As
he descended into the darkness, he couldn't shake the feeling
that he was walking into the past itself. Whatever he
discovered down there, he knew his life would never be
the same. The secrets of the broken Bottle were about
to be revealed, and Eddie Hernandez was the key to
unlocking them all. As he reached the bottom of the stairs,
the whisper came again, clearer than ever before, Eddie, help me,
And with those words, Eddie stepped into a mystery that
would challenge everything he thought he knew about life, death,
and the thin line that separates them.
Speaker 1: Ghost is a Calorogus Shark Media production written and hosted
by Alexander Ian McIntyre, produced by Mark Francis. Executive producers
Mark Francis and John McDermott. Portions of this podcast may
have been created with the assistance of AI.
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