Ghost Adventures: Application

I grunted when the force of what could have possibly equaled a moving vehicle bashed into my chest, throwing me against the wall behind me. I glanced up at the little girl who appeared, unsurprisingly, extremely angry. What had triggered her transformation, of if she was just playing me from the start, I would never know, what I did know was that she wouldn't be able to escape the room once we had left. Demons like her were bound to one territory unless exorcised, something that I had trained for when I was young, despite the whims of the catholic church wishing me not to.

I stood, a laboring task, and wiped off the corner of my mouth, noting that there was blood from the impact on the back of my hand. "Trust me, darling." I said, glaring at the girl. "I am well versed on the arts of getting rid of the likes of you." We face off for about a second, a second before Zak came between us.

"Mae. Leave. Now." He looked back at me, his eyes intense, I could tell his over-protectiveness of me that he had when I was little was coming back to him. "This is no place for you, you've already been hurt today. Hurt badly..." His voice wavered for a second, and he must have caught it because he fixed it, regaining his intense expression a moment later. "This isn't for you, we'll leave her alone before you open yourself too much and get hurt worse than you already have."

"I'm fine Zak," I stated, shaking my head. "You can't protect me forever, and I'm the only one that can get her to go away." I nodded toward the girl, who mockingly curtsied at me, knowing that I was the only one who could see her, who would get so worked up about being mocked by a child that was no longer in the world of the living.

"You're already getting worked up about her..." He pointed out, taking one step toward me and already being a little too close for comfort. He surprisingly smelled like a light cologne, not at all chemically like most cheap male fragrances were but powdery and, to me, almost sweet. Without warning he engulfed me into a hug, pulling me close to him, holding me against his chest, practically suffocating me in his arms. "I don't want to see you hurt again Mae..." He muttered, and I could tell that he was honest, that he really didn't want me to be in pain.

I didn't want to tell him that his bone crushing hug hurt more than my impact against the wall, so I left that be and decided to let him keep hugging me. "Is that my babysitter talking or is that you?" I asked, leaning my head against his chest.

It took him a moment to reply, but what he did say sent sparks throughout my body, shooting down my spine in all sorts of directions. "That's me," He muttered, not letting go of me. "And I'll do whatever it takes to protect you..."

A moment after he spoke, he let me go, turning back around and practically shielding me from the little demon girl. "Alright ghost!" He said, glaring forward. "You really don't know who you're messing with now!" I wanted to giggle a little bit, but decided for the sake of the show that the moment shouldn't be ruined. Zak was just amusing to watch when he was provoking ghosts. "If you want anyone to hurt you've got me, right here!"

The little girl eyed Zak suspiciously as I moved to collect the camera and the recording devices from where they were left on the floor. I could tell she was honestly contemplating harming Zak, and sometime soon. Without hesitating or telling him why, I took him by the collar and dragged him out of the room before he could do anything that would seriously provoke the little girl.

"What are you doing?" He asked, surprised at my sudden will to get him out. "I was on a roll in there."

"She was seriously going to hurt you." I said, shaking my head. "You can't see them like I do. That little girl was turning red, and she was angry. When a demon like that has to think, no, scratch that has the capability of thinking about harming you, she will. And she will hurt you badly."

He looked at me, and when I say look I mean he really looked at me. Not just the girl that he had babysat when we were younger, not just the little girl who he had taken to the carnival or the mall or the movies. No. Not her. Not Little Miss Mae. No. Just me. Mae Collins. The woman who had just potentially saved his life by pulling him out of a room. "Thank you..." He said, softly for once, before turning out to continue the investigation.