Ghost Adventures: New Beginnings

Two weeks had passed since the actual contest for two new female hunters to join the Ghost Adventures Crew occurred. Myself and Sarah had waited very impatiently to learn who the winners were. We’d seen so many other submissions that were beyond amazing that we feared we’d never get the greatest opportunity to shine right in our faces. That was until a message was sent to us via email from a Travel Channel Representative. Then we received a call telling us about the very thing we’d been dying to hear about. We’d been chosen to join the Ghost Adventures.

That day we celebrated as if we’d won the lottery or something else with the same quality. Now here we were on a plane to Las Vegas to formerly meet the four guys we’d be joining on hunts. It was actually pretty exciting to know that we’d be part of something big. Something that not many people had the chance to do. It was simply amazing. Only twenty minutes left and we’d be landing at the airport where the guys would actually pick us up at.

When Sarah had heard that news, she had nearly had a heart attack. She was hoping that Zak would sit in the back so she could be next to him. Though I shared similar feelings about Isaac I wasn’t as over the top as she was about the excitement of that possibility. We’d been friends for quite some time now and even roommates for a while now, but we were still completely different from one another.

I was rather on the shorter side, petite if you will. Long dark brown hair and big brown eyes. While Sarah looked like a Victoria’s Secret model. I hated her for that. I told her so every time she walked around with her little strut or woke up looking as if she went to bed with makeup and hair team. She’d laugh it off and roll her eyes at me. Honestly though I did dream about just hacking her hair off one day. Well maybe not, I’m not that mean.

“Sarah, wake up. We’re landing soon.” I nudged her a little to lift her head from my shoulder. She rubbed her face as she set up straight yawning and stretching. “Where’s Zak?” I shook my head at her as I buckled my seat belt. “He’s on the ground waiting for us. Wipe the drool off your face and buckle up.” She made a face at me but wiped her mouth just to make sure there wasn’t anything there. I snickered a little which earned me a light punch on the arm.

Only a little bit later the plane had finally landed. We filed out behind everyone else with our carry on luggage. I was stiff for sitting so long but again miss model walked as if she were ready for a show. I wanted to stick my foot out and trip her but I refrained from doing so. We made it to the luggage claim where we grabbed our bags as soon as we saw them. We usually packed rather light, so there wasn’t much for us.

I lead the way out of the airport to the front entrance. Wearing jeans and a t-shirt was a pretty good idea. It was a little hot already just standing there, but what could you do? “Do you see ‘em?” I asked looking at Sarah. She had been looking around too and shook her head slowly. “Then I guess we should just wait off to the side where they can see us. I’m not about to go searching for them then get lost.” That was easy enough to agree on as we moved over to the side out of the way from others.

We waited nearly ten minutes before we seen a van that looked familiar. We’d seen it enough on the show to recognize it but at the same time we weren’t quite that sure yet. It came pulling up along before parking right in front of us. I had to reach out and grab Sarah’s arm so she didn’t lunge forward. The doors opened nearly at the same time as the four men stepped out. Zak, Aaron, Nick, and Isaac who had been the newest cast member after a similar contest to the one we had entered.

“Hey you two! It’s nice to finally meet you. Sarah and Nikkie right?” Zak smiled as he stuck his hand out. Sarah was naturally the first to accept it. She was grinning from ear to ear, but I still held onto the back of her shirt for extra precaution. I shook his hand next and we went about shaking hands with the rest of the crew. It was a very surreal moment to even be standing around them like that. Knowing that these were the guys we’d get to hang out with.

They helped us load our things into the van before we all loaded ourselves in. Much to Sarah’s dismay, Zak sat in the passenger seat while Nick drove. Then much to my own Isaac had sat in the seat that was empty behind the second row that us girls had taken along with Aaron. So far luck hated us around them. “We’re glad you two could join us. We watched your video and were amazed by the quality of evidence you captured.” Zak was the one now doing all the talking.

“It’s just you two who go on those hunts? You don’t ever have anyone else with you?” He asked as he looked over his shoulder at us. We both shook our heads before I answered, “No. We always go alone, just us two. It use to be me going by myself. That was a bit more time consuming, but once I got Sarah to join me we actually were able to get more captured. I got her addicted to this whole thing.”

“Yeah, I gotta thank her for that but I’ve been a fan of your show longer. So I’ve always been interested in this kind of stuff. Just didn’t know how to go about doing it.” Sarah added in as the guys all listened. “We’re going to go eat before we actually tell you guys about the next location we’re headed to, is that okay with you?” Nick said as he glanced in the rear view mirror at us. “Yeah that’d be great. We’re pretty hungry actually.” I nodded.

Aaron groaned in relief and Nick laughed but grinned. Sarah turned around to look at Aaron, “Don’t complain to us about being hungry. We just took two planes to get here, and didn’t have time to grab food between flights.” She laughed. Nikkie gave Sarah a look, “You ate almost twenty bags of peanuts on the plane. Do you know how much that cost me ‘cause I’m such a good friend?” Sarah pursed her lips slightly, “I’ll pay you back... eventually.”

“Tell me about it.” Isaac sighed, “I do the same for these guys too sometimes. They tell me it’s my initiation.” Zak laughed as turned to look back at everyone. “Hey man, you can always say no. Though the same thing we’ll probably happen with the spiders.” Isaac glared slightly, “Trust me. You’re going to wake up with a clown doll in your bed very soon. I suggest you be careful. Maybe there will even be a few dolls hanging out in your bathtub.”

“How are you going to do that? You don’t even like dolls.” Zak scoffed as his lips twitched from trying to suppress a grin or a laugh. “I’ll get over it just to do that. Trust me.” Isaac kept that same little glare on his face which only made everyone laugh. “I’ll be helping him with that too.” Nick smirked, “I’ll make sure to find the best ones. You’ll love them.” Zak’s face fell slightly as he realized that threat was a definite possibility now.

Myself and Sarah began to laugh simply from the priceless look that had crossed Zak’s face. “You guys are great. I hope I’m there to see the result of that prank.” Zak gave me a look before turning around in his seat to change the subject. “Where are we going to eat again?” Nick shrugged as he waited for a red light to turn green. “I don’t know. You said we’d choose once we picked them up.” Aaron clapped his hands having come up with an idea, “Dude! We gotta go to the Florida Cuban Cafe.”

“Oh my God, yes! Go there Nick. I love that place. You girls are going to love their food. It’s amazing.” Zak smiled as Nick began to drive the route to the little restaurant. Of course myself and Sarah had heard about the place before, we’d seen the Vlog they did which featured that very restaurant. We were pretty happy to get that same experience they had now. Something we’d get to add to the things we had the chance to do.

Nick pulled into the parking lot not long after they decided on Florida Cuban Cafe and we all climbed out, Sarah and I glancing around. Filing into the Cafe, we were led to a corner booth, big enough to fit us all. Some how we had managed to make it so I could sit next to Isaac and Sarah next to Zak. How we had got this to happen, we were unsure of, but at least it did.

“What do you recommend?” I asked after a waitress had left us menus. Zak flipped through it as he clucked his tongue, “Let’s see here. There’s a lot of good stuff. You really can’t go wrong with any of it. Though for first timers, hm.” The other guys were reading through their own menus trying to pick out what they wanted while Sarah and I looked at the menus a bit confused. We wanted to get something good that we’d like and not have to experience something really bad.

“Why don’t I order for you both and you try what I get you. If you don’t like it, then you can try something else. How does that sound?” Zak finally offered after obviously seeing our confused faces. I smiled in agreement while Sarah nodded. That was better than nothing at all. Plus I was pretty sure they were paying, so nothing to worry about there. The waitress came back to the table where he began order appetizers and our meals. The others did the same and the woman went on her way.

“So Nikkie, what made you first get into ghost hunting?” Isaac asked. I thought for a moment back to when I first started. “Well I started when I was about fifteen maybe. So I’ve been doing this for about ten years now.” His eyes widened slightly, “You’re only twenty-five? No. You’re lying. Does she look that old to you guys?” They all shook their heads which made me laugh. Of course no one thought I was my age. “Yeah, that happens a lot. People think I’m like twenty or younger. Though everyone else doesn’t believe Sarah here is twenty-seven.”

Zak arched an eyebrow as he looked at her, “Really? Wow. You guys must take really good care of yourselves. I find it hard to believe honestly.” Sarah laughed, “Well ya know not a lot of people can believe you’re becoming an old man. What with your going to be thirty-four soon. Right?” Aaron laughed, “Old man. That’s funny.” Zak shook his head, “You’re a year older than me man, so don’t try that.”

Everyone either laughed or chuckled at Aaron’s reaction of “Dude... Not cool bro...” Of course that led to Aaron grabbing a piece of napkin, ripping it up and crumpling it into a ball. When he threw it at Zak, instead of it going where he was aiming for, it hit Sarah in the face and fell down into her shirt.

Her laughing stopped right away and she just looked down at her shirt then at him and back to her shirt. “You did not just do that.” She said looking back up at him. I of course was laughing even harder at this. What were the odds? What ever they were, it was hilarious. Sarah managed to maneuver herself just the right way so that the paper ball fell out of her shirt. Though I already knew that she wasn’t going to retaliate with a simple paper ball, she would do something a bit more extravagant.

“Aaron I’d be careful if I were you. Watch your back at all times from now on.” I smiled at him. He gave me a look to show he was worried before looking at Sarah who only smirked before acting as if she were innocent. Just like her of course. “I’ll be getting that one on camera.” Zak chimed in just before the food finally arrived. It all actually looked really good and smelled even better than expected.

Whatever it was that Zak had ordered for us was amazing. We all ate rather quickly, which was probably from how much we liked the food. After a little dessert we headed out back to the van. This is where Sarah’s little plan took effect to get Aaron back. She prodded me in the side and I already knew what she wanted to do. She’d pulled the trick a few times on some guys we were friends with. She always got them with it too.

“Hey Aaron, could you get me some napkins from inside? I think I spilled something on myself.” I frowned looking back at him then down at my shirt as I stood outside the van. He nodded, “Yeah sure. I’ll be right back.” Sarah watched until he was inside then hurried into the van where she went through one of her bags. She pulled out a little pouch and looked at the guys. “Where’s his water bottle?” Zak picked up a green bottle that tinted the water inside a dark green as well.

Watching to see where Aaron was, she went about putting green food coloring into the water. A few shakes later and storing it back where it had been we all loaded into the van waiting for the last person, Aaron. He came back taking the seat next to me and handing me the napkins. I smiled and thanked him as I cleaned off the invisible stain. We watched him grab his water bottle while pulling out of the parking lot. No one said a word, just sat there as he drank the water.

We were now headed to Zak’s place where he’d give us a tour of the equipment as well as inform everyone about the next venture. He had chosen a place for everyone to visit first without even telling Nick about it. A little over twenty minutes and we had arrived at his house. The place was actually pretty big and had this look to it. A look that sort of told you that something creepy may be in there. Which I didn’t doubt since Zak spoke about having a rather gothic looking house.

We followed him inside where he told us to sit in the living room while he went and grabbed the things needed. Nick and Aaron were helping him out while myself, Sarah, and Isaac sat in the living room. A few minutes later they were back with the cases they kept everything in. They opened them up so that we could see what they had. “Those look really good. Though I see a few things missing that I brought. So no worries.” I said looking things over.

“What do you mean we have things missing?” Zak asked looking over his equipment. I shrugged, “I just don’t see some stuff we have. Maybe we’re outdated though and they’re no longer used. I’m not sure. Either way they work pretty well. We’ll show ‘em to you when we get to the next location.” I said looking up at him. His brows twitched slightly before he closed the cases. “All right, well the place we’re going to be visiting in a couple days is going to be visiting Sloss Furnaces for a second time.”

Sarah looked at me then at Zak, “Why is that? Shouldn’t we visit some place new?” Zak nodded, “Right. We’ll do that but we’d like to visit again because they’ve actually contacted us letting us know that the place has actually received more activity after we visited. To the point they’ve gone through more staff than they have in the past ten years. So I think we owe it to them to see what happened there exactly.”

Everyone looked at each other but it seemed final, we were all ready to go.”We’re ready for that. I guess we’ll be leaving tomorrow then?” I tilted my head to one side as he nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be leaving tomorrow. So get plenty of sleep. I already have all the tickets ready so we should be good.” I clapped my hands together, “Alright good. So why don’t we all get to know each other a bit more then get the rest we need?” Isaac stood up, “Drinks for everyone?” We all agreed to that and Zak offered to help him while Nick put everything away.

Zak handed Aaron his drink and gave him a funny look. “Dude, open your mouth.” Aaron raised an eyebrow as he opened his mouth. Everyone looked at him and burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” He questioned looking around. Sarah was laughing the hardest of course which made him suspicious. “What did you do?” He asked standing up quickly and heading over to a mirror. “Oh my God, dude! What?! How did you do this?” He turned to look at Sarah who still wasn’t finished with laughing.

He shook his head and went toward a bathroom to try and clean his green teeth and mouth out. “Bravo.” Zak said as he raised his glass. The rest of us did the same before taking a drink. That night we went about knowing who each other was. We told stories about our past experiences with spirits and haunted locations. We told them what they wanted to know about us and then after that we stayed in some guest rooms at Zak’s home. The next day we’d be headed to our first location as part of the Ghost Adventures Crew. Those excited little butterflies had already started.