Our Ghost Adventures

“It's all my fault,” he whispered to his dark haired lover. She bowed her head against his hand and kissed it.

“No it's not,” she tried to tell him, her face buried against their entwined fingers. “I could never blame you for this...”

“I let her ride up front,” he replied, looking at her with the most pitiful expression she had ever seen.

“You couldn't have ever-”

“Shh...I don't have much longer...” the man in the bed looking so helpless was heartbreaking in itself. “I want you to move on and be happy. I know that it’ll take a long time for you to get there…But promise me that you will.”

He was the one that she depended on...Not the other way around. He was always the strong one. He was the one that held her when she cried. “I promise.” She couldn’t tell him no. She didn’t physically or mentally have the strength to.

“And, promise me that you won’t do anything you’ll regret…Live, Adrina…” He knew her too well. He knew the pain that she would go through and that she would be so close to doing something she’d never think of doing.

“I promise,” she said again.

“Kiss me...” Though the request would take so much out of her...knowing that it would be the last time that their lips that fit as if they were a puzzle would ever meet. She stood slightly and brought her lips to his as he lay in the hospital bed. “I love you.” Before she could even reply, the machines beside him held out their final beep.

***
I sat up as calmly as I could. In the back of my mind I remembered that I wasn’t at my own house alone. I grabbed my silver locket that was around my neck. That was all it took to confirm that my dream was over…I never had the locket in my dream. I pulled the blanket off of my and heard a whine. “Gracie?” I questioned, looking at the collie mix. That could mean only one thing…I was at Zak Bagan’s house. “Where’s the bathroom, Gracie?” I asked the dog. She perked up and to my surprise; she hopped off of the couch and trotted down the hall. She scratched at a door at the very end. Without much thought, I opened it. The room was completely dark and I started to look for the switch, but when I stepped inside the room it was carpeted. I heard Gracie’s collar shake as if she jumped up on something. This was a bedroom.

“Gracie? How’d you get in here, girl?” Zak’s deep, sleep-filled voice filled my ears.

“Oh shit…I’m sorry,” I murmured.

“Who’s there?” he sat straight up, I could see his silhouette as he sat up.

“It’s me…Adrina. I was looking for the bathroom.”

“What time is it…” I could tell that he wasn’t exactly awake, so he wasn’t ready to respond to my question. He rolled over and threw something across the room. “Five…” He rolled back onto his back. “You can use the one in here…just walk all of the way to the other side…it’ll be on your right,” he groaned.

Now I felt bad. I’d waken him up…it wasn’t as if I’d done it on purpose. But still, it was rude. I woke him up in his own house. I walked into the first door I came across and closed the door. I didn’t want to add waking him up. With the door closed, he wouldn’t have to see the light from the bathroom. The bathroom was HUGE. When I walked in, the walls were a deep red color. Not candy apple, not blood red…but dark red. The counter of his the “his and hers” sinks had dark colored faux wood on while the counter top was a dark marble color.

I wondered if he decorated the house this way or if it came like that. It seemed like something he’d like. I couldn’t help but notice the bottle of hair jell on his sink; it made me smile a little. Of course he would have hair jell. He seemed like someone that would take forever with his hair…I mean his faux hawk must take forever in itself.

His shower was possibly my favorite part of the bathroom. It was clear glass, not the frosted kind and had a door with a silver handle. I could see everything within it…Focus, Adrina, I told myself. I couldn’t get distracted by looking around his bathroom. The sooner I did my business and got out, the sooner I could allow Zak to go back to sleep.

***Zak’s POV***

Instead of lying in bed, petting Gracie, all of the while knowing I would never fall back asleep, I decided to get an early start on my day. I would go for a jog, as I always did when I was home first. I opened my closet and pulled out a black t-shirt and a pair of shorts for running. I grabbed a pair of socks from my top drawer and grabbed my tennis shoes from the end of my bed and quickly dressed. Adrina walked out and allowed the bright light of the bathroom to pour into my dimly lit room.
“Oh Jeez…I didn’t want to wake you up. I’m so sorry!” she said, running her fingers through her hair. It was quickly what I was noticing to be a nervous tick. She had done that more times than I could count in the past few days.

“You’re fine…I was going to get up in an hour anyway.” I couldn’t be mad at her, not really, it wasn’t like she’d come in here with bagpipes and intentionally woken me up. She didn’t even know that this was my room. If I had to be mad at anybody, it should be Gracie. She was most likely the one that had led Adrina to my room. But, I couldn’t be made at her either. She was the sweetest dog anybody could ever have, and I felt so lucky. Technically, when I thought about it, it would be my fault anyway. I was the one that left her on the couch with Adrina rather than brining her to my room with me, as I usually did.

“I’m still sorry…I should go on back to my hotel and get ready for this afternoon…Where am I supposed to meet the people from Travel Channel?”

“I’ll drive you, they want me there anyway,” I offered. Cabs were expensive and I had a car…I might as well use it.

“You don’t have to,” she said.

“I want to,” I replied, tying my shoe. “I don’t get much use out of my car, that’s why I always drive while I’m here.”

“Are you sure? I feel like I’ve been kind of a burden the last few days.”

“You haven’t,” I told her honestly. “Besides, you’re learning the ropes and if you’re going to be on our team, you’re going to have to be used to being around us. You haven’t annoyed me so far.”

“Thanks…I think…” she gave me what seemed like a rare smile, usually they were upon her lips, but they didn’t meet her eyes. I could see that she wasn’t the happy-go-lucky woman that she was putting on the front of being. She was troubled. There was something looming over her that made her feel trapped…or hurt…I wanted to ask her, but I’d only known her a few days. After a few moments of silence, I noticed that she was taking in her surroundings.

“Dracula, hm? I take it you like the classic one?” She was likely looking at my large Dracula poster on the far wall. It was my turn to smile.

“Love it.”

“I haven’t ever actually seen it…” She admitted. “Although, the idea of vampires has always been something that interested me,” she gave me yet another smile.

***
“Once you sign these papers, you will officially be a member of the Ghost Adventures Crew,” the peppy blonde said to Adrina. We were at some restaurant for lunch to make her “official”. I had to admit, I was a little annoyed that they had sent an intern. It wasn’t that I had anything against the girl, but I had assumed that they would be sending one of the head people because we had to meet at a certain time and such.

“Oh this is exciting!” Adrina exclaimed. She leaned over and began signing. I don’t know how I had missed it before, but at that exact moment, a necklace had fallen from within her shirt. There was a silver locket and two rings on the silver chain. I didn’t think much of it; it had just surprised me that I had missed it. I usually paid pretty good attention to detail. “Zak?”

“Hm?” I looked up at her and she was looking at me like she’d already said something. Crap.

“She asked about what you have planned for this season…” Adrina gestured to the intern.

“Um, we’re going to revisit some of the fans’ favorite places.”

“Oh that should be exciting! I’m a huge fan of you and your show. I mean, Adrianna here is so lucky to be joining you.”

“Adrina,” our newest investigator corrected.

“Yeah, sorry Adrian.”

“Adrina,” I said. “Her name is Adrina.” It was annoying really.

“What?” the blonde looked at me.

“You called her by the wrong name twice after she clearly told you that what her name was.”

“Oh I’m really sorry…” She wasn’t. She was simply saying that, so not to make a bigger ass of herself. I knew what she was doing…it was what most girls did…usually I didn’t mind it. They would senselessly flirt with me just because I was on television. I don’t know why today in particular it got on my nerves.

“All done,” Adrina said, standing to her full height. “Do you think that you can go ahead and drive me back to my hotel?” she asked. It was clear what she was doing, and I wanted to hug her for it.

“Of course,” was all I said before leading the way out.

***Adrina’s POV***

It was odd…Standing in an airport with the boys that was. Nick and Aaron were goofing off as Zak went to get the tickets. I had my black duffel bag over my shoulder, big black headphones (not the ones that go in your ears but the old style that go over them) around my neck, and iPod in my pocket, begging to be turned on. I had talked to my friends and I had decided to leave Vegas early. I couldn’t do anything with them anyway and it just wasn’t as fun now that I was going to Italy…
Out of nowhere, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Without glancing at the caller ID, I slid my finger across the screen and answered it. “Hello?” I walked a little away from Nick and Aaron but still faced them so that I could see what was going on. They just couldn’t hear me.

“Hello! How are ye? How’s Vegas?” I knew her voice anywhere.

“I’m good; I’m not in Vegas anymore though.”

“No? Where are ye?”

“I’m in an airport…Waiting to go to Italy…I got a new job!”

“Oh did ye, now? Did ye hear that, Jerry? Adrina got ‘erself a new job!”

“Dats lovely, lass! What ‘re ye doin’ now?” Jerry asked.

“I’m working with Ghost Adventures-it’s an American show…” I added, realizing that they didn’t know what it was probably.”

“Okay,” Zak had just walked back with four tickets in hand.

“Dats lovely!” they both replied.

“I’ll call you back when I land, bye.” I felt bad for hanging up so quickly but Zak surely had something to say. “Sorry,” I apologized briskly and returned to the group.

“You two know how this works…But, Adrina, you don’t. So what we do is we all pick one at random because I can’t get all of them in a row-especially now that there’s four of us.”

“Are there two sets of two, now?” Aaron asked. Zak nodded.

“Adrina, you can pick first,” he told me. “There’s row L and row M, so we’ll be right by each other still.”

“Which two seats?” I asked.

“The window and the middle in M and the end and the window in L,” he replied.

“Okay,” I sighed and picked the third ticket from the left. I opened it up. Row M, window. Aaron picked next, then Nick, and Zak kept the last ticket.

“Whatcha got, Adrina?” Aaron asked, nudging me.

“Row M, the window,” I said.

“Row M, middle!” he exclaimed, holding his hand up to high-five me. I smiled and high-fived him.

***Zak’s POV***

The flight was a long and boring one. Nick went to sleep right away, as did Aaron, I looked behind me, and too my right to see Adrina with her head phones on and looking at her computer. “Hey,” I said, touching the back of her lap top. She looked up with a deer in headlights look.

“Hm?”

“What’re you watching?”

“Nothing…” she said, looking down at the keys. She looked like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Clearly it’s somethin’,” I laughed.

“Season one of Ghost Adventures…” she admitted, looking ashamed. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Which episode?”

“The prison in West Virginia. Moundsville Penitentiary. I thought that I’d start from the beginning.” That had been so long ago.

“Have you watched Bobby Mackey’s Music World yet?”

“A long time ago, I’ll watch that one next.”

“That one still gives me nightmares…” I admitted.

“Really?” She looked back up at me. “What about Poveglia Island?” I nodded. “So I have a question for you,” she said suddenly. “Why is it that you don’t bring in like digital cameras and snap pictures anymore? Isn’t film a good way to catch them? Like on video camera you get anomalies and such but maybe you could get better stuff with even a Polaroid.” She smiled proudly.

I loved that she was so into this already. She was like a member of the crew already. “We probably should bring them back,” I admitted. I wasn’t quite sure why we didn’t do it every lockdown, we kind of just forgot, I guess. “Maybe you can do that. Do you have a camera with you?”

“Yeah, a digital one, I’ll probably need a new camera disc though. This one has a lot of me and my friends.”

“We can pick one up when we get there,” I told her.

“We should’ve sat by each other,” she said. “They’re both asleep and I’m bored.”

I looked around for open seats, hoping that we could go sit there so that I didn’t have to keep turning around. There were two in the middle row next to us. “C’mon, nobody’s sitting there,” I said. She closed her laptop and followed me to the seats. I took a seat further over and allowed her to sit on the end, her laptop still with her. “You want to know something?” I asked.

“Sure,” she replied. I figured I could tell her because she would learn sooner or later anyway.

“Okay, so we’re going back to Bobby Mackey’s. Probably the lockdown after next.” She gasped and looked at me with wide eyes.

“Oh no…That’s why you were asking about it, weren’t you?” I nodded. “But Nick said-I remember from one of the episodes-that he promised his wife he wouldn’t go back…”

“Then he’ll be sitting that one out,” I replied. “I get it…I’m worried about going back there, but we have even better technology now and I think we can catch something even more.”

“Zak…”

“This job is dangerous; we all are prepared for that. You’ve done this stuff before; you know what it’s like.”

“I know,” she said looking up at me. “I think I’ll be better once I do a lockdown with you guys.”

“Probably, are you nervous?”

“A little,” she admitted. “I mean you guys have been working together for years…I kinda feel like I’m going to be the odd man out,” she said.

“Don’t worry about that. I think you’re fitting in just fine. The lockdown is like the initiation to actually be a part of GAC,” I said. She looked at me and smiled.

“Well, lucky me, I get to be locked in one of the places with the best evidence you guys have,” she laughed. I laughed along with her for a minute and then we were both silent. “So, I have to ask, I know that this is kind of trivial but what are the sleeping arrangements going to be at the hotel. Aaron told me we’re staying here three days…But do we all get our own rooms or…what?”

“We rent two rooms and how we’ve done it in past seasons is we alternate on who gets a room to themselves, but since there’s four we can’t do that.”

“Oh great I ruined that too!”

“No, you didn’t. We’ll just have to pick I guess.”

“Okay well, I must warn you-I’ll warn them later-I have really bad nightmares sometimes…They’ll likely wake up whoever I end up sharing with.”

“Adrina, I think nightmares are part of the job description.”

“Mine are different,” she said, but I could tell that she didn’t want to talk about whatever they were about. So, I didn’t ask. If she trusted me to tell me, she would tell me.

“Well, I don’t usually do anything in my sleep. Nick snores and talks and Aaron hogs the covers and farts.”

“That’s good to know,” she laughed. “My nightmares don’t always happen, but every other night-on average.”

“Still better than getting farted on,” I laughed. She smiled broadly.

“I’ll share with whomever. I’m the newbie.”

“We’ll talk about it when we arrive,” I decided. I wasn’t sure what we’d do yet.

***Adrina’s POV***

Italy. It was so pretty. Although, I was one of those people that could find the beauty in any place I traveled. One thing about me, I loved to travel. Especially in the last five years, but even before then. I had only left the country on a few occasions. I had been to Costa Rica, Ireland, Canada, and Mexico. Now Italy was on that list. I followed the guys’ lead when we got to the hotel. They all walked to the counter to check in, I followed. Zak spoke something that sounded like gibberish to me-but I realized it was Italian.

“Americans?” the man asked with a heavy accent. “Are you guys Americans?”

“We are,” Zak said. “We would like to check in.”

“Name please?”

“Zak Bagans, two rooms.”

“Spell the uh, last name.”

“B-A-G-A-N-S,” he spelled allowed.

“Ah, ah, here you are,” the man behind the counter had tanned skin, honey brown eyes, and hair as black as Zak’s, accept his was beginning to gray just a little bit. He wasn’t very tall, not compared to the other guys around me, anyway. “How many cards?”

“Four. Two for each room.”

“Okay, 414 and 415.”

We thanked him and walked away.

“Is it okay if I take 414?” I asked. “I have this number thing…4’s are lucky for me…”

“Yeah,” Zak said, handing me one of the cards. “How do you guys want to do this? I mean we all have to share-I don’t know if we’ll get two beds or one in the room…”

“I don’t care,” Nick said. “If you’re wanting to share with Adrina, you can. I’m so jet lagged I’m just going to sleep anyway.”

“Aaron?” Zak asked the other member of the team.

“It’s up to you bro,” Aaron replied. Zak lastly turned to me.

“Well, I think I’d rather share with you-no offense, guys, but Zak told me about the farting and the talking…” I said with a nervous laugh.

“Adrina, you just broke my heart,” Aaron said dramatically, grabbing his chest as if I’d actually hurt him. I rolled my eyes and punched his arm playfully.

“Oh hush,” I said. My phone, which I’d turned back on when we landed, buzzed in my pocket. “Hello?”

“Adrina,” it was Ellie.

“Oh hey, what’s up?”

“Oh nothing really. I just want to tell you that Muffin misses you.”

“Oh he does?” I missed my dog too, of course. He was a Siberian Husky mixed with a Labrador Retriever. Despite the lab side of him, he had beautiful white/gray fur and the brightest of blue eyes I’d seen on any dog. “Can I talk to him?” I knew it was silly, but I missed my dog!

As we walked to the elevator, the guys gave me a strange look, but I ignored them. I knew that Zak would probably understand. He loved Gracie after all.

“Yeah, here he is,” Ellie was just humoring me, I knew that. She didn’t quite understand my closeness to Muffin.

“Hi there, baby! How’s Mommy’s boy? Are you being good?” I asked while we were in the elevator. This only caused the boys to look at me even more.

‘Who’s that?’ Zak mouthed.

I held up my index finger, telling him one minute. I heard Muffin bark and I almost leaped with happiness. I heard Ellie’s voice once more. “So when’s your lockdown?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“Are you excited?”

“Yes I am. Have you talked to Ariel since you got back?” I had a sneaking suspicion that she was mad at me, maybe even jealous.

“Not really. She hasn’t called me.”

“Me neither.” We all lived within about fifteen minutes of each other. Ellie had brought Muffin to her house for dog sitting. “Well hey, I should go. We’re at the hotel…”

“Send me pictures.”

“I will.”

“Love you.”

“Love ya too!” I clicked my phone off and put it in my pocket.

“I thought you said you were single,” Aaron said when we stepped off of the elevator.

“That was Ellie, my best friend. She’s married…”

“Who were you talking to other than her?” Zak asked.

“My dog.” I saw Zak’s eye grow a little bit wider and his smile grow slightly bigger.

“You have a dog?”

“Yeah. Of course, I love dogs. His name is Muffin and I’ve had him for four years.”

“Aw, what kind is he?” I noticed Nick and Aaron slip into their room as Zak opened ours.

“He’s a Siberian Husky mixed with a Lab. I have a picture,” I pulled out my phone and showed him my lock screen.”

“He’s beautiful. I have to ask, why Muffin?”

I shrugged. “I had just gone to a coffee shop and gotten a coffee and a blueberry muffin I came out, set the muffin in between the two seats, before I could even start the car; he had eaten the whole muffin! This was the first day I got him, mind you.”

Zak laughed and grinned ear to ear. “That’s so adorable!”

“Yeah, except I didn’t get to eat my muffin!” I took a chance to look around the room, there was only one bed. I frowned. It wasn’t that I was worried about sharing a bed with Zak, it was just I’d grown so used to sleeping alone that I didn’t know what to do.

***
“I’m going to go shower,” I announced to Zak. He was lying on the right side of the bed. Usually I slept on the right, but I figured I could give it up for one night. He pulled his ear bud from his ear and nodded. He looked rather attractive in the dim lighting of the hotel room. He hadn’t showered yet and his black hair was still in its faux hawk. As I walked into the bathroom I mentally slapped myself for even thinking that way about Zak, or any man for that matter…let alone my new co-worker. Again, my hand went to my necklace. It was the only thing that reminded me that my heart would only ever belong to one person…

I turned on the water in the shower and figured out how get it the right temperature. I went back to the main room to find my shampoo and conditioner-I knew that it was more trouble to get on the plane, but I couldn’t use anything else on my hair. It would come out gross and not that I was vain or anything…but I didn’t want to look awful on camera for my first appearance on Ghost Adventures. I also had a bottle of mouse, a curling iron, and a straightener. I didn’t know how or if I would want to do my hair before the lockdown, probably not, but it would be nice to have all of those things just in case. Anyway, I showered quickly before getting out, putting my wet hair into a tight bun and put on my tank top and shorts. I had to wear a bra to bed because I was sharing a bed with Zak…it would be odd to go to bed without one. Sigh, the troubles of being a woman.
When I walked out, Zak had a pile of close. He was waiting for the shower, clearly. “It’s all yours,” I said with a small smile.

“Thanks,” he replied.

“I’m gonna run down the hall and get some ice…” I don’t know why I decided to tell him that…I guess it was just so that he didn’t wonder where I went if he walked out and I was gone. He nodded and went into the bathroom. I walked down the hall with the ice bucket, in search of the ice machine. I hoped that they had one, but they did have an ice bucket.

“Hey! Adrina,” A voice called from behind me. I turned and saw Aaron.

“Oh hey!” I said happily. “How are you?”

“Nick’s out, I was just trying to get some ice.”

“Me too! Zak’s in the shower…”

“Why aren’t you in there with him?” he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I had no choice but to slap his arm with great force-okay it wasn’t that great…it was just a slap.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean!?”

“Well, you said you’d rather share a room with him…and I thought that something happened between you two on the plane…” Aaron was clearly confused but I was just shocked.

“No! We just talked!”

“Okay…” he said, shaking his head. I decided to let things go, rather than make them even more awkward than they’d already become.