Our Ghost Adventures

***Zak's POV***

I was alone. The seemingly unfamiliar room around me felt empty and lifeless. I wasn't on a bed, but a concrete floor instead, it felt cold beneath me and I dared to sit up. The room was then familiar and I knew where I was. The dungeon. I stood up and something felt off. I moved to the far wall―trying to ignore it―and flipped the light on so that I could find the stairs. I swiftly walked up them and into the kitchen. It was dark outside and I went to grab a glass of water when I heard a baby's cry. Lorelei.

I climbed the steps to the upstairs and that was when I noticed the stains on the once white walls. There were crimson red smears leading from the top of the stairs onward, the smears only stopped at mine and Adrina's bedroom. I tried to ignore those smears, but I couldn't do it, even as my daughter continued to cry. I stepped into mine and Adrina's room and found it absolutely spotless―as usual. I felt a wave of relief wash over me and I continued down the hallway to Lorelei's room.

The door was cracked and I saw small red droplets on the carpet. I swallowed hard as I pushed the door the rest of the way open and my biggest fear was confirmed. I knew that the blood had to belong to someone―assuming that it was blood.

On the floor, in the middle of Lorelei's room was the only person that knew me better than I knew myself―the love of my life. I could feel my heart shattering―even before I flipped the light on and saw the full gravity of it all. There were multiple stab wounds in her chest and she made a quiet cough that brought me to my knees. I moved closer to her and ran my fingers across her hair. Her blue eyes looked still and not like her own, not the ones that twinkled when I would make her laugh or looked at me with more love than I ever deserved.

“Adri, baby...” I sobbed. How had this happened? Who had killed her?

“Zak,” her voice was clear in my ears, I cupped her cheeks in my hands and waited for her to say something further. “Up here,” the voice was more demanding this time. I looked up and locked eyes with her.

“Adri?” I hadn't even realized I had been crying until my voice cracked.

“Zak,” the smile on her lips caused a pain in my chest that I had never felt before.

“What happened?”

“I'm dead now, Zak.” The tone of her voice was an unwavering one that only made things worse. She had accepted it...and I knew that I never could.

“How?”

“It doesn't matter, I...I forgive you now...” she gave me another smile and her hand reached for my cheek, but I never felt her touch it.

“Me? I...I killed you?” I asked, realizing everything.

“Not while you were you...but...”

“Oh my God, Adrina...”

“It wasn't your fault, really...”

“How wasn't it my fault?”

***Adrina's POV***

The sound of crying wasn't an unfamiliar thing for me to wake up to, but it was usually from my baby―not my fiance. Zak's face was buried into a pillow and I could hear his uncontrollable sobs. I shook his shoulder slightly and tried to wake him. Nothing. I shook him again and finally he looked up at me with his dark blue eyes and from there, the sobs only got worse. His arms wrapped around me and he cried into my neck.

I shushed him gently. Though I had never seen him like this, I knew that he just needed me to hold him close to me for a minute. Sometimes, he would get nightmares and be a little upset or moody, but Zak was the kind of guy that tried to be strong for me. I wrapped my arms around him and rubbed his back gently. “Whatever it was, it wasn't real,” I promised him. His grip was tight, he continued to hold onto me as if I were his only lifeline keeping him from falling back into whatever hellish world he had just come out of.

“I love you so much,” he sobbed. I could feel my own tears welling up and I pulled him closer.

“I love you too, baby. Do you wanna talk about it?”

“No,” his answer was immediate and I didn't press further. If he wanted to talk, he would. That was Zak.

***Zak's POV***

It was early when I woke up. Adrina and I were facing each other with my arms wrapped tightly around her while her head rested on my shoulder. Her own arms were tucked between our chests and she looked completely at peace.

My nightmare from last night flooded back to me and it made me want to quickly pull away so that I could never hurt her like that, but obviously I couldn't do that, not without waking her anyway.

“Zak,” her voice came out softly and she opened her beautiful eyes and looked up to me.

“Good morning gorgeous,” I couldn't help it, she had never looked more beautiful to me in my life. She gave me that beautiful smile of hers.

“Are you okay?” she looked at me carefully and I just smiled.

“Perfect,” I promised her. She gave me a slightly worried look but smiled still.

“What was your nightmare about?”

“It wasn't really a―” She gave me an unconvinced look.

“Zak, you know it was a huge deal, whatever it was. Tell me...”

I began to explain it all, I couldn't help it, when I looked at her, I couldn't deny the love that I had for her. She meant the world to me and that was why I had to make a choice after that nightmare.

“I think...” I started and she looked up at me with curious eyes. “I need to get up and take a shower...”

“Want company?” I loved this woman! Sadly though, today would not be one of those happy days for us.

“Not today, Sweetie,” I knew that I didn't sound very convincing.

“Are you...” she pecked my lips, then my cheek, then my Adam's apple. “Sure?” she pressed another―longer kiss to my neck.

It was so hard to say no...It really was. I could feel my body having difficulty protesting as well. She kissed my neck a little more and as if it was possible, she tried to move even closer to me.

“Baby―”

“Zak,” it came out as a whine, like she was pleading. How could I deny her anything? If she asked for a house on the moon I would find a way to make it happen. Adrina deserved nothing but the absolute best.

“How can I say no to you?” she looked up at me with a grin and we made our way to the bathroom.

***

Aaron and I were driving to the store to pick up food for the whole house. I had insisted that Adrina stay with Lorelei. She protested for a while, but soon agreed. I knew that I needed to come up with a plan, and Aaron would be the best person to talk to right now.

“So what's bothering ya, man?” he asked as I sat in the passenger seat, allowing him to drive.

Deciding to get it over with, I explained to him what was going on. I told him about the nightmare and everything.

“If I could get her to leave me...that would be ideal...y'know? So that she feels like it was her choice and it would be a lot easier on her...”

“Zak,” Aaron looked at me mildly horrified.

“I can't let her be stuck with me any longer! And it'll be something that isn't changeable...Adrina only deserves the best and that's not me.”

***Adrina's POV***

“Ariel, I need to talk to you,” I called, walking into the kitchen. She turned from her task and looked at me nervously. “It's nothing bad—I promise.”

“Then what is it?” she looked only a little less worried.

“So about a week ago...I went to the doctor because—”

“Oh my God, another Bagans baby!?” she exclaimed without me having to say anything.

“Shut your Goddamn mouth!” I exclaimed.

“Is that what it is?” she asked. I nodded slowly, biting my lip.

“I thought that it was the weirdest thing because I hadn't had morning sickness at all, and with Lorelei it was bad...but I don't know. I missed a period and so I went to the doctor and yeah...I'm due September 10th.”

“Does Zak know?”

“Nope. And I'm not telling him until after the wedding. So don't say a fucking word. Okay?”

“Okay...”

“I had to tell someone, Ariel. You know that I did.”

“Oh my God, I'm so happy for you guys...I hope it's a boy, then you'll have a boy and a girl and...”

“Ariel,” I warned.

“And you could name him—”

“Ariel!” she snapped out of it and looked at me nervously.

“Sorry.”

“You cannot tell anyone. Aaron included.”

“But—”

“Ariel, I mean it. Just for a couple of days. Zak can't know until I tell him.”

“Fine...”

***

Zak and Aaron came back a long while later. Zak looked positively stressed as he walked off to the room that we were currently sharing. Aaron didn't look much better as he raked his hands over his bald head. His soft brown eyes looked at me sympathetically and I frowned.

“You should go talk to him...”

“I want to give him a few minutes,” I said.

“You should go talk to him like...now...” Aaron rephrased it.

“Okay...” Slowly, I walked back to the guest room and pushed the door open. “Zak,” my voice was soft as he looked up at me with an expression that I couldn't name. It looked like a mix between anger and worry, but I wasn't really sure.

“Adrina,” his voice made me shiver, and not in a good way. He didn't speak in a cold tone to me, ever.

“Zak, I—”

“You should go.”

“I'll give you a couple minutes—”

“No, I mean really go. Leave. For ever. I'm not leaving Vegas or my house and you don't want to stay here, so go. Go back to Ohio or wherever the hell you want. I don't care!” His tone and his facial expression seemed to mean it, but his eyes didn't. He looked like he was hurt, like he was ready to break down.

“You're not making any sense,” I told him.

“Go. G-O. How hard is that to understand?”

“What about our daughter? What about the wedding?”

“I don't want to get married to you.”

“That's not what you've been saying for months, Zak.”

“Well it's what I'm saying now! This is what I do. I get girls to fall for me and then I send them on their way. It would've happened a lot sooner, but you were pregnant. And now, I just can't do it anymore!” I had to admit, he was sounding more and more like he meant it...

***Zak's POV***

I could see the hurt in her eyes and it pained me so much, but I couldn't stop. I had to make her hate me so that she could be safe from me.

“Zak...I can't go...I...”

I knew that this would break her heart and I didn't want to do it to her, but she needed to never want to come back. She needed to be able to find someone that would be able to make her happy but not have to worry about being possessed by a demon.

“I can't be your Aidan. Take Lorelei and go.”

Tears were falling down her cheeks, no matter how hard she tried to restrain them, she couldn't. All I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and tell her how much I loved her and how much I didn't want to do this, but for any of it to work, I couldn't that. She had to hate my guts and this was the only way that it could happen.

“Don't you ever speak to me again,” with that, she began throwing her stuff in a bag before rushing to the living room. Part of me was happy, happy that I had succeeded. I would rather her be emotionally hurt by this for a while than her end up dead because of me.