Wisconsin Haunting

Nick sighed, tagging a part of their video feed where they thought they caught an anomaly, turned out to just be a bug. Lately, almost all of their investigations have been falling dead and they're not getting any good or credible action. At the rate they're going, they might have to find side jobs before things pick up again.

"Hey Nick, how's the video analysis going?" Aaron asked from his spot across the room from him, reviewing his half of the video feed.

"Not good, already debunked more than half of it as dust or bugs, you?" Nick spun around in his chair to look at Aaron better.

"Pretty much the same, nothing good," He sighed heavily, pausing the playback before rubbing his face.

“Hey, guys,” Zak piped up from his desk next to their office door. “Have we ever been to Wisconsin before, like for an investigation?” Aaron and Nick shared a look before shaking their heads at him. “Well, I think we got a place for our next location.”

“Really? Where?” Nick asked as he stood up to go over to Zak’s desk, Aaron wheeling himself over in his chair.

“Cudahy, Wisconsin. South Milwaukee. Something about an apartment complex that was abandoned in the 80s. Doesn’t say when the apartment was built but just from the look of it, you can tell it’s haunted. Look at this place,” Zak maximized the picture he was looking at for the others and they both whistled slowly, taking in the tall building; it definitely had that creepy vibe to it. All of them were wondering what sort of evil lurked within it’s walls.

“Let’s do it,” Nick announced, clapping his hands excitedly.

“I’ll call it in, you guys get the stuff ready,” Zak called out as he jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room with his phone in hand.

"Looks like we're headed to the land of the cheese! Woo-hoo!" Aaron exclaimed as he tossed his hands in the air and slapped Nick on the shoulder. Nick just laughed at him, taking one last look at the building before turning to help pack up the equipment.

Zak came back about half an hour later to tell them they have a flight the next day for 10am to Milwaukee and that they have arranged for a local investigator to assist them.

“Local investigator?” Nick asked as he packed away one of their x-cameras. Zak just shrugged.

“Whoever they are, I hope they know some priests ‘cause that building looks like it has some evil shit in it,” Aaron threw in his own two cents as he tossed some extra batteries in his bag.
“Mary just said their name was Marshall, so I dunno if she meant first name or last name,” Zak explained as he zipped up his backpack.

“Looks like we’ll just have to find out and see. How far is Cudahy from the airport?” Nick questioned, stacking some of their plastic tubs.

“Not far, not even half an hour,” Zak answered as he grabbed a few more bags and headed out the door to toss them in their van. “South Milwaukee, bro!” Nick rolled his eyes as he, too, grabbed some tubs and followed Zak. Together, they spent the rest of the day packing up the van while Aaron consulted with their producer on flights and hotel arrangements.

“Hey guys, they want us to spend a couple weeks in Wisconsin to check out the other locations,” Aaron informed them as they locked up the van. “Said that that local investigator will be our tour guide and shit.” Nick and Zak just looked at each other and shrugged, agreeing to the company’s wishes. “Our flight’s for ten-thirty a.m. tomorrow,” They all mock-saluted each other before walking to their cars, hoping to get an early night’s sleep for their plane ride.

After a rather restless night sleep, the boys climbed aboard the plane with their take-away cups of coffee they picked up on the way; they were all too excited for the lockdown and even more excited to be going to the one state they haven’t visited yet.

"Did Mary give us anymore info on our tour guide?" Zak asked after the plane had taken off.

"Nope, just that their name is Marshall and that they'll be waiting for us when we land with our van," Aaron replied, messing around on his phone. Zak nodded and checked his email, informing the guys about their next location next month.

"Ya know, we could've driven here, it's not that far," Nick pondered.

"Have any of us been to Wisconsin, for business or pleasure?" Zak asked; all three of them shook their heads. "We would've gotten lost and we all know it." Nick sighed, knowing that Zak was right, even though he wouldn't admit it out loud.

"Is Billy joining us on this one?" Aaron asked, looking up from his phone; Zak could just make out the layout for the twitter app on his screen.

Zak nodded, "He had something to take care of first but he's flying out tomorrow morning," the two nodded absentmindedly, already busy with their own thing to cure their boredom. Zak just got comfortable in his seat and plugged his ear buds in, turned up his music and prayed to catch a nap before they land.

After a few short hours, Aaron was shaking him awake just before they landed - Zak, being half-asleep and bleary eyed, just held on to Nick’s jacket as they disembarked. He was a little bit more awake once they got to the luggage belt but he needed to find a coffee shop first, if they still have to find their ‘tour guide’.

“Aaron, do you see a coffee joint anywhere?” He asked, voice still rough from his nap, as he rubbed his eyes to get his contacts in focus again.

“Yeah, I saw a Starbucks over there, I was going to head over there once we got our bags. Usual?” He just nodded at Aaron, making a tired ‘shoo’ing motion that always gets him to laugh. Too tired to move, Zak just sat on his luggage on the sidelines with Nick standing next to him, scanning the airport to see if they missed their ‘tour guide’.

“Think they might be outside with the van, dude,” He suggested, shrugging when Zak gave him a look. “You see how crowded it is in here? I would’ve waited outside, too,”

Zak sighed tiredly, yanking the earbud out of his ear once he saw how close to being dead his phone was, “Yeah, I guess. They could’ve-” He was cut off by the overhead speaker, a slightly terrified male voice coming over that had Nick give Zak a weird look.

“GAC, your party is waiting for you out front,” The words echoed around the airport, making them look around worriedly, praying that it didn’t cause anyone to freak out. Thankfully, the flight go-ers just gave them weird looks as they passed, not really caring that they’re looking at show hosts.

“I told you,” Nick was so smug, that if Zak wasn’t so tired, he would’ve hit him. Aaron finally showed up with three, large coffees and gave them to their respectful owners, Zak sighed in contentment this time, as the rich, dark liquid perked him up as soon as he took a sip.

“I didn’t know airports announce when your ride arrives,” Aaron wondered, his head cocked to the side as he tried to think back when they took a cab to a hotel because Billy was driving the van up.

“They don’t. Well, at least, I don’t think they do,” Nick shrugged again, draining half his cup in a few gulps, not really caring that it was still too hot to drink normally - he needed a caffeine boost to get through the rest of the day.

“Let’s go, better not waste anymore time sitting around here,” They all nodded and finished off their coffees, grabbing their bags and headed for the door, not really prepared for the slight chill that welcomed them when they stepped out.

“Jesus, this just reminded me why I don’t like the mid-west, too cold,” Zak complained, dropping his bag to find a sweater and yanked it over his head, drawing the hood up to cover his ears. Nick and Aaron just shook their heads at each other, grinning, while they watched Zak freak out. Aaron scanned the parking lot, noticing their van right away but the sight of a person sitting on the hood, smoking, threw him for a loop.

“Found our van and, I think, our tour guide,” He announced, nodding in the general direction when the other two turned to look at him. Nick’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline and Zak just huffed.

"Please tell me this isn't our tour guide," he muttered to himself as they started over; Aaron heard him though and shot a look to Nick, who made a smoking motion, which he just rolled his eyes at.

They were well within earshot of the person on their van and they could all tell it was a female and not a male, let they were all guessing. From what Nick could tell, she had dark hair and was on the thin side, dressed like they were - all black - and sort of tan, more of an olive tone than tanned, really.

“Are you Marshall?” Zak asked, secretly hoping that the actual Marshall was just inside, using the bathroom or getting something to eat. Something about this girl just made him uncomfortable, like he wasn’t suppose to be around her; he felt unwelcomed.

The girl’s head looked up from her tablet and all of them felt floored at the amber, almost caramel, colored eyes that felt like they pierced your soul.

“Hello Zak, Nick, and Aaron, welcome to Wisconsin,” She replied, dismissing Zak’s question all together as she hopped down from the hood, stomping out her cigarette as well. None of them were really surprised when her voice was sort of raspy but they all felt a twinge of something at how deep it was.

“Thank you,” Nick spoke up, nodding in gratitude to her when she turned to him. He felt a shiver go down his spine when he looked into her eyes, like someone just trailed their fingers down his back. Nick had noticed he felt an uncomfortable sensation around her but he couldn’t really put his finger on it; he knew that Zak also felt it, judging by the way he’s almost glaring at the girl, like she personally offending him - yet, Aaron looked like he wasn't affected by it at all. Whatever this was, it was connected to the girl and it definitely caught his interest.

“Let’s get going, who’s driving?” She asked, digging around in her jacket for their keys. Nick held his hand out, instinctively, and smiled at her as she tossed them. He unlocked the van and tossed his bags in the back with all their other stuff, throwing Aaron’s in there as well. He’d let Zak throw his own things in as he slid into the driver’s seat, rearranging a few things to his liking and waited for the others.

“Are we waiting for someone else?” Zak asked as he got comfortable in the front passenger seat, looking behind him as Aaron and the girl got themselves situation in the first backseat.

“Nope. Hey Nick, can you go to the little bakery on sixth street? Chevy’s Pastries is the name, it’s on the left,” She asked, leaning forward a bit in between the two front seats, so Nick would hear her better.

“You got it,” He gave her a thumbs up and he got a quiet ‘thank you’, along with a smile. It was a tense silence for the first few minutes of the drive, almost everyone could feel the tension - except the girl. Who they still don’t know the name of.

“So, you know our names but we don’t know your’s,” Aaron said, softly and hesitantly, like he was poking a sleeping dragon. The girl laughed and smacked her forehead, making the guys smile a little at the action.

“Oh geez, I’m sorry, such a rude host. Siobhan Marshall, at your service,” Siobhan grinned, acting like she didn’t know what the guys were frowning about but she knew, she organized the whole thing with their secretary.

Hearing and knowing that this girl was ‘Marshall’, their supposed tour guide and guest investigator, had a different effect on each of the guys. For Aaron, he was beyond excited, already telling her about their gear and asking about her experiences at some of the locations they’ll be going to. Nick, well, he was just as excited as Aaron but also a bit apprehensive, that weird feeling from earlier nudging at his conscious.

For Zak, he felt like someone just told him he had a month left to live. He had to find out why he kept getting this unwelcomed feeling from her, otherwise she was going to ruin this whole investigation.