Title: I Told You So
Chapter: 1
Author: SomethingIDontknow
Rating: T (For serious swearing and very mild boy love, nothing too graphic. The violence might be though.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Adventures, of course. Need's must I say it?
Author's Note: Well, a couple nights of ghost adventures got into my head. And I've been trippin pretty bad lately, I think I needed something to ground me firmly in fantasy. Also a publish for Zac's birthday. Gods, I'm such a creeper. In a good way. ;) Please enjoy, Read and Review as ever.
Summary: He warned Zac, so many times. And he'd always wanted the chance to say 'I told you so', but not like this. Never like this. And things are changing so fast… a pair of friends are becoming more than that. Who knew evil could create something so good.
Nick hated when Zac baited spirits. It worked, sure. It was great for the ratings, worked for the fans, the producers liked it. Good all around. Except Zac got hurt. And plenty. Nothing major, of course. Just light smacks, pale bruises, a few scratches. But there was always a chance. Always that threat of real violence just below the surface. Nick knew Aaron didn't much like Zac's method either. They'd been friends a long time, he hated to see his friend hurt as much as Nick did. After that partial possession at the Preston School of Industry, both men had been leery of further angering spirits. Zak, however, had seemed thrilled by the experience. It was an opportunity to get even closer to Zak's ultimate goal of undeniable evidence of the spirit world.
They were currently in the base of their latest location, a big mansion in the middle of nowhere, supposed to be haunted by a demonic entity. "dude," Nick put a hand on Zac's shoulder, "seriously, this place feels bad, like seriously fucked up. Please don't taunt this one, man." he knew the plea was useless, but it was the best place to start bargaining. "you heard that guy, Nick." Zac said, eyes shining with excitement, "this is gonna be a good one, I know it. You can't expect me to turn down an chance like this." "go easy at least?" Nick begged, loosing conviction in the face of Zac's eager expression, "I don't wanna hafta come back to scrape you off the walls, ya know?" "alright, alright." Zac reassured him, "I'll go easy if it get's too bad, but I'm not missing out on a chance like this." Nick turned to pick up his camera and met Aaron's eyes. The other man shook his head. "he's a stubborn one," he said quietly, "but it can't be as bad as they say, we'll be fine." Nick only nodded and hefted his camera.
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Let's do this."
They started out with all the X cameras. Aaron insisted, joking that they'd need some footage if Zac got his ass kicked by the demon in the basement. Along the way, they had a few spooks and EVPs here and there. unfortunately for Nick's mental health, of the seven EVPs, four threatened Zac. One was directed at him, one at Aaron, and one 'help me'. Once all the X cameras had been placed and they had placated the need for footage, Zac was ready for the basement. They tried to stall, but it was no use. The man wanted at that demon. And so, the three intrepid hunters made their way down a rickety old staircase, descending into a fresh made hell.
For two heartbeats, it was just a dusty old basement. Then the trouble started. Nick started getting dizzy, leaning against the cinderblock wall for support. He didn't say anything, letting Zac get to his thing. But Aaron noticed. The equipment tech drew their leader's attention. "Zac, Nick doesn't look so good, come here, take a look." Aaron helped Nick sit down on the third step from the bottom. "Oh man, what's wrong, Nick?" Zac knelt in front of him, taking the camera from his shaking hands. "Something's not right here man." Nick murmured, his voice trembling, "I don't feel right. This don't feel right. My head don't feel right." Zac said something, but Nick couldn't hear him. Either Zac was fucking with him, or someone had turned the sound off. Nick put a hand to his head, trying to clear it of the gathering fuzziness. But that wasn't his hand. That was a fucking scaly-ass monster claw. For a moment, Nick stared at his not-hand before giving a shout and scrambling back, up the stairs. Aaron shouted something and Zac reached for his hand, pulling him down to sit on the stair again. "What's going on, Nick!" Zac shouted, trying to hold the frantic man to the stair. "I don't know! I don't fucking know!" Nick stared at his perfectly normal hand, shaking like an addict in withdrawal. Aaron was holding tight to Nick's arm, apparently afraid he was going to bolt without him. Both Aaron and Zac panned the basement with their cameras, finding nothing. Suddenly Zac stood, camera down, staring defiantly into the darkness. "Why are you hurting my friend?" he shouted to the abyss like a man fully expecting an answer, "He didn't do anything to you! Im the one who's here for you!" Two seconds of complete silence. And Nick screamed again, flying from his seat on the stairs to sprawl face down on the dirt floor six feet away. "Something just pushed me!" he screamed, scrabbling in the darkness, "It just fucking pushed me!" Aaron swung his camera side to side, unable to see anything. "There's nothing, man!" he said as loud as he dared, "Nothing." "Leave him alone!" Zac shouted to the basement, "I'm the one you want!" Nick's scream rent the air a third time. Zac was at his side, night vision be damned, he shined a light on Nick's face. Three deep gouges marked his cheek, blood beginning to run slowly from the wounds. The poor man was whimpering, shaking like mad. "It's inside me, man." he whispered, dragging Zac close by the front of his shirt, whispering against his ear, "It's in my head, doing bad shit, man, make it stop!" Zac turned to the darkness for a third time. "Leave him the fuck alone!" he screamed, "I'm the one you fucking want!" A low growl reverberated though the room and Zac collapsed straight down, hitting the floor with a loud, painful thud. "Zak!" Nick screamed his name. "Nick!" Aaron shouted as a violent wind began to whip the dirt from the floor around them, "Nick, stay with him, we need to keep together!" Zac had begun convulsing where he lay, shivers and shudders ripping at him, along with the brutal wind. Both Nick and Aaron struggled to reach their friend, fighting wind and sand and strong, invisible hands struggling to hold them back. The pair knelt beside their fallen comrade, both leaning low, struggling to hold onto each other. Even as they watched, scratches, bites and bruises bloomed across his skin. Unseen claws shredded his black shirt, leaving his hoodie in ribbons. His favorite black jeans were torn and bloodied by a hundred angry hands. And Zac screamed, his eyes closed, mouth open. His hands clenched into fists sporadically. He seemed to struggle against a great force holding him down. His friends were helpless to his brutalization. He freed his hands once, gripping tight to Nick's shirt, pulling him down, close. Their foreheads pressed tight together, their eyes met, and Zac's hands were jerked back to his sides. Nick and Aaron held tight, one hand each holding the other's shoulder. Their free hands gripped their thrashing friend. They didn't know how long they suffered with him, slashes cutting open their skin, teeth marking their own flesh. It could have been days. Weeks. But when the windstorm died, and the ethereal scream of delighted demons faded, the pair kneeling over their friend could withstand no more and collapsed.
The crew sent to pick them up found the house a wreck. Their camera's batteries had been drained, and knocked over. The trio was found in the basement, sprawled across the packed dirt floor, unconscious and covered in wounds. They rushed the boys to the nearest hospital.
None of them woke up until about three hours after their arrival. Aaron woke first. They had put the three in the same room, so when nick finally woke up, Aaron was there with a weak grin. "overcrowding. I never thought I'd be glad to be jammed in a small room, as long as it was with you guys." he joked. "How do you feel?" Nick asked, trying to catalogue his own injuries. "Not great, but im not dead so I'd say I'm doing alright. You?" "Like I just came out the wrong end of a wood chipper. Has anyone talked to you about what happened?" Aaron shook his head and shuddered. "I don't know what the hell happened. I remembered the basement, then all hell breaking loose. Im not sure what was real." "It was all real, man." Nick said, staring in horror at a swollen red bite mark on his side. The teeth looked to have been crooked and wickedly sharp. "Zac." Nick realized suddenly, "How's Zac?" "asleep still." Aaron said, pointing to Nick's other side. Sure enough, Zac was lying in a hospital bed less than four steps away. His eyes were closed and his EKG monitor beeped steadily. "They said he took the worst of it." Aaron said quietly, "I heard the nurses. That demon nearly broke your ribs. After Zac called it out and pissed it off, it decided to kick his ass." There was a long silence as three monitors beeped quietly. "He'll be alright." Nick said aloud, more for his own sake than Aaron's, "He can handle anything." "I don't know man." Aaron shook his head, "You heard him back there, hell, it was in you too. It fucked with his head." the tired man fell back against stark white pillows. "We can't know if he'll ever be the same. If he'll want to keep going after this." Nick nodded. "We'll get through this Aaron, we have to. Go a head and sleep man, I'll wait for him to wake up" Aaron nodded and lay down. Nick understood why he hesitated to close his eyes.
Six hours after their arrival, Zac woke up. Nick was counting ceiling tiles when Zac's EKG sped up minutely and he groaned. "What the hell happened?" he asked blearily, turning his head to Nick. "Whatever was in that basement fucked us up. The crew must have found us and brought us here." Nick explained. He paused. "How do you feel?" "Like I've been hit by a truck." Zac muttered, "What's the prognosis?" "Aaron said he overheard the nurses saying you took the worst of the attack. He's sleeping now." "Feels like I broke a rib or something. Never mind all the scratches burn like hell." "And the bites?" Nick asked quietly. "The what?" he sounded confused. "Low on your left side." Zac pushed off the blankets gingerly and gasped weakly. A large bite mark identical to nick's was raised on his side, a dark, bloody purple. "That thing tore you up. I saw that mark just… rise out of your skin. It was… terrifying." Zac lay back on the pillows a little too quickly and gasped in pain. There was a silence. "you scared me." nick said quietly. Another long silence. "Zac, please-" "Nick, later." the battered man gestured to the sleeping Aaron. "we can talk later, get some sleep." Nick doesn't like the idea. But there's never any arguing with him. So Nick lies back and shuts his eyes with a hint of reluctance, relegating himself to nightmares.
They were released after three days. They met with the producer and the crew and other important people. The show would go on, but this would stay under wraps. And so that night, they were in the hotel, getting ready for bed. Aaron had gone downstairs, he forgot to pack something and was asking the front desk about it. Nick finally spoke up. "Zac, what happened back there? If you cant talk to anyone else, surely you can talk to me." Zac dropped the pillow he'd been tossing in the air. The silence was deafening. "it was hell, Nick." he finally said softly, "and I was trapped and dying and so were you and I couldn't do anything about it. It had already hurt you so bad. And it was doing worse to me. But as long as it wasn't you…" he trailed off, sighing, "Nick, it never brought up Aaron. Or family, or anything I should be afraid of loosing. It only showed me you." he closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. "It knew my deepest, darkest secrets." "I'm your deepest, darkest secret?" Nick asked quietly. Zac sighed. "yeah." This silence was heavy. "then maybe it isn't such a bad thing." Nick said softly. Zac's eyes opened suddenly and he turned his head. "what?" he asked, unbelieving. "because you're my secret too." Zac might have said Nick was blushing as he said that. But moments after, Aaron returned, talking about a girl in the lobby. Both men nodded and talked a little. Nick found an episode of their show on travel channel and they had a good laugh. That night, Aaron slept on the fold out couch in the tiny living room. Zac and Nick stared at each other across the gap between their beds. Both terribly wounded, they merely watched each other fall asleep.
The next day, Aaron was gone, having got a date with that girl from the lobby. Leaving the unfortunate pair alone in the hotel room. Nick was having a nap, leaving Zac with the television. He was woken by the distinct feeling he was being watched. But it was nothing like the terrifying gaze of his nightmares. So he woke slowly, content in his drowsiness. He was met with intense dark eyes. "hey." Nick said sleepily. "hey." Nick smiled, "so, deep dark secret, is there a reason you're staring at me." "I never knew I'd love watching you like this." Suddenly Nick wasn't so sleepy. "you shouldn't say things like that, Zac." Nick said softly. "it's true." Zac seemed to be swaying ever closer. "you know, I always thought you'd be the one. You're the kind of guy that would rather do than-" and he was being kissed, ever so gently. And Zac's hand was cupping his head. Nick brushed his hand though Zac's un-gelled spikes. They parted with a soft smack. Nick smiled. "ever a man of action." he laughed quietly. "shut up and move over." Zac gave his side a shove, rolling Nick to the other side of the bed.
They faced each other silently.
It started with touches. Nick appeared to have a mild obsession with Zac's hair. He couldn't keep his hands out of it, petting, stroking, feathering his fingers though it. Zac seemed to find it funny, but he, himself, kept running his hand down Nick's side. "I don't see how my side is fascinating, but thanks." Nick smiled. "It's not just that though." Zac pushed his friend to lie on his back, "it's all of you. You're very… slender. I like it." Nick pulled him down for a soft kiss. "and I like your strength. I think you just like me being little so you can pretend im a girl." Nick kissed him again. "and you just like me because I'm awesome." Zac kissed him back. The pair laughed and Zac got another soft punch. "that must be it." This kiss was much longer, more heated. Zac settled on Nick's hips, straddling him. He bit his lip, slipping a hand under Nick's shirt. "would you let me.." he paused. Nick only smiled. "I thought you'd never ask." Zac slipped his hands under the soft black fabric, pulling it up and over his friend's head. Nick returned the favor, running his hands down Zac's chest appreciatively. "you know, it's about time you took your clothes off for someone other than a ghost." Its was Nick's turn to get smacked. His smile faded as his fingers traced over the fading scar on Zac's side. "We match." he traced the still purple mark, "im sorry for this." Zac kissed his throat. "don't be. I did it. I provoked it. I should be sorry. It's my fault you were hurt." "we're both pretty sorry." Zac smiled and they kissed again. "but I did tell you so." "Shut up."
A/N: Forgive my rambling and off topic-ness. It's just a first go, I'm planning on more. And some better for sure.