It was finally 6:30 in the morning. The Ghost Adventures crew left the cemetery, Billy trailing behind them. They were all carrying black suitcase-like bags.
"Man," Aaron said sleepily. "That was a long night."
"Yep," Nick agreed blearily.
Zak remained quiet. Aaron pulled out his phone and switched it on.
"Aaron's vlog… Um, just left the cemetery, everyone's tired. Especially Zak."
He turned the camera towards Zak, who waved it away impatiently. Aaron turned the camera back to his face and shrugged.
"Well, guys, it's been a long night. Aaron's vlogs, out."
He tapped the stop button on his phone. The men loaded up their van, exhausted from the long night of EVP's, apparitions, and other paranormal junk. Not that the three men didn't enjoy investigating (well, Aaron was a little questionable on the matter), but Zak always felt drained afterwards. He called it his "Lockdown Hangover." He was usually tired from the ghosts that had latched onto his soul, but after a lockdown, he just felt empty. And even more empty than normal, lately. He had been gambling and drinking to excess. And even that only lasted a few hours. When he got home, he would sit in his dungeon, listening to strange voices in his head whisper evil things. Sometimes it would just get too much and he would break down and start crying. The spirits were slowly draining of his sanity. He felt as if he had no one to talk to, and no one to love. He felt all alone in this dark world.
(ZAK)
He stacked the equipment carefully in the back of the Ghost Adventures van, looking back at the cemetery. It was strangely beautiful in the morning light. He stood for a minute, looking, watching for something, anything..
"Zak?"
Nick came around and touched Zak lightly on the arm. Zak jerked out of his own little word and looked at Nick, smiling bleakly.
"You alright, man?" Nick said, looking worried.
"Yeah, dude, I'm cool." Zak shut the back of the van and climbed in, and off they were.
(A couple hours later)
Zak was finally home. He sighed loudly, set down his suitcase, and stretched. Even his limbs felt heavy with the swarm of negative spirit energy around him. He stumbled upstairs and flopped into his bed, his clothes still on, and fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.
As soon as he woke up, his stomach grumbled. He got up, his eyes bleary. He rubbed some of the stiffness out of his shoulder muscles, walking downstairs. He went into his fridge and stared into it for a solid minute before deciding on making a simple turkey sandwich. He got out some rye bread, sliced turkey, lettuce, and mustard. He put together the sandwich and sat down on his couch, munching.
"Zak.."
Zak whipped around, but saw no one. His eyes went wide. He knew something was terribly wrong.