Chapter 3

Visions

Zak walked through the spacious house, avoiding boxes left and right. He slowly made his way to the back of his new home where the sun-room was located until he spotted his target. Ana, his amazing wife stood still, gazing out at the large backyard.

It had taken some time before they decided on the right house. Everything they had looked at was either too small, to plain or to boring. He wanted a house with character and that spoke to him, something unique. He had also wanted a house on a quiet street where his daughter could play without him having to worry.

When Zak and Ana had seen this early turn of the century plantation, Zak knew right away he was home, and when Ana had seen the yard, she had immediately fallen in love with it, making plans on where she wanted a garden and the swing set she had already ordered for Zoe.

A small smile curled on his lips as he recalled her excitement at all the prospect the new house brought them, and he was all too willing to let her do all those things she had planned. Ana deserved everything, and he would do his damn best to give it to her. She had been through enough. Ana had lived through more than one person should have to endured in a lifetime. But if anyone could handle it, it was Ana. His wife was the strongest woman he had ever met.

Anastasia was an empath, just like he was, but she wasn't just any regular old empath. She was a shadow empath. Her talent was so rare that one was only born every five hundred years. Ana could not only see and feel ghosts; she could step into their world. A whole world where the spirits of those who had died and now wandered this earth lived. Well she used to be able too. Until a creature called the Guardian had taken over the spirit world. He now controlled everything in that world and told Ana to never step foot there again or he would kill her.

That wouldn't have been a problem, but the Guardian wanted out of the shadow world and to come to this world, to cleanse it and Ana's blood was the key to releasing him. Zak still had no idea why the Guardian had not killed Ana when she had gone to the shadow world the last time to save him and Keane, but he hadn't.

That didn't matter to Zak though; all he knew was that if she went back the Guardian wouldn't be so kind the next time.

The problem was, there was a group out there. An order. They called themselves the order of the dragon and their goal was to release the Guardian so it could purify the planet of all human life that was not empathic and the order knew Ana was the key to opening the doorway between the two worlds. They had come after Ana before, and they would again. Now Zak went nowhere without Ana. He knew he was probably a bit over-protective but he did not care. He'd keep his family safe no matter what.

Ana was now part of the Ghost Adventures team. She came on all the investigations and had brought a lot to the show. She did most of the research and some of the investigation. Of course they kept it a secret about her special empathic abilities but she, like him she often felt and saw things which they did show on camera and the viewers loved her. It also had appeased all the gossip magazines and websites on the mysterious wife to the hottest ghost hunter out there.

It also gave Zak an excuse to have Ana with him, although he didn't let her stay on every investigation. Some were just too violent or dangerous and he didn't want her near those places. They still didn't fully understand her connection to the dead and he had no idea if the Guardian was in contact with the violent or demonic spirits. So she stayed with Billy in their base camp.

Zak blinked, bringing him back to the present; he slowly approached his wife from behind. He tiptoed to Ana, who seemed to be lost in thought. When he was close enough he wrapped his arms around her from behind, she let out a small gasp of surprise but after glancing down and recognizing her husband's hands and arms she lost no time in leaning back into him as his arms tighten around her. She rested her head back on his broad shoulder.

-"Hey." She whispered happily, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply.

-"What are you doing out here all alone?" Zak said softly, bending his head down.

-"I just needed a couple of minutes to myself."

Zak placed his lips on her neck and trailed a series of kisses along her slender neck.

-"I agree." He mumbled with his lips against her skin. "We could use a few minutes to ourselves."

Ana let out a soft laughed, which soon turned to a moan as Zak trailed kisses down to her shoulder, but as he did so he suddenly felt Ana go limp in his arms and he knew something was wrong. Tightening his grasped, Ana's legs gave out and her head drooped forward.

-"Ana?" Zak shook her slightly with no response from her. "Aaron! Keane!" He yelled. "Get in here, now!"

Nick had to admit, he was acting like a total ass. It wasn't like him; he usually was level-headed and cool in most situations, especially when it came to dealing with new people. Aaron was a little too silly and goofy and even though he was a great guy, he sometimes came off as not being as professional because of his joking and silliness. And then there was Zak, who usually was the smooth one when he wanted to be, but since getting married, Zak was leery of everyone he met and extremely cautious of strangers. That left Nick to be the proper delegate for the group, who had always been the sensible one. At least until he met Evie.

He couldn't explain what it was about her but as soon as he had laid eyes on her, he wanted to grab her and kiss her, and that feeling alone was enough to tick him off. He didn't want to feel this way about anyone, especially another woman. He had enough of the opposite sex to last him a lifetime.

Nick rambled on about how he and the guys needed to come in and do a proper investigation, keeping his eyes on Evie's wall behind her desk. Talking was keeping his temper in check.

Strangely Evie's wall was helping him keep his cool. Her wall was loaded with pictures she had stuck on. All of them of different sceneries but everyone one of them soothing, from beautiful beaches to shots of the evening sky. Whoever the photographer was had quite an eye for the serene beauty of nature and it was obvious that Evie thought so as well because her whole wall was covered with these amazing photos.

-" ... I understand that you want answers but we really can't do that unless we come in and do a full investigation –"

Nick paused as he heard a shuffling behind him. Evie had been abnormally quiet and when he turned around he saw why. Evie's eyes were half closed and glazed over. Her head lolled to one side then other as her body wavered backwards, then forward. He could tell that she was going limp and wouldn't be able to stand up much longer. Without further thought, Nick skillfully jumped over the desk and rushed to Evie's side just as she started to fall forward, Nick caught her in his arms with ease.

-"I've got you." He said soothingly.

He gently cradled her body in his arms while he carefully got on the ground and sat down. Never letting go of Evie. Seconds later, Evie moaned and her head twisted from one side to the other until she was facing his chest, he felt her inhale deeply and a small smile curled onto her lips. As he watched her, he was in awe at how lovely she was. She had full lips and a small upturned nose. But the moment was all too soon over when her eyes fluttered open and her expression turn to horror as she realized she was on the ground.

-"What happened?" She asked, trying to get up but Nick refused to let her go.

-"Take it easy ... you just passed out."

She suddenly started to tremble. Her face paled and her eyes tear up.

-"Not again ..." She whispered. She pushed at his chest with a shaky hand trying to stand up but it was obvious that the action had made her extremely dizzy. Just as quick she yanked her hand back and grabbed her forehead with a groan. "Ugh."

Nick waited a couple of minutes as she clutched her forehead and he felt her breathing in deeply and then slowly exhale. When she finally lifted her head up she looked a bit better and this time he helped her stand up and get into her office chair. He carefully watched her grab her bottle of water and take a long drink. As he watched her, he knew one thing, whatever had just happened, it had scared the living hell out of her.

-"What did you mean, not again? You've passed out before, are you sick?" Nick finally asked quietly.

Evie shook her head no. Most of her hair was out of its messy bun and he could see that she had very blonde hair; it was almost a whitish blonde, which reached a bit past her shoulders.

-"I'm not sick ... I don't think." She mumbled, setting her plastic bottle down on the desk.

-"Well what the hell was that? Cause that sure scared the shit out of me."

-"I just - " Evie rested her head on the back of her chair and let out a long sigh. "This hasn't happened in a long time ... But I'm fine, this will pass."

Nick eyed her suspiciously but he didn't want to press the issue. He didn't even know this woman; he couldn't start demanding explanations on her health when he needed to be nice to get her to agree on the investigation. He was silent for a few more moments before speaking again.

-"Look, I know this isn't the best time but ..." Nick crouched down next to Evie. He had a funny feeling that whatever was happening to her was somehow supernatural. "I can help you." He met her bright green eyes, which held a trace of unshed tears and so much fear; he set his hand on hers, which rested on the arm of the chair. "Whatever is going on here, you need answers. Just let me have one night here, no cameras, no guys, just me and you. Then you'll see that we are totally professional and maybe then you will trust us to investigate here properly."

Nick had no idea why the hell he had just offered that. He had to be in Boston in three hours! But looking at her now and her scared and disheveled state, he couldn't leave...

Evie cleared her throat.

-"It's not that I don't want you to investigate ..." She said softly. "I'm just a teacher ... when I tried to get the approval of the principal for this he flat-out refused."

Nick felt himself stiffen. He had not seen that coming, Evie had led him on, and she never had any intentions on letting him investigate.

I watched Nick's face fall as I told him that it wasn't my choice if he could investigate or not. I wasn't sure why but seeing him so disappointed made me upset with myself.

-"I'm sorry, I didn't tell you ..." I blushed. "I just thought that no one would even talk to me if I said that you could never come investigate ... I never thought that you would come all the way out here just to try to convince me." I felt guilty for technically leading him on in thinking he had a chance in looking into this school.

Nick stood up and to my dismay moved away.

For some reason I felt better when he was near me. I was actually barely holding myself together right now. It had happened again, I had seen her again. I had not seen the woman with the long brown hair in almost two years. What was even more unnerving was that this time I had passed out. That had never happened. When I did see her before, I was usually already sleeping; I had hoped that they were only dreams...

Seeing her had been very brief. But it was different this time. It had felt different. When I saw her, she looked as scared as I felt, but before either one of us could speak we heard laughter ... but not good happy laughing, no, this was like something you heard in a horror movies and the bad guy cackled like a madman. Seconds after the girl was gone and I woke up in Nick's arms.

Which had not been entirely unpleasant. His strong arms and warm scent had been intoxicating enough that I would consider fainting again just to get another few minutes in his arms. As I thought about this new plan, Nick had gathered his jacket and headed for my office door.

-"Since I can't investigate there is really nothing I can do for you." He said stiffly, obviously very annoyed.

I quickly stood up and scrambled to the door forgetting my dizziness.

-"But, I thought you were going to help me with figuring out what the ghost wanted from me!" I rushed over and blocked the door.

-"Look, I have no idea what he meant or if you even saw what you think you saw. I can't do shit unless I get a vibe for this place." He glared at me.

-"Are you calling me a liar?"

-"Well you've already proven that you are a liar, Miss Thompson." He said his voice full of venom.

Okay he had a point, sort of...

-"I didn't lie." I said offended. "I just ... withheld information!"

-"Same fucking thing!"

What the hell was this guy's problem? So I had not told him about the principal ... it wasn't like it was a huge thing, I couldn't understand why he was so upset. All because he couldn't investigate this school?

-"If this is because you think you wasted your time, I can pay you for your trouble."

But that statement just seemed to make Nick even angrier. With a shove he pushed me aside and wrenched the door open, stomping out of my office. Dumbfounded that he had actually just pushed me to get out, I quickly recovered and rushed out to the corridor to see him rounding the corner at the end of the hallway.

-"Wait!" I yelled. "Please ... Just wait a minute!" I called rushing over to catch him. I couldn't let him leave. He was my only hope in getting the answers I needed. Coming around the corner I crashed into Nick's hard chest. I grabbed his arm to stabilize myself but seeing his hate filled looked I removed my hand from him with speed.

He crossed his arms and looked down at me but didn't say anything. I straightened my shirt and tried my best to ignore his hateful look.

-"You can't go! What about the ghost ... he told me he was sent to me! What if he comes back?" He couldn't go! I needed him, he was my only hope! I didn't want to beg ... I really didn't want to beg ... especially to this arrogant guy, but I would if I had too. I wasn't sure what bothered me more, the fact that he thought I was making this up or that this ghost might come back ... That's when the idea hit me. "What if ... what if we come back after it gets dark and investigate."

Nick's face softened a bit as he seemed to be thinking about what I had just said. He brushed past me and took a few steps, looking around the dark corridor.

-"Sneak back in here?"

-"Yeah, I have a key to the back because I sometimes stay late, we can come back after nine, the janitors are all gone by then. I'll prove it to you that I'm not a liar."

Nick kept his back to me but I saw his head give a curt nod.

-"Fine. We'll come back after dark." He turned to me and his dark eyes set on mine, I thought I saw something flare but he quickly walked by me and headed for the exit.

-"Ana, sweetie?"

Zak gently brushed his fingers along Ana's face as she started to stir. When she cracked her eyes open, Zak was leaning over her, looking at her with concern. Blinking a couple of times she looked around and saw Aaron, Keane and Billy all leaning down as well, staring at her. She furrowed her brow trying to remember what happened ... Her head throbbed and she felt slightly ill.

She tried to sit up but Zak kept a firm grip on her.

-"Ana, what happened?" Zak asked again.

-"She saw her again ... You saw her again didn't you, Anastasia?" Keane's deep voice spoke with its familiar accent.

-"I –" Ana tried to remember but everything was so fuzzy.

Keane crouched down next to her and gave her a sympathetic look.

-"You are having a hard time remembering?"

She slowly nodded, because anything to fast was made her feel even dizzier. Keane reached out and put his hand on Ana's, he then closed his eyes and like a bolt of lightning had struck her Ana's whole body stiffen and she gasped for air. Her eyes shut tightly as tears stung them.

-"What the fuck did you do?" Zak snapped pulling her away from Keane, trying to pull Ana away from Keane.

-"Just helping her remember." Keane said nonchalantly, not seeming to concerned.

Ana let out a small shriek as her eyes opened. Everyone jumped back for a moment; her usual warm, hazel eyes were blazing with a fiery flame. Then seconds later it was gone and she sagged into Zak's arms.

-"I saw her ..." She whispered, sounding exhausted. "I saw her again."

Zak furrowed his brow for a moment.

-"Your half-sister?" Ana slowly nodded. "But you haven't seen her in almost two years!"

Ana swallowed thickly.

-"I saw Nick too ... Nick was there." She whispered.

Zak looked up at Aaron with concern but there was no need, Aaron was already digging his phone out of his pocket, getting ready to dial Nick's number.

A/N:

I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please if you did, let me know! Write a quick comment and vote for this chapter, it helps me out greatly in knowing that you all enjoyed it.

Thank you again for all your faithful reading.

I have another Zak story (unrelated to this one), called Haunted. Check it out! :)