"Give us a sign of your presence," Zak said, holding out his EVP recorder.
Nope.
"Did you pass away in this hotel?"
Nuh uh.
"Did you work here?"
Not even close, dude.
I crossed my arms as I watched the guys staring around the room through their camera lenses. There was nobody in this room but me, and I wasn't talking. Why should I? I wasn't supposed to be here. I was heading for the light. I was on my way to eternal bliss and happiness and somehow I ended up here instead.
I blamed Zak. I will admit, before I died I was a fan of the paranormal. It fascinated me. I'd always wanted to investigate haunted locations or do something like that, but I knew that it was dangerous. Doing EVP sessions was basically handing out an open invitation to let spirits come in. Maybe Zak asking questions was how I got stuck here. Instead of hopping the bus to paradise I got stuck on the one to his little party.
Maybe I'm not stuck! I may have been pulled here against my will, but who says I have to stay? With that thought in mind I walked (or was I floating? Creepy) away from the guys and began searching for a way out.
Okay, I'm a fricking ghost, I thought after a few minutes of wandering around, lost, Just go through the damn walls. I placed myself in front of a wall and stared. It looked pretty solid. I glanced down at my hands. To me, they looked as solid as ever. I was started to feel like Harry Potter trying to get onto Platform 9 ¾. Tentatively, I placed my palm against the wall. It felt cold and smooth. Ever so slowly I started pushing my way through.
It felt like I was pushing through sand. I could feel the grains of the stone against my skin. I pulled my hand back out and looked at it again. Nothing seemed damaged. I took a deep breath and plunged through, head first. I stepped through the grainy wall and came out on the other side- and came face to face with a woman dressed in a maid's uniform, half of her face charred, as if she had been burned.
I screamed, I couldn't help it. Even though I was dead, and I knew nothing could hurt me she had still startled me. And seeing a woman with half her face burned off was a frightening sight, dead or not. I looked around as I heard footsteps running through the rooms in my direction. I knew Zak, Nick and Aaron were on their way. I glanced back at the ghost who was still staring at me intently.
"You're not supposed to be here," she hissed, angry.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, backing away. She kept step with me, her eyes snapping in rage.
"GET OUT!" she yelled as Zak barreled through the doorway, Nick and Aaron close behind.
"Did you guys hear that?" Aaron asked, looking around where the maid and I were standing. Zak hushed him, holding the EVP recorder out in front of him, stepping carefully over to where we were.
"Did you just tell us to get out?"
I wasn't hanging around to have a conversation. While the maid was distracted by Zak I flew as fast as I could towards the opposite wall. I'll just keep going, I told myself, sooner or later I will be out of the building. Then I'll be able to figure out where I am and how to get back to the hospital. Maybe if I can get back to my body I can find the light again. I kept moving as fast as I could, ignoring the grainy sensation as I passed through walls. Soon I reached a room with a door that looked like the exit. I could see sunlight just beginning to creep over the horizon. I made my way in that direction, eager to escape. As soon as I reached the door I felt it again. The rubber band. It tensed against my waist and pulled me back, back through the walls, straight back to Zak freaking Bagans.
"I just felt it again," he said, clutching his chest, "something keeps going right through me." Anger and sadness welled up inside me. I could feel my eyes burning. Why couldn't I get away from him? I tried again, flying as fast as possible back towards the door. Maybe if I went quickly the rubber band would snap and I would be free. My hopes were in vain as I was dragged back once again. Frustrated, I wanted to lash out. This was Zak's fault. It had to be. Why else was I stuck to him like a dog on a leash? I muscled up all my courage and energy and threw a punch straight at him.
To my astonishment I made connection. I felt his warmth as my fist hit his side. He must have felt it, too, because he buckled beneath my punch.
"Something just punched me!" he yelled, "I felt that! Something seriously just punched me." I sobbed in pain and an odd sense of relief. I was dead. Dead. I was stuck here on earth, a ghost. No one could see me. But for some reason the Ghost Adventures crew had been able to hear me. And Zak had felt me.
"My camera battery just went completely dead," Nick said, pushing buttons and inspecting his equipment, "It was still over half full a minute ago."
"Did you use our camera's energy to punch me?" Zak asked, his eyes wide.
"Yes," I sobbed, for the first time hoping he would hear me. The guys made no reaction, however, so I knew they had not. Maybe it would be recorded on their equipment.
"I am so lost," I whispered. I sunk down onto the ground, defeated. I didn't know what to do.
"It's 6:15 guys, we'd better wrap it up," Zak said after a few minutes of what they thought was no response. I made my way slowly to the front door and stood by it, despondant, waiting for Zak and his crew to be let out. I had a moment of fear when the caretaker showed up to unlock them. Maybe I was going to be stuck here forever simply because this was where Zak was when I was brought to him. Stuck here on a fluke. But the fear passed as Zak made his way out of the location and I glided along silently beside him, straight through the door that had trapped me earlier.
I truly was a dog on a leash, and Zak Bagans was holding the other end and he didn't even know it. I placed myself in the back of their van as they piled in, knowing that if I tried to escape him the rubber band would just pull me back, and potentially through him again. Zak was driving and I had no desire to cause three others to lose their lives as I had.
I had no idea where to go from here. If I was stuck to Zak I had no way of getting back to the hospital to find that white light, and finally be able to rest. Would I have to wait decades for Zak to pass away to use his light? It was morbid to think about, but I knew that the alternative was staying a ghost forever. I would just have to silently sit, and wait, for another opportunity to pass into the light.
I feared it would be a very long wait.
