Cecily's P.O.V.
I could see everyone waiting for me on the front porch. Great, I thought to myself as I put the car into park. As I got out I mentally prepared myself for my mother's wrath.
"Cecily!" my mother said in that tone that only mother's can do.
"I know, I'm late and I'm sorry," I said, apologizing to the Ghost Adventures Crew. "There was more traffic then I had anticipated."
"That's all right. We really got to see the whole hotel this way," said Nick. Yes, I knew their names. I did watch the show after all. I smiled a little at them. After the dream last night, I was really uneasy being here.
"Well you ready to start this thing?" I asked, eager to get it over with. The guys laughed.
"I think we should introduce ourselves first," Said Zak. "I'm Zak, this is Nick and Aaron." I shook all their hands, as I hugged my north face closer around me. "You ready to tell us all about this place Miss Evans?"
"Please, call me Cecily."
"You ready Cecily?" Zak said, correcting himself. I smiled as I nodded. I led them back up to the hotel. As I crossed the thresh hold of the hotel, I could feel all their eyes on me. They were angry.
"Wow, it didn't feel like this in here earlier." I turned around to look at the guys.
"It's because I'm here. I'm sure my mother told you that the spirits here took an odd fancy to me." They nodded. "Right, well I guess we can start in here." I walked into the dinning room.
"All right, we're just going to film a quick introduction," Zak said as he led me over to an arm chair. I was very aware of his arm on my shoulder. I nodded as he went back to his team and looked out the window. A chill ran down my spine. They were watching me. "Right here with us is Miss Cecily Evans to tell us about her personal experiences in the hotel that she grew up in. Miss Evans, please tell us about what happened here in the dinning room." I took a shaky breath before I began my story.
It was like this through the whole hotel. I told them everything that happened, and then…we went up to my old room. The window over looked the front lawn and I had a perfect view of the hanging tree.
"This was my room growing up," I started as I stared out the window. "They never left me alone in here. When they first started talking to me, it was just whispers. I thought they wanted to be my friends, so I talked to them. At first they were nice, but as I got older, they became hostile. It was normal for me to wake up screaming bloody murder because they were hurting me."
"They hurt you?" Zak asked in his professional tone. I nodded. "What would they do to you?"
"Everything. I'd wake up with scratches, bite marks, burns. Sometimes they even drew blood."
"Cut." I turned to look at Zak.
"Did you get everything you needed?" I asked as another shiver ran down my spine. They were all in my room, watching us.
"We got everything plus more. Thank you Cecily," said Aaron as he and Nick brought their cameras down. "We're going to go put these away." Zak nodded as his two crew mates left.
"I hope what I told you guys helps," I said as I sat on the window seat.
"Oh it does believe me." I smiled a little at him. I had forgotten about how much I hated it here.
"Can I ask you something? It might be kind of personal," Zak asked as he sat down next to me. I laughed a little.
"I've basically just told you my entire life story, what could be more personal then that?" His lips twitched as they spread into a smile.
"Good point, but why did you come back here? This place obviously affects you." I shrugged.
"I moved out on my eighteenth birthday, haven't been back since. I guess I figured I have to face the demons before they'll leave me alone." Zak nodded.
"Good point."
"Want to know a secret?" Zak's eyes lit up like a little kids.
"Of course!" I laughed a little.
"Did my mother tell you the history of this place?"
"Just when it was built and stuff."
"Well, growing up, I did a little bit of research on this land. The hotel was built on an unmarked graveyard, and that tree out there is where they hung the witches."
"Are you serious?" I nodded. "I can't believe she didn't tell us that." I laughed a little. My mother was strange when it came to this place.
"You guys are doing the lockdown tomorrow night right?" Zak nodded. I got up and grabbed some paper and a pen. "Here's my cell number. Call me and we can meet up somewhere tonight and tell you anything else you want to know about this place."
"Really? Would you mind if I brought a camera?"
"No." Zak smiled as he stood up staring at the piece of paper.
"Well expect a call from me later tonight." I smiled at him, noticing how attractive he was for the first time.
Zak and I walked back downstairs to find my mother talking to Nick and Aaron.
"Are you staying for dinner Cecily?" she asked hopefully. I hadn't eaten here since I moved out, and I wasn't going to start tonight. I was all ready being overwhelmed.
"I can't mom; I've got a deadline that I have to make." She looked disappointed, but I knew that she understood.
"What's the deadline for?" asked Nick.
"I'm a journalist," I said with a smile on my face. I loved being a journalist. I said goodbye to my mother and walked out to my car with the guys.
"Well thanks for doing this for us Cecily, it really helps with the investigations," said Nick as he helped Aaron pack the cameras away.
"It was no problem really; I hope everything works out for you guys tomorrow. It was nice meeting you all!" I said as I climbed into my car. I waved to the guys before driving away. I sighed in relief when I finally made it home. I knew it was going to be hard going back there, I just hadn't thought it was going to be that hard.
I plopped down on my couch and pulled out my phone to see a text from a number I didn't recognize.
Hey, it's Zak; just making sure you got my number. I stared at the text for five minutes. I had really given my number to the Zak Bagans. I could feel the blush rushing to my cheeks. I hadn't realized that I was being so straight forward with him. I tossed the phone onto my recliner, now worried that he wasn't going to call. I sat on my couch, staring at the phone like a love sick school girl. I kept telling myself that it was just because it was Zak Bagans. It could have been true, but if I as being honest, he had been my celebrity crush for well over two years. Finally, the phone started to ring.
Zak's P.O.V.
As soon as I got into our van, I pulled Cecily's number out from my pocket and programmed it into my phone, making sure to send her a text so she had my number as well.
"Dude what's that?" asked Aaron from the back seat.
"Cecily's cell number," I explained.
"How the hell did you get that!?"
"She gave it to me, how do you think I got it."
"Did you two have a moment when you were upstairs by yourself?" joked Nick as he drove us back to the hotel. As much as I hated to admit it, I could feel myself blush.
"Come on dude, I wouldn't do that!"
"Yes you would!" Aaron said through his laughter. "When was the last time you even touched a woman Zak?" Honestly, it had been a while.
"We're going to talk more about the house, that's all," I insisted.
"I'd jump on that Zak. She was hot." I shot a glare at Aaron. She was a client, nothing more, I knew that, but I still didn't like Aaron calling her hot. It gave me a feeling that I was not used too. When we got to the hotel, the three of us went into our separate rooms. I was glad to get away from them. I didn't need them bugging me about the Cecily thing. It was nothing after all. I sat down on the king sized bed and dialed her number.
"Hello?"
"Cecily? It's Zak Bagans."
"Hey! You want to meet all ready?"
"Uh…" I hadn't really planned this conversation out. "Want to meet around seven? There's a Starbucks across from our hotel."
"Sure that sounds great. What hotel are you guys staying at?"
"Holiday Inn on Sixth Street."
"Great, I'll see you then." With that she hung up. I couldn't help it, but I actually felt nervous. It had been a long time since I had been alone with a woman as beautiful as Cecily.
Cassie's P.O.V
As soon as I hung up on Zak I threw the phone onto the couch. It was finally hitting me that I had met the Ghost Adventure's Crew and was going to be meeting Zak one on one tonight. The blood immediately rushed to my cheeks.
"Whoa," I whispered to myself. Today was crazy. I had gone back to the hotel for the first time in ten years, met the guys from Ghost Adventures, and was going on a date with Zak Bagans. "It's not a date, it's not a date," I told myself as I walked into the bathroom. If I was sure of one thing, it was that I needed a shower.
Stepping out of the shower, I quickly blew my hair dry so it was in it's natural ringlets, threw on a pair of ripped jeans, and a cami. Walking back into the living room, I grabbed my laptop and north face, before heading out to the Starbucks. May as well get some work done while I'm at it.
When I got to the Starbucks, it was only five thirty. I ordered my usual drink and a muffin before finding a cozy corner to work in. I wrote history articles for the cities newspaper, and as boring as that sounds, it was actually a very popular part of our newspaper. This week I was doing an article about Boston. I was reading the article and double checking my notes to make sure that everything was right and that it flowed. I was totally focused on work with my glasses on and headphones in, I didn't even notice him approach.
"This seat taken?" I jumped, taking out a head phone. It was Zak.
"Only by you." He smiled as he sat down with a coffee in his hands. He looked almost nervous. It was cute.
"You look different," he commented. "It took me a while to recognize you." I blushed as I adjusted my glasses
"Sorry, I didn't even think of that. I showered when I got home." Zak let out a little laugh.
"No worries, I figured it out. What are you working on?"
"Work, just making some final adjustments" Zak nodded as he sipped on his drink. "So," I said as I emailed the final copy to my boss, "what would you like to know about my family's hotel." Zak smirked; this is what he lived for.
"Why don't you start with the history?"
"Well you know most of it I think. What you're really interested in is the stuff I did research on, right?" Zak smiled and nodded. I told him about the ground before the hotel was built. He already knew that the tree out front was used to hang some of the witches of Salem, but he didn't know that the grounds surrounding the hotel had been used as a burial ground for the witches.
"Your family didn't know about the burial ground before buying the hotel?" Zak asked. It wasn't a stupid question. It would seem like something a person interested in the hotel should know.
"It wasn't common knowledge at the time. In fact, it still isn't. I had to do very extensive research on the grounds before even coming across the mention of a grave yard. The deaths were documented, but very few families kept a record of where the accused witches were buried. Once accused, the witches weren't seen as human anymore. As sad as it was, the families didn't want to associate with that." Zak nodded, accepting my answer, but it only raised another from him.
"How did you find out that it was graveyard, exactly?"
"I did the research and got a hunch. I bugged the mayor of the town enough that he hired a few guys to dig up a plot a few yards away form the tree. And guess what they found?"
"Bones?" Zak said with a smile on his face. I smirked as I nodded. "Well, I think I have everything that I need. It's sort of amazing how much effort you put into researching this place." I just shrugged.
"When whatever is in that house takes an interest in you, you take an interest in it. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I confronted them."
"You always could." I snorted in the most unlady like way at Zak's suggestion. It made him laugh. I liked his laugh. "I'm just saying, going into that hotel with my crew, may be the safest way to confront them."
"Yeah, but I don't really feel like getting hurt by them." I said it with a smile, but a chill ran down my spine.
"These ghosts really messed with you huh?" It sounded like a stupid question after everything he had learned about me today, but in the tone of his voice, I could tell that he had a deep understanding of what I actually went through.
"I haven't required just yet," I said seriously, and I hated to admit it, but I was kind of considering his proposition of going into the hotel with the crew. Ho