Chapter 6

"Lynn. Time to get up." I heard someone say as I felt my body being shook. I moaned and rolled over before rubbing my eyes.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"Time to get up. We have an hour to get to the lockdown."

"Hmmmm" I moaned before slowly crawling out of bed. I walked over to my suitcase and grabbed some shorts, sweats, tank top, thermal, and football tee before going into the bathroom to change. After I got dressed, I brushed my hair and went back out to the room to grab my boots.

"You ready?" Zak asked while I was tying the laces on my boots.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I said standing up and grabbing my purse.

We met Nick and Aaron down in the lobby before climbing into the van.

We got to the lockdown with thirty minutes to spare so we started piling stuff in, trying to get headquarters set up before we got locked in.

"We are here at the Old County jail in Deerfield, Massachusetts investigating the reported sightings and hauntings that have been going on. And with us today is our local contestant winner Sarah Michaels," Zak said as Aaron and Nick turned the camera on me "Sarah, what do you say? Are you ready for the lockdown?"

"Yeah!" I said mentally adding the world 'hell' at the beginning.

"Alright, let's do this" Zak said enthusiastically. We all followed Zak into the building each receiving a knuckle punch from the person locking us in.

For the most part I stayed at HQ with the audio tech, Billy Tolley, watching the monitors and talking with the guys via walkie talkie until I heard Zak ask me to come down to the cell block where he was at.

Once I got to where Zak was at I said, "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing major, but I do want to try an experiment. Since this is where people say that women get the most activity would you go all the way down to the end of the hall and do an EVP session?"

"Down that hall? By myself?" I asked.

"I mean you don't have to. I don't want to make you feel like you have to if you don't want to."

"No. I'm cool with it. I'm just trying to figure this all out in my head. So you want me to go down that hallway and back doing an EVP session as I go. How many times do you want me to walk the hall?"

"Just once. If you feel like you're getting something then you can stay down there as long as you want to."

"Okay" I nodded "Do I get a camera or am I going in blind?"

"You can use my camera if you'd like."

"Yes please" I smiled at my slight begging "I tend to be a very big danger magnet in the dark."

He laughed, "Okay, here's the camera" he dug around in his pockets "and here's the recorder for the EVPs. I'll be right here if you need anything."

I maneuvered the camera in my hand until I got it to where I could see the LED screen and the little digital recorder simultaneously.

"Turn on the recorder for me?" I asked.

Zak pressed a button "There you go."

"Thanks." I took a deep breath. Here goes nothin'. I slowly started walking down the hallway talking into the recorder as I went. I felt kind of silly having what felt like a one-sided conversation, but it's all in the name of science right? As I was making my way back down the hall I felt something brush against my back. "Who's there?" I asked turning around quickly, but finding nothing there. "Do you know who I am?" I turned back around and took maybe three steps, "If you know who I am then tell me where my hometown is." A few moments later I felt something yank my hair. I turned around again to find that there was nothing there. "Alright, I'm officially starting to get freaked out" I said to no one in particular "First something touched my back and now something is pulling my hair." I started walking again and made it a few feet when I heard a hiss in my ear. I screamed and jumped as I turned around which caused me to lose my balance. I screamed again as I fell to the ground.

"Sarah?!" I heard Zak holler out "You okay?!"

"Y-yeah!" I yelled back. I set the camera and recorder down then laid down on my back with my hands on my forehead. I closed my eyes and tried to relax as I heard heavy footsteps coming towards me.

"Sarah, are you okay?" Zak asked sounding close by.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Well, I was walkin' coming back towards you when all of a sudden something brushed against my back so I turned around. Nothin' was there. So I started walking again and somethin' tugged on my hair. I started to get freaked out so I started walking a little faster when I heard I a hiss or a moan or something in my ear and it scared the shit out of me which is when I screamed and jumped, turning around at the same time which made me lose my balance and I fell which is why I screamed a second time. Now here I am, on the floor, tryin' to breathe."

"Where's the camera?"

"Right here beside me." I said pointing to the general area where I set it down at.

"Okay. Well, here let me help you up" he said holding out his hand. I took it and stood up, making sure I could stand on my own before releasing his hand and brushing the dust and dirt off. Zak then grabbed the camera and recorder before heading back down the hall, asking questions. Once he was satisfied we went back to HQ to review the footage and audio. We didn't really get much of anything besides moans and groans until Billy played back the part where I heard a hiss in my ear.

"Uh, Sarah. You may want to listen to this." Billy said handing me the headphones and setting up the computer to replay the audio:

"…something is pulling on my hair."… "Barking…Water"

"Does that mean anything to you?" Billy asked.

Remembering that I was very much on camera I replied, "No."

***Six months later***

Baby this a new age, you like my new craze. Let's get together maybe we can start a new phase. The smokes got the club all hazy, spotlights don't do you justice baby. Why don't you come over here? The song blasted throughout the bar. It has been almost six months since my trip to Boston and life has been crazy ever since I got back. My following on Twitter has almost tripled since the show aired. I can't even walk down the street without someone recognizing me and asking for my autograph. After the shoot, I stayed in contact with the guys. I talk to Nick and Aaron almost every day. As for Zak? Well, we used to talk every spare second of everyday until that second weekend back. Apparently he went out with some friends and got really drunk and hooked up with some fake Barbie bimbo. They are now dating. I cannot stand her! I have met her once when Aaron invited to go to lunch with the crew. I honestly have no idea what he sees in her. They have absolutely nothing in common. He is so blinded by her that he doesn't even see that she is pushing him away from his closest friends and family, but what Barbie wants Barbie gets and since she doesn't like me well you get the picture. Anyways, even though Zak and I aren't really speaking to each other anymore, I still hang out with Billy, Aaron, Nick and Veronique, which is a lot of fun.

Now, back to work. I was walking around my section of the casino, asking people if they wanted anything to drink when I turned and saw Zak sitting at the poker table with guess who dangling on his arm. I decided to ignore them and kept walking. Once I made it back to the bar to collect the drinks that people had asked for I heard a familiar voice, "Man I was for sure we would see her. She said she was working tonight." I looked towards where I thought the voice was coming from when I saw Nick and Aaron looking around the casino. I smiled and walked up behind them.

"Is anyone looking for me?" I asked.

They turned around real quick and saw me. "Hey girl! I thought you were here! What are you doing?" Aaron said giving me a hug.

"Working, obviously. Come on, I'll buy you a round." I said waving them over to the bar. "So, what would you like? First one is on the house."

"Long island iced tea," Nick said.

"Budweiser" Aaron said.

"All right, coming right up." I said first getting Aaron his bottle of Bud, then making Nick's drink. "So, what are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"Well it was supposed to be guys' night, but Courtney just had to come along and you know Zak." Aaron explained.

"Yeah I noticed them at the poker table. I'll be right back, I've gotta get these drinks out."

"Okay," Nick said.

I walked around and handed out the orders for my section then rolled my eyes in anger once I got back to the bar where Nick and Aaron were at. "Can that bitch get ANY more annoying?" I said to where only they could here.

They laughed," What happened?" Aaron asked.

"I walked by the poker table that they are playing at 'cause that happens to be my section of the casino to serve and she was practically dry humping him there at the table. She was all up on him, licking him and shit" I shook in disgust, "Nasty! I don't understand what the hell he sees her. I just pray to God he doesn't catch one of her STDs. Bleck!" I said making a gagging sound.

"Oooooo! Sounds like somebody's jealous" Nick sang out.

"Shut up!" I said my accent coming out, "I am not. Y'all are the first REAL friends I've had since moving out here and I'm very protective over my close friends. I would be sayin' the same thing if it was you or Aaron with some dumb bitch like that."

"Uh huh" Nick said, unconvinced.

I checked the time. 3:15 am. "How long are y'all here for?" I said changing the subject.

"However long it takes loverboy over there to finish playing I guess. Why?"

"Well I get off in about an hour, if y'all want you can come with me and crash at my place." I offered.

"You mean after all this time we get to see the infamous Michaels's home?" Nick gushed.

"Yes, you can come hang out at my house, but I only have one mandate."

"And what's that?" Aaron asked.

"I'll explain when we get to my house. It'll seem weird, but you'll understand once you see her."

"Her?" Nick asked. I smiled and mimed zipping my lips shut. They spent the rest of the time trying to get me to tell them who her was. It was fun. Nick was the brave soul who went to the poker table and told Zak that he and Aaron were leaving, although Zak didn't seem too concerned about it.

"How did he take you ditching him for me?" I asked once we got to my truck.

"I just told him that Veronique called and needed me home so me and Aaron were going to take a taxi home."

"Smooth" I smiled. On the way to the house Nick called Veronique and told her that he was going to hang out with me for a little while before heading home. Once we pulled into the parking lot, we all jumped out and headed for the door. I stopped once we all reached the top of the stairs. "Now, this is gonna seem weird, but I'm gonna go in first to get her. I'll let you know once I've got her. You'll have to come in one at a time otherwise she'll freak out. Okay?"

"Yeah." They said not understanding who I was talking about.

"Okay." I unlocked the door and stepped inside where I was immediately greeted by Angel. "Hi baby girl. You miss Momma? Oh I missed you too. Come on, let's go into the living room." I said walking to the couch. Once I got her to sit on the couch with me I called out, "Okay, I got her. One at a time, slowly walk to the kitchen table" I saw Nick come in first, then Aaron. Angel just tilted her head to the side wondering what they were doing. Aaron's eyes lit up like a little kid when he saw Angel.

"Aww" he said, "Can I pet her?"

"Yeah, but first you gotta stand still. She's very protective of me around males. So let her come to you on her own." I told him. I petted Angel then said, "Angel, these people wanna meet you. Go say hello. They won't hurt you." She looked at me, "Go on," I encouraged. She jumped down and went to sit right in front of them looking between them and me. I went and shut the front door before coming to stand behind her. "Hold out your hand palms up" I instructed them. They did as told. She first went to sniff Nick's hand. She rubbed it a little bit then went on to Aaron where she started licking his hand. "Good girl," I told her rubbing her back, "You're good. You can pet and play with her now. She won't bite."

"Why did we have to do that?" Nick asked.

"Well, despite the common misconception about pit bulls they are really no more aggressive than any other dog out there, but back when I first had her I was living with my boyfriend at the time. He was very abusive towards me. She hasn't trusted men since."

"Wow, I'm so sorry," Nick said.

"It's okay. It was a long time ago," I smiled. After a short moment of silence, we moved on to more interesting things to do, like eating some ice cream and watching The Prophecy.

Aaron crashed on the couch. After the movie was over Nick tried to wake him up to take him home, but he wouldn't budge so we just left him there. As soon as Nick left I got a blanket and pillow for Aaron then went to bed with Angel.