Chapter Three
It was obvious to all of us that something was obviously bothering Karl, so we were more than willing to take Bobby's suggestion to go down to the club. The club was set up with a huge stage and a bunch of circular tables with chairs. All sorts of memorabilia was hung on the walls, and the place definitely had an old-time, western country feel. It was cool. "Wow!" I said. "This is amazing!" Bobby grinned at me. "I'm glad you like it. Most people do." "Isn't this where Johanna is supposed to haunt?" I looked over at Bobby curiously, and he nodded. "Yes. This is where most people encounter Johanna. Only a handful of people have actually seen her – I never have – but we hear her walking around a lot, and we sometimes hear her crying. And of course lots and lots of people – myself included – have smelled her rose-scented perfume." I nodded, taking another look around. "I'm assuming you know the story of Johanna?" Bobby asked me. I nodded again. "Yes. And I'm hoping to communicate with her tomorrow night. But we'll see." "Do you like tragic love stories?" Zak asked, looking at me curiously. He was leaning back against the front of the stage with his arms folded across his chest. It amazed me that he was able to look extremely sexy without even trying. I nodded once more. "I do. And I don't even really know why. I've always had a certain love for Romeo and Juliet stories. I guess what really… attracts me to tragic love stories, I guess you could say, is the idea of two people loving each other and being willing to risk everything for each other, even though everyone around them says they can't be together." Zak nodded and smiled gently at me. "Well then," he said. "maybe you can communicate with Johanna tomorrow night. If she knows she has a sympathetic ear to talk to, she'll probably be more willing to show herself and communicate." I nodded. "Alright. I'm game!" "Awesome!" Zak said, reaching out his left fist. I fist-bumped him (I could barely breathe when his warm, rough skin connected with mine), and then Bobby said, "Alright you guys. I think that's everything you need to see. Karl and I'll see you about eight o'clock tomorrow night." "Alright." Zak said. "Tomorrow night should be interesting!" We all went out to the parking lot, and Bobby turned to us and said, "Alright you guys, be careful tonight and tomorrow! We don't want anything to happen to you before you even get going with the lockdown!" He then turned to Billy, Jay, and I in turn and said, "Billy, Jay, Andrea, it was wonderful to meet you all! We'll see you tomorrow night!" "It was nice to see you guys again," Karl said, shaking hands with Zak, Nick, and Aaron. "and it was nice to meet the three of you." Karl shook hands with Billy, Jay, and I. "It was nice to meet you both too!" I said, first shaking hands with Bobby, and then with Karl. We then all said our final goodbyes, and then Karl and Bobby went back into the club, and Zak, Nick, Aaron, Billy, Jay, and I went back over to the guys' van. We stood in a group around the van, and Zak turned to me and said, "Just so you know, Billy and Jay aren't going to be participating in the actual investigation with us tomorrow night. Instead they're going to be running Nerve Center out here." I nodded, understanding what he was telling me. Billy and Jay were both members of the Ghost Adventures Crew (as the guys called themselves), but it wasn't until the end of Season Seven that Billy and Jay had actually started participating in the lockdowns. Normally, like they would be doing tomorrow night, they ran Nerve Center for Zak, Nick, and Aaron, watching them on the X-Cameras and keeping track of paranormal activity throughout the entire building. Zak continued his explanation of the next night, breaking through my thoughts. "We're setting up Nerve Center in the back of the van. Now," He looked over my shoulder at Billy and Jay. "I think the two of you have everything already set up for tomorrow night?" Billy and Jay both nodded. "That's correct." Billy replied. "We'll have to wait until tomorrow night to put the final touches on everything, though, once we've got the X-Cameras up and running." Zak gave them a double thumbs-up. "That's awesome! That's what I like to hear!" Billy opened up the back of the van, and I could see the computers and monitors that he and Jay had set up so they could run Nerve Center the next night, and also keep an eye on Zak, Nick, Aaron, and I while we were investigating. Zak swung himself up into the back of the van – I got a nice view of his butt as he did so – and then he turned around and offered me his hand. I took his hand, my heart pounding in my chest, and he pulled me up into the van with him. He then led me up towards the front of the van as Nick, Aaron, Billy, and Jay climbed in after us. All across the back seat, someone (probably Zak) had laid out all of the equipment that we would be using the next night. The six of us leaned against the back of the seat (I was between Zak and Nick), and Zak said, "Alright. So this is what we're going to be using tomorrow night. We wanted to give you a quick tutorial kind of thing so you'll be ready for the lockdown." I nodded. "Okay. Cool!" Zak grinned at me (again) and then pointed to the video camera that was sitting on the far left side of the seat. It looked like your average video camera, but I knew better. I'd seen the guys use them ever since I started watching "Ghost Adventures", and I knew that the cameras the guys used were capable of a little bit more than your average video camera. The cameras the guys used could not only shoot in normal vision, but they could also shoot in night vision (which shot in washed-out shades of green). That's how they were able to document their findings and shoot the show in total darkness in the dead of night. I looked at the camera and Zak said, "That's one of the cameras we'll be using during our lockdown. They can shoot in normal vision as well as night vision. Nick, Aaron, and I will probably all have one during the lockdown, so we can film what we capture, as well as each other when we're trying to communicate with the spirits." I nodded, and Zak pointed to the object sitting right next to the camera. He then looked at me and said, "What is that and what does it do?" I looked back at him and said, "It's a digital recorder. You guys use them to capture electronic voice phenomenon, which are better known as EVPs or spirit voices." Nick gave me a high-five, and Zak gave me a nod of approval. Aaron, Billy, and Jay each gave me a thumbs-up. Zak pointed at the next object, and I said, "That's the Spirit Box. It sweeps backwards through different radio frequencies and allows spirits to come through the white noise and talk to us." Zak nodded again and his smile widened (if that was even possible; he was smiling so big already). I think Nick, Aaron, Billy, and Jay were grinning at me too, but I didn't notice or really care. All that mattered in that moment was that Zak was happy with me… He pointed to the next two objects, looking at me with confidence. I was determined not to fail him. I looked at the next two objects and smiled, knowing exactly what they were. The first object looked like a calculator (except that it wasn't a calculator). And the second object looked like a small, black box with a light on top of it. "The first one is an EMF Detector," I said, looking back at Zak. "and the second is an EMF Pump. The EMF Detector measures electromagnetic energy fields and how much electromagnetic energy there is in the air, and if a spirit walks in front of the antennae and disturbs the electromagnetic field, the detector will alarm." I looked at Zak to make sure I was right, and he nodded encouragingly. I continued, "And the EMF Pump pumps out electromagnetic energy, which can enable spirits to manifest themselves and/or make their presence known." Zak nodded again and gently wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He gently squeezed my right shoulder, and I swear I thought my heart was going to beat itself right out of my chest. The next object Zak pointed to was a round black thing with three tiny light bulb looking things on it, and antennas coming up beside each of the light bulbs. "That's a rim pod." I said softly. "If a spirit puts their hand over it or gets close to it, it'll light up and alarm." Zak nodded. "Uh-huh. And what's that?" The next object he pointed to again looked like your average video camera. But it wasn't. It was the guys' full spectrum camera. It filmed in Ultra Violet light and measured the temperature of the things and the environment around it. "That's the full spectrum camera." I replied. "It films in UV light that our eyes can't see, and it measures the temperatures of the objects in the environment around it." Zak nodded again and pointed at the last three pieces of equipment. The first piece of equipment looked like a small, black box, and it had a screen on the top of it. The second object looked like your normal digital still camera (but, again, I knew better). And the third object looked like a calculator with an antennae sticking up out of it. "Those are the Ovulus II, the full spectrum digital still camera, and the Mel-Meter." I finished. "The Ovulus II holds a database of words that sprits can use by manipulating the Ovulus II and choosing whichever words they want to use. The digital still camera takes digital still pictures in UV light. And the Mel-Meter can measure electromagnetic energy, temperate, and pick up spikes of electromagnetic energy." I looked at Zak one last time when I finished talking, and he gave me a big hug. I laughed slightly but still hugged him back. I felt like I was floating on the clouds, and I didn't want to come back down for anything. I just wanted to stay there in Zak's arms forever… All too soon, it seemed, Zak let go of me, and I reluctantly let go of him. I could feel all of the guys' eyes on me – including Zak's – and it took everything I had not to blush. A slightly awkward silence fell over us, and it wasn't broken until Nick cleared his throat. We all turned and looked at him, and he said, "So do we want to go grab some lunch before we go back to the hotel?" We all nodded and Aaron gently rested his arm on my shoulder and asked, "Andrea do you want to come?" I shrugged and grinned. "Sure. Where are we going? And am I allowed to invite my friend Meghan? She lives here in Wilder and works here at Bobby Mackey's, and I know you guys met her one of the times you were here before." "Sure." Aaron said with a grin. "I remember Meghan. She was really sweet! I think it'd be cool to see her again!" "Was she the one who was a fan of mine and who was possessed here a few years ago?" Zak asked, looking at me. I nodded. "Yeah. That's her." Zak grinned. "Cool. Give her a call. And where are we going?" Aaron shrugged and looked around at the rest of us. "Let's go to I-Hop." Zak said with a shrug. Nick grinned. "That sounds good to me!" Aaron, Billy, Jay, and I all nodded, and I said, "I'll text Meghan." I sent Meghan a text, inviting her to go to I-Hop with us, as Zak said, "Alright. Cool. Do we know where the I-Hop is in this town?" All of us kind of faltered and looked around at each other. Finally we all just started laughing. "That's what I thought!" Zak said, pulling his phone out of his back pocket and pulling up a map to the nearest I-Hop. While he was studying the map, Meghan texted me and said that she'd love to come eat lunch with us. Zak found out that the nearest I-Hop was all the way across town, and we all sat looking over Zak's shoulder at the map. I said, "Why don't you guys drive there and I'll follow you, and I can tell Meghan just to meet us there?" Billy nodded. "Okay. That sounds good." "Alright." I said. We all got out of the back of the van, and I went over to my car as Billy, Jay, Zak, Nick, and Aaron got into their van. As I buckled my seatbelt I sent Meaghan one last text and told her to just meet us there. Then I put my phone in my purse and put my purse under the seat next to me. Once I was ready to go, Billy started up the van, pulled out of the parking lot, and led the way to I-Hop.