Back with a small update, sooner than planned. :)

For anyone who cares, lol, nothing has changed much in regards to my mental health issues. Just taking it day by day, and probably going to try my new med again in a few days, and see if it causes restlessness again.

But anyway, I've felt a bit like writing the past few days, so putting up a few chapters I've done. I apologize in advance for the evil cliffhanger...lol.

Enjoy!

Chapter 69: Reappearance

Around 11 o'clock at night…

After we wrapped up our interview with Dr. Patrut, we had a late, small cookout with Andrei near the forest, as there were no restaurants around.

After we ate, Zak and I talked with some more locals to pass the time while we waited for our guides to arrive with the ATV's.

Zak and I hoped we might possibly get some more interesting stories or footage to use for the episode.

After that, we spent the rest of the time double checking our gear was all prepared and set for the investigation.

Once the guides arrived with the ATV's, it was time to bid farewell to Andrei.

"Thank you for driving us out here today bro, and for all your help," Zak said, shaking Andrei's hand.

"It was no problem," Andrei said, before looking at me.

"Are you sure you want to follow this crazy man into the forest?" Andrei asked.

Zak and I both laughed.

"I'll be fine, thank you for everything," I replied, giving him a light, and friendly kiss on the cheek in thanks.

Andrei smiled at me.

I saw Zak fold his arms across his chest out of the corner of my eye.

Was he jealous?

"You're welcome. Good luck with the investigation," Andrei said, as he got in the car.

"Thanks bro," Zak replied, his arms still folded across his chest.

Yep, jealous, I thought, trying not to laugh, waving as Andrei drove away.

Zak followed suit, lifting one hand to wave goodbye as well.

Once Andrei disappeared from view, I lightly shoved Zak.

He looked at me in shock.

"What was that for?!" He exclaimed.

I laughed, then mocked him by folding my arms across my chest.

"Don't get so jealous," I teased.

Zak huffed in slight annoyance, but also looked slightly embarrassed.

"I'm not jealous," he grumbled.

I laughed.

"Then why did you fold your arms across your chest?" I asked.

Zak thought for a minute before responding.

"My man nipples got cold," Zak said, trying to keep a straight face, but started forming that adorable smile he gets when he's trying not to laugh.

I burst out laughing.

"You're full of it Bagans!" I said.

Zak laughed.

"I'm serious! I was cold, not jealous," Zak said, but I knew he was kidding.

"Well, in that case, you won't mind if I go over and give our guides a friendly, welcoming kiss on the cheek," I teased, turning as if to walk over to them.

Before I could even take one step, Zak grabbed me by one arm, spun me around so I was facing him again, and he picked me up and held me over his shoulder.

I yelped in shock.

"Zak!" I exclaimed, but found myself laughing.

"Fine, I was jealous, now stop teasing me by biting your lip all day and then kissing other people besides me!" Zak jokingly whined, starting to walk toward the guides, who were waiting by the ATV's.

I laughed.

"I bit my lip once! Now can you please put me down?" I replied, feeling embarrassed that the guides were probably watching.

"No," Zak said, but then stopped walking. "Actually, yes," Zak added, and set me down on my feet.

I adjusted my tank top and looked at him.

"What changed your mind?" I asked, curious at his reaction.

"The guides were looking this way, and they were most likely looking at your sexy ass than my ugly mug," Zak said, smirking at me.

I felt my face flush and smacked him in the arm.

"Don't talk about my ass," I muttered in embarrassment.

Zak laughed.

"Your ass is still facing them by the way," Zak said, obviously trying to embarrass me further.

I quickly spun around so I was facing the guides now.

Thankfully, they seemed to be talking amongst themselves.

"Mm, the view out here just got a lot nicer," Zak teased.

My face turned a deeper shade of red.

I quickly grabbed Zak and pulled him so he was ahead of me, ignoring his laughter.

"Get going!" I said, jokingly smacking him on the ass, partly shocking myself.

Zak laughed, but faked a girly sounding yelp before he started walking toward the guides again.

You just smacked him on the ass! I thought, sort of embarrassed but laughed at the same time, following Zak toward the waiting guides.

After a brief introduction by Zak of the guides and myself, we packed up our gear onto one of the ATV's.

With our gear packed, all that was left was to prep ourselves for the forest.

While Zak talked briefly with our guides, I pulled a black, faux leather jacket out of my backpack and put it on, as well as my silver cross necklace.

I then used some black tape to secure the hem of my jeans to my ankles, to protect against bugs and any wildlife we might encounter.

I then checked my phone to make sure we were still getting a signal, as we were going to be using GPS on the phone to lead us to the "dead zone" in the middle of the forest after the guides lead us partway.

"Signal still good?" Zak asked, as he walked back to me at our ATV.

"Yep, better than any signal I get while shopping in Wal-Mart," I said.

Zak laughed.

"Well, let's hope it stays that way," Zak said as he took the black tape from the seat.

I laughed and picked up my camera from the seat, and aimed the camera at Zak and started recording him as he taped up the hem of his jeans to his ankles.

"We are going into a dense forest, so we're not just un…cautioning ourselves against malevolent anomalies, or spirits, or elementals or whatever," Zak started, standing up once he was finished with the tape and looked into the camera.

"We gotta also protect ourselves from physical things. Bugs, animals. We were able, last minute, to rent an ATV. There's going to be a guide who's going to take us to the edge of the forest - he will not go in the forest at night. And from there, we are going to look for the notorious circle. I'm extremely pumped up right now," Zak said.

I was momentarily stunned when he started reaching for my camera.

"Let me take this camera," Zak said, as he carefully took hold of the camera with one hand as I relinquished it to him.

He then aimed the camera at me.

"Ali, how you feeling about this?" Zak asked.

I wasn't used to being directly filmed like this, but I managed to keep my composure.

"Un, a little uneasy, but I'm good to go," I replied, figuring that was an honest enough answer without sounding terrified, which I partly was.

Zak smiled a bit before handing the camera back to me.

I turned the camera to film him again.

"Alright, well, it's just the two of us. Let's get ready," Zak said, turning toward the ATV.

Why in the world did "just the two of us" make me feel all tingly inside?

I paused the camera while Zak and I finished preparing ourselves and the ATV for the investigation.

Zak pulled a black, faux leather jacket out of his backpack and put it on.

His jacket was similar to mine, only his had red and white bands around the elbows of the sleeves.

We went over each of the bags together, mentally and vocally confirming where each piece of gear was, and then Zak went and checked with our guides that they were ready.

Once we knew the guides were ready, Zak and I took our seats in the ATV – Zak in the driver's seat, me in the passenger's seat.

I kept hold of my phone with one hand, while I used the other to hold up the camera and started recording again.

Once Zak was settled in his seat, and had started up the ATV, he started talking again, as I briefly filmed the guides getting into their ATV in front of us, and then filmed the screen of my phone.

"This guide is going to take us to the edge of the Hoia-Baciu forest, and from there we're going to take the trail, and enter the forest on our own," Zak started and I turned in my seat a bit to film him, as he looked into the camera. "And begin our investigation," Zak finished, and then proceeded to put the ATV into gear and started driving, as the guides started driving as well.

Here we go…I thought, turning the camera to film straight ahead again.

Despite my fear and anxiety, it was kind of nice to be doing an investigation alone with Zak.

It made me feel like we were bonding more, in a way that most people would never think of.

Hopefully everything would turn out alright.

Roughly fifteen minutes later…

It was just Zak and I alone in the forest now.

The guides had stopped a short time ago and one had come back to us and said it was where they stopped.

He and Zak talked briefly while looking at the GPS on my phone, before the guide had walked back to his ATV, and drove back in the direction we had come.

As I was filming, I monitored my phone to keep track of how close we were getting to the circle, and also helped Zak keep an eye out for any wildlife, obstructions, or even possible paranormal activity on the sides of the trail as he drove.

"I can't believe you, a man, is letting me, a woman, direct us," I teased.

We all know how men are with directions – they always want to be in control.

Zak laughed.

"Only so that if we get lost, I can blame you," Zak joked.

I laughed and jokingly rolled my eyes.

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," I replied, causing Zak to laugh.

"No problem doll," Zak replied.

I was a little surprised at him calling me "doll" while I was still filming, but then reminded myself a good chunk of footage never made it into the final cuts of the episodes anyway.

But still, it was something he hadn't done before.

"By the way, I'm considering this our first date," Zak said, making sure his joking tone came through clearly.

Despite my shock, I couldn't help but laugh.

"A midnight drive through an insanely haunted forest is your idea of a first date?" I teased, glancing down at my phone to check on our progress.

We were still on the right track.

Zak laughed.

"You expected anything different of me?" Zak joked, but acted serious.

I laughed.

"I suppose you're ri- holy shit! Stop!" I exclaimed, having looked up from my phone.

I could see a figure ahead of us, standing in the middle of the trail.

"What? Why-" Zak started, but I cut him off.

"Stop the ATV!" I nearly yelled, staring at the figure.

Zak immediately hit the brakes and put the ATV into park.

He glanced around the darkness before looking at me.

"What? What are you seeing?" Zak asked, sounding confused.

I felt my heart racing as I stared straight ahead.

There, in the middle of the trail, just at the end of the ATV's headlights, was the young girl I had drawn while on the flight here.

Emily.