Chapter 81: Nightmares

I had arrived back at the hotel around four in the morning, having called Cheryl on the way back to fill her in on the craziness of Aaron's ignorance of his health.

I hadn't known at the time, but she had gone to Ashley's room and had woken her up, and had gotten her to text Jay with their "emergency code" – which let Jay know it was not a text to ignore.

He had called Ashley, who had then demanded that Aaron come back to nerve centre and call Cheryl.

To make a long story short, they had argued over the phone, but as Aaron was still experiencing pain and cramping, he reluctantly agreed to stop the investigation and go to a nearby hospital.

Zak had gone with him, while Billy and Jay stayed behind to gather up the equipment.

I would have – should have – gone to the hospital with Cheryl, but I was so upset and pissed off that I didn't want to see Aaron or Zak, as selfish as it was.

Thankfully, Ashley had gone with her.

And even more thankfully, after running some blood work and an EKG, Aaron's health was proven to be fine.

The pain and cramping had stopped shortly after leaving the castle, but he knew he had already agreed to go to the hospital, and didn't want to upset Cheryl more than she already had been.

Cheryl came to see me briefly when they got back, she was the only person I'd agree to see.

She thanked me for having done what I did, even though it had obviously caused upset among Zak, Aaron and I.

She had then tried to convince me not to leave the show, but I just couldn't see how I could stay.

Even though Aaron's attack clearly turned out to be paranormal, or at the very least, nothing serious health wise, this was twice in a matter of days that one of the guys was willing to risk their lives over all of this.

I had grown to care for all of them, a lot, especially Zak…I couldn't just agree to let them act this way.

I wanted answers about the paranormal as badly as they did, but what good would it do any of us if we got killed?

I knew I had a contract, and I knew I'd probably have to spend the money I had made to hire a lawyer to get me out of the contract.

I also knew how much I didn't want to leave the show, or say goodbye to the guys, but I just couldn't standby and lose someone else.

Especially not Zak…even though, in a sense, I had probably already lost him.

I had spent almost the entirety of the rest of that day in bed.

Other than seeing Cheryl early in the morning, I didn't let anyone else in.

Ashley had come knocking on the door at one point, and so had Aaron, but I knew if I let them in, they'd talk me out of my decision.

Zak never called or tried to come see me, and that hurt, a lot.

But I knew I had probably hurt him – again - with what I had done, so I didn't entirely blame him.

After I had had some dinner, I had packed up the majority of my things, since we had our flight back to Vegas the next day. I had then gotten a shower and took some of my anti-anxiety medication, and went to bed early.

I prayed I'd be able to get some sleep.

Around midnight…

I suddenly woke up with a scream, having just had a terrible nightmare about Zak.

I dreamt we were still doing the investigation at Hunedoara Castle, and when Aaron and I had gone back to Vlad's Cell, we had heard Zak groaning in pain.

Billy had contacted us via walkie talkie, in a panic, that Zak was holding his chest and complaining of cramping and pain.

No matter how hard Aaron and I had struggled, we weren't able to open the trap door.

As I laid there trying to calm my heavy breathing, and tried to convince myself it had only been a nightmare, I realized I must have been crying in my sleep, as there were tear stains on my cheeks.

I was also absolutely freezing.

I went to move to pull the blankets up over me, but had a horrible realization.

I can't move…

It was then that I saw it.

There was a dark, tall, shadow figure standing in the corner of my hotel room.

It was so dark, I could clearly see it's form even in the darkness of the room.

I tried to reason with myself that it was just a shadow, or just my imagination, but then the figure started walking toward me.

When the figure was close enough, I could make out who it was.

It was Zak.

But he looked like death.

He was so pale, his skin was nearly grey.

He looked nearly skeletal in his face, his lips were nearly blue, and he also had dark bags under sunken eyes.

It was then I noticed his actual eyes.

Instead of their beautiful, hazel green colour, they were black.

Pitch black.

"Join me…in death…" Zak rasped, holding a grey, skeletal looking hand out toward me.

I let out the loudest scream I probably ever had in my thirty three years on Earth.

"Ali! Ali what's going on?!" I heard Zak's voice from outside the door of my hotel room.

I sat bolt upright and found myself breathing heavily as I looked around.

The dark, shadow figure was still in the corner of my room, just standing there.

"Ali? Are you okay?!" Zak exclaimed, suddenly walking into my room, flicking on one of the small lamps as he did so.

How did he-

"Is everything alright Miss?" I heard from the doorway.

I glanced over at the door and saw a hotel staff member standing in the doorway, with a key card in his hand.

Zak must have heard me screaming, or something, and had gotten a hotel staff member to come and unlock my door.

I sat frozen on the bed, and my eyes darted back to the corner of the room.

The figure was gone now.

"I'm fine now…thank you…" I forced myself to say, so the staff member would leave.

He must have been satisfied with my answer, because I heard the door to my hotel room close.

Zak walked over closer to the bed.

"Ali…what happened? I heard you screaming..." Zak asked softly.

"I…I had a terrible nightmare about you…you started having a heart attack in Vlad's cell and we couldn't open the trapdoor…" I started, my voice sounding panicked.

Zak frowned slightly as he came closer and sat on the edge of the bed, sitting in front of me.

"Hey…I'm okay, it was just a dream," Zak said softly.

I shook my head slightly, my breathing starting to increase as I relived the dream, or dreams, in my head.

"I thought I had woken up, but now I'm not sure…I saw a shadow figure in the corner of my room…it came toward me, and it was you…but you looked like you were dead..." I said quietly, my voice cracking on the last word. "And then you said 'Join me in death'…" I added, my eyes welling up with tears.

Zak looked stunned.

"It was so real…I thought you were…" I started, but a sob escaped my throat and I buried my face in my hands.

I felt so confused.

Was this real? Or another nightmare?

I suddenly felt the bed shift under Zak's weight as he moved closer to me, and then I felt his warm, strong arms wrap around me, and I knew this was real.

I threw my arms around him and gripped his back slightly.

I was so upset and disoriented, I barely noticed he was shirtless.

"It's okay…you're okay…" Zak said softly, gently rubbing my back.

Our arguments and my declaration of being done, were completely forgotten.

But I doubted they would be forgotten for long.

A few minutes passed before I was able to calm down enough and stopped crying.

Zak got up and left my sight long enough to grab the box of Kleenex from the bathroom, and then came and sat back down on the bed.

"Thank you," I mumbled, yanking a Kleenex from the box and I blew my nose, then took another Kleenex to do damage control on my puffy, tear stained eyes.

I saw Zak nod, and he had a look on his face like he wanted to ask me something.

"What…?" I asked quietly, partly afraid of his answer.

"Billy told me you got scratched in the chapel…" Zak said.

I could only nod in response.

"Let me see it," Zak said, a little too firmly, but I didn't argue with him.

I shifted my position so I was sitting sideways to him, and then lifted up my tank top enough to bare the scratches.

I felt a shiver run down my spine when I felt the tips of Zak's fingers lightly brush against my skin, and then he sighed quietly.

"Were you wearing your cross?" Zak asked, looking at me.

I let my tank top fall back down as I shifted my position to be facing him again, keeping my eyes cast downward.

"I forgot…" I replied quietly.

Zak sighed again.

"Ali…" He started, but I cut him off.

"I know…I was stupid, I know," I said, wiping my eyes again.

Zak didn't disagree with me.

"Ali…I would never call you- what is that…?" Zak suddenly asked, motioning to my upper arm.

Shit…the bruise…

"It's nothing," I said, casually trying to cover the bruise with my hand, but Zak wasn't having it.

"Don't tell me it's nothing," Zak said, then a look of realization came to his face. "I did that…in the Forest, didn't I?" Zak asked.

I sighed quietly and nodded.

"Fuck…" Zak muttered, looking upset and he turned away.

"Zak, it's fine. It's just a bruise. You didn't do it intentionally," I said.

Zak shook his head, still not looking at me.

I could sense he was upset with himself, but I didn't get the chance to comfort him further, because he changed the topic back to my nightmares.

"Hopefully what you saw was just a dream…and not something that followed you back here," Zak said softly.

Oh shit…

I hadn't thought of that, and now that it was in the forefront of my mind, I was scared to be alone.

So...despite everything, I asked the stupidest question I could of asked at that moment.

"Stay here with me…please?" I asked.

For God sakes Ali, he probably hates your guts…

Zak was silent for a minute before he stood up and started to walk around the end of the bed.

I felt my eyes welling up with tears again.

You've lost him…you idiot… I thought.

Zak's Point of View

"Stay here with me…please?" Alicia asked.

Mere hours ago, she had said she was done with everything, and now she wanted me to stay?

But how can I say no to her after what she just experienced…

I stood up and started around the end of the bed, not noticing that tears had started to well up in her eyes again.

I turned off the nearby lamp that I had turned on when I entered the room, then walked up along the opposite side of the bed.

I briefly noticed the look of shock on her face, but it didn't last long, because it turned into a look of relief.

She's just upset about the nightmares now…she'll go back to being done with it all…with me…in the morning… I thought.

I tried to ignore how much pain that thought caused me, as I pulled down the blankets on the bed and propped up a few of the pillows against the headboard.

I knew I wouldn't be sleeping anyway - I hadn't slept yet - so there was no point in laying down flat.

I sat on the bed and leaned back against the propped up pillows, slouching down a bit so I was partially lying down.

I then glanced at Alicia and somewhat hesitantly held an arm out toward her.

You're just making this harder on yourself bro…

I watched Alicia as she scooted closer to me, and then slouched down so she was also partly laying down.

She draped her arm over my bare torso, her tiny hand resting on my bare chest, and then she laid her head to rest on my shoulder.

Fuck…

I tried to ignore how comfortable and safe I felt with her laying next to me – I knew it would be the last time I felt this way.

I gently wrapped my arm around her back, resting my hand on her arm, gently stroking her soft skin with my thumb.

I tried my best to ignore another wave of pain that came over me as I saw the bruise on her arm again.

Maybe she's better off without me...

I used my other hand to pull the blankets partially up over us, then leaned my head back against the pillows.

"Thank you…" I heard Alicia whisper.

I hesitated slightly before answering honestly.

"Anything for you…" I whispered, closing my eyes.

For the first time in my life, I found myself feeling a different emotion than I had ever felt with a woman before.

If this was going to be one of the last times I got to spend with Alicia, I never wanted the moment to end…

Authors Note: Please don't hate me for that! lol

I apologize again for the short update. Although these two chapters are longer than I thought they were, so hopefully it doesn't seem too short.

Hopefully the next update will be longer.