Finding Home (Zak Bagans Daughter)

Chapter Nine

The first thing I did when I woke up was to check the time.

06:47 a.m.

"Holy shit," I whispered.

I just wanted a nap, but turns out my body disagreed and allowed me to sleep for a straight 13 hours. I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed. My feet welcomed the soft carpet under my feet as I looked out my window that faced the desert valley behind the house. The sun was just beginning to rise. I immediately fell in love with the view. 

I tiredly stuffed my long dark brown hair into yet another bun and threw on a grey hoodie and Nike running shorts, my lazy day outfit. I looked at myself in the mirror just before I left my room and smirked.

I kinda looked like a mess. 

I decided to head downstairs and look for something to eat. The sound of my bare feet walking on the hardwood stairs echoed through the wide hallways of the house. As I reached the bottom, I realized Gracie had been sitting on her giant dog bed in the other room awaiting my arrival. The TV was on and the volume was turned all the way down, but as I looked closer I noticed Zak was sleeping on the sofa.

"He must have fallen asleep watching TV."  

I hoped he wasn't waiting for me. I looked around the room and spotted a thick blanket folded beside the fireplace underneath the TV. I walked over and gently laid it atop his huge frame, repaying him for laying a blanket on me during the plane ride. 

I headed to the kitchen next. The whole place was practically granite, and everything was double the size of a regular kitchen, which was completely unsurprising to me. In the center of the kitchen was a large island with a sink and a bowl of fruit. I had to touch it to make sure it wasn't fake because that would just be upsetting. I walked over to the fridge and opened it. There was mostly nothing, just regular household foods, but it was almost all organic.

Correction, it was ALL organic.

"Oooookay" I whispered as I grabbed the organic milk. I checked the cupboard for cereal and grabbed the tastiest organic cereal I could find.

"Organic Optimum Blueberry Cinnamon", I read out loud. I hummed in surprise. "This actually looks kind of good." I made sure I was quiet enough not to wake Zak in the next room.

As quietly as I could, I poured the cereal into the bowl and after that, I poured the milk. Just as I was about to sit down at his kitchen table; I realized I didn't have a spoon.

"Ah shit" I muttered under my breath as I looked around the kitchen and realized how many drawers I was going to have to look through to find a spoon. I huffed, but slowly and surely I looked through every drawer and of course. The last drawer I checked was the one to have the utensils. I felt like slamming my head on the granite countertop.

After I finished my breakfast I quietly put my bowl in the sink and decided to look around the house, and maybe if I was lucky, get lost. I tiptoed past a sleeping Zak, who had now thrown his hand above his head and was now looking more dishevelled than ever.

The room next to the room where Zak was sleeping was a little smaller than the rest. It had two black leather love seats and a large wooden desk with two computers, and of course, a TV and fireplace.

This must be his office. 

"I don't think I should be in here," I mumbled to myself and left as quickly as I came, making sure to close the door behind me.

I kind of felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast when she was wandering around the forbidden part of the castle, making sure she didn't run into the Beast. Except, this wasn't a castle, and I wasn't entirely hiding from some scary monster that had trapped me in a creepy and cursed one. 

Room by room I walked into and looked around. The hallways were filled with crosses, figure statues, and paintings. But none of them were scary, they were just, odd. As I finished looking into yet another guest room, I noticed there was a pool outside, it was beautiful. The lights underneath the water made the backyard turn into an aqua color, which projected the gentle movements of the waves onto the side of the house.

I sat down near the edge and dipped my toes into the water, immediately cooling me off from the rising early morning Vegas heat. Just across from me was a waterfall was peacefully running and splashing into the pool, which calmed me; I've always loved the sound of water.

I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh and started humming to one of my favorite songs while lightly dancing my feet around in the pool. A rattling-like sound of a dog collar behind me broke my relaxed silence. My eyes opened wide as I didn't know what was behind me. Suddenly, Gracie sat down next to me and quickly laid her head on my lap, which nearly made me jump out of my skin.

"Jesus Gracie! You can't walk up on people like that." I said to her while I repeatedly rubbed my hand up and down her back. "You scared the crap out of me," I sighed, she probably had no idea what I was saying.

"She does that a lot." Said a familiar voice from behind me. I jumped even higher this time and looked behind me to see a tired-looking Zak standing behind me. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and his hair looked like it was having a bad morning, but other than that, he looked pretty happy.

"I see you found the pool." He smirked.

I nodded, "I also just found out what it feels like to have a heart attack." I sassily remarked. He laughed and walked up to the edge of the deep end of the pool, then let out a breath of air.

"It's so peaceful, isn't it?" He looked around at all the scenery before us.

"It is." I agreed and slowly took my feet out of the pool, stood up, and began walking up behind Zak.

"You don't happen to have your phone on you, do you?" I asked.

He checked the pockets of his pants "Nope, I left it in the house, why?" He asked.

"Just wondering."

Before Zak noticed what was happening, it was too late. I charged up behind him and shoved him into the depths of his paradise pool.

When he rose to the surface, he whipped his black hair out of his face and gave me a mortified look. I couldn't stop laughing, which caused him to start laughing too. Zak quickly jumped out of the pool in his soaking wet clothes and watched in delight as I laughed my ass off at his dripping state. Before I could react, Zak lunged at me. I screeched as he picked me up bridal style and cackled evilly.

"You don't think I would let you get away with something like that?" He laughed.

I tried to get out of his arms, but it was no use. He was just too damn strong. He took a running jump before submerging us both; allowing me to plug my nose before the water decided to find it was up there. Then, a rather sinister plan came to mind just before we rose to the surface.

My limp body came afloat as Zak rose for a breath of fresh air.

"Charlie?" He asked. You could slightly hear the panic in his voice.

"Charlie this isn't funny." His voice had more fear in it than before.

I quickly turned my head up above the water and scared the shit out of Zak. "Ahhhh!" I screamed, splashing Zak in face with water at the same time.

He put a hand over his heart. "Holy shit Charlie you scared the crap out of me." He heaved.

I just continued laughing at his face. "Don't do that again" He lay back in the water and began floating on the surface of the water in an attempt to calm himself down over the recent events. I decided to follow his actions and lay back and watch the sky. I was glad no one else was in the house with us, besides Gracie of course. It would have been a very strange sight, both of us just simply floating in the pool with our clothes on. 

It was much brighter now and all the stars in the sky had disappeared for the day. There were a lot more clouds now allowing the risen sun to hide behind them. I closed my eyes once more and regained the peaceful feeling I had before Zak and Gracie found me.

Nothing could go wrong from here. I said to myself as the soft waves of the pool carried me.    

clearly, I had no idea what the next year had in store for me.