Finding Home (Zak Bagans Daughter)

Chapter Eleven

After officially meeting everyone, I decided to sit in my room and finish reading my book. I had given up trying to listen in on the conversation they were having and assumed Zak would tell me if I asked. Part of me was worried he would come and give me crap about exposing who I was to his friends, but if they were his friends, then he would've told them anyway. I've always had a habit of overthinking.

Only a few minutes later a very unsurprising knock came at my bedroom door. I closed my book and yelled.

"Come in!"

To my shock it wasn't my dad, it was...Aaron?

"Hey, Charlie." He said in a raspy voice as he walked in. He looked around in awe of my new room.

"Hey." I smiled. "Is something wrong?" I shuffled off of my bed and walked closer toward him.

He smiled. "Not at all, I just wanted to show you something." He pulled his phone of out his pocket and turned it around to show me a picture of an abandoned building. 

An unforgiving chill found its way up my spine. 

"What is it?"

Aaron grinned and turned the picture back toward him.

"The Levik Asylum."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, "It's spooky."

Aaron hadn't stopped smiling. "I know. Your dad told you about his job right?"

I nodded.

"Well, this is our next investigation. Everyone you met and the rest of our crew are going to investigate it this upcoming Saturday for our show. It's almost 175 years old and the legends and ghost stories are insane. It's going to be pretty epic."

"How are you so excited? Aren't you scared at all?" I asked.

His eyes widened and he sighed. "Oh yeah, I always get scared by these places, especially when we get there. But I love my job, and this-" He showed the picture of the asylum once more, "-This is my job."

I let out a light laugh. "You have one hell of a job."

He chuckled. "I know."

"So why are you telling me this?" I asked.

Aaron lifted his head from his phone and looked at me with a mischievous look in his eyes. 

"Because your dad is on the phone with some of the producers, and he is asking you to come with us. Which means you are gonna get to help us with the investigation!"

Aaron was way too excited right now.

"You guys want me to come with you?" I was shocked.

He nodded. "Yeah! Your dad wanted to tell you, but I was too excited."

I laughed.

"So do you want to come with us?" Aaron had a particular hopeful look in his eyes that I couldn't say no to.

I nodded, "Of course I do."

He immediately hugged me; something I was not prepared for. 

We talked about the asylum for a few minutes until Zak interrupted us, making sure to knock on the door before he walked in.

He looked at me and Aaron for a few seconds before speaking.

"You told her?"

Aaron nodded and gave a sheepish smile. "I got a little excited, but she's coming with us!"

Zak smiled and looked at me. "That's great news. The producers had no issues as long as you don't appear in front of the cameras; for now."

I nodded. "You won't even know I'm there."

~~~~~

It was now Friday, two days after I was told I was allowed to come with the guys. I was standing in my closet, looking through the small selection of clothes I was going to bring with me when a few knocks on my door disturbed my decision-making.

"Come in!" I yelled.

It was Zak.

"Hey, Charlie." He began in a sweet voice, the type of voice someone has before they destroy your happiness. I turned and slowly watched him entering the doorway to my closet, my stomach churned with worry.

"Everything okay?" I asked. All my attention was on him. I was no longer worrying about my possible outfit choices.

Zak took a deep breath and looked at me with a worried expression. I could feel my heart start to pound against my ribcage. Any negative thoughts immediately came rushing to my head.

"Is he going to tell me he doesn't want me anymore? What if this is all a mistake? Did he find out about me snooping in his room?"

"Zak? Is something wrong?"

He looked me in the eyes from across the closet. "I'm going to say something, and I need you not to take any of this to heart, okay?" I nodded him on to continue, walked to the edge of my bed, and sat down. 

"Okay, I'm not ready to tell anyone else about you. I need this-" He pointed to me and then himself. "I can't have my viewers hear about you just yet, this is huge and it's also for your protection, you're still young-"

"Or you're too embarrassed about me." I interrupted, causing him to stop talking and look at me dead in the eyes. I stood up from the bed and crossed my arms. 

"You will never be embarrassing" He started. "You're the best thing that has happened to me in a very long time. Before you came into my life I was thinking my career was coming to an end, I was thinking of just finishing my show and moving away with Gracie, starting fresh.  But now, since you've come into my life my whole world has changed, and it's for the better." You could tell he was hurt about what I said.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "This is all so new to me. I- I feel like I'm still waiting for the ball to drop. As if this new life is too good for me."

"It's okay Charlie. I promise you will never be embarrassing to me. I understand everything is new to you, but this is your life now. You will always be important, you will never be looked over again." He said as he walked up to me and hugged me.

"Should I be worried?" I mumbled into his black sweater.

Zak pulled away from our family hug. "Worried?"

"Should I be worried? I mean, you're not going to die are you?" 

Zak laughed at my question.

"Of course not. There's always a danger when we go to places like this, but we try to make it as safe as possible. We make sure we have the proper equipment and supplies. You don't have to worry about any of that. The only thing I'm worried about is you. "

"Why would you be worried about me?" I asked.

He looked at me with a dumb look. "Cause you're my daughter. And this building, I guarantee will be haunted. We don't know exactly what's in there. It could be dangerous for someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

"Someone with no experience." He said sternly. "This is a serious investigation, it's okay to laugh and have fun. But we can't be foolish" He paused. "It will be scary, some unexplained things have happened outside the bus while Jay was watching the cameras.  I'm not going to sugar-coat this, it can be very scary during an investigation like this."

I sighed and look him in the eyes. "I may not have experienced stuff like this before, but I'm not a baby. I've handled a lot of shit in my life and I'm not gonna let a ghost ruin my perfect record of getting up when shit gets rough. I'll be fine Zak."

He sighed and rubbed his temples. "You are definitely my kid. Just don't do anything stupid. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

"I can't promise anything, but I will try my best. You can count on it." I smiled.

He returned the smile and gave me a tight hug. Something I don't think I'll ever hate getting from him.

Just before he left my room, he yelled to me from outside my door, "Make sure you finish packing, we leave first thing tomorrow morning."