Finding Home (Zak Bagans Daughter)

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next morning I woke up in Zak's bed. At first I couldn't figure out why, and then I remembered the previous events that occurred the night before. Just thinking about them made me happy that I Zak and I had found each other.

As I walked downstairs, I could hear the TV on again, but it wasn't coming from the usual place where I would usually find Zak. I honestly didn't care where he was; at least he was in the house somewhere.

I walked into the kitchen to grab myself some breakfast, but when I walked toward the fridge I noticed in the corner of my eye, the sliding door to the backyard was open. I closed the fridge door and slowly walked toward the door to the backyard. When I got outside I could clearly see at least 100 people 50ft away from our gate. They were all talking so loud, it made me realize that was probably what I thought I was hearing and thought it was the TV.

There were a couple vehicles. Some were news vans, others were police cars. Something bad obviously happened. I went back inside and turned on the first news channel I recognized from outside, they were broadcasting live from the valley behind the house. The news reporter, whose name was Linda, was talking about how a middle aged man and his dog were found murdered and robbed in the valley.

I immediately dropped the remote and yelled running through the house. I went through every room calling Zak's name and Gracie's name, but they weren't in the house.

When I realized neither of them were inside I put on my shoes and ran outside into the valley. The whole time I repeated in my head it wasn't them who were found dead. It wasn't very reassuring.

When I reached the group of bystanders, I pushed my way through. I was yelling Zak's name the whole time, trying to see if maybe he was in the crowd. He was nowhere to be found.

"Zak!" I called out. "Zak where are you?!" Yelled, but everyone just looked at me like I was on drugs. When I finally reached the front of the crowd I looked onto the murder scene. There was lots of blood, and only one body. It was obviously a man, but from what I could see I couldn't tell if it was Zak or not. Then, I saw the dog and I let out a huge breath of relief. The dog was a beagle. It had a few scratches on it, but it was okay and it definitely wasn't Gracie.

After I calmed myself down, I left the group of people and reporters at the crime scene.

"Charlie?" I looked around me.

There he was. Zak was standing right in front of me looking at me with a confused face. He was holding a pink leash attached to Gracie's diamond dog collar that she was wearing.

"What are you doing out here?"

I covered my face and laughed. "Holy shit I thought you were dead"

He still looked confused. "Why would you think that?" he asked.

I pointed to the group of people behind me. "A man and his dog were attacked and killed. I couldn't find you and I got so scared"

He looked worried. "This is supposed to be a safe neighborhood" he mumbled.

"Let's go back home"

After we made our way back to the house, I looked back once more at the crowd in the valley. That's when I realized it was the same spot I was in a few days previously. There was a boulder that I remembered which looked like Scooby-doo and I recalled seeing it right next to the body.

Not soon after Zak asked me a question.

"Isn't that where you took a walk a couple days ago? When you and I got into a fight?" he asked.

I looked at him with wide eyes and nodded.

"Oh my God" he whispered.

"My exact thoughts" I replied.

When we got into the kitchen, Zak turned on the TV and listened to the same news channel I was watching to prior to going outside.

"It is assumed the man and his dog, which we have now discovered is not dead, but alive- had been dead for at least four days" said Linda the reporter.

I turned and looked at Zak. "I was out there four days ago"

"I know"

"So then there's a murderer on the loose? Are we still safe here?" I asked.

Zak was still watching the TV when Linda was informing people the killer was most likely to kill again, and anyone who lived nearby to make sure to lock their doors and remain calm as the police were doing the best they could to catch the killer.

Zak turned off the TV and turned around to face me. "We are not staying here tonight. We are staying somewhere else until this gets handled. I am not waiting around to find out who the next victim is"

He then told me to go to my room and pack a few days' worth of clothes since we wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

*******************

After we finished packing, Zak quickly put Gracie and I into his car and raced out of the neighborhood. It seemed our fellow neighbors had the same idea, since they were putting their things and family members in their cars as well.

The entire drive Zak was quiet. He wouldn't even let me turn on the radio.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He wasn't himself.

"That could've been you Charlie"

"But it wasn't. I'm here, and I'm safe you don't have to worry about that"

He shook his head.

"But it could've been. I would've never been able to forgive myself if you were killed"

"Is that why we're leaving?" I asked.

"No, were leaving because there is no way in hell I am putting you in any more danger. No killer is coming near my daughter"

We didn't speak for the rest of the ride.

Shortly after our chat, he pulled over and took out his phone. He dialed a few nearby hotels, but since more than a few concerts and a festival were taking place, there were no rooms available. When he realized there was no were to stay, he stared at his blank phone. While looking at it, he accidently hit the power button, showing his lock screen which was a picture of him and the rest of the Ghost Adventures Crew standing proudly in front of his Haunted Museum. You could literally see the lightbulb light up in his head.

When he looked up he was smiling; he didn't even have to tell me what he was thinking. Then he looked at me with the same giant smile.

"You know how I promised you that I would take you to Haunted Museum at some point?" he asked.

I looked at him with wide eyes. "You want to spend a night at the Haunted Museum? I thought you wanted to take me somewhere safe"

He chuckled. "I meant safe from murderers. I mean, there are a few scary things at the Haunted museum, but I have a guest room in there where you can sleep. I'll just drop Gracie off at Billy's house so she can spend a few nights with his dog Sophie and him."

"What about you? Where would you sleep?"

"I'll sleep on one of the couches. I have had to spend a few nights in there before. I even stayed the night with the guys for the show"

"Should I be worried?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, nothing has happened in the guest room, it's completely on the opposite side of the museum where all the really bad haunted objects are"

I nodded.

"So we'll be fine then?"

He nodded and started the car to drive to the Haunted Museum. "I'm sure we'll be fine"

That's not very reassuring.