Finding Home (Zak Bagans Daughter)

Chapter Fifty-Two

           

"Thanks for showing us around Amy" Zak smiled causing Amy to blush.

"No problem, we will see you tomorrow morning then?" Zak nodded.

Zak was pulling out a few bags of equipment from the bus when I saw Nick approach him. I was too far away to hear what they were saying. When I tried to come closer and eavesdrop, they had finished their conversation. The only part I heard was Zak saying thank you, then they shook hands.

When Nick walked away from Zak, he gave me a smirk. That boy was up to something.

"What was that about?" I walked up to Zak with my arms crossed across my chest.

He looked up and gave me a smile. "Nick was just telling me a few things about the prison, nothing important" I nodded and looked down.

"Okay... anything else?"

Zak stopped what he was doing. "What do you mean? What else would we have talked about? "I waved my hand in dismissal.

"Forget it, it's nothing"

"Everything okay? You seem... off" I looked into Zak's eyes, he looked so worried. But like I've said multiple times, I didn't want him to worry about me; I can take care of myself.

"No, dad, I'm great. I'm super excited for tonight" I gave him a grin. Zak stood up and hugged me.

"I love you so much, Charlie. I hope you know that"

"Trust me dad, I know" He rolled his eyes.

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

As the crew got ready for the lockdown, I wandered around the outskirts of the prison. The outside looked much better than the inside, but it still looked like it would collapse at any moment.

I walked through some dead weeds that had grown around the side of the metal fence. The sound of crunching twigs was the only thing I could hear in the hot and endless desert. I was about to turn around, until I saw Nick walking towards me. His jacket was tied around his waist, and his white t-shirt expressed his muscled arms.

"What do you want?"

He held his hands up in defence. "I just want to talk"

I raised my eyebrow and allowed him to talk.

"I'm sorry for what I said in the prison, it was mean" I rolled my eyes, mean was an understatement.

"Yeah, well, thanks for the apology, but I need to focus for tonight" I gave a sarcastic smile and started to walk away, but he only followed.

"Charlie, wait!" I stopped walking, crossed my arms across my chest and turned back around to face him.

"What?"

"You need to know something about the prison. It's something my mom didn't say anything about and she made me swear not to tell any of you"

I gave him a look that told him to continue what he was saying.

"A couple years before the prison closed, four prisoners mysteriously disappeared in one night. No one thought that they escaped because none of their cells were broken out of and nothing was out of place. It was like they were here one second and gone the next-"

"Wait, we didn't read anything about this in any news article or anything"

"That's because the prison covered it up. They said the inmates were never there, that they never existed. But we know the truth, some inmates said they heard the missing prisoner's screams at night, others were haunted with terrifying nightmares. That's one of the main reasons the place closed, everybody was slowly going insane"