Finding Home (Zak Bagans Daughter)

Chapter Fifty-Five

After slamming my body into the wall, I fell to the ground below. A trickling sensation ran its way down my forehead and slightly into my eye. I wiped it away and felt the texture between my fingers, the only thing this could be was blood.

I groaned and stood up, making sure to use the wall to support me as I waited for my head to stop spinning. I had completely forgotten why was running in the first place until I heard Aaron yell my name somewhere in the prison.

"CHARLIE!" He yelled. It definitely sounded like him, but after what happened at Levik Asylum, I stopped going after things calling my name in haunted places.

My head was pounding, and the gash on my head was still bleeding. I covered it with my hand, hoping it would slow down a little.

"CHARLIE!" I heard Aarons voice again, but this time it was farther away, he was walking away from me.

I started to walk further down the hallway I was in. I felt around in my pockets for a flashlight, but I must've dropped it when I was running away from Aaron. I used the wall as a guide as I made my way through the prison, I couldn't see anything.

I felt a corner in the wall and heard my name being called again, except this time it was a whisper, and right beside me.

"Charlie"

A sudden forced pushed me against the wall. I held my breath and didn't make a sound. Two hands pushed onto my shoulders making me wince in pain. I lifted my hands and attempted to fight back, but it was too strong.

"What do you want from me?" I whispered.

The grip on my shoulders tensed. After a few seconds, one of the hands released one of my shoulders and traveled it way up my neck and onto my cheek. I felt long fingers caress the side of my face, and then it began playing with my hair.

"What do you want from me?" I asked again, but even quieter.

It sighed and took its hand away from my face. "I want you"

Once again I felt a hand rise to my face. It pulled my face away from the wall just enough to smash it back into it, knocking me out instantly.

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The first thing I noticed when I regained consciousness was that I was cold. I dug my hand into the ground and fisted a handful of dirt.

"What the—"

I stood up and looked around to find myself at the bottom of what seemed to be a pit. It was completely dark, but my eyes had adapted, allowing me to have a small ability to see my surroundings. I looked up to see the square ceiling was covered with metal bars—I realized I was in the dark cell.

I ran my hand across the walls. It was brick, and the ground was cold dirt.

"Hello?" I said in a normal voice. I felt the waves of my call bounce up toward the top and escape into the above.

"Hello" A woman's voice greeted back.

I jumped and pushed my back against one of the four walls. I wasn't expecting anyone to reply.

"You don't have to be scared of me" I squinted my eyes to get a better view of the woman standing before me.

She seemed to me like any other human being, but it wasn't like I was getting a perfect view. It was still dark and all I could see was the outline of her figure and light indents of her facial features.

"You're the woman aren't you? The one who told us to get out"

"And you just ignored it"

I pursed my lips. "That sentence is something you tend to hear a lot with this job"

When she didn't say anything in response I decided to ask her another question.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

She didn't say anything, she just looked at me. It was as if she were trying to read me.

"I don't remember" She said bluntly.

My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

"Wh- what do you mean?"

She shrugged. "I don't know who I am, only that I died in this very hole, that's the only thing I know for sure"

I looked down.

"Were you killed here?"

She shrugged. "I think so"

"Then why were you warning me?"

"Because I can hear the whispers. All the other spirits are talking about you—about the psychic. They all want the girl who can talk to us"

My body slumped. I was stuck in an underground pit with a ghost, in a haunted prison, full of ghosts who want me. Just great.

"Do you know your name?"

"I think it was Nora... Yeah, Nora" She smiled when she said her name aloud.

"Nora, I want to try something" —She looked at me with wide eyes—" Give me your arm, I think if I try hard enough I'll be able to figure what happened to you"

Without a thought Nora stuck her arm toward me, her hand dangling down. I took a deep breath, put my hand on her cold arm and closed my eyes—forcing myself to concentrate on the energy her spirit was giving off.

Just as I figured out what I was doing, a swarm of images came to my mind.

I could see her 10th birthday, how happy she was feeling when she blew out the candles, her first kiss, I could feel how hard her heart was pumping from love. I could see every high and low moment of her entire life in the span of seconds. Then my mind flashed to her last days; I could see her entering the prison with a boy, a boy whose name I learned was Ryan. I could see her fighting with Ryan, then I saw her running from him, she ran all over the prison and eventually found her way into the hole. I watched as a dark shadow choked her where she stood, I saw her last thoughts, her last thoughts of everything I had just seen. Then I watched her die and fall to the dirt floor below, only to become one with it.

When my eyes opened I felt like I was out of breath. I reached for my throat, only to realize there weren't any hands around it like I thought. I looked around the cell to see Nora staring me with anticipation.

"What did you find out?"

I held my finger up to allow me a few seconds to catch my breath, and when I did I stood up and looked at her.

"Your name is Nora Lynn Peterson. You were born in Minneapolis Minnesota on April 18th 1991, but moved to Phoenix after your dad died when you were two years old. You've lived here ever since. Then on July 23rd 2010 you came here with your boyfriend Ryan, then you two got into a fight and you ran off and something knocked you out. When you woke up you found yourself in the same situation like me...stuck at the bottom of this cell"

Nora just stared at me without any emotion etched on her face. "How did I die?"

"A massive shadow creature. He choked you and killed you right over there" I pointed to a spot right across from where I was standing. Nora looked back at it for a mere second, but then flashed back over to me.

"I still don't remember anything"

"I'm so sorry Nora, you died eight years ago"

"Where's my body then? Shouldn't I have a body?"

She had a good point. If Nora was killed down here, why wasn't her body here?

"I... I don't know. I'm sorry Nora"

She ignored my pity and turned away from me. "We need to get you out of here. Another girl isn't dying down here"

"What are you going—" Before I could finish my question Nora was gone, leaving me alone in the dark.