Finding Home (Zak Bagans Daughter)

Chapter Twenty

When I awoke it was still night, but it was much darker than usual. I got out of bed and crossed my arms across my chest and shivered, my room was incredibly cold.

I let out a deep breath, and to my surprise a breath of foggy air came out of my mouth.

"This is Vegas" I questionably whispered. Why on earth was I seeing my breath on a Vegas summer night?

Just as I was going to walk into the hallway and turn on the heat, the door to my room slammed shut all on its own. I wasn't even near it.

I immediately screamed and took a step back. Then I heard it, the familiar evil laugh that had been hearing in my head for days. Except, this time it wasn't in my head, it was behind me.

As soon as I heard it I turned around, and there she was; the exact same as I last saw her. She even had the little pink bow in her hair.

"Rosemary" I whispered in fear.

She smiled, exposing disgusting teeth. Her eyes were the same as well, deader than dead.

"What do you want from me?" I cried. I was terrified of her.

She didn't answer for a few seconds. Then she looked at me mischievously.

"I want you to die" she cackled.

She ran toward me and threw me onto the floor, causing all the wind to be knocked out of me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't speak, all I could do was watch her walk up to me with a giant smile plastered on her face.

She knelt down next to me on the floor, the evil radiating off her. She slowly took her hand and held it over my heart.

"You're mine now" she whispered. Without hesitation she stuck her hand into my chest and grabbed my beating heart with her own hands. I had never felt anything more painful in my whole life.

I screamed so loud, I prayed I would wake up Zak and he could come save me. But no luck came. It felt like she was ripping me to shreds for hours, cutting me open and slitting my wrists. She was laughing the whole time she was torturing me.

A faint voice calling my voice made me turn my head.

"Charlie! Wake up!" It was barely a whisper.

Rosemary stopped what she was doing and looked up. Once again she grinned at me, and removed her hands from my torso.

"I'll be back sweetheart" she said. This time it was a deep and malevolent voice instead of a child's.

Within seconds I awoke, but this time in real life. The first thing I noticed was Zak's worried face, he was just staring at me with a look a pure terror.

"Oh My God! Holy shit are you okay?"

It took me a good minute to remember what had occurred. As soon are I remembered I shot up and looked around.

"Where is she? Is she here? Did you see her?" I touched my torso, but when I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary I looked down.

"Wha-"

"Charlie you were having a nightmare. Your screaming woke me up, and when I came in here you crying and sweating, but you were so cold"

I looked around the room once more with confusion.

"But it was so real" a tear rushed down my face.

Zak rushed over to me. "What happened Charlie?"

I didn't want to say her name; I didn't want to upset her.

"Don't say it" a voice warned.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Zak's eyebrows furrowed, as if he was seeing something familiar.

"Stay here Charlie, I'm just going to... go do something" he stood up and as he walked away I grabbed his arm.

"Please don't leave me alone" I begged. I was still crying.

He looked at me with pity. "I'll be right back okay? How about Gracie stays with you until I come back?" I let go of his arm and nodded.

Zak then told Gracie to hop onto my bed and stay with him; then he was gone. Silence had never been so terrifying. I could hear the sound of my own heartbeat beating 1000 beats a minute.

As I sat in fear with Gracie sitting at the end of my bed, I began to feel dizzy. I grabbed my head and moaned. I lowered my head and closed my eyes. Next thing I know, I'm standing at the top of the stairs looking down at Zak who's standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at me with wide eyes.

I looked around me, trying to figure out how I got out of bed, walked down the hallway, and now was standing at the top of the stairs.

I looked down at Zak, who had his cell phone in his hand, but also looking at me as if he didn't know who I was.

As I took one step down the stairs toward Zak, he took one back.

"Get away from her!" he yelled at me. I took another step down.

I was so confused. "Dad? What's going on?"

As soon as I said that, his body relaxed. "Charlie, I need you to stay where you are, okay? I'm going to call a friend of mine. He is going to come over here and he's going to help us"

"What do you mean? Help us with what?"

He looked at me weirdly again. "You don't remember?" he asked. "You walked down the hallway, then when you saw me, you practically told me to go fuck myself and stay away from you. You didn't even sound like yourself, your voice sounded... different"

"What?! I don't even know how I got here; five seconds ago I was in my bed feeling dizzy"

"Charlie, you've been standing there staring at me for at least two minutes".

What is going on?

Zak just looked at me worriedly, then his phone began to ring. Zak made eye contact with me and mouthed "stay there" and answered the phone.

"Father Bryan, I need you to come to Vegas right away. I need your help"

I immediately felt angry. Then I saw her again, she was right beside Zak. She was grinning while looking at me and slowly sliding her finger across her neck, telling me to slit his throat.

"He's trying to separate us Charlie. You can't let him do that. You have to get rid of him" a voice whispered in my head.

I wasn't listening to Zak's conversation on the phone anymore, I was more focused on trying to not obey Rosemary and kill my father.

"Dad!" I called. He was still on his phone. "DAD!" I screamed.

He shot around. "What!?"

I pointed at Rosemary beside him. "She wants me to kill you"

He looked beside him, but going by his facial expressions he saw nothing.

"Who?"

I didn't respond. I just stared at her instead.

"Who? Charlie? Who's telling you?"

"Rosemary" I whispered.

The second she heard me say her name, she changed. Her body went from a small creepy blonde child to a massive dark and evil figure that loomed over Zak. Every time it moved, the sound of bones cracking and breaking filled my ears. It slowly turned its head toward me and looked at me with its pure black eyes.

"I told you not to say my name" it whispered.

I screamed.