Chapter 75: Tension
Alicia's Point of View
After Zak and I had left the circle, he had driven us deeper into the forest, and my second psychic drawing - or whatever you want to call them – had come true.
As we were driving, I had suddenly spotted a fairly bright, red/orange orb - or ball of light - in the trees. Zak had stopped the ATV and it had taken me a few minutes to be able to get him to see the orb, as it had been flickering amongst the trees.
Once he had spotted it, it then took us several more minutes to be able to actually catch it on camera.
The entire ordeal had been a nightmare.
~*~*~*~*~
I kept my eyes, and the camera, aimed on the path in front of us, as Zak drove deeper and deeper into the forest. The trees were becoming thicker the further we went.
Suddenly, I noticed an orange light in amongst the trees in the distance.
"Woah, woah, woah! Stop!" I said, grabbing onto the top of the windshield and started to stand up to get a better view.
Zak brought the ATV to a quick stop, probably more worried about me standing up than about stopping to see what I was reacting to.
"Are you trying to get your head knocked off?" Zak mumbled.
I rolled my eyes and didn't bother responding to his remark.
"Shut it off, shut it off," I replied, aiming my flashlight into the trees, trying to find the source of the orange light.
Crap, where did it go?
Zak turned the ATV off and shined his flashlight in the same area I was.
"What?" He questioned, sounding slightly annoyed.
"There was a light in the trees...there it is!" I exclaimed, spotting the orange light again.
Zak shined his flashlight around a bit.
"Where?" He asked.
I hopped down out of the ATV and quickly took a few steps toward the trees, using only the viewfinder of my camera to watch where I was going.
"Turn your light on!" Zak groaned, as he grabbed his camera from the back of the ATV.
Oh sure....it's fine for you not to be safety conscious, but if I do anything- holy shit, what is that?! I thought.
The light had gotten brighter.
"Come here, quick!" I said.
"What? What?" Zak asked, as he walked up to me, still sounding annoyed.
I was tempted to smack him.
"Orange, orange! Can't you see it?" I replied.
"Where?" Zak asked, aiming his camera in the same direction I was facing.
Oh-my-god.
I forced myself to stand closer to him and stood on my tiptoes to be as close to his eye level as possible. Sure enough, I couldn't see the light anymore.
"Come here," I said, while stepping back where I had been, pulling him with me.
Zak seemed momentarily stunned at his sudden, close proximity to me, but then his shock focused on the ball of light.
"Holy shit!" Zak exclaimed.
Finally! But- the light is now red?!
"I swear to God, it was orange," I said.
"I believe you," Zak said - which was probably the nicest thing he had said to me in the past hour, as he was panning his camera in front of him - rapidly changing different settings.
This light - or orb - whatever it was, was getting brighter again, and was clearly amongst the trees, as I could see the light illuminating the trees around it.
"You see it, right?" I asked.
"Yes, but I can't catch it in my goddamn camera!" Zak replied in frustration, still struggling with his camera.
Oh boy...
~*~*~*~*~
Zak and I had spent about another thirty minutes filming the orb, following it into the forest, but we never were able to determine what it was.
After it had disappeared and we were pretty sure it wasn't coming back, we packed up our equipment and placed it back into the ATV, Zak and I resuming our silence.
Zak and I climbed back into our respective seats of the ATV and Zak started it up again. After putting it into drive, I was surprised when Zak turned the ATV around and started driving back the way we had come.
I guess we're done for the night...I thought.
I had to admit, despite the excitement over the orb, I was relieved. I had had enough of this forest, and the tension between Zak and I was becoming unbearable.
~*~*~*~*~
The day after our separate investigations, Zak, Aaron, Billy, Jay and I had all met up in a hotel in Hunedoara as planned, and we spent the day going over each other's evidence and discussing our investigations.
Zak and I still hadn't made up from our fight, and on top of that, we both felt miserable with what I assumed were the start of colds. I tried not to dwell on the memory of the story the teenage boy had told us the day before, about how some believe it's possible to "catch diseases" from the forces in the forest.
Not possible...I tried to tell myself.
On top of the cold, my upper arm was also sore, and bruised, from where Zak had been gripping it during his asthma attack, but I didn't fill him in on that detail.
If Aaron, Billy and Jay had picked up on the tension between Zak and I, they didn't say anything to us. But eventually, the footage from my camera had aired our argument after his asthma attack. It was super embarrassing and upsetting to sit through, but I knew Zak most likely wanted the guys to get the full story of his paranormal/asthma attack and the aftermath.
Or maybe he was trying to turn them against me by letting them hear what I had said about the investigation, and about taking the job. I couldn't handle it. I had gotten up shortly after the footage started, excusing myself quietly and left the hotel room.
When I left, I went to Cheryl and Aaron's hotel room (yes, they were sharing a room) and discussed with her what had gone on between Zak and I, and asked her opinion on the situation.
She had said she could see both sides.
She agreed with me that Zak could have taken the asthma attack more seriously, and probably should have returned to the hotel. But she could also see Zak's side, that these investigations were our jobs, and he was probably upset about what I had said to him about the investigation being stupid, and having also said I was "beginning to wish" I hadn't taken the job.
I hadn't meant what I said, I was just so shaken up and upset at the time after his asthma attack. Unfortunately, a part of me was being stubborn.
Why should I be the one to apologize first?
The last lockdown was going to be hell.
~*~*~*~*~
It was day two for all of us in Hunedoara.
Zak and I still hadn't talked, and now we were doing our pre-interviews before our final lockdown in Transylvania, at Hunedoara Castle. The Hunedoara Castle was famous for torture, and it was a place where Vlad Dracula had been held prisoner.
After Vlad's second reign of Wallachia, he traveled to Braşov to seek an alliance with Matthias Corvinus, the King of Hungary, but he was arrested for treason. Vlad was locked in a cell beneath the castle floor.
We had met up with Andrei again – which seemed to put Zak in an even more foul mood - and spent the day doing interviews with various people about the Castle, including a man who had worked as a security guard for over 20 years.
With the help of Andrei translating for us, the guard had told us a story that one night, after hours, he had let a group of Satanic Worshippers into the castle. They had gone to a chapel located inside, and had begun chanting in a language he didn't understand. Later that evening after they had left, the rear doors of the castle - where the group had initially entered - began opening and closing by themselves.
Wonderful...I thought.