Our investigation the next night starts out like all others. Walking around the jail, filming, doing EVPs. Nothing happens for forever.
Right now, I lean against the wall of a cell, an Ovulus in my hands. The Ovulus is a great piece of equipment, since it allows the spirits to use their energy to choose words. Much better than the spirit box, and quicker than an EVP.
It sits silently in my hand. I close my eyes, and send my power outward, like I did in Sarcoxie. Back then, though, when I used my power, I ended up in the middle of an ashy pentagram with blood down the side of my face.
I hear Billy in one of the cells, walking out his stiff legs. I move past that, and watch Aaron and Jay walk around another cell block with the SLS, or Structored Light Sensor camera. Luckies. They got eyes. All I got is my camera and the slight light from the Ovulus.
I move even further than that, to nerve center, where Zak watches the cameras we have set up. I ignore him, and return to the cell block outside nerve center. Something there has sparked my interest.
Moving my power takes a great deal of difficulty and focus, so I don't realize that the Ovulus is speaking. I dimly hear Billy enter my cell, but then I get a flash image of a door set into the wall outside nerve center. A door that shouldn't be there.
I'm shaken out of my mind by Billy, who holds up the Ovulus. Danger, it reads. As I watch, it flashes three more messages. Revenge. Murder. Door. I pick up my camera and point it up at Billy, who films the Ovulus screen. He turns towards me, and I can see it in his eyes that he's scared. I look around, but the spirit who said the words either doesn't want to appear to me or is already gone.
"What do you think it means?" Billy asks. I shake my head, and say,"I have no clue." Lie, and Billy can tell. Thankfully, though, he doesn't say anything. Just then, as we're exiting the cell, I hear a loud bang, coming from the end of the cell block. I look over at Billy, and see his eyes trained on a spot at the end of the building.
Together, we set off that way. Billy pulls out his recorder, just in case. We stop near the wall, and Billy hits play. "Who made that sound?... How many murders happened here?... What happened behind these walls?..." The Ovulus, in my hand again, speaks, saying, Children.
I look up at Billy, and see the gears in his mind turning. My mind goes back to the research day we had yesterday, to an article I found.
"This place used to be a school. Before that it was a hospital. It was only a jail in the past eighty years. It's been used as a bunker, a school, twice as a hospital, and an asylum before becoming a jail," I say. Billy nods, apparently remembering the information from yesterday as well.
"Did children make that noise to lure us over here?... Do you want to play little kids?..." I ask, and the Ovulus says, Play. Sara. "Is your name Sara?" I ask, looking down at the Ovulus, which I hold at knee height, where I imagine little Sara can speak into it.
Girl. Me. Play. I smile, and crouch to get more to the little child's height. Apparently, as far as I'm concerned, little kids have more control over their invisibility from me than adults do. They can hide as long as they want. Little turds. Always annoyed me when I played hide-and-seek with them as a kid.
"What game do you want to play, Sara?" I ask, turning the Ovulus to my right, where I sense an energy. Follow, the little device says. Then, a little child spirit appears before my eyes. She gestures for me to follow her, and I do, to the bewilderment of Billy.
Sara leads me through the jail, sometimes disappearing into cells and popping back out, laughing all the while. Just as I recognize the cell block we're in, Zak appears from the door to nerve center, frowning. "What's going on? What happened?" he asks, and I say,"I'm following a little girl named Sara. She seems to want to show me something." Zak looks confused by this, but doesn't say anything as I walk past him.
Sara runs ahead, and points to the wall. And, there, just like in my vision, is a door, made of such corrosive and dark steel that it blends into the wall perfectly. I reach out to touch the wall, and the Ovulus in my hand says, Danger. Three. I turn to look at Sara, and she watches me with sad eyes. She couldn't have been more than six.
"What kind of danger, Sara? What three?" I ask as I crouch down, a horrible feeling rising in my gut. She simply shakes her head, and disappears into smoke. "Very helpful. Thanks, Sara," I mutter as I stand. I turn when I hear Zak walk up to me. "Billy's at nerve. I'm with you for now," he says to my questioning look. I shrug, and continue to study the door.
"We should go down there," I say, and Zak nods, which surprises me. He reaches out to pull on the handle, and the door creaks open. Billy's voice crackles over the radio,"That was you guys, right? That made that sound just now?" Zak pulls out his radio, clicks it, and says,"Yeah, Bill, it was us." "Okay," was his reply. Zak gestures for me to walk in the room first, which I do after smiling at him.
The smell hits me like a wall as soon as I cross the threshold. I gag, and hold my hand over my nose. I hear Zak sneeze, and say,"Go get your respirator. I'll wait." I see him nod through my camera, and he leaves.
Untrue to my word, I venture farther into the room. Dust flies through the air with each step, and it enters my lungs with each breathe. I cough, and pan my camera around the room. Through its screen, I see another door at the far end. Walking through the clouds of dust is like trying to walk through colored perfumes. I cough again, then make it to the door.
I open it, step into the room, and look around. Surprisingly, this room has no dust whatsoever in it. In fact, nothing stands in this room. Not a single piece of furniture, rug, painting, or even a pile of poop. I take another step forward, and sense the door slam shut behind me, soft as a whisper.
I turn to open it, but then something catches my eye. I turn back, and hear a voice say,"We've been waiting a long time to do this, Saira. Try not to scream too loud, okay?"
Aaron's POV
The scream rips through the air like a knife as Jay and I walk back to nerve center. We look at each other, then start running when we hear it again.
When we reach never center, Billy is already at the door. I see Zak running down the hall, towards an open door that I don't remember being there before. All three of us guys look at each other, confused and at a lost for words, when a third scream tears through the silence.
We run, all of us, following Zak's path through the door. I cough when the dust hits my nose and throat, and Jay and Billy do the same. Through my camera, I see Zak standing at another door, his respirator mask on due to his asthma.
I walk forward, then flinch back when another scream echoes through the room. Wait, is it coming from behind the door? And where in the God damn Hell is Saira?
I get my answer when Zak shouts,"God damnit, Saira! You were supposed to fucking wait for me! Just hold on. We're trying to open the door." A fifth scream answers these words, and Zak yells in frustration as he tries in vain to push open the door.
I put my hand on Zak's shoulder, and he turns to me. I almost flinch back, because the Zak I see right now is not the Zak I know. This Zak is dark, angry, dangerous. His energy crackles around him. His frustration is infectious. His eyes practically glow with rage.
"Zak. Zak! Listen to me. Listen. That favor you asked me for? I put it through. So, this is not how it ends, alright? We will get her out of there. One way or another. So, calm down and think. Think!" I say to his face. Zak blinks, and I see his eyes clear through my camera screen.
"Billy, get me a flashlight. Jay, call someone, anyone with keys or dynamite. Aaron? Just-just stay here, please. I don't know what I'll do if you're gone," Zak says, his voice breaking at the end. Billy and Jay rush out of the room, kicking up more dust, as Zak stares at the door.
I put my hand on Zak's shoulder again, and he turns to me. His gaze stays on mine, full of pain and fear. "She sounds so in pain, Aaron. After Kire Mansion-after she tried to kill herself-I never could bring myself to look at her without feeling a little bit of fear that she'd do it again. Now, she shows her scars to the world. It feels too personal, Aaron. Too much for one person to handle. I want to be the person she can share her past, her burdens, with. I don't want her to leave me. Even for a moment," Zak says, his dark hazel eyes drifting towards the door.
Zak grabs my arm as another scream rips through the air. His grip is so tight my fingers go numb immediately. I see his eyes widen, and feel his anger and frustration spike up. I flip on the light on my camera, but he doesn't even squint, which must be even worse for his eyes.
I hear a whimper now, then another scream. Zak's grip tightens on my arm, if that were possible. I probe the door with my light, looking for a handhold or doorknob. I find it, and grasp it in my one non numb hand. I turn it, but it doesn't budge.
Zak flinches back at another scream. Panic starts rising within me, and I try to turn the knob again. Again, it doesn't budge. Then, I hear an even worse sound than the screaming: the sound of knives being sharpened on rock. Yet another scream tears through the still air, and my blood freezes.
Then, I'm against the wall. I look up, and see Zak with both his hands around the doorknob. The asshole had pushed me away from the door with enough force that my head throbs as I peel it away from the stone. I hear another whimper, this one even fainter than the last, then another scream, though this one seems to be weaker, as if the screamer is losing energy. Or blood.
Light flashes around Zak, and the door pops open. He tumbles through, and I'm up and running for my friend before I ever think about what I'd see inside. Nothing I could've ever thought could prepare me for what I see.
My brain can only take it in in slivers and parts. A pale hand. A dirty, bruised face. Sliced arms. Dark hair. Pale eyes, barely open. And so much blood. It covered the floor in a perfect circle around her body. No, not body. Corpse. Her chest isn't rising and falling. I see no heartbeat fluttering at her neck. Her eyes are vacant as they stare at the ceiling.
A sob builds in my throat, though its nothing compared to Zak. He drops to his knees next to Saira, screaming. He cradles her head in his arms, sobbing. He prays, muttering nothings. He says that he loves Saira more than anything, that he'd do anything for her, even trade his life for hers right now.
I collapse against the wall, the sob escaping me. Billy and Jay enter the room, take in the scene, and start crying as well.
No one had ever died on Ghost Adventures. Not even close. No one died because of spirits. But, a voice in my head says, What if it wasn't spirits? I shake the thought from my mind, but equally dark and disturbing thoughts push their way into the gap. You knew she tried to kill herself. What would make her stop if she wanted to die that bad? Spirits can't wield blades. People can.
Then, I see something that shocks me to my very core. Saira's chest: moving. With a cry of joy I leap up, causing my head to spin. Zak looks up at me, anger and pain and grief on his face, then looks back down, and sees her chest move again.
Suddenly, all of us are there, lifting her up and carrying her to nerve center. We care not for the blood; we only care for her life. We lay her down on a table, like an operation, and get first aid supplies. We tape up her arms, which hold so many bleeding scratches and cuts I'm surprised all the blood isn't gone from her body by now. Zak washes her face clean of blood, then kisses her forehead, saying a little prayer as he does so.
We all stand back, and wait. Saira's chest moves up and down, faster and faster, until she's breathing at a normal pace. Suddenly, she sits straight up, jade eyes flying open. A scream ripples from her mouth, but dies as soon as it passes her lips. She looks around at all of us, then her gaze lands on Zak.
"He said it wasn't my time. That someone called me back. Three shards of red glass are glued back together. They had their revenge. Now, their spirits are all where they should be. Though Sam is now in Hell for what he did to me," she says breathlessly, staring all the while at Zak, who looks like he's seeing a ghost. Which, I guess, he kind of is.
Suddenly, Zak is up and embracing Saira. She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him back, almost as hard as he was hugging her, I suspect. Saira starts to cry, and Zak pulls back, just enough so that way he can kiss her.
I suddenly find my shoes very interesting. I wait for the two lovebirds to finish, even though I know that they deserve it. Saira had died, had come back to life, and scared the fucking Hell out of all of us, Zak especially.
They break apart, though they keep their arms around each other. Both are pink in the cheeks when I look back up, though from lack of oxygen or embarrassment, I don't know. We all suddenly laugh, for some weird reason. The room is filled with laughter, which eases some of the horror and pain in my heart.
I look over at the clock on the computer monitor, and say,"Hey, guys! It's almost time to leave." They all turn towards me, and look at the computer screen. Sure enough, the time states that it's almost sunrise outside.
We all laugh again, then move to pack up some gear. Zak makes Saira sit on the table and stay, of course, which she seems characteristically annoyed with. Zak smiles at her as he leaves, and she smiles at him, then wrinkles her nose at me when she catches me looking at her.
After a while, we're all packed up, and standing at the jail doors. Zak is at the back with Saira, who stubbornly argued about carrying something since she felt fine. Zak relented, and let her carry the case with the computer monitor in it. Saira seems miffed by this, but doesn't press the matter any further.
We all take a deep breath of air when we get outside. Zak thanks Ethan, the paranormal investigator, and we load the van. Ethan eyes Saira's new bandages, which cover most of her arms, and she glares so many daggers at him that he finally just walks back to his car.
"What about the room? The blood? The knives?" Saira asks Zak, which seems to take him by surprise. "I locked it back up. No one's ever getting in there again if I have anything to say about it," he says angrily. Saira blinks, looks down at her arms, then back up at Zak. I see pain flash in her eyes, and feel my heart pang painfully.
"Alright," she says, her voice small and weak for the first time since I've met her all those months ago. I pat her shoulder, and she shoots me a grateful smile. I climb into the passenger seat, thinking that Zak and her need time together. Jay climbs into one of the seats behind Billy and I. And, like I expected, Zak and Saira climb into the very back.
Billy starts driving, and we leave the jail behind. Hopefully, for good. I try to forget the image of Saira's unmoving body in the puddle of blood, but I can't erase it from my memory, just like I can't erase the stains of red on her clothes, or the smell of copper blood in the van, even with all the windows down.
We drive on, to a better future. A brighter future. For us all.