Poveglia Island (GAC Story)

Five

It was now night time wherever they were right now, Aaron, Nick, and Lily asleep. Jackie and Zak stayed awake, talking to each other quietly.

"I'm just saying, what if what happened if your dream actually happens when we're there?" Zak asked.

"I'm sure it won't." Jackie said. "Like we've been trying to tell you: it was hundreds of years ago. It wouldn't come back out of the blue."

"Yeah, but considering the crazy things we saw..I'm not sure about that." He looked over to Lily, her head leaning against the window cover as she slept. "I shouldn't have agreed..."

"Zak, how many times do we have to tell you it's going to be fine??" Jackie hissed quietly. "I don't want to have to keep saying the same thing over and over again."

"I know, I get that part." Zak said, looking back at her. "I just...never mind..."

Lounging back in his seat, he started to close his eyes when Jackie said something else.

"I hope that nightmare won't come true, either." She said, sitting back, looking at her phone. He didn't say anything to that, closing his eyes for a long time.

***

"Wake up, sleepyhead we're getting ready to land." Zak heard Lily say, shaking his shoulder. Waking up right away, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes just as the seat belt light flashed on. Strapping themselves in, they felt the plane going downward, feeling that pressure on top of their heads, but they were used to it by now. They felt the plane jerk a little as the wheels touched the ground, the force of the wind pushing against the wings as it slowed down. Once it slowed down enough, they pulled up to one of the gates, more airplanes on either side of them as it came to a complete stop. Unbuckling themselves, they grabbed their stuff, heading off the plane. Once they got into the airport, sure enough, everything was in Italian, but thankfully some things were in English.

"Anybody speak Italian here?" Jackie asked.

"I know some, but not a lot." Lily said.

"Good, because I'm a little rusty on the language, considering it was a few years ago." Nick said.

They reached the main doors, pushing them open to find the car they rented sitting in the parking lot. It was a simple white van. The person renting them the car gave them the keys.

"Grazie Signore." Lily said, getting a nod from the man. When they walked away, they set their stuff in the trunk, having just enough room to fit it all. Closing it up, they climbed in.

"What's the name of the hotel we're staying at?" Jackie asked.

"Something Italian, I can't remember the name." Nick said. "But I know where it is."

Starting it up, he pulled out of the parking lot, driving to the hotel.

***

Once they got to the hotel when Nick remembered the name halfway through the drive there, they pulled up to the doors, unlocking the trunk. Grabbing their stuff, they headed inside, everything looking more fancy than they thought it would. A decent size flat screen TV sat in an entertainment center above a fireplace, a couple orange velvet chairs near it. Big windows looked out towards the indoor pool and hot tub, a gaming area tucked in the end of the hallway. A big black granite desk sat on the right side, computers on top of it, a worker typing away on one.

"Hello, may I help you?" They asked in their thick Italian accent.

"Yes, we actually reserved one of the suites on the third floor yesterday." Nick said. "It's under my name, Nick Groff."

They gave them the room key after figuring it all out, saying they can stay up to two weeks since they'll b investigating later. Crowding in an elevator, Jackie pushed the button for the third floor.

"Once we get situated, we'll hang around for a little bit, then get our stuff ready." Nick said. "I was told that the people taking us there would meet us at the docks at 5:30 sharp."

They nodded, just as the elevator doors slowly opened. Finding their room, Aaron unlocked the door, revealing a huge suite. It was about as big as the lobby downstairs, with the entertainment center, a TV in the middle of it, a large red couch facing it, a decent dining area, and three rooms down the small hallway.

"Damn, when they mention a suite, they don't kid about it." Lily said, opening the bedroom door closest to them, Zak following behind her. Jackie and Nick took the room next to theirs, and Aaron got the last one to himself. When they got everything situated, they sat around in the living room area.

"I already like this place." Aaron said, lounging on the couch.

"Yeah, it's really nice." Jackie said.

"Okay..so since this was planned without me..what're we gonna do when we get there later?" Zak asked.

"We were thinking of going to that open field first." Nick said. "Since it's where we got some of the voices and a couple white figures running across it."

"And the camera being knocked off." Jackie said.

Zak nodded. "Alright, then what?"

"Then..we go in the building..maybe near that spot." Nick said, quickly adding, "You don't need to be next to it, it's no big deal if you don't want to."

"Good..I probably won't be."

"What about the tower where Aaron went by himself?" Lily asked. "Maybe one of us could go up there."

"We could..maybe you can." Aaron said.

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess." She suddenly stood up, walking away from the group, heading back to her room. "I'll be right back."

They went back to the conversation. "Depending on what we get there, maybe it'll be more than a one night investigation." Nick said.

"Wouldn't surprise us." Jackie said.

Just as she finished saying that, a loud scream was heard. Immediately running into Zak and Lily's room, she stared at the window, horrified.

"What the hell was that about??" Zak asked, his hand on her shoulder.

"I...I saw something!" She said, turning to face them. "It looked like a person..they were standing right in front of the window!"

"How is that possible?" Nick asked. "We're on the third floor!"

"Exactly!" Lily said.

"What did it look like?" Jackie asked.

It took her a couple seconds to answer. "They uhh..the..f-face was white..the eyes were black, and it had a stitched mouth.." She glanced out the window again. "But look...look at what we can see from here."

Looking out the window, it indeed had a clear view of Poveglia Island.

"You think it was one of them?" Aaron asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Zak said. "Or maybe it was the thing that possessed me."

"Well, either way, we'll figure it out when we head over there later tonight." Nick said, looking over at Lily. "You gonna be okay?"

Taking a couple deep breaths, she nodded. "Yeah...I'll be fine."

They decided to get their stuff ready now, preparing for yet another one hell of a night.