Poveglia Island (GAC Story)

Seven

"Oh..crap." Lily said quietly, then turned serious. "You get the hell out of him!"

"Don't think so." Zak said. "You see..he does kinda deserve it again."

"It doesn't matter!" Jackie said. "Either you get out of him, or we'll force you out!"

She took out a small bottle, filled with holy oil that she found on the boat ride here.

Glaring at her, he smacked it away, hearing it fall somewhere. Grabbing her by the neck, he tossed her like a rag doll.

"Anyone else wanna try?" He asked seriously.

They all stood there, not wanting to try anything with him, until Lily stepped up.

"You get out of him now...or I swear to god. I'll--"

"You'll what?" Zak snickered. "You can't kill me..none of you can since I'm already dead."

With that, he kicked her to the ground, making her grunt in pain. Punching her across the face, she fell over, not moving.

"Lily!" Nick shouted.

"You wanna try me??" Zak shouted, walking up to Aaron and Nick, standing uncomfortably close.

They quickly glanced behind him, seeing Jackie moving to wherever the holy oil fell. Praying it didn't break, they could only distract him.

"Look..we remember that day when you possessed him last time." Nick said. "But, we just needed evidence, that's all."

Zak scoffed. "Yeah, sure. You know what you did to get me to do it...taunting, remember? In my language?" He smirked evilly. "Sei un bastardo. Ring a bell?"

Aaron and Nick began to get a little nervous, seeing Jackie slowly walk up to him, nodding once, the oil in her hand. It calmed them down a little bit at least.

"Yeah...so we taunted." Aaron said. "We can't just constantly ask questions, you know."

"Oh, I'm sure you can. And now...look what it got you."

He grabbed Aaron by the neck, but didn't hold him for long when Jackie poured some of the oil on her hand, gesturing for Nick to get Zak off of Aaron. Doing so, he yanked him off, holding him tight by the arms. She made the sign of the cross on his forehead, even though it wasn't the best one, but it'll work. He started gritting his teeth in pain, the oil slightly steaming on his head.

"What the...?" Jackie breathed.

"It's a demonic possession, so it makes sense." Nick said, struggling to keep Zak still. He suddenly stopped thrashing around, slumping to the ground as he let go of him. They all knelt in front of him.

"You alright, Zak? Talk to me." Aaron said.

He looked around confused. "What the hell happened?"

"You got possessed by that demonic spirit again." Nick said.

"What??" Zak panicked. "No, not again!"

"Apparently..and uhh..you tried to hurt us. But we're fine, I promise." Jackie added before he could flip out.

"Where's Lily? Is she okay?" He asked.

They all froze, remembering what he did to her. Jackie slowly moved to the side, revealing her still on the ground.

Zak immediately ran up to her. "No...no no no."

"She's not dead, Zak." Nick said. "It's just..the demonic spirit that took over you knocked her out..I'm sure she'll be fine once she wakes up."

"I can't believe I hurt her..." Zak said, running his hands through his hair. "Shit..."

"Zak, it wasn't you. She knows that." Jackie said. "She won't be mad at you."

He suddenly picked her up in his arms, heading out of the room. "I'm gonna put her outside, and I'm staying with her. You guys go to the fields."

Without waiting for an answer, he headed out.

They all looked at each other. "Well..let's go then." Aaron said. Nodding, they walked towards the fields, where the soil is made from human ash after burning all the bodies. This was where they captured the white mist, followed by unexplained voices. They hope they can get more than that.

Crossing the bridge, the energy drastically changed.

"Whole different vibe down here." Nick said. "Almost feels sad."

"Yeah, I feel that too." Jackie said, rubbing her arms from the brisk chill of the ocean breeze. They set foot into the field, their feet slightly sinking into the soil, as if the souls are trying to the drag them down.

"Is there anyone down here?" Nick asked out loud. "Are there any spirits here that are lost?"

They didn't get anything, except the feeling that they're being watched.

"We know you're here, come out and show yourselves." Aaron said, taking out a recorder.

"Try and ask something in Italian. See if they respond again." Nick suggested.

Nodding, Jackie gave it a shot.

"Ti ricordi di noi?" She asked. They didn't hear anything with their own ears, until it sounded like a twig snapped when they stood absolutely still. Looking around, they didn't see anything.

"Someone's here with us." Nick said quietly. "Who just made that noise?"

"Do you smell that?" Aaron asked, sniffing the air. "Smells like something's burning."

Nick smelled it. "Yeah, it does smell like that. It's like...it's almost like it's a fire or something."

"Didn't they burn bodies here?" Aaron asked.

Nick's eyes widened. "Oh my god, yeah they did!"

Jackie suddenly remembered the nightmare she had, where she was one of the victims of the plague, getting burned alive with everyone else. It made her shiver, heart pounding. She looked around, seeing flash images of it. She saw the people with the doctors mask on, the victims screaming for mercy, before being thrown into the flames. Then she saw herself go through the same situation, hearing the skin crackle as the bodies burned. She could hear herself panicking, breathing heavily and loudly.

"Jackie, are you alright? What is it?" She heard Aaron ask.

Covering her eyes, she felt her body trembling. The images were still seen, and it was to the point where she suddenly took off in the other direction, hearing Nick and Aaron call out to her. She ignored them, wanting to get away from the fields.