Shards to the Heart: A Ghost Adventures Fanfic

The Special: Part One

Zak walked into the Ghost Adventures HQ on Tuesday morning feeling excited. This was the day they would be recording their special, 'Young Investigator Special', where a fan would come out to an investigation with him, Nick and Aaron and learn the ropes of paranormal investigation. Zak smiled. Today was going to be awesome.
Zak walked into the equipment room to find his fellow investigator, Nick Groff, and equipment tech, Aaron Goodwin, along with Billy Tolley and Jay sitting at a table with a young girl. The girl had shoulder length, bright blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and also wore glasses. Everyone, including the girl, turned as Zak approached them. Aaron smiled at him. "Hey Zak," Aaron said. He motioned to the girl standing across from him. "Meet Emma Collins, our special guest."
Emma smiled at Zak and extended her hand. "Hi, Emma Collins," she said. Zak shook her hand firmly.
"Zak Bagans," Zak said, smiling. Emma was about the same height as Zak and was pretty slim. Zak was convinced this girl was in high school. "So what year of high school are you in?," Zak asked. He was confused when Emma and his friends began laughing. "What?," he asked.
"I-I'm sorry," Emma gasped, still laughing. "It's just that. . .I'm not in high school. I'm only thirteen. I'm in seventh grade." Zak felt his eyebrows raise in shock.
"Our reaction exactly, " Nick said, meanwhile Aaron fussed with equipment that was laid out on the table. Emma walked back over to the table, followed by Zak. "We were teaching Emma about the equipment," Nick said to Zak. Zak nodded, and he helped with the rest of the equipment lesson. Emma perfected the equipment use surprisingly quick, memorizing each ones name, look and what they did like a pro.
"Well I have watched your show before," Emma said when the men were shocked that she'd learned so quickly. "That's why I'm here." Zak smiled at Emma's sense of humor. He could tell she was going to be a lot of fun.
About an hour before Zak and the others were scheduled to set out, a couple came rushing into the headquarters. "Oh, sorry to bother you," the woman said when she reached Zak, "but we just wanted to say goodbye to our baby girl before she set out on her. . .investigation." Zak was confused by the way the woman said the word 'investigation'. Emma, who had been chatting with Nick by the van loading area, quickly noticed Zak and the couple and walked over.
"Mom," Emma said, laying a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Back up. You're practically breathing down Zak's neck." Zak smiled. He had to admit, this kid was funny. Let's just hope she can be serious when it comes to the investigation, he thought worriedly.
Emma quickly hugged her parents, promising them she would return safely, then practically pushed them out the door. After they were gone, Emma turned to Zak with a sigh of relief. "Thank god," she said. "I love my parents, but they're just a little to clingy sometimes." Zak laughed, and Emma chuckled along with him. Finally, it was time for the group to depart. Billy and Jay had left ahead of the others in the equipment van, and now Emma and her partners rushed out to the van. Nick got in the drivers seat, while Aaron got in the passenger. Zak and Emma hopped into the empty van space in back.
"Hey Emma," Aaron asked, in the middle of recording the traveling montage footage for the beginning of the episode. "Did you remember our destination, like I asked you?" Emma nodded.
"Saint Francis Asylum in Las Vegas, Nevada," Emma said. Aaron opened his mouth to say something, but Emma held up a finger to stop him. "Estimated driving time is two to three hours as long as we don't hit to much traffic."
"Nice!," Aaron said, reaching back for a high five. Emma high fived him, not seeming to really care if she pleased the man or not. Thinking back to what Emma's mom had said earlier, Zak looked over at Emma, who was sitting across from him.
"Hey Emma," Zak asked, causing Emma to look up at him. "Is you're mother a skeptic? Like with the paranormal." Emma raised her eyebrow at him.
"Yes she is. Why do you ask?," Emma asked.
"When she came in earlier, she said she wanted to see you before you went off on your 'investigation'." Zak put the word investigation in air quotes, trying his best to replicate the tone Emma's mother had used. Emma nodded in realization. She smiled at him, amused.
"Yeah, she's skeptic. My entire family is. Even my little brother and sister don't believe in the paranormal. I suppose it's partly because we're a Christian family and we're only supposed to believe in God and Jesus, but in my mind the paranormal is just communicating with angels and driving off demons." Zak shrugged.
"That's basically what it is," Zak said. Emma smiled at his compliance. Zak smiled back at her. Hard to believe this kid came out of a skeptic family, Zak thought.

Looking around, Nick finally spotted the Saint Francis Asylum. He made a sharp turn into the Asylum's gravel driveway, smiling as he heard Zak and Emma hit his and Aaron's seats. "Gee, thanks Nick," Emma said sarcastically. "How did you know that the number one thing I do before investigations is slam myself against van seats? Can't wait to be walking around all night with a sore back and headache." This made Aaron lean against the dashboard in laughter. Emma laughed a little too, then took Nick by surprise when she said, "alright guys in all seriousness now." Nick heard the back doors of the van open, and he and Aaron hopped out of the front.
The group walked up to the front doors of the Asylum and knocked. "You said someone would be meeting us here, right?," Zak asked Aaron, who was recording the others from behind.
"Yeah there should be," Aaron responded. As if on cue, the large wooden archway doors of Saint Francis Asylum swung open, revealing a woman, about early twenties, standing in the doorway. The lady had long brown hair and bright green eyes. Zak, as usual, stepped forward first.
"Hi I'm Zak Bagans and I'm here with the Ghost Adventures crew," Zak said, giving his usual intro. The lady shook his hand and introduced herself as Laura Meggans. Zak pointed first to Aaron, then to Nick, introducing them both. "These are my fellow investigators. This is Aaron Goodwin. The guy next to him is Nick Groff." He then indicates to Emma, who had quietly been standing beside him throughout his rambling. "This is our special guest. A young investigator. Her name is Emma Collins." Laura shook everyone's hand then ushered the crew through the door. "So can you tell us your relationship to this place?," Zak asked Laura.
"Yes, my grandmother actually worked here in her early twenties," Laura stated.
"Is that so?," Zak inquired. Laura nodded. "What did she do here?"
"She was a maid of the sort. She was in charge of making sure the rooms were clean and food was prepared for the meals the next day."
"So would you say she was like an overall matenance manager?," Zak asked.
"I suppose you could say that yes," Laura replied.
"Okay," Zak said. Suddenly, Zak ushered Emma forward. "Any questions for Laura?," Zak asked, using a voice you might use when asking a small child a question.
Well Emma wasn't having any of it. She cleared her throat and turned to face Laura.
"Well you obviously didn't call us here to tell us your family history," Emma said, causing a kind of strangled chuckle to escape Zak. Emma ignored him and continued. "What's up? What's happened here that makes you think this place is crawling with paranormal activity?" Nick felt his eyes widen. He'd never heard such a serious tone out of someone so young. She's not joking around, Nick thought. She's getting straight to the point. He looked at Aaron, who was beside him, only to find the same look of shock reflected on his face.
"Well," Laura said, speaking to Emma the same way she'd spoken to Zak, "it all started like this."