Angel of Light (A Zak Bagans Story)

Chapter 30: Episodes and Boys

Authors Note: Back with another update. I'm sorry for the delay. I haven't been feeling well as of late, and thus haven't felt much like editing. Hope you enjoy this update. :)

Chapter 30: Episodes and Boys

Two months later...

"Well, I never thought this would happen, but right now, I'm on my way to Venice, Italy!"

I was sitting in my seat beside Aaron, writing in my journal, onboard an airplane flying to Italy for our next investigation.

I couldn't believe it.

It still seemed like just yesterday that this crazy new world of being a paranormal investigator had started, but as of now, I had three investigations under my belt.

The 'Goldfield Hotel' was now a distant nightmare.

I still wasn't entirely happy that the footage was going to be used as the premiere episode for Season 10, but I had seen the almost finished cut, and like Aaron had said, most of the personal stuff wasn't included.

At the time of seeing the latest cut, they had simply just included most of the footage of me up until my cameras "malfunctioned", and then focused on some more of Zak and Aaron's footage.

I guess the knowledge of me being pulled across the room and having my head smack into a radiator would have been a little over the top for my very first episode. And without actual film footage of the event, it would hardly be "believable", as the producers put it.

I wasn't complaining.

~*~*~*~*~

Four weeks ago, we had travelled to Oklahoma City in Oklahoma, to investigate the Zozo Demon.

That investigation had come along with some very crazy, and very serious, shit.

The Zozo Demon is known for reportedly attacking and possessing its victims through a Ouija - or Spirit - Board. The demon can also reportedly attack and possess people who enter premises it's affecting.

We had definitely experienced crazy things that night. Knocking sounds, loud bangs, creepy EVPs, surges of cold energy, dogs in the neighbourhood howling. At one point, the wife of the couple, had left the house for a brief period of time, only to return with her belt undone, her hair in disarray, and her demeanour completely different.

She claimed she had been sexually assaulted by Zozo.

At another point, her husband, while using the Ouija Board, had seemingly gone into a trance and started speaking in Latin. When he came back to himself, he had no recollection of what he had just done.

For whatever reason, I didn't receive any warnings from Emily prior to the investigation. Maybe because I had already cautioned myself plenty of times on what I would and would not be doing during the investigation - like using the Ouija Board - Jay had taken over on that front.

Looking back, I was glad Emily hadn't gotten "involved" with that investigation. If she really was in some alternate world, roaming around with good and evil alike, I didn't want her anywhere near demons, of any kind.

~*~*~*~*~

Two weeks after that, we had travelled to Mexico City, Mexico.

Mexico!

I couldn't believe it when the guys had told me. I was even more in shock when they told me we were going to investigate an "Island of Dolls". I had thought they were joking, but they were entirely serious.

"Isla de las Munecas", or The Island of Dolls, is located between the canals of Xochimico. It stands as a dedication to a young girl that had reportedly drowned near the island.

The story states that a man by the name of Don Julian Santana Barrera, who had been a caretaker of the island at one point in time, had found a little girl, who he believed drowned under mysterious circumstances. Shortly after that, he had found a doll. Believing it had belonged to her, he hung the doll from a tree to show his respect for her.

Over a period of 50 years, believing himself to be haunted over not having been able to save the young girls life, he continued gathering and displaying dolls all over the island, in hopes of pleasing her spirit.

Julian was later found dead in 2001, reportedly having drowned in the very same spot as the little girl.

Since his death, the island has become a tourist attraction, where visitors bring even more dolls.

When the guys had told me the story, I hadn't said much, and for a very good reason.

Because Emily had drowned - and I blamed myself for it.

Was I haunted and having these experiences because I couldn't save her?

~*~*~*~*~

The sound of Aaron's voice next to me distracted me from my thoughts.

"Bro, what are you doing?" Aaron asked, lightly kicking the back of Zak's seat.

Despite having my earbuds in and listening to music, it was then that I heard Zak making a quiet "vrooooom!" noise, like the sound of a car's engine.

"The fool is 'driving' that mini car across his chest," Billy answered, sitting in the seat in front of me. "And recording himself with his phone, as usual," Billy added.

I managed to keep my laughter inward, while Aaron burst out laughing.

The past two months between Zak and I had been...well, pretty much non-existent.

We hadn't talked about Emily or my past since we had our blowup. I just couldn't find the courage to bring the topic up. After all these years, not even Cheryl knew all the details surrounding my parents and Emily's deaths.

Zak and I basically only interacted on locations, during investigations. And even then, it was minimal. But we seemed to keep up the appearance of working well together, because the producers hadn't complained about any of our footage we've done so far.

I hated it.

I hated pretending like we were just colleagues, and that was all we had been.

I missed him.

Terribly.

"Bored bro?" Aaron asked, reaching forward and tugging on Zak's backwards hat.

I saw Zak smack his hand away and heard him grumble something that sounded like "go away".

Aaron simply laughed.

I looked out the window next to me and sighed inwardly.

Boys.