Don't Fear the Reaper [Nick Groff fanfic]

Chapter 1-Nick's departure

The soft, white ambient glow of a computer screen draped the basement walls as Nick sat at his desk. Hands rested by the keyboard, fingers rubbing with thoughts and sub thoughts on what to write.

How could it come to this?...

Nick sighed as he sat in his office, his warm brown half open while heavy with sorrow. His heart slow as the pain of the barer of bad news pressed down, knowing that thousands if not millions of people will be affecting by what he was about to write on his Twitter and Facebook page.

Reluctantly, his fingers begin clacking on the letters. After about five minutes, it read as his eyes scanned the screen.

"Thank you everyone for your support through the years! I'm writing to say that I will no longer be a part of Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel. I am honored to have helped build an amazing paranormal phenomenon that has touched people's lives all around the world. I am continuing to research and investigate all things paranormal as I start the journey through the next stage of my Life. Much respect and love to all my GAC and Ghost Adventures fans. See you all soon."

Clicking the send icon was the hardest thing so far, especially once a flood of notifications and messages came on his pages.

Knowing fans will ask what happened, he decided it was best to keep as much to himself as possible to spare the pain of betrayal...betrayal of what who was his friend, Zak Bagans.

The Demon House in Indiana was an intense investigation and knowing how badly the family with children was affected by an evil presence. The activity was too intense even for Zak and Nick had already disliked what was happening to the reality show he worked so hard to accomplish, no longer was it about collecting evidence...it was a dance with the devil. Zak felt that's what the fans wanted and the ratings sky rocket whenever episodes featuring evil beings came on, and being the confrontational type he was, Zak would never back down from opportunities to call them out.

But to Nick, a line was already crossed when at the Fear Factory when they had a staff member read from a dark bible and...despite the verses being bleeped out, Nick couldn't help but be worried of the innocent fans watching and falling victim to their irresponsible provocations. But now, they were in another location that had a portal to Hell within its walls. The entity spared not a single moment taunting the crew as they tried to document the paranormal activity; Zak started to get dry heaves as he felt drained of his energy, Nick felt a darkness surround him as his energy was also drained and as more crew members felt under attack, Zak reluctantly plugged the plug. Nick hoped this would convince Zak to shift away from the dark side of the paranormal, but he refused to do so even it meant costing the health of his team.

So while on break from filming Ghost Adventures, Nick felt it was time to move on and work on other TV projects to help him shake the negativity from the Demon House. Zak and Aaron found out that Nick was producing other shows, which caused a massive rift between him and Zak. Instead of Zak being happy for his friend for his success, jealousy and anger engulfed him. In a fit of rage, Zak bellowed for Nick to get out and was no more a part of Ghost Adventures. As he stepped away, he felt it was for the best since the nightmares of the Demon House may cease since he left the project.

But the nightmares were only beginning...

Meanwhile in Zak's home, his jealousy consumed his dreams and did not want to stop chasing evil entities. As he delved to the depths of his dungeon, the skulls and various gothic items were almost speaking to him...tempting him to give in his anger and sought revenge on his former friend for his actions. Zak lowered his head by the candles on his mantle as he felt a shadow cast over him, giving in and blacking out. He awoke in his bed, wandering what happened thinking it was a lucid dream acting out his subconscious desire to lash out. But little does he know...it wasn't a dream.