Shards of Clear Glass (A Ghost Adventures Story)

Until

Saira's POV

A scream tears itself from my throat as I shoot upright in bed, clutching the sheets.

A cold sweat licks across my skin. Glancing around, I notice that Zak isn't beside me. Instead, he's in the chair by the desk, near the window.

He looks over at me, and the sight of his moon-pale face sends shivers through my body.

I climb out from under the sheets, and move to stand beside Zak. But he apparently has different plans, as his arms wrap around my waist and pull me onto his lap.

I turn towards him, and he buries his face in my chest. I can feel him shaking as I wrap my thin arms around his neck and back.

"Memories of death. Why would they share those?"

Zak's voice shakes, which pulls at my heart. I stroke my fingers through his hair, thinking back to the nightmare I had just awoken from.

I was Diana, and I was asleep. Then, I awoke to a great crash. The door was on the floor, and a man was silhouetted in its absence.

The man raised a knife as I screamed. Two quick flashes, faster than light itself. Blood spurted from my wrists, and red decorated the sheets.

The man took out a gun from his hip, and pointed it at Jacob, my soon-to-be husband.

He apparently knew that Jacob was left handed, as he turned his head and shot the left side of his skull.

I tried to scream, but darkness was stealing my vision. The man threw back his hood, but the black obscuring my vision prevented me from seeing his face.

I woke up as soon as Diana drew her last breath.

Now, I think of how to explain this to Zak, who hasn't nearly had as many spirit memories in his head as I have.

"I think because they want to share what happened to them. So that way we can solve their murder. So that way we know what they were feeling as death came to them.

"It was a message to us. Since we're the strongest and brightest of the crew, they chose us to carry they're memories. It's technically an honor to house spirit memories."

I pause, scared of saying any more.

Zak's voice is slightly muffled as he says,"It feels like a curse. Not an honor or a gift. Sometimes I think of quitting this job, but then the next investigation always pulls me deeper into the next world. It's hell, Saira. Hell."

I start rubbing circles into Zak's upper back with my fingers, not truly realizing that I'm doing it.

"Hell was always my destination. I knew that I was going there no matter what. It didn't make a difference to me.

"But Hell is so much worse than people think. They say that their lives are hell, that no other can compare to them. But that isn't true.

"No lives can't compare, since all of us are different. Different levels, different devils. But after seeing people die for most of my life-causing people to die-and getting scarred physically and mentally for it... It was hard for me to imagine a more horrible Hell.

"Or, at least, it was. Until I met you guys in that diner. Until I heard Aaron's voice on that phone, I thought that my life was over. That the next time I took a blade to my skin, it would be my last."

I take a breath now, surprised that tears aren't picking my eyes. It's easier now, to talk about dying. Especially when you deal with past lives almost every day, a voice in my head says.