Shards of Blue Glass

Crossed Scar

A few days after Zak gets his tattoo, we're back to investigating again.

    Another hotel, this one rising three levels, with three separate buildings. Jae mutters this observation to Mark, who nods in agreement, his skin turning slightly paler. Repeating threes and sixes are normally signs of evil when dealing with the paranormal.

    During our first interview, this one of a docent at the hotel, and a paranormal investigator in her own right, I feel nausea rising inside of me.

    I choke it down, and try to focus on the interview, and following along with the investigator's story. The nausea rises again, and once more I choke it down, though the taste of bile stings the back of my throat.

    A third time the bile rises, and I know that I can't choke this one down. I turn away, and run towards the bathroom that the docent showed us.

    I only have enough time to set my camera down, open the toilet, and kneel before it as if praying before the horrible bile escapes my mouth.

    I hear myself retching, feel my body shaking, taste the horribleness of my stomach, smell the reek of vomit, though I see none of it, as my eyes are closed.

    Leaning against the porcelain seat, I sense people outside the door.

    Zak comes in, closing the door behind him. He kneels next to me, one hand on my shoulder and the other rubbing my back. I almost say something, but then the bile rises again, and I turn back to the toilet.

    Zak holds my long hair back from my face as I retch, a thankless mercy.

I finish, and Zak grabs some toilet paper and wipes away at my mouth. I refuse to smile, even as Zak says jokingly,"Not pregnant, are you?"

    I keep silent, the awful and all-too-likely truth hitting me. Zak's smile fades, as if the reality is hitting him too.

    Then, we both grin hugely at the same time. Zak wraps me in his arms, pulling me close to his chest. His hands stay away from my stomach, though, as if afraid of hurting something whose heart won't beat for a little while longer.

    I hear Alex walk in, and Zak and I turn to him. He holds his camera by his side, and stares at us, a small smile on his face.

    "Do I need to guess?" he asks, and Zak and I laugh. Zak retracts his arms from me, and helps me to stand on shaky legs.

    Then, just as I'm about to say something, a burning itch appears on the right side of my neck. I move my hair to my left shoulder, and turn to Zak. "I feel a burning on my neck. Is anything there?" I ask. I turn so that way Alex can get a clear shot of my neck, and I hear Zak growl.

    "It's an upside down cross. Very bad. Looks like it was carved by a nail or claw. It goes like this," he says. I sense his finger trail down my neck, towards my right shoulder.

    A horrible thought occurs to me, and I ask,"Is it pointing at my scars?" Zak's hands move to work my shirt down, revealing the top of four long scars that travel from my right shoulder to my left hip. A curled scar that points to my neck is there, too, but it's smaller and less important.

    "Hey, guys, this is a family show. None of that," Alex jokes, and I roll my eyes with a smile. "Yeah, it is. It's almost touching, actually. It ends right here," Zak says, entirely focused on me and not Alex.

Zak touches my shoulder, and a shudder runs through my body. I sense Zak pull out his phone and take a picture, but my thoughts are drifting back to before Alex walked into the bathroom.

    I shrug my shirt back onto my shoulder, then accept Zak's phone to look at the picture of the scratches.

    "Damn. Whoever did this got me good," I say, looking at the picture. A long, angry red line runs from below my ear to my shoulder blade, stopping just shy of touching one of the long lines that represents my dead family.

    A tiny line crosses through it, near my shoulder, pointing towards my neck.

    I turn to Alex, who filmed the entire thing. "So, what happened while I was gone?" I ask, giving Zak his phone back.

    "Well, that's how we found you. We wanted to do an experiment that requires a couple, and we're the only couple on the crew, but you were gone. We followed the sound of you throwing up," Zak says, holding the door open for me.

    I step through, and find the rest of the filming crew standing outside the door. Zak waves them away, and they disperse.
   
    "We were worried when you disappeared. Again," Zak says, looking down at me. "Alice Sayans was a special case. Besides, we solved a murder, and uncovered a body. Fun. Now, what's this experiment?" I say.

    Alex smirks, and says,"Oh, you're going to love it."