Never Let Go (Zak Bagans Story)

Chapter Four

The car pulled in next to where Rylee and Aaron were standing and turned the car off. There was a slight hesitation as he opened the door and stepped out.

He was an older gentleman, gray hair, glasses and slightly taller than Rylee was. Slender built and bright colored eyes.

Rylee and the man locked eyes.

"Rylee Masters?" He asked, stepping around his car to greet the young woman.

Rylee nodded and smiled. "Yes, I'm Rylee. Jack I presume."

"That's correct."

"This is Aaron, one of my co-workers." She said, shaking the man's hand and pointed to Aaron.

Rylee stepped to the side out of the way as Zak and Nick joined them. "This is Zak and Nick, our lead investigators."

"Nice to meet you guys." Jack smiled, shaking each of their hands. "I apologize if I'm late, traffic was crazy on the way over here."

"Not a problem." Zak told him. "We weren't waiting that long."

"So I'm here to give you the keys to the LaLaurie Mansion." He stated as he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a set of keys.

"Just out of curiosity, why are you giving us the keys? We've never come across anyone who be willing to just hand them over." Nick asked, a question that has been lingering in his mind since Rylee told them the plan.

Jack stiffened, the color in his face started to drain. "No one wants to go near that place to be honest with you guys."

"How come?" Rylee asked next seeing the discomfort starting to set in on Jack. "Do you know anything that you could tell us about the place?"

Jack looked down at the set of keys he held in his hand. They were a set of ten for the locks throughout the mansion. "I've only been in the mansion once and that was all it took." He began rubbing the back of his neck, the chills creeping up his spine. "You may think it's crazy what I felt in that place."

"I was checking the locks with the keys making sure we had all the right ones. I was in there no more than twenty minutes when it started to feel uneasy, like there was a heavy atmosphere surrounding me. It was very uncomfortable, very hard to breathe. I didn't finish, I got the heck out." Jack looked over at them. His eyes held the experience. "I haven't been back there since..."

"Do you remember where you were at when you started to feel the discomfort?" Zak asked him, keeping a mental note to investigate that particular spot.

He shook his head. "Not off the top of my head. I know I was on the 1st floor."

Zak understood, folding his arms across his chest.

"Would you be willing to go back to the LaLaurie Mansion and show us where?" Nick asked, a second later. "It could help us to know where to start." He held his breath with hopes that he would. Their list of people to interview for information was very thin. Not many wanted to talk about the mansion and it's dark secrets.

Jack was unsure if he wanted to go back to the mansion. Though he didn't see a thing. No ghosts or spirits. Nothing. But the feeling he got when he was standing there, the keys shaking in his hand as the feeling of sudden that he was being watched weighed heavily on him. The hairs on his body stood up, his body shook with a light tremble and all he could think about was getting the hell out of there. He almost wanted to drop the keys and tell his boss that there wasn't enough money in the world that could get him to go back to that damming place.

Rylee could see his uneasiness, his bright eyes were beginning to dim. The palm of his hands were becoming sweaty as he rubbed them gently down the front of his jacket. The keys dropped to the ground. His breath was shaky as he exhaled. His face turned red. "Excuse me for my nerves. I've never had an experience before so it's a little hard to agree to go back to that place."

Rylee bent down and picked up the keys and held them tightly in her hands. She had compassion for the poor old soul. She remembered her first ghostly experience that turned her world upside down for the next week. Seeing is believing she always thought and sure enough on her first investigation dark shadows were creeping. "It's okay Jack. We understand what you went through." She said, smiling softly, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. "We've all experienced encounters that were a little too close for comfort."

Jack smiled shyly. He felt embarrassed, a grown man was afraid of the unknown.

"You don't have to be afraid, we wouldn't let anything happen to you." She told him.

"Yeah dude, spirits aren't usually active during the day." Aaron chimed in. He stretched the truth a little, a known fact that yes the activity can happen during the day but the realtor didn't need to know that. They needed his help.

"You don't need to stay long either." Nick said. "You can show us where your experience happened and than be on your way. We can even do the interview part outside of you like."

Zak nodded. "The choice is really yours. We won't push you to go in if that is your wish not to come in."

Jack stood there for a moment and thought of his decision. Would it be so wrong of him not to go back? The young group was only asking for his help, not demanding him to stay all night locked in that dreaded mansion. But if he backed out, not be able to get over his fears what would they truly think of him than? Would he be able to face the chilling encounter once again? 'Man up, Jack!' He thought to himself.

He turned to Rylee. "I will..." He paused for a quick second. "I will show you where my experienced happened. But if you don't mind I would not like to be in there long. Some things are hard to shake off and that mansion is one of them."

Rylee looked at Zak for his approval and he gave her a slight nod of his head. "You have yourself a deal, Jack." She told him, smiling widely as she turned to look at the older gentleman. "How about you come by say 3:00 this afternoon? We should be done by than with our other interviews. It shouldn't take no more than ten minutes tops inside."

"Sounds good. I'll see you guys there." Jack said as he headed back to his car. He wasted no time to leave the parking lot, leaving them standing there wondering whether or not he was actually going to show up.

But Rylee had faith he would. The unknown has a way of drawing people back to places looking for answers.