Happy Birthday, K!
Jan. 12th, 2010 02:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lanatilSo I'm totally supposed to be asleep right now (shh don't tell anyone), but I wanted to post this. It's a fic I started writing for K last August before the semester started. I wanted to finish it for her birthday. So I did! That crisis of creativity past as I reread the story and I managed to get it finished. I still want to write the other one though.
Title: Dude! It's your Birthday, man, bro!
Rating: PG (swearing heavy)
Pairings: ...hmm.
Fandom: Ghost Adventures, Astral LoL's
Beta: I lol at the thought of this getting beta'd. K, you can beat me up later for all the typos.
Warnings: The sheer amount of "Dude-Man-Bro"-age happening in this story may cause a decrease in IQ.
Summary: Zak, Nick and Aaron decide to revisit the oldest city in the nation, St. Augustine, after receiving a few fan letters about the "better" places to catch activity than the fort. Well, as they say, best laid plans.... The boys are going to have one hell of a night.
It was just like any other shoot. The three of them talked to the locals, getting that extra footage to tack on somewhere in the show, feeling the area out for the best place to get some reaction out of…well, something. It was all routine really. Zak had dragged them back to St. Augustine, FL on account of some fan letters explaining they hadn’t really ‘seen’ anything yet. Nick thought it was a great idea to revisit the town as he was looking forward to seeing the lesser known areas. Aaron was just sure Zak liked having a location five minutes from the beach.
The two girls they were talking to explained that yes, the Castillo de San Marcos was a great and creepy place, but it wasn’t by far the best place to capture what the Ghost Adventurers really wanted. They had given the boys a tour of the city, showing them the graveyards, walking them around the touristy attractions, taking them to see the ever so famous lighthouse just as the sun was starting to set. It was safe to say the guys were excited. Even if they were dying in the August heat and humidity that Florida had.
Zak had so many options of places to stage the lock down but figuring ‘more dramatic the location equals better ratings’ he would go for the Scarlet O’Hara’s bar and restaurant then switch to the Oldest School House in America. Ok, and maybe a couple of the graveyards for flavor. It would keep it nice for the audience and attract some more tourism for the city.
Well, that was the original plan.
What really happened went something like this.
They hadn’t even reached the bar yet with their equipment when Aaron stopped dead in his tracks. Zak hadn’t noticed right away and continued forward until Nick snatched at his arm to pull him back causing the box of expensive equipment to scatter across the cobblestone road.
“What the fuck man?!” Zak exploded, ready to lecture them.
“Dude-seriously, just stop for a second.” That was Aaron, whom Zak just noticed was locked into a wide eyed stance staring over Zak’s shoulder at something further down the empty street.
Zak blinked. Then he stopped as his skin started to crawl. He shared a glance with Nick before they both seemed to move at the same time. Cameras were pulled out along with EVP recorders from pockets. They grabbed at extra tapes spilled across the road. In two minutes flat they were up to normal operation speed. Aaron was still standing there with his box of cameras and cables.
“Aaron, get something to record with, man. What did you see? Was it just a raccoon? I hear they’re huge here.” Zak was looking in every direction, camera pointed down the ill-lit road.
“Oh dude, that was freaky. I saw this soldier walking towards us-“ He shook his head a bit then grabbed for his own equipment. “It was so real looking, I thought it was one of those impersonators.”
“Yeah, and?”
Aaron looked at Zak white-faced. “He just disappeared, dude. He just fucking disappeared as he walked down the road.”
Nick grinned at this. “Well, let’s hope there’s more than just that tonight. No one had a camera out.” He went to stand beside Zak, crouching to repack the box of fallen equipment. They were all paying attention to something else. Zak was on his camera pointing it down the road. Nick with the clean up. Aaron was putting his camera together.
Then the temperature plunged.
Zak glanced at Nick out of the corner of his eye. “Bro…do you … did it just freeze?”
Nick swallowed and nodded. “Aw, man, my entire body is freezing! Dude! Seriously, look at my arms! The hair is on end!”
“Do you smell that? It smells like cigarette smoke.” Zak, as if having to prove his point, dramatically sniffed at the air.
“Of course it smells like smoke. I am smoking after all.”
To say the boys freaked at the sound of a completely new voice is an understatement. They had almost wet themselves as they whipped around to see a tall, dark haired man in a long coat, standing there calmly smoking a cig. He had just somehow appeared in the middle of their small circle. He grinned at them.
“Welcome to St. Augustine.” He said.
“Who the hell are you?” Zak shouted, thinking how anyone could wear such a heavy coat in this sticky humidity.
“That’s rude. I’m just saying welcome.” The voice had a Japanese accent that absolutely didn’t fit with the Spanish/English town.
Nick took a small step forward, still behind Zak though. “Ok, thanks for that. But we’re in the middle of an investi-“
“Ohh?” The stranger said in a low drawl. “Investigation of the paranormal, is it?” The man flicked at his cig to clear some ash. The ash floated away from him then seemed to drift into a circular motion.
“Dude…” Aaron squeaked from behind the stranger but his cameraman training still had him recording what was going on.
“Stay calm Aaron. I’ll deal with this guy.” Zak took a brave step forward, lowering his camera. He obviously hadn’t seen the ash was starting to clump together in the dark of the mystery man’s shadow. “Look, I don’t know who you are, or what you want, but we have a show to record. If you want-“
“Bro, seriously, I don’t think-“ Aaron was shaking as he watched the ash get bigger.
“Aaron, it’s fine.” Zak cut in.
“Is it?” The man asked calmly to Zak as he flicked more of his cig’s ash to the ground.
Ok, that sent a chill down Zak’s back. He ignored it, not letting this man intimidate him. “Just move along, buddy. We are on a schedule and we don’t have time to sign autographs right now.”
A smile slid across the stranger’s face. “Then I shouldn’t hold you up any longer.” Zak was a little startled as the man flung his left arm, with the cig, out to his side.
“DUDE! Man ……. BRO! RUN!!” Aaron screamed then took off down a side ally.
Zak called after him but stopped as Nick, yet again, grabbed his arm and pulled him back frantically. “Dude, we need to run. This is shit we can’t deal with!”
“What the hell?” Zak stumbled back as a beast covered in shadow and steam seemed to rise from behind the stranger, who was now chuckling softly.
“Well?” He said. “You wanted proof of the paranormal.”
Nick was still tugging on Zak’s arm, but the leader of the group wasn’t having it. “Who the hell are you?”
“Seishirou Sakurazuka. Pleasure to meet you.”
Then the beast lunged for them and they were tearing down the cobblestone roads of St. Augustine running for their lives.
==
==
The man declared as Seishirou, watched the fleeing younger men in amusement as he dropped his still burning cig to the ground, snuffing it out with the toe of his shoe. What they didn’t see was the ash beast dissolve after chasing them only ten or so feet.
“I don’t think the girls want you to actually kill them, Seishirou-san.” A low chuckle came from a darkened doorway to the left.
He glanced to the voice, amused smile still in place. “Do you see bodies?”
A small chuff of laugh answered him. “No.” The person belonging to the voice stepped out of the shadows, brushing his clothes off as if the dark tints were some kind of dust. A white trench coat with pale blue highlights around the shoulders and cuffs emerged from under the dust, followed by the man’s silver hair and pale features. The man, in fact, was dressed totally in white a complete contrast to the all black wearing Seishirou. To the casual passerby it would look like Ying and Yang were having a friendly conversation in the middle of a deserted road. “Aren’t you glad you accepted my dinner invitation?”
“Oh yes. Life has been a bit…mundane in Tokyo. If you can believe that, Muraki-san.”
There was a glint in Muraki’s eyes. “Maybe I’ve been away too long, hm?” Then he laughed more openly, smiling fondly at his good friend. “I’m assuming you aren’t going to just let them run away like that.”
“No, no.” Seishirou pulled another cigarette from a front pocket of his coat. “Let them catch their breath a bit.” He lit the new cig, enjoying the taste of it for a moment. “Besides, I have as long as I want in here.” He offered the lit stick to Muraki who accepted the offer with a small smile.
“’Will you walk into my parlor?’ said the Spider to the Fly, ‘Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.’” Muraki took a drag and let the smoke out slowly. “’The way into my parlor is up a winding stair. And I have many curious things to show you when you are there.’”
Seishirou watched him before replying in a low seductive tone. “’Oh no, no,’ said the Fly, ‘to ask me is in vain; For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."’
==
==
They had run until they couldn’t any longer, passing the bar they originally meant to be locked into, past the majority of Flagler College until they swung left towards the central park area. They figured the nice open pavilion at one end of the park was a safe vantage point to regroup. What they failed to notices was the lack of people. The entire area was empty. No dunk college students. No tourists. Just three terrified men trying to find a safe location. Well, two. Zak didn’t know where the hell Aaron had ran off to.
“Is it following us?” Zak gasped trying to get air into his burning lungs. “Did it follow us, bro?”
Nick, for his part, had collapsed to the ground in attempts to breathe. “Dunno. I just ran.” He looked around worriedly. “I just ran as fast I could.”
“That was ridiculous. What the hell is going on here?” Zak grabbed for the camera dangling from the wrist strap. He checked it over a few times and was pleased to see that it was still in record mode. He flipped the camera around to himself before he started to speak again. “Ok… we just had something insane happen. We aren’t even set up or locked down anywhere yet! This dude just scared the shit out of all three of us. Aaraon took off. Don’t know where to. Any ideas?” He turned the camera onto Nick as he asked.
“He took off in the opposite direction from us.” Nick flopped down on his butt, elbows hooked around his drawn up knees as he controlled his breathing. “He could be anywhere in the city at this point.”
“Ok. Ok.” Zak took a breath. “Ok.”
“We still have our phones. I’ll call him now.” Nick pulled his mobile out then stopped as he looked at it. All of this was caught on the camera Zak was watching through.
“What is it man? What’s wrong?”
“My phone … it’s …not dead…but, dude look at it!” He turned the phone towards the camera to show the display. The phone was lit up as a normal phone would be, but the wallpaper was a single fluffy cartoon owl on a solid black background, no other information was displayed. It gave a little “hoot” movement as if saying hello.
“Weird. Let me check mine.” The camera view jostled a bit as its handler searched for his phone. “Mine’s the same! Can’t dial anyone. This so weird.”
Nick clenched his jaw in thought. “What if, like, we’ve stumbled into some kind of energy field.” At Zak’s ‘wtf’ silence, he continued. “You know, like there is so much spiritual energy here, it kind of culminated into some kind of alternate dimension. I mean that guy, Sasha Sako-whatever just appeared out of thin air. Then that monster-“
“Nick, you need to hang on for me man. We can’t be afraid of this.” He saw Nick glare at him through the view screen. “Let’s look around a bit more and figure out what the hell is going on.” Zak started to walk the perimeter of the pavilion filming whatever he felt was important. “Besides, Aaron is out in the town and he doesn’t know where to meet us.”
==
==
He didn’t know where he was but it was as far away from that road and that smoke-n-shadow creature as he felt he could get without passing out from running. So, Aaron did the only thing that he could rely on at that moment. He pulled his camera up and started to recap what had happened.
“Now I’m down this very dark street. It’s pitch black.” He kept walking in silence, obviously wound up enough to jump at the smallest noise. “For a city …it is so quiet and dead at night.” He stopped and looked into the camera lens. “Ok…maybe not the best choice of words there.” He gave a nervous laugh before he continued walking.
“Oh, I think they were well chosen, Aaron.”
He screamed. He screamed like a little girl and bolted. The voice that had said that was like a whisper but it was directly next to his ear when he heard it. A chilly puff of air had followed it. Now he was much further down the road, but he could see some light ahead of him. When he made it to the end, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry some more.
“Well…” He said to the camera then turned it to focus on what he was talking about. “At least I know where I am now. Hello again, Fort.” The camera lens adjusted itself to show the bulky shape of the Castillo de San Marcos. Then the lens threw itself out of focus because suddenly in front of it was a tall man in white clothing, a smirk on his face.
“Seishirou-san was correct. You are a rude lot.” The very white man, stuck his hands into his coat pockets. “Here I am giving you a compliment and you run away from me.”
Aaron was stammering and backing away. “Dude, you weren’t there a second ago.”
“No.” Muraki pointed past Aaron back down the street. He was speaking as if talking to a five year old. “I was back there a second ago as you ran away from me.”
For some reason Aaron looked behind him where the creepy man was indicating as if the road was a different road than the one he had just careened down in terror. “Ok, so how did-Holy shit where did he go?”
There was no man in front of him now, just the Fort in the distance and the sound of the Matanzas inlet on the other side of it. “Not funny, bro. This isn’t funny at all!” To his better judgment, he kept recording. “Alright, you must be a spirit then.” He added a little quieter to himself. “At least I hope you are.” He was walking towards the fort now, his only sane decision he felt he could make at the moment. What he didn’t count on as he crossed the road to get to the fort, was the loud boom followed by a high pitched whistling noise. Then the earth exploded in front of him showering him in moist dirt.
“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! What the fuck was that! What the fuck!!”
Then there were voices, everywhere, some shouting, some calling out for help, but what was undeniable to Aaron, was the fact the entire fort had seemed to be covered in transparent soldiers. Another boom, and the earth shook far off to his left. He whipped the camera around to focus on it, capturing a battalion of see-through English soldiers pushing their way through ranks of equally transparent Spanish military. He could only stand there in wide-eyed horror as he witnessed some long ago war be fought right in front of him.
“Oh please be getting this camera. No one will believe me if you don’t get this …. Oh my god, oh my god…. They’re everywhere!”
==
==
Nick and Zak were just preparing themselves to walk away from (what they felt) the safety of the pavilion when they both heard a scream off in the distance.
“Did you hear that?” Zak turned to Nick.
“Yeah, yeah …I think the camera got it too.”
Zak stood still listening for anything more. Right. Time to do his thing. “Anyone out there? If you are, and can hear me, make a noise for me.”
Nick shoved him a bit. “You do realize we’re in the middle of an open area, in a city, not some boarded up psychiatric ward, right?”
“Yeah, but how many ‘open areas’ have suddenly appearing smokers that summon hellhounds?” Zak offered.
“Ok, that’s a strong point, dude.” Nick swallowed. “But still, that scream could have been a bum or something.”
fffff…fu….fffffffff
Both men froze exactly as they stood.
ffffu…fu,fu,fu,fu,fuuu…….
“Is that someone laughing?” Zak whispered.
Nick held up his EVP recorder. “If you can hear me, or see this red light, come talk to it for us.” They both waited in absolute silence.
A low snarling noise came from the other side of the pavilion.
They whipped around to face where it came from. “Hello?” Zak ventured a little closer. “Look, if that’s you Mister Sakurazuka, I’m getting tired of these games.” He took another step to where he thought the sound had come from, his camera never wavering. “I really don’t like being messed with. It kinda pisses me off, and I don’t stand for bullies getting their way.”
zzzzz…Zza…
“Bro.” Nick was trying to stay quiet behind him. “Something is sapping the battery life of my camera.”
“What?”
sssss…Seishi…..Seishirou….
“It was at full, now it’s a third.” Nick explained.
Zack.
“Dead. The camera just died. ‘Nick dropped his arm in frustration.
“I just heard my name that time.” Zak’s camera was still working just fine it seemed, so he kept moving forward across the pavilion. “Are you an intelligent entity?”
“Zak, we should really go get our stuff. This whole place is feeling-“
Master, wants.
“’Master, wants’ what?” Zak called out.
Master, wants……
Nick realized he was still holding up his EVP recorder for all of this. Thank god for that, because screw everything they had recorded in all their previous episodes, this city was scary as hell and far more active than anyone would believe. Then he noticed how far away Zak had gotten from him, and the idiot was still trying to provoke whatever demon was after them.
“We got that, what does ‘master’ want?” Zak called out again.
You.
“What?” Zak stopped in his tracks.
Since Nick was further away he could see a dark shadowy mist start to form to their left. After hearing the creepy voice declare the master wanted Zak, it was easy to put two and two together. However, Zak seemed hell-bent on getting himself killed as Nick inwardly groaned at Zak’s next proclamation.
“Well come and get me! I’m not scared of you. You tell your ‘master’ that! I’m not scared of you at all. If you want me, then you can just come on out of those shadows and get me!”
Nick didn’t think, he just ran for it and dove towards Zak, the EVP recorder skittered off somewhere into the night as he collided with his friend, knocking him down, out of the way of the charging black shadow. Zak made an indecent yelp of surprise as he and Nick rolled off the pavilion and onto the wet grassy ground.
“What the hell, man?” Zak groaned in pain. “You scared the shit out of me.” He tried to sit up but Nick’s weight was keeping him down. “Nick? Hey, you all right?”
No response.
“Nick! Hey!” He pushed the apparently unconscious man off him so he could check him for what was wrong. “C’mon, Nick. Wake up. Did you hit your head? Can you hear me at all?” True fear was starting to seep into Zak. He didn’t see any blood, or any marks to show that Nick had been knocked unconscious from the fall. In fact, was he breathing? “Hey, don’t do this to me. You’re honest to God, freaking me out, Nick.” He felt for a pulse and found one. Ok, Zak could breath again.
Nick’s eyes flew open and stared straight ahead at nothing causing Zak to jump back in shock.
“Shit! You’re scaring the hell out of me, man. You ok? Nick?” Zak moved back to his friend’s side.
Nick’s mouth opened but no sound came out. It closed. Opened. He looked much like a fish gulping for air. By this point Zak was far beyond worried. In fact, this was starting to move into nightmare territory he felt. He was just waiting for Nick’s head to spin around backwards and ask about his mother. Then Nick looked straight at him.
“Run. Master. Wants. Run.”
Zak bolted swearing to himself he would regroup and come back to help Nick. He just needed some holy water…or something. Maybe a wooden stake? No, he couldn’t do that to Nick. He was at top speed when he realized the building he was passing was an old Catholic Church.
==
==
Aaron, meanwhile, was feeling a bit like a five year old watching a fireworks show. He knew what he was seeing, knew that there were battalions of ghostly soldiers locked in battle across the grassy expanse of the fort grounds. He just couldn’t grasp on to it. As soon as he would really focus on one ghost it would slip away, almost as if the more he concentrated the less the apparition existed.
Good thing he was recording every second.
The next thing Aaraon knew the ground was pitching up towards him. The ground was shaking. Earthquake? A massive roar ripped across the battlefield as both sides of soldiers turned to the source. The entirety of the fort was ablaze. Men ran in all directions bits or wholly on fire.
Aaron refocused his camera from his trench like hole he had found himself fallen into. There was something massive and ferocious rising from the carnage of coquina walls that made up the Castille. Another ear splitting roar, full of awesome fury, almost deafened him as he watched in total astonishment. Wings as wide as the building itself spread up into the smoke fogged sky. Talons the size of horses slipped over the top wall. A glowing, slit-pupil eye formed out of the embers. A dragon.
“Oh god…”
A fucking dragon?!
Then it spoke.
“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Run little humans! You are mere ants to me!” The dragon pulled the rest of its muscled body to settle comfortably on the very top of the fort’s walls. Aaron could now see scales shimmering green in the firelight. There was a sleek yet fluffy fur trailing from the chest to the middle of the back, spotted like a leapord’s.
This was the weirdest dragon Aaron had ever seen. Not that he’d seen a dragon ever, but really, this monster seemed half cat, half lizard. But who was he to judge? He was just an ant huddling in salt-watery mud to this beastly demon.
The glowing, glee filled, dragon eyes locked onto him. “You better be recording this.” Said the dragon, who ruffled its wings in an obvious sign of “I’m fucking pleased with myself” kind of way.
Aaron nodded mutely, not sure if the creature could see him or not.
“Good.” The dragon stretched just like a cat might. “SEÑORES! YOUR DESTRUCTION HAS COME!” This was punctuated with one unfortunate soldier ghost getting flicked away from the dragon as if a disgusting bug. He landed somewhere very far behind Aaron’s spot.
Aaron didn’t dare move. Maybe if he didn’t move the dragon wouldn’t know he had needed to switch tapes about five minutes ago.
==
==
Zak bodily fell into the entrance of the church, his momentum taking him a few feet further as he slid to a stop. He had the irrational idea to scream for sanctuary but quickly squashed it down because he wasn’t going to let this beat him. He picked himself up slowly. There was something about the calm church atmosphere that demanded he take it slow.
Even if his mind was racing about Nick needing an exorcism.
He took a few cautious steps forward. Zak noted the room was empty. Dark shadows settled comfortably where the long rows of pews stood at attention facing away from him. At the very far back of the room was the expected gilded altar with a very unexpected person kneeling before it.
Zak’s gut felt like it was punched suddenly. He ignored it. Fear is how these things won, and like hell he would show he was scared. He tried to stay silent as he walked closer to the kneeling figure. They were all in white he realized. This man must be a priest praying this late at night because of the super activity the town hosted.
A very modern priest who wore a stylish white coat.
“Father, I don’t mean to interrupt-“ Zak stopped as he heard a clear sniffle noise. “Father? Is something wrong? My friend is in trouble. I need your help.”
The man turned to look at him slowly. Zak compulsively swallowed as silver eyes locked onto his. A single tear slipped down the man’s face. Zak found himself unable to speak. His breathing sped up, but he couldn’t find the words to say.
The crying man in white slowly pulled himself up in a graceful move. He offered a small smile to Zak. “I was repenting.”
“Oh?” Croaked Zak. The way the light from the windows fell onto this man made him angelic.
“I’ve done a number of terrible and horrific things, you see.” The sentence was said in the same prowling rhythm to the man’s steps closing the distance between himself and Zak.
Zak, for his part, was rooted to the spot. He couldn’t tell if he was scared or fascinated. He felt …trapped. He felt like a fly that had unwittingly caught itself on an invisible thread. The man was almost in touching distance.
“Where has all your bravado gone?” A predator’s grin flashed at him.
Zak’s eyes widened in silent response at the leering man who was now stepping into his personal space. He could feel his mouth hanging open. Silver eyes flicked to his lips for the briefest of moments then back to being fixed onto Zac’s eyes. They were the same height, but for some reason Zak felt smaller.
There was a sudden, alarming understanding of what this man intended to do to Zak. He swallowed. He was still trapped in that spot; caught in the spider’s web.
“Oh?” The angelic man breathed to him. A pale hand slid up from Zak’s chest to rest at the curve of his neck and shoulder. “You’re just going to let this happen are you?” The other hand ran down Zak’s side curving round to his back and pulling him into a full embrace. “Good boy.”
In his own mind Zak was screaming in disgust at what was happening. He just couldn’t seem to get his body to understand it should not be leaning into this psycho’s touch, or tilting his head just-so as those penetrating silver eyes moved closer. His body should definitely not be reacting while being molested by steady hands in just the right places. He really should not be thinking it was a great kiss.
He should punch the guy.
He really, really wanted to get physical…as in fighting! He wanted to fight! He wanted to...do something which he was quickly forgetting the importance of as the white clad man deepened the kiss.
“Change of plans, Muraki!” Came a highly annoyed voice echoing through the church.
Zak realized he was somehow pinned to the floor with the named Muraki holding him there. His head was incredibly foggy.
Muraki closed his eyes and sighed in frustration, dropping his forehead to rest on Zak’s stomach. “What is it?”
“Reuh! What else?” The voice belonged to a pair of metal tipped boots that stormed just into Zak’s limited field of vision.
There was a huff above him. He tried his best to concentrate through the cottony feeling doing such an action caused. A woman, no, no boobs, man, then (a very feminine male) towered over him glaring down at Muraki. The new comer looked Zak over once then grinned slowly.
“This wasn’t in the original plans, dear Muraki.”
There was a low throated chuckle. “I was improvising.” Muraki pulled himself to a standing position, smoothing out wrinkles from his clothes.
Kuja quirked an eyebrow at him, one finger tap-tapping his arm when he crossed them. “This improvisation wouldn’t be influenced by any kind of childish bet, would it?”
Muraki regarded the smaller man, returning the quirked eyebrow and grin. He turned away and started down the aisle heading for the doors. “I’ll go deal with our upstaging dragon, shall I?”
“Have fun,” Kuja was still looking over a very rumpled Zak on the floor, “and good luck to you. She won’t listen to me or the regrouping forces of Her Royal Majesty’s Dragoons.”
“Completely wrong time period, Kuja.” Muraki called as he reached the doors. Kuja just waved him off not caring in the slightest.
“She’ll have half the fort in smoking heaps by now anyway. I’m not dealing with it.” He heard the doors clicked close and silence fell in the still, evening lit church. Zak was starting to regain control it seemed as he had successfully sat up. “However, I will not mind dealing with you, handsome.”
Zak could only widen his eyes again before Kuja’s palm caressed his forehead, pushing in a heavy blackness.
Kuja regarded the unconscious man. He sighed wistfully, before pulling out a small mobile phone. The screen lit up in little dancing owls.
==
==
Nick couldn’t remember ever been this well rested. He was still in that in between awake and asleep state where that comfortable spot in the bed was absolutely perfect. He took a long deep breath, enjoying the relaxation while he could.
“DUDE! Nick? Nick!?”
Zak. Of course.
“Open up man, we’ve been robbed!”
That got Nick up and to the door of his hotel room quickly. “What was taken? Are you ok?”
Zak stood poised for a fight in the hallway. “I’m fine. I think. But I just woke up and none of our gear is in the room. Aaron isn’t answering his cell or anything.”
Nick groaned, scratching the back of his head. “OK then, let’s call hotel management. See what we can do. Insurance will cover the gear at least. We’ll just need to get a police rep-what is it Zak?”
“Bro, you’re totally filthy. What did you do roll in the bushed last night?”
Nick blinked then looked down. He was fully clothed, not in pj’s and what he was wearing was absolutely caked in dirt. Leaves and a few pieces of mulch fell to the floor as he bushed himself off. “I…I, uh … have no idea why….hey, I wasn’t wearing these yesterday. These were packed in my suitcase when we checked in…” He said pulling at his shirt and pants.
Zak was watching him thoughtfully.
“What now, Zak?”
“Same with me, bro. I woke up wearing these clothes too. Know what I think?”
Nick bit back a groan. It was too early in the morning for Zak’s five-year old theories, no matter how well rested Nick felt at the moment. “What?”
“We totally had a visit in the middle of the night!” He clapped his hands together in excitement. “Remember? We were told those stories about the ghost maid. Damn, too bad we didn’t set up any gear.”
“How could we? Apparently the gear was stolen, remember?”
Zak deflated a bit. “Right. Let’s get on that.”
Before they even moved to close Nick’s door, Aaron’s door opened to reveal him stumbling out into the hallway. He was filthier than Zak and Nick combined. Mud clung to him in gooey chunks and was smeared all over every part of him. More importantly, his camera was hanging from it’s strap around his neck, perfectly clean.
“Guys?” Aaron ventured.
Zak and Nick stared at him, then each other.
“Who’s idea was it to prank me in the middle of the night and store all of our equipment in my room?”
“Uh, gear…your room?” Zak asked.
Aaron pointed over his shoulder with a shrug. “Yeah, everything. I couldn’t get to the door.”
There was a beat of silence before all three men seemed to move at once back into Aaron’s room to check out the gear. They found everything in order. A simple note was left taped to the bathroom mirror:
“Had a blast last night guys.
Hope you did too.
Your biggest fans,
XXOO”
A little heart-shaped owl was doodled as a signature.
==
==
Muraki sat out on a blanket, sipping a coffee, enjoying the morning sun that warmed the grassy field of the fort’s property. Kuja was sprawled next to him dozing, his half finished orange juice clutched in one hand. The girls soon joined them helping Watari carry a bunch of bags to be piled behind the picnic area.
“Sooooo….?” Prodded Bri as she plopped down on a corner of the blanket.
Muraki raised an eyebrow.
Keara sighed. “Oh, stop that! Last night! Ghost Adventures!”
“Oh!” Muraki laughed lightly. “That.”
Bri was rummaging in a bagel bag she had just been handed by Watari who winked at her before continuing organizing the bags.
“Yes, that.” Keara glared, poking him with her toe. “Come on! What happened?”
Kuja groaned dramatically. “Your stupid dragon happened, Bri! Totally ruined my plans.”
“Right, like no one knew Reuh wouldn’t stay out of a plan about showing off on purpose.” Bri shot back.
Kuja deemed that worthy enough to sit up and glare at her over the top of his designer (women’s) sunglasses.
“OK!” Watari exclaimed happily, clapping his hands together. Smile beaming at them. “We have all the breakfast stuff here, so dig in kids.” He looked around then smiled some more. “Ah! I see Seishirou-san was successful in waking up Subaru-san. Perfect timing!”
Muraki waved at Seishirou who was walking up to them with Subaru in tow. He then picked up a coffee and showed it off as if baiting his friend to come join them.
Keara picked at her own bagel. “Ok, Reuh, nothing new there. What else happened? You guys locked the city down for the whole night!”
“It is a good thing we talked Su-kun into playing along last night.” Seishirou said as he made it within hearing distance of the group. “Otherwise, I think the tourism industry would have taken a hit thanks to Reuh.”
“Pah!” From Kuja who gracefully laid back down to sunbathe. “She lights that damn thing on fire all the time.”
Bri sighed sadly. “It’s probably her fault it’s falling into the sea.”
Watari laughed as he settled between the girls. “All that weight…”
“Structural integrity…” replied Bri.
“Just too much mass from that big dragon as-“Watari was cut off by Muraki throwing a bagel at him.
Keara was clearly getting frustrated at being ignored. “God-papa! Now that you’re here tell us what happened last night!”
“How many ‘Dude-Man-Bro’s’ were there?” Bri added.
Subaru laughed at Seishirou’s face-palm.
Keara pouted. “No fair. My idea, and I got left out of it.”
Watari leaned over with an air of conspiracy and a mischievous glint in his eye. “No worries, Keara-kun.” He nodded at the few duffle bags amongst the food bags. “I have all of their footage for our viewing pleasure.”
“Really!” Keara laughed. “Although, if they don’t get any footage I’ll feel bad.”
Watari tutted at her. “Who do you think I am? I may have been blocking their mobiles and laptops with my Owl-Signal-Dampener, but I made sure I left them with a few hints as to what happened.”
Keara was giggling and about to give a high five when Kuja’s shout of protest stopped her.
“I knew it!” He cried sitting up again, pulling his sunglasses off his face.
Muraki and Seishirou were looking at him in bemused silence. Muraki discreetly was tucking something into his inner coat pocket.
“You two totally made a bet on who was going to nail Zak!”
Keara and Bri stared at the grinning men.
“And Muraki won!” Finished Kuja.
Keara sat with her mouth hanging open, Bri beside her with wide eyes, bagel hanging from her mouth.
Watari wrapped his arms around the two girls chuckling as he said. “Don’t worry. I have that on tape too.” He ended with a wink.
Keara looked at Bri. Bri looked at Keara. Both laughed at the same time and high-fived.
==
==
As night settled around St. Augustine, the three brave Ghost Adventurers set up shop in carefully selected locations. Most of those located on well traveled ghost tour stops. They had showered and regrouped since that morning, and were now determined more than ever to find out what the hell was going on in the oldest city in the nation.
Zak kept the small dvd-disc he found tucked into the waistband of his boxers to himself. He would take that story to his grave.
~Fin~
Title: Dude! It's your Birthday, man, bro!
Rating: PG (swearing heavy)
Pairings: ...hmm.
Fandom: Ghost Adventures, Astral LoL's
Beta: I lol at the thought of this getting beta'd. K, you can beat me up later for all the typos.
Warnings: The sheer amount of "Dude-Man-Bro"-age happening in this story may cause a decrease in IQ.
Summary: Zak, Nick and Aaron decide to revisit the oldest city in the nation, St. Augustine, after receiving a few fan letters about the "better" places to catch activity than the fort. Well, as they say, best laid plans.... The boys are going to have one hell of a night.
It was just like any other shoot. The three of them talked to the locals, getting that extra footage to tack on somewhere in the show, feeling the area out for the best place to get some reaction out of…well, something. It was all routine really. Zak had dragged them back to St. Augustine, FL on account of some fan letters explaining they hadn’t really ‘seen’ anything yet. Nick thought it was a great idea to revisit the town as he was looking forward to seeing the lesser known areas. Aaron was just sure Zak liked having a location five minutes from the beach.
The two girls they were talking to explained that yes, the Castillo de San Marcos was a great and creepy place, but it wasn’t by far the best place to capture what the Ghost Adventurers really wanted. They had given the boys a tour of the city, showing them the graveyards, walking them around the touristy attractions, taking them to see the ever so famous lighthouse just as the sun was starting to set. It was safe to say the guys were excited. Even if they were dying in the August heat and humidity that Florida had.
Zak had so many options of places to stage the lock down but figuring ‘more dramatic the location equals better ratings’ he would go for the Scarlet O’Hara’s bar and restaurant then switch to the Oldest School House in America. Ok, and maybe a couple of the graveyards for flavor. It would keep it nice for the audience and attract some more tourism for the city.
Well, that was the original plan.
What really happened went something like this.
They hadn’t even reached the bar yet with their equipment when Aaron stopped dead in his tracks. Zak hadn’t noticed right away and continued forward until Nick snatched at his arm to pull him back causing the box of expensive equipment to scatter across the cobblestone road.
“What the fuck man?!” Zak exploded, ready to lecture them.
“Dude-seriously, just stop for a second.” That was Aaron, whom Zak just noticed was locked into a wide eyed stance staring over Zak’s shoulder at something further down the empty street.
Zak blinked. Then he stopped as his skin started to crawl. He shared a glance with Nick before they both seemed to move at the same time. Cameras were pulled out along with EVP recorders from pockets. They grabbed at extra tapes spilled across the road. In two minutes flat they were up to normal operation speed. Aaron was still standing there with his box of cameras and cables.
“Aaron, get something to record with, man. What did you see? Was it just a raccoon? I hear they’re huge here.” Zak was looking in every direction, camera pointed down the ill-lit road.
“Oh dude, that was freaky. I saw this soldier walking towards us-“ He shook his head a bit then grabbed for his own equipment. “It was so real looking, I thought it was one of those impersonators.”
“Yeah, and?”
Aaron looked at Zak white-faced. “He just disappeared, dude. He just fucking disappeared as he walked down the road.”
Nick grinned at this. “Well, let’s hope there’s more than just that tonight. No one had a camera out.” He went to stand beside Zak, crouching to repack the box of fallen equipment. They were all paying attention to something else. Zak was on his camera pointing it down the road. Nick with the clean up. Aaron was putting his camera together.
Then the temperature plunged.
Zak glanced at Nick out of the corner of his eye. “Bro…do you … did it just freeze?”
Nick swallowed and nodded. “Aw, man, my entire body is freezing! Dude! Seriously, look at my arms! The hair is on end!”
“Do you smell that? It smells like cigarette smoke.” Zak, as if having to prove his point, dramatically sniffed at the air.
“Of course it smells like smoke. I am smoking after all.”
To say the boys freaked at the sound of a completely new voice is an understatement. They had almost wet themselves as they whipped around to see a tall, dark haired man in a long coat, standing there calmly smoking a cig. He had just somehow appeared in the middle of their small circle. He grinned at them.
“Welcome to St. Augustine.” He said.
“Who the hell are you?” Zak shouted, thinking how anyone could wear such a heavy coat in this sticky humidity.
“That’s rude. I’m just saying welcome.” The voice had a Japanese accent that absolutely didn’t fit with the Spanish/English town.
Nick took a small step forward, still behind Zak though. “Ok, thanks for that. But we’re in the middle of an investi-“
“Ohh?” The stranger said in a low drawl. “Investigation of the paranormal, is it?” The man flicked at his cig to clear some ash. The ash floated away from him then seemed to drift into a circular motion.
“Dude…” Aaron squeaked from behind the stranger but his cameraman training still had him recording what was going on.
“Stay calm Aaron. I’ll deal with this guy.” Zak took a brave step forward, lowering his camera. He obviously hadn’t seen the ash was starting to clump together in the dark of the mystery man’s shadow. “Look, I don’t know who you are, or what you want, but we have a show to record. If you want-“
“Bro, seriously, I don’t think-“ Aaron was shaking as he watched the ash get bigger.
“Aaron, it’s fine.” Zak cut in.
“Is it?” The man asked calmly to Zak as he flicked more of his cig’s ash to the ground.
Ok, that sent a chill down Zak’s back. He ignored it, not letting this man intimidate him. “Just move along, buddy. We are on a schedule and we don’t have time to sign autographs right now.”
A smile slid across the stranger’s face. “Then I shouldn’t hold you up any longer.” Zak was a little startled as the man flung his left arm, with the cig, out to his side.
“DUDE! Man ……. BRO! RUN!!” Aaron screamed then took off down a side ally.
Zak called after him but stopped as Nick, yet again, grabbed his arm and pulled him back frantically. “Dude, we need to run. This is shit we can’t deal with!”
“What the hell?” Zak stumbled back as a beast covered in shadow and steam seemed to rise from behind the stranger, who was now chuckling softly.
“Well?” He said. “You wanted proof of the paranormal.”
Nick was still tugging on Zak’s arm, but the leader of the group wasn’t having it. “Who the hell are you?”
“Seishirou Sakurazuka. Pleasure to meet you.”
Then the beast lunged for them and they were tearing down the cobblestone roads of St. Augustine running for their lives.
==
==
The man declared as Seishirou, watched the fleeing younger men in amusement as he dropped his still burning cig to the ground, snuffing it out with the toe of his shoe. What they didn’t see was the ash beast dissolve after chasing them only ten or so feet.
“I don’t think the girls want you to actually kill them, Seishirou-san.” A low chuckle came from a darkened doorway to the left.
He glanced to the voice, amused smile still in place. “Do you see bodies?”
A small chuff of laugh answered him. “No.” The person belonging to the voice stepped out of the shadows, brushing his clothes off as if the dark tints were some kind of dust. A white trench coat with pale blue highlights around the shoulders and cuffs emerged from under the dust, followed by the man’s silver hair and pale features. The man, in fact, was dressed totally in white a complete contrast to the all black wearing Seishirou. To the casual passerby it would look like Ying and Yang were having a friendly conversation in the middle of a deserted road. “Aren’t you glad you accepted my dinner invitation?”
“Oh yes. Life has been a bit…mundane in Tokyo. If you can believe that, Muraki-san.”
There was a glint in Muraki’s eyes. “Maybe I’ve been away too long, hm?” Then he laughed more openly, smiling fondly at his good friend. “I’m assuming you aren’t going to just let them run away like that.”
“No, no.” Seishirou pulled another cigarette from a front pocket of his coat. “Let them catch their breath a bit.” He lit the new cig, enjoying the taste of it for a moment. “Besides, I have as long as I want in here.” He offered the lit stick to Muraki who accepted the offer with a small smile.
“’Will you walk into my parlor?’ said the Spider to the Fly, ‘Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.’” Muraki took a drag and let the smoke out slowly. “’The way into my parlor is up a winding stair. And I have many curious things to show you when you are there.’”
Seishirou watched him before replying in a low seductive tone. “’Oh no, no,’ said the Fly, ‘to ask me is in vain; For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."’
==
==
They had run until they couldn’t any longer, passing the bar they originally meant to be locked into, past the majority of Flagler College until they swung left towards the central park area. They figured the nice open pavilion at one end of the park was a safe vantage point to regroup. What they failed to notices was the lack of people. The entire area was empty. No dunk college students. No tourists. Just three terrified men trying to find a safe location. Well, two. Zak didn’t know where the hell Aaron had ran off to.
“Is it following us?” Zak gasped trying to get air into his burning lungs. “Did it follow us, bro?”
Nick, for his part, had collapsed to the ground in attempts to breathe. “Dunno. I just ran.” He looked around worriedly. “I just ran as fast I could.”
“That was ridiculous. What the hell is going on here?” Zak grabbed for the camera dangling from the wrist strap. He checked it over a few times and was pleased to see that it was still in record mode. He flipped the camera around to himself before he started to speak again. “Ok… we just had something insane happen. We aren’t even set up or locked down anywhere yet! This dude just scared the shit out of all three of us. Aaraon took off. Don’t know where to. Any ideas?” He turned the camera onto Nick as he asked.
“He took off in the opposite direction from us.” Nick flopped down on his butt, elbows hooked around his drawn up knees as he controlled his breathing. “He could be anywhere in the city at this point.”
“Ok. Ok.” Zak took a breath. “Ok.”
“We still have our phones. I’ll call him now.” Nick pulled his mobile out then stopped as he looked at it. All of this was caught on the camera Zak was watching through.
“What is it man? What’s wrong?”
“My phone … it’s …not dead…but, dude look at it!” He turned the phone towards the camera to show the display. The phone was lit up as a normal phone would be, but the wallpaper was a single fluffy cartoon owl on a solid black background, no other information was displayed. It gave a little “hoot” movement as if saying hello.
“Weird. Let me check mine.” The camera view jostled a bit as its handler searched for his phone. “Mine’s the same! Can’t dial anyone. This so weird.”
Nick clenched his jaw in thought. “What if, like, we’ve stumbled into some kind of energy field.” At Zak’s ‘wtf’ silence, he continued. “You know, like there is so much spiritual energy here, it kind of culminated into some kind of alternate dimension. I mean that guy, Sasha Sako-whatever just appeared out of thin air. Then that monster-“
“Nick, you need to hang on for me man. We can’t be afraid of this.” He saw Nick glare at him through the view screen. “Let’s look around a bit more and figure out what the hell is going on.” Zak started to walk the perimeter of the pavilion filming whatever he felt was important. “Besides, Aaron is out in the town and he doesn’t know where to meet us.”
==
==
He didn’t know where he was but it was as far away from that road and that smoke-n-shadow creature as he felt he could get without passing out from running. So, Aaron did the only thing that he could rely on at that moment. He pulled his camera up and started to recap what had happened.
“Now I’m down this very dark street. It’s pitch black.” He kept walking in silence, obviously wound up enough to jump at the smallest noise. “For a city …it is so quiet and dead at night.” He stopped and looked into the camera lens. “Ok…maybe not the best choice of words there.” He gave a nervous laugh before he continued walking.
“Oh, I think they were well chosen, Aaron.”
He screamed. He screamed like a little girl and bolted. The voice that had said that was like a whisper but it was directly next to his ear when he heard it. A chilly puff of air had followed it. Now he was much further down the road, but he could see some light ahead of him. When he made it to the end, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry some more.
“Well…” He said to the camera then turned it to focus on what he was talking about. “At least I know where I am now. Hello again, Fort.” The camera lens adjusted itself to show the bulky shape of the Castillo de San Marcos. Then the lens threw itself out of focus because suddenly in front of it was a tall man in white clothing, a smirk on his face.
“Seishirou-san was correct. You are a rude lot.” The very white man, stuck his hands into his coat pockets. “Here I am giving you a compliment and you run away from me.”
Aaron was stammering and backing away. “Dude, you weren’t there a second ago.”
“No.” Muraki pointed past Aaron back down the street. He was speaking as if talking to a five year old. “I was back there a second ago as you ran away from me.”
For some reason Aaron looked behind him where the creepy man was indicating as if the road was a different road than the one he had just careened down in terror. “Ok, so how did-Holy shit where did he go?”
There was no man in front of him now, just the Fort in the distance and the sound of the Matanzas inlet on the other side of it. “Not funny, bro. This isn’t funny at all!” To his better judgment, he kept recording. “Alright, you must be a spirit then.” He added a little quieter to himself. “At least I hope you are.” He was walking towards the fort now, his only sane decision he felt he could make at the moment. What he didn’t count on as he crossed the road to get to the fort, was the loud boom followed by a high pitched whistling noise. Then the earth exploded in front of him showering him in moist dirt.
“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! What the fuck was that! What the fuck!!”
Then there were voices, everywhere, some shouting, some calling out for help, but what was undeniable to Aaron, was the fact the entire fort had seemed to be covered in transparent soldiers. Another boom, and the earth shook far off to his left. He whipped the camera around to focus on it, capturing a battalion of see-through English soldiers pushing their way through ranks of equally transparent Spanish military. He could only stand there in wide-eyed horror as he witnessed some long ago war be fought right in front of him.
“Oh please be getting this camera. No one will believe me if you don’t get this …. Oh my god, oh my god…. They’re everywhere!”
==
==
Nick and Zak were just preparing themselves to walk away from (what they felt) the safety of the pavilion when they both heard a scream off in the distance.
“Did you hear that?” Zak turned to Nick.
“Yeah, yeah …I think the camera got it too.”
Zak stood still listening for anything more. Right. Time to do his thing. “Anyone out there? If you are, and can hear me, make a noise for me.”
Nick shoved him a bit. “You do realize we’re in the middle of an open area, in a city, not some boarded up psychiatric ward, right?”
“Yeah, but how many ‘open areas’ have suddenly appearing smokers that summon hellhounds?” Zak offered.
“Ok, that’s a strong point, dude.” Nick swallowed. “But still, that scream could have been a bum or something.”
fffff…fu….fffffffff
Both men froze exactly as they stood.
ffffu…fu,fu,fu,fu,fuuu…….
“Is that someone laughing?” Zak whispered.
Nick held up his EVP recorder. “If you can hear me, or see this red light, come talk to it for us.” They both waited in absolute silence.
A low snarling noise came from the other side of the pavilion.
They whipped around to face where it came from. “Hello?” Zak ventured a little closer. “Look, if that’s you Mister Sakurazuka, I’m getting tired of these games.” He took another step to where he thought the sound had come from, his camera never wavering. “I really don’t like being messed with. It kinda pisses me off, and I don’t stand for bullies getting their way.”
zzzzz…Zza…
“Bro.” Nick was trying to stay quiet behind him. “Something is sapping the battery life of my camera.”
“What?”
sssss…Seishi…..Seishirou….
“It was at full, now it’s a third.” Nick explained.
Zack.
“Dead. The camera just died. ‘Nick dropped his arm in frustration.
“I just heard my name that time.” Zak’s camera was still working just fine it seemed, so he kept moving forward across the pavilion. “Are you an intelligent entity?”
“Zak, we should really go get our stuff. This whole place is feeling-“
Master, wants.
“’Master, wants’ what?” Zak called out.
Master, wants……
Nick realized he was still holding up his EVP recorder for all of this. Thank god for that, because screw everything they had recorded in all their previous episodes, this city was scary as hell and far more active than anyone would believe. Then he noticed how far away Zak had gotten from him, and the idiot was still trying to provoke whatever demon was after them.
“We got that, what does ‘master’ want?” Zak called out again.
You.
“What?” Zak stopped in his tracks.
Since Nick was further away he could see a dark shadowy mist start to form to their left. After hearing the creepy voice declare the master wanted Zak, it was easy to put two and two together. However, Zak seemed hell-bent on getting himself killed as Nick inwardly groaned at Zak’s next proclamation.
“Well come and get me! I’m not scared of you. You tell your ‘master’ that! I’m not scared of you at all. If you want me, then you can just come on out of those shadows and get me!”
Nick didn’t think, he just ran for it and dove towards Zak, the EVP recorder skittered off somewhere into the night as he collided with his friend, knocking him down, out of the way of the charging black shadow. Zak made an indecent yelp of surprise as he and Nick rolled off the pavilion and onto the wet grassy ground.
“What the hell, man?” Zak groaned in pain. “You scared the shit out of me.” He tried to sit up but Nick’s weight was keeping him down. “Nick? Hey, you all right?”
No response.
“Nick! Hey!” He pushed the apparently unconscious man off him so he could check him for what was wrong. “C’mon, Nick. Wake up. Did you hit your head? Can you hear me at all?” True fear was starting to seep into Zak. He didn’t see any blood, or any marks to show that Nick had been knocked unconscious from the fall. In fact, was he breathing? “Hey, don’t do this to me. You’re honest to God, freaking me out, Nick.” He felt for a pulse and found one. Ok, Zak could breath again.
Nick’s eyes flew open and stared straight ahead at nothing causing Zak to jump back in shock.
“Shit! You’re scaring the hell out of me, man. You ok? Nick?” Zak moved back to his friend’s side.
Nick’s mouth opened but no sound came out. It closed. Opened. He looked much like a fish gulping for air. By this point Zak was far beyond worried. In fact, this was starting to move into nightmare territory he felt. He was just waiting for Nick’s head to spin around backwards and ask about his mother. Then Nick looked straight at him.
“Run. Master. Wants. Run.”
Zak bolted swearing to himself he would regroup and come back to help Nick. He just needed some holy water…or something. Maybe a wooden stake? No, he couldn’t do that to Nick. He was at top speed when he realized the building he was passing was an old Catholic Church.
==
==
Aaron, meanwhile, was feeling a bit like a five year old watching a fireworks show. He knew what he was seeing, knew that there were battalions of ghostly soldiers locked in battle across the grassy expanse of the fort grounds. He just couldn’t grasp on to it. As soon as he would really focus on one ghost it would slip away, almost as if the more he concentrated the less the apparition existed.
Good thing he was recording every second.
The next thing Aaraon knew the ground was pitching up towards him. The ground was shaking. Earthquake? A massive roar ripped across the battlefield as both sides of soldiers turned to the source. The entirety of the fort was ablaze. Men ran in all directions bits or wholly on fire.
Aaron refocused his camera from his trench like hole he had found himself fallen into. There was something massive and ferocious rising from the carnage of coquina walls that made up the Castille. Another ear splitting roar, full of awesome fury, almost deafened him as he watched in total astonishment. Wings as wide as the building itself spread up into the smoke fogged sky. Talons the size of horses slipped over the top wall. A glowing, slit-pupil eye formed out of the embers. A dragon.
“Oh god…”
A fucking dragon?!
Then it spoke.
“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Run little humans! You are mere ants to me!” The dragon pulled the rest of its muscled body to settle comfortably on the very top of the fort’s walls. Aaron could now see scales shimmering green in the firelight. There was a sleek yet fluffy fur trailing from the chest to the middle of the back, spotted like a leapord’s.
This was the weirdest dragon Aaron had ever seen. Not that he’d seen a dragon ever, but really, this monster seemed half cat, half lizard. But who was he to judge? He was just an ant huddling in salt-watery mud to this beastly demon.
The glowing, glee filled, dragon eyes locked onto him. “You better be recording this.” Said the dragon, who ruffled its wings in an obvious sign of “I’m fucking pleased with myself” kind of way.
Aaron nodded mutely, not sure if the creature could see him or not.
“Good.” The dragon stretched just like a cat might. “SEÑORES! YOUR DESTRUCTION HAS COME!” This was punctuated with one unfortunate soldier ghost getting flicked away from the dragon as if a disgusting bug. He landed somewhere very far behind Aaron’s spot.
Aaron didn’t dare move. Maybe if he didn’t move the dragon wouldn’t know he had needed to switch tapes about five minutes ago.
==
==
Zak bodily fell into the entrance of the church, his momentum taking him a few feet further as he slid to a stop. He had the irrational idea to scream for sanctuary but quickly squashed it down because he wasn’t going to let this beat him. He picked himself up slowly. There was something about the calm church atmosphere that demanded he take it slow.
Even if his mind was racing about Nick needing an exorcism.
He took a few cautious steps forward. Zak noted the room was empty. Dark shadows settled comfortably where the long rows of pews stood at attention facing away from him. At the very far back of the room was the expected gilded altar with a very unexpected person kneeling before it.
Zak’s gut felt like it was punched suddenly. He ignored it. Fear is how these things won, and like hell he would show he was scared. He tried to stay silent as he walked closer to the kneeling figure. They were all in white he realized. This man must be a priest praying this late at night because of the super activity the town hosted.
A very modern priest who wore a stylish white coat.
“Father, I don’t mean to interrupt-“ Zak stopped as he heard a clear sniffle noise. “Father? Is something wrong? My friend is in trouble. I need your help.”
The man turned to look at him slowly. Zak compulsively swallowed as silver eyes locked onto his. A single tear slipped down the man’s face. Zak found himself unable to speak. His breathing sped up, but he couldn’t find the words to say.
The crying man in white slowly pulled himself up in a graceful move. He offered a small smile to Zak. “I was repenting.”
“Oh?” Croaked Zak. The way the light from the windows fell onto this man made him angelic.
“I’ve done a number of terrible and horrific things, you see.” The sentence was said in the same prowling rhythm to the man’s steps closing the distance between himself and Zak.
Zak, for his part, was rooted to the spot. He couldn’t tell if he was scared or fascinated. He felt …trapped. He felt like a fly that had unwittingly caught itself on an invisible thread. The man was almost in touching distance.
“Where has all your bravado gone?” A predator’s grin flashed at him.
Zak’s eyes widened in silent response at the leering man who was now stepping into his personal space. He could feel his mouth hanging open. Silver eyes flicked to his lips for the briefest of moments then back to being fixed onto Zac’s eyes. They were the same height, but for some reason Zak felt smaller.
There was a sudden, alarming understanding of what this man intended to do to Zak. He swallowed. He was still trapped in that spot; caught in the spider’s web.
“Oh?” The angelic man breathed to him. A pale hand slid up from Zak’s chest to rest at the curve of his neck and shoulder. “You’re just going to let this happen are you?” The other hand ran down Zak’s side curving round to his back and pulling him into a full embrace. “Good boy.”
In his own mind Zak was screaming in disgust at what was happening. He just couldn’t seem to get his body to understand it should not be leaning into this psycho’s touch, or tilting his head just-so as those penetrating silver eyes moved closer. His body should definitely not be reacting while being molested by steady hands in just the right places. He really should not be thinking it was a great kiss.
He should punch the guy.
He really, really wanted to get physical…as in fighting! He wanted to fight! He wanted to...do something which he was quickly forgetting the importance of as the white clad man deepened the kiss.
“Change of plans, Muraki!” Came a highly annoyed voice echoing through the church.
Zak realized he was somehow pinned to the floor with the named Muraki holding him there. His head was incredibly foggy.
Muraki closed his eyes and sighed in frustration, dropping his forehead to rest on Zak’s stomach. “What is it?”
“Reuh! What else?” The voice belonged to a pair of metal tipped boots that stormed just into Zak’s limited field of vision.
There was a huff above him. He tried his best to concentrate through the cottony feeling doing such an action caused. A woman, no, no boobs, man, then (a very feminine male) towered over him glaring down at Muraki. The new comer looked Zak over once then grinned slowly.
“This wasn’t in the original plans, dear Muraki.”
There was a low throated chuckle. “I was improvising.” Muraki pulled himself to a standing position, smoothing out wrinkles from his clothes.
Kuja quirked an eyebrow at him, one finger tap-tapping his arm when he crossed them. “This improvisation wouldn’t be influenced by any kind of childish bet, would it?”
Muraki regarded the smaller man, returning the quirked eyebrow and grin. He turned away and started down the aisle heading for the doors. “I’ll go deal with our upstaging dragon, shall I?”
“Have fun,” Kuja was still looking over a very rumpled Zak on the floor, “and good luck to you. She won’t listen to me or the regrouping forces of Her Royal Majesty’s Dragoons.”
“Completely wrong time period, Kuja.” Muraki called as he reached the doors. Kuja just waved him off not caring in the slightest.
“She’ll have half the fort in smoking heaps by now anyway. I’m not dealing with it.” He heard the doors clicked close and silence fell in the still, evening lit church. Zak was starting to regain control it seemed as he had successfully sat up. “However, I will not mind dealing with you, handsome.”
Zak could only widen his eyes again before Kuja’s palm caressed his forehead, pushing in a heavy blackness.
Kuja regarded the unconscious man. He sighed wistfully, before pulling out a small mobile phone. The screen lit up in little dancing owls.
==
==
Nick couldn’t remember ever been this well rested. He was still in that in between awake and asleep state where that comfortable spot in the bed was absolutely perfect. He took a long deep breath, enjoying the relaxation while he could.
“DUDE! Nick? Nick!?”
Zak. Of course.
“Open up man, we’ve been robbed!”
That got Nick up and to the door of his hotel room quickly. “What was taken? Are you ok?”
Zak stood poised for a fight in the hallway. “I’m fine. I think. But I just woke up and none of our gear is in the room. Aaron isn’t answering his cell or anything.”
Nick groaned, scratching the back of his head. “OK then, let’s call hotel management. See what we can do. Insurance will cover the gear at least. We’ll just need to get a police rep-what is it Zak?”
“Bro, you’re totally filthy. What did you do roll in the bushed last night?”
Nick blinked then looked down. He was fully clothed, not in pj’s and what he was wearing was absolutely caked in dirt. Leaves and a few pieces of mulch fell to the floor as he bushed himself off. “I…I, uh … have no idea why….hey, I wasn’t wearing these yesterday. These were packed in my suitcase when we checked in…” He said pulling at his shirt and pants.
Zak was watching him thoughtfully.
“What now, Zak?”
“Same with me, bro. I woke up wearing these clothes too. Know what I think?”
Nick bit back a groan. It was too early in the morning for Zak’s five-year old theories, no matter how well rested Nick felt at the moment. “What?”
“We totally had a visit in the middle of the night!” He clapped his hands together in excitement. “Remember? We were told those stories about the ghost maid. Damn, too bad we didn’t set up any gear.”
“How could we? Apparently the gear was stolen, remember?”
Zak deflated a bit. “Right. Let’s get on that.”
Before they even moved to close Nick’s door, Aaron’s door opened to reveal him stumbling out into the hallway. He was filthier than Zak and Nick combined. Mud clung to him in gooey chunks and was smeared all over every part of him. More importantly, his camera was hanging from it’s strap around his neck, perfectly clean.
“Guys?” Aaron ventured.
Zak and Nick stared at him, then each other.
“Who’s idea was it to prank me in the middle of the night and store all of our equipment in my room?”
“Uh, gear…your room?” Zak asked.
Aaron pointed over his shoulder with a shrug. “Yeah, everything. I couldn’t get to the door.”
There was a beat of silence before all three men seemed to move at once back into Aaron’s room to check out the gear. They found everything in order. A simple note was left taped to the bathroom mirror:
“Had a blast last night guys.
Hope you did too.
Your biggest fans,
XXOO”
A little heart-shaped owl was doodled as a signature.
==
==
Muraki sat out on a blanket, sipping a coffee, enjoying the morning sun that warmed the grassy field of the fort’s property. Kuja was sprawled next to him dozing, his half finished orange juice clutched in one hand. The girls soon joined them helping Watari carry a bunch of bags to be piled behind the picnic area.
“Sooooo….?” Prodded Bri as she plopped down on a corner of the blanket.
Muraki raised an eyebrow.
Keara sighed. “Oh, stop that! Last night! Ghost Adventures!”
“Oh!” Muraki laughed lightly. “That.”
Bri was rummaging in a bagel bag she had just been handed by Watari who winked at her before continuing organizing the bags.
“Yes, that.” Keara glared, poking him with her toe. “Come on! What happened?”
Kuja groaned dramatically. “Your stupid dragon happened, Bri! Totally ruined my plans.”
“Right, like no one knew Reuh wouldn’t stay out of a plan about showing off on purpose.” Bri shot back.
Kuja deemed that worthy enough to sit up and glare at her over the top of his designer (women’s) sunglasses.
“OK!” Watari exclaimed happily, clapping his hands together. Smile beaming at them. “We have all the breakfast stuff here, so dig in kids.” He looked around then smiled some more. “Ah! I see Seishirou-san was successful in waking up Subaru-san. Perfect timing!”
Muraki waved at Seishirou who was walking up to them with Subaru in tow. He then picked up a coffee and showed it off as if baiting his friend to come join them.
Keara picked at her own bagel. “Ok, Reuh, nothing new there. What else happened? You guys locked the city down for the whole night!”
“It is a good thing we talked Su-kun into playing along last night.” Seishirou said as he made it within hearing distance of the group. “Otherwise, I think the tourism industry would have taken a hit thanks to Reuh.”
“Pah!” From Kuja who gracefully laid back down to sunbathe. “She lights that damn thing on fire all the time.”
Bri sighed sadly. “It’s probably her fault it’s falling into the sea.”
Watari laughed as he settled between the girls. “All that weight…”
“Structural integrity…” replied Bri.
“Just too much mass from that big dragon as-“Watari was cut off by Muraki throwing a bagel at him.
Keara was clearly getting frustrated at being ignored. “God-papa! Now that you’re here tell us what happened last night!”
“How many ‘Dude-Man-Bro’s’ were there?” Bri added.
Subaru laughed at Seishirou’s face-palm.
Keara pouted. “No fair. My idea, and I got left out of it.”
Watari leaned over with an air of conspiracy and a mischievous glint in his eye. “No worries, Keara-kun.” He nodded at the few duffle bags amongst the food bags. “I have all of their footage for our viewing pleasure.”
“Really!” Keara laughed. “Although, if they don’t get any footage I’ll feel bad.”
Watari tutted at her. “Who do you think I am? I may have been blocking their mobiles and laptops with my Owl-Signal-Dampener, but I made sure I left them with a few hints as to what happened.”
Keara was giggling and about to give a high five when Kuja’s shout of protest stopped her.
“I knew it!” He cried sitting up again, pulling his sunglasses off his face.
Muraki and Seishirou were looking at him in bemused silence. Muraki discreetly was tucking something into his inner coat pocket.
“You two totally made a bet on who was going to nail Zak!”
Keara and Bri stared at the grinning men.
“And Muraki won!” Finished Kuja.
Keara sat with her mouth hanging open, Bri beside her with wide eyes, bagel hanging from her mouth.
Watari wrapped his arms around the two girls chuckling as he said. “Don’t worry. I have that on tape too.” He ended with a wink.
Keara looked at Bri. Bri looked at Keara. Both laughed at the same time and high-fived.
==
==
As night settled around St. Augustine, the three brave Ghost Adventurers set up shop in carefully selected locations. Most of those located on well traveled ghost tour stops. They had showered and regrouped since that morning, and were now determined more than ever to find out what the hell was going on in the oldest city in the nation.
Zak kept the small dvd-disc he found tucked into the waistband of his boxers to himself. He would take that story to his grave.
~Fin~
