Part One: Meeting Our Fate

(Author's Note: It's 2004. So let's pretend the series and the film happened at the same time. I don't own some of the dialogue, often times I've typed up what is actually said in the show. I don't own Ghost Adventures, I do however own Kenzi.)

"My name is Zak Bagans. I've never believed in ghosts until I came face to face with one. So I set out on a quest to capture what I once saw onto video. With no big camera crews following us around, I am joined only by my fellow investigator Nick Groff and our equipment tech Aaron Goodwin. The three of us will travel to some of the most highly active paranormal locations, where we will spend an entire night being locked down from dusk until dawn. Raw. Extreme. These are our Ghost Adventures."

(Kenzi's POV)

It had all started by watching Ghost Adventures on the travel channel at 8:00 PM on Fridays. I'd even made my own intro. It was like this, "My name is Kenzi Banasik. I've always believed in ghosts, and I hope to prove there's another world beyond the living here on earth. So I set out on a quest to capture what I believe in onto video. With no big camera crews following us around, I am joined only by my fellow investigator Emily and our equipment tech Brittany. The three of us will travel to some of the most highly active paranormal locations, where we will spend an entire night being locked down from dusk until dawn. Raw. Extreme. These are our Ghost Adventures." It was scary how like the team we were. My friends and I would sit around in my basement, our eyes glued to the projector screen. I had refurbished my basement so that it was like an entertainment system. It was April 5th, and my friends Emily and Brittany were over for my 25th birthday party. (My birthday was on April 6th.) Brittany was a year younger than me, and Emily was two years older. Emily was like Nick, laid back but ready to jump into action when need be, and Brittany was like Aaron, new to the paranormal, and easiest to scare. I was like Zak, headstrong, not one to show fear easily, and the one that calls out the bad entities. I lived not too far from the local cemetery, so when Brittany piped up with the idea of 'investigating' I agreed. Emily was browsing ghost hunting sites on my laptop when she gasped. My head snapped up to look at her. She sighed dreamily.

"What?" I asked.

"Here." She turned the screen to me. Now I sighed. On screen was a picture of Zak Bagans, the lead investigator from Ghost Adventures.

"Why'd you gasp?" I asked.

"Did you know his full name is Zachary Alexander Bagans? That and…Well, his birthday's today. And it says he'll be picking a team from the GAC and calling them to help him & Nick & Aaron on an investigation. What if we get picked?" Emily asked. I shrugged.

"I'd die to meet him." Said Brittany, flipping through the channels nonchalantly.

"I'd die to meet anyone of those guys." Emily said, referring to the Ghost Adventures team (which was Zak, Nick, and Aaron.) Again I shrugged.

"Well, that's cool, but I'd die to see that other half of his tattoo. Those muscles, he just looks so strong. He's so hot!" I said. And then my cell rang. We all screamed.

"Hello?" I said. I put a finger to my lips much like how Zak does to keep the others quiet when they're hearing stuff. Emily nods, slapping a hand over Brittany's mouth.

"Yes, this is. Yes. Absolutely. We'll be there in ten. Thank you. See you. Bye." I hung up, fan girl screeching.

"Lemme guess. Zak Bagans just called your cell." Brittany said sarcastically.

"He wants to meet this team called ASI. He said it stood for Alverno Séance Investigations." Emily looked at me.

"Alverno Séance Investigations? Who the hell are is- oh. Oh. OH! We're ASI! Doesn't that mean?" I nodded.

"Yep. He wants to meet us at Mt. Olive cemetery at 6:30 sharp. Grab your gear."

So we grabbed our gear and headed out to the cemetery to meet the guys.

It was just about dusk when we found them. They were outside by the entrance, Zak leaning against the fence, Aaron sitting on the small wall running alongside it, Nick just pacing between the two. Without thinking, I stepped up to Zak and said, "Happy Birthday. Mine's tomorrow." He just laughed, shaking my hand.

"How'd you know?" he asked. Emily said, saving me from looking like a know-it-all.

"Your MySpace page. I'm Emily Schaefer. The leader of our team is Mackenzie Banasik, (we all call her Kenzi, though) whose hand you're shaking. This is Brittany Ross, our equipment tech."

We all nodded as the guys shook our hands. Zak cleared his throat.

"Well, I assume you guys watch Ghost Adventures as you're part of the GAC, but just in case, I'm Zak Bagans. This is Nick Groff, and this guy over here (points to Aaron) is Aaron Goodwin, GA's tech. Can you handle the lockdown?" he asked me playfully. I met his eyes as we walked through the iron gates.

"Yeah. I've never been one to back down from a challenge. Right guys?" I asked over my shoulder.
"Right. You're just as headstrong and fearless as he is, Kenzi!" Emily responded.

(Emily's POV)

As we were walking, Nick asked me, "So, how'd you guys all meet?"

"Well, I was thinking of creating a paranormal investigation team, and I needed members. So I put up ads around town. These two answered the call of the wild." I said, motioning to my friends.

"Brittany and I called it the "'The Schaefer Investigations" for about ten minutes, and then Mackenzie walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge." I said with a laugh.

"That's right!" Kenzi yelled in acknowledgement, pumping her fist in the air. Nick turned to me, whispering, "Yeah, same here. Zak pretty much did that as well."

"Yeah!" Zak had heard him. We all laughed. Oh was this sweet. I heard Zak ask Kenzi, "How'd you start believing?" She cleared her throat.

"Well, it actually started with a phone call. It was late at night, around 11 o'clock. The connection was fuzzy, but I swore I could recognize the voice. I was talking to this person I thought I knew. And then he brought up my Grandma Janet, wondering how she was doing. Then it clicked. The caller was my Grandpa Bob, who'd died but eight years ago. I mentioned his name, and that I'd missed him so much, and then call ended with nothing more then the click of someone hanging up." Zak nodded.

"Sounds like PCFTD. Phone calls from the dead. I had what would have been my full name being yelled at me at three in the morning. It would wake me up, too. I just want to know why I was chosen for this. Why me?" He asked her, open-ended.

"Me too. I feel like I'm part of something bigger, something trying to say, 'I exist' but mankind won't believe. Don't you?"

"Yeah." By this time we'd been walking for about ten minutes, when Zak said, "Okay. We're using the mausoleum as base. Nick, we've set up X's for the static night vision cameras where orbs and mist have been seen. Aaron, we should get good audio out here, so… girls?"

"Yes?" Kenzi said.

"We're starting this investigation like our regular teams, and then we'll reconvene and split into pairs. Or if you want, we could go solo." Zak added with a glance toward Kenzi. I guess he figured she was like him, headstrong, provocative, and in all due respects, a female version of himself. And maybe that was true. My best friend could get along with 'the boys' just fine. Oh well, you'd never tell for sure.

So we stopped at base, and started setting up. I grabbed a camera to shoot Kenzi like how Nick shoots Zak, and a thermometer and digital voice recorder. Brittany grabbed her stuff. Kenzi had a single video camera with a LED screen and backlight. I heard her curse softly as she stumbled over something in the dark. The sun had fully set now, and night was upon us.

(Brittany's POV)

Once Kenzi was done grabbing her gear, she turned. Zak grabbed her hand. We knew it was pitch dark now, because all we could see was what whatever showed on our cameras. I could hear them conferring softly about plans. Zak spoke to us.

"All right. We'll meet back here at 11:30. Be ready. And be careful!" Emily laughed.

"What?" Zak asked.

"Just reminds me of the time in 'Return to Bobby Mackey's' when Nick heard your voice over what sounded like the PA. You were yelling, "Guys be careful!" and then you couldn't believe you'd said that, 'cause in reality you hadn't." Nick laughed softly, and I could hear Emily's purr of delight. Nick must've been playing with her hair. Damn, looked like someone was crushing on someone. That and I already knew Kenzi liked Zak. But if it was Emily and Nick, and Kenzi and Zak, did that mean I was meant for Aaron? Only time would tell. Ether way, we had an investigation.

"Yep. Kenzi, you ready?" I asked.

"Yeah. Emily?"

"Ready. Kenzi, you sure?"

"Enough with the readies. Let's just go." She stated. Zak hi-fived her.

"Exactly what I would've said. Nick, Aaron, let's go." So we started the ghost hunt.

Kenzi, Emily and I headed off in one direction, with Zak and the others going the opposite way. Kenzi started to ask questions in the hope of catching EVP's.

"Is anybody here with us? Give us a sign." She asked. There was a moment of silence. I started to ask, "We heard you are mist. Can you turn into it and come to us?" More silence, and then… "Shit!" I yelped, tripping. Kenzi turned.

"Just like Aaron." She muttered softly, laughing at the irony. So she was going to act like Zak after all.

"Brittany, turn off your night vision for a sec. What you're seeing is with night vision. This is what we see, and its pitch black out here." Said Kenzi, talking to the camera Emily was shooting her with and effectively explaining like Zak would've. Even in the dark, I could tell she was smiling. We started the EVP session, and took some digital infrared stills. We checked Emily's watch. It was 11:30. So we headed to meet the guys back at the mausoleum. If we could find our way back.

(Zak's POV)

Aaron, Nick and I were back at the mausoleum. I was leaning against the side of the building, arms behind my head, trying to relax at least a little before the girls came. Kenzi and the girls were coming our way, so we started walking toward them. From there, we split up. Kenzi and I were one team, Nick & Emily were another. Brittany and Aaron were the last team of two. We would go off much like we had before, but in smaller groups covering more ground. Kenzi led me to what looked like an old oak tree in the middle of a clearing. She dropped to her knees beside one of the headstones. I could hear her softly crying; she'd known whose grave this was. I knelt beside her, trying to act like the boyfriend who would comfort and listen. I sat crossed legged on the ground, leaning up against the tree. I motioned for her to come near me, leaving her equipment. Even though I'd only know her for a little bit, I could tell she was the type of girl that knew when something was bothering her. I'd learned to expect stuff like this over the years, but nothing prepared me for what she did next. She became like a little sister, coming to sit beside me, still crying silently and suffering inside. I was like the older brother, the protector. So I took her into my arms and cradled her against me, rocking her slowly. Without thinking, my hand ran through her thick brown hair. Her sobs had subsided, and she smiled as she registered this action, starting to explain why she was like this.

"Zak, I'm sorry. This grave, this is who called me that night all those years ago. My Grandpa Bob is buried here, beneath us. I just feel such a strong connection with him, to this area. The night after the funeral, I slept here, under this tree. That night a white mist rose up and swirled around me. I felt joy and sadness all at the same time. It was then I knew he wasn't in pain and wasn't suffering any longer. He was up in Heaven with the a-a-angels."

(Kenzi's POV)

On the last word, my voice broke, and I dissolved once again into tears. These were salty, sorrowful tears, blurring my vision and letting me taste the knife that had cut into my heart so long ago. Zak just kept holding me, tight enough to let me know he wasn't gonna let me go, his fingers running through my hair, telling me it was alright. His video camera was on the ground, shooting the static night vision camera we'd set up. I had my head resting against his shoulder, and then realized I'd been right. He did have muscles. I felt him pull back for a moment, and then sighed as he (God, don't let me faint!) kissed my forehead to finally calm me down. And then he said, excitedly, "Kenzi, look!" I turned around. A fine white mist was seeping out of the ground at our feet, enveloping us in a cloud. I got that feeling again. I felt at peace, my Grandpa wanted me to know he was alright. Just like that night.

"Thanks, Grandpa." I whispered. The mist slowly faded away as I felt Zak get up and collect the gear. I followed, grabbing my camera and digital voice recorder.

"We'd better go meet the guys." He said softly. We made our way back to base, where the sun's first rays were poking through the morning haze. I smiled as we walked out the gates back to my house to sleep. We would review the evidence later in the day. I couldn't believe I had actually investigated with the Ghost Adventures team! This was amazing. So maybe ASI had a chance at making it big.