Riley POV

After our chat, Avery made her self scarce by putting the twins to bed and reading to them. I wasn't sure what book she was reading, but it seemed to take a long time, which is how I had found myself alone with Zak in the lounge. 

His head had been on a whirlwind, looking all around my home and I was curious to know what exactly he was looking for. Perhaps he was checking the cleanliness of my home? After all, it's been said that cleaners often have the messiest homes... Well not mine.

"I know it's small, but it suits me." I tell him when his eyes fall back to me on the end of the couch. 

"It's not that... It's just, homely." He says. 

A frown takes hold of my brows "Doesn't your home?"

"Not always. My job takes me away from home a lot, sometimes I am gone weeks at a time, so when I do finally come back, I feel like I'm a stranger in someone else's space."

"Must be hard." I tell him making him shrug. 

"Kind of used to it now. I'm just trying to work out what is different, if it's the set up, the size or if it's because I know other people are here."

"Do you get lonely?" I ask him wondering if it is a touchy subject. I know some people are sensitive to those kind of questions. 

"I have Gracie."

I sense a but coming, however he doesn't continue on, so I decide to change the subject. "So, you created your show?"

Zak nods sitting back on the couch and making himself comfortable. "I did, I started it up with another guy."

"So you're partners?" 

"He left a few years back now. He wanted to do something different. I carried it on with a few other guys." He says. "But I've been doing it over 10 years now."

"Woah. That's a lot of ghosts." 

He laughs "Yeah it is. I've been to all the most haunted locations in America. I've been to England, in the Paris catacombs, Povelgia Island in Italy and Ireland."

"Actually in the Catacombs?" I ask.

"Yeah." 

"Holy crap, I watched a documentary on that. Some film director got lost down there didn't he? He hasn't been seen since. You're lucky it didn't happen to you."

"Well I went down there with the police first, then I snuck in after dark with a couple urban explorers."

My brows lift "You went down there twice. Is it really as scary as they make out?"

Zak nods instantly "Oh yeah. Don't get me wrong, it was an amazing experience, but there are parts down there with a sixty foot drop, you could be there one minute and gone the next. People party down there all the time, there's bones everywhere as it's technically a burial site. It's dangerous."

"Did you just explore or did you investigate?"

"Both. I did get some evidence, but I also had equipment stolen, it's a shame really, I bet there was some real evidence on that. Whether it was paranormal or not remains a mystery." He answers.

It's only now, as I am sitting opposite him, that I am truly glad that I persisted in getting his help for Avery and the twins. If anyone knows what they are doing, it's this guy and for him to be down in the catacombs, well it shows that he isn't afraid to back down in a hurry.

"So what happens now? When do you want to get started on Avery's?" I ask.

He smiles "You excited for it now?"

I shrug with a smile "I don't know, maybe. Call me crazy, especially after the last few days, but I kind of trust that you won't leave me without a paddle. You know what you're doing and if truth be known, I'm glad I pestered you into helping."

"Oh so you admit, you were a pest now?"

"Well I did what I needed to get you to listen."

"By throwing yourself on my car. Yeah, don't worry. I haven't forgotten that."

I laugh slightly "It made you stop. I think I've definitely bruised my side but it was worth it. The twins are worth it."

His smile is as genuine as it can be when he says "I'd do anything for my niece and nephew too."

"Family huh? Can't live with them and you can't live withou-.." I paused and reach behind me, trying to find out what was digging into my spine, when I finally grab it, I pull out a toy. "Maybe I can live without them, in my apartment."

Zak laughs "Well I hope it won't take too long, then you'll get your home back. As for starting... How does tomorrow sound?"

******* 

It's been almost 24 hours since Zak sat in my apartment with myself and Avery discussing what was to be expected. Now I was here, stood outside her house, staring up at the building as if a monster lived inside. 

If you asked Olivia & Grace, a monster did live inside.

My head turns slightly at the sound of a vehicle pulling up, that's when I see Zak behind the wheel of a SUV. He gets out the car and I'm instantly taken in on his fitted shirt and black jeans. He has a cap on his head meaning he hasn't done his hair yet and I want to know if its freshly clean and fluffy or slightly dirty from the day before. 

I don't let it show how much his appearance seems to affect me, I could totally play off the flushed face as the sun or a fever. Right?

After him follows another man who is tall with a shaven head and beard, he too is also dressed in black, making me think that there's definitely a dress code.

"Hi." I greet them. 

"Hey, how are you? Sleep okay?" Zak asks setting his hand on my shoulder. 

"As well as I could with the idea of doing this." I answer. 

He nods before turning to the other guy "Riley, this is my long time friend and colleague, Aaron. Aaron, meet Riley, my cleaner."

"Hey." Aaron grins. 

"Hi."

"I've filled Aaron in on what has been happening and he wants to help, is that okay?" Zak questions.

"Absolutely."

"I've got one more guy turning up with the rest of the equipment in a minute, then we can head in and start setting up." Zak says making me nod. 

"Okay cool. The house is already unlocked. I was about to go in when I chickened out." I laugh nervously.

Zak looks to the front door where the keys are still hanging from the lock. "If you want, I'll go in first with Aaron, we can scope the place out, work out where to put cameras and equipment."

"Cameras?" I ask. 

"Well with your permission, I'd like to set this place up like a normal investigation, have a nerve centre, where the cameras will feed back to on monitors. It's usually done within the house, but I can have one set up outside, that way, if you didn't want to come into the house, I can have you watching us on the computer screens instead." He explains. "All our footage is recorded for our episodes and we review it all at a later date, which is what we use to create the episodes."

"Right." I nod letting him know that I am keeping up with him. "So you're telling me that I don't actually have to go inside, if I don't want to?"

"Of course. I wouldn't force you to go in there." He says. 

"No, he only does that to me." Aaron laughs giving Zak a playful elbow.

"Yeah it's true. I throw Aaron in the deep end, fans complain but he gets some of the best evidence."

I look at Aaron, "I feel for you already."

He laughs "I'm used to it."

Zak claps his hands together and rubs them "Right, shall we head in and have a look before Billy turns up?" He asks Aaron. 

"Can do bro."

Before they can take a step, I slide in front of Zak. "Before you do... Do you want to discuss payment?"

Aaron looks over to Zak who is now looking at me like I have four heads instead of one.
"Payment?" He asks.

"Yeah, I'm presuming you guys need paying, nobody does all this for free-"

"Riley, I'm not charging you for wanting to make the house safe for your nieces." Zak says. 

"But-"

"No. I owe you after that whole Rachel situation and seeing as you won't let me apologise, you'll have to accept us doing this as the apology. Okay?"

"Do I have a choice?" I ask him. 

"None. So suck it up." He smiles before turning to Aaron. "Let's go."

I step aside and leave them both to enter Avery's house. I know I'm a chicken shit for not going in earlier but this was the unknown to me and what I don't know? I don't want to know. Because I have no doubt that I will get myself into some kind of trouble. 

Hopping onto the hood of the van, I wait for Zak and Aaron to come running back out, but they don't and after a while they emerge and come back to where I'm sat. 

"How did it go?" I ask him. 

Zak looks at Aaron quickly before smiling "All okay. Yeah."

"Bullshit. What was that look?" I ask him instantly. 

"Dude she has you worked out already." Aaron says making Zak shoot him a look to shut up. "I gotta get my phone out the car."

Once Aaron walks away, I look to Zak who is trying to act all this off. "Tell me." I demand. 

He sighs and shakes his head "Aaron and his mouth... Okay right, what I didn't tell you last night was that I'm a sensitive."

"What is that?" I ask. "Like a medium?"

"Not quiet. I feel energy, I can feel a lot more than a normal human can."

"Holy shit, are you telling me you've got a super power?" I ask making him laugh. 

"Well it's not as cool as freezing or laser eyes. I struggle with it sometimes.."

"Like superman and kryptonite?"

"Riley."

"Sorry." I answer immediately. "Please explain, I'll shut up."

"I don't want you to shut up. I like hearing you talk, it's just hard to explain and really not as cool as a super power. Being a sensitive means I pick up on emotions. It's one of the reasons I reacted to you so badly the other day. Your emotions were almost attacking me, if that makes sense?"

"Like overpowering yours?"

"Exactly!" He says before continuing. "What happens is, I tend to get your emotions rather than my own. It's confusing sometimes. When I go into locations, I pick up on energy, spirit energy and other things."

"Okay..."

"Sweetie, I get nothing but bad vibes from that house."

I glance over his shoulder to Avery's home "So what are you saying? It's not a Casper?"

"That spirit isn't friendly. Not at all. It's heavy in that house.. Be honest with me here as well.. Do you suffer from headaches in there?" 

"Sometimes, but the twins are really active-"

"Ever feel sick?"

"No."

"Okay, that's good.. Because we are looking at a little more than Casper in there." He says as Aaron comes back. 

"It's darker, isn't it?" I ask him. 

He nods "I'm afraid so. The whole house reeks of rotten eggs and that's a sign for-"

"Demonic activity, I read that online." I tell him. 

"Yeah, has Avery ever mentioned smells or scratching before?" Aaron asks. 

I nod "She has to me, when they first moved in, they had the exterminator out because she could hear scratching at night, and the stench of death. You know the smell, I think everyone does. She rang me about it and when I went in, I almost threw up. We ended up scrubbing down walls and scrubbing carpets. It lingered for a while unti-" 

"Until what?" Zak asks stepping forward until he was almost stood between my knees.

"Until the girls met Lizzy. Shit. Shit!" I snap.

"It found something else to attach onto. Can you call Avery for me and ask her to keep an eye on the girls? Tonight, they might act a little weird if anything is attached to them. I hope the hell not because it makes our job harder to clear. But from the heaviness in that house right now, I can tell you that something is definitely in there."

"I'll do it now." I tell him pulling my phone out. 

"Okay, Aaron get hold of Billy see how far he is out. I'm gonna have an outdoor nerve, we can use the garage. I don't want Riley in there unless we absolutely have to."

"Will do Bro."

My coordination is all jittery as I fiddle with my phone trying to find Avery's number. My frustration builds when she doesn't pick up and I have to leave her a message. 

"Hey, it's gonna be okay." Zak speaks as I put the phone down. 

"Really? A demon has been playing with my twin nieces, who are 5. What part of this is going to be okay?"

His hand rubs my arm sympathetically. "The part where I come in and kick it's ass out. Listen, I know you said no last time, but I want you to wear this until further notice, okay?" Zak asks pulling a rosary out of his pocket.

My eyes shoot to his neck "Where is yours?"

He pulls his shirt collar aside to show that there is one under his shirt. "Aaron has something else to protect him. But whilst you are here, you wear this."

He loops it over my head and lays the rosary onto my chest. It's silver and looks expensive, which instantly puts me on edge. 

"Why does it look like it's worth more than anything I own?"

"It's one of my personal ones." He says "This one I use a lot, mainly for photoshoots, it's a little flashy."

"Can't I have a plastic one? What if I get it caught?"

"Put it under your top then."

I look down at my cleavage and wonder where it would be more safer, out or in, nestled between my boobs wouldn't hurt it, I guess. 

"I'll be really careful. I promise." 

He nods "Well if I wasn't such a jerk the other day and if you accepted the one I bought you, you wouldn't need that one. It was for your own protection in my home."

"You're home is haunted?" I ask surprised. 

"Well my attachments play up at times. The rosary would have kept you safe. I had to cleanse my home nearly every day to keep activity down to ensure you were safe whilst you were there..."

"Really?" 

"This attachment is possessive." He says picking up the rosary around my neck and sorting the chain. "If I get remotely close to a woman, they tend to have problems. Which is why I wanted you to have it."

"Oh. I didn't know that." I answer. 

"You're not a mind reader." He replies letting his fingers work the chain around my neck.

I giggle when he hits the sensitive part of my neck and I take his hand away "Ticklish there."

He smiles slightly "Sorry." 

There's a moment where I'm holding onto his fingers, to stop him from fixing the chain anymore. Only instead of letting them go, I have kept hold of them and now we are staring at each other with stupid expressions on our faces. My heart picks up a beat, maybe sensing something I don't in this situation. 

"Riley..." He says quietly, leaning a little closer.

"Yeah?"

"I-"

"Yo dude! Billy is here!" Aaron yells making us both jump. I let go of his fingers and Zak steps away instantly cutting whatever was happening in that moment.

My cheeks flare, causing me to bite the inside of my lip as he clears his throat. "I'm just gonna go and speak to Billy."

"Okay." I answer, my voice coming out in a soft tone. 

When he walks away, I take full advantage of the quiet moment and coax my heart as well as my cheeks to calm down. Turning my head, I try to discreetly fan my face. I also chide myself for letting this become more than what it should be about. 

Right now he was here to help the twins and Avery. I needed to remember that. 

Once I gained some composure, I slid off the hood of the van and prepared myself to be introduced to another member of the team. However, my body betrays me when Zak sends a smile my way and that stupid pumping organ in my chest skips a beat.

I like him, I know I do. I shouldn't. I absolutely should not cross the line between employer and employee, but I feel like I've already skipped over that like a pebble. The next line is friendship, and whilst my head knows not to step out of line, my heart is telling me otherwise.

Here I was thinking that a ghost, now demon would be my problem. Perhaps I was wrong and should be looking a little closer to home. Perhaps my problem is going to be listening between my head and heart. 

I smile back, despite having a thousand questions floating around inside my head. From, is it just me? Have I read to much into this? Maybe he is being friendly? Is he doing this out of friendship? Does he care more than he is letting on? Or maybe it's just me thinking I have a chance with a guy who is completely out of my league?

That last question dampens my mood and sends my heart into check with a hard punch. Of course I've read to much into all of this. I'd be a fool to think other wise. After all, what could a guy like him want with a woman like me?