It was Ned's third year in college. He had of course, already be acquainted with the idea of ghosts, but no he is going to get in deep. It had been over a year since Ned had talked to Melinda. She was busy with Jim and Aiden. Things had started to quiet down for her. Of course, there was an occasional ghost or two, but not as many as before. Ned was beginning to be bored with school. It wasn't exciting anymore. The only time he had fun was helping ghosts, but he couldn't do it on his own. He went on day by day as normal until one day it all changed.

It was January 7th when things started to go wrong. Ned was on his way to class when he ran into Sam, a girl he met in his history class. Sam had curly brown hair with the bluest eyes you had ever seen. She insisted they chat over a cup of coffee tomorrow. She wanted to know his theories on what had happened to the American settlers at Roanoke, and what he thought Croatoan actually meant. Sam was a history major so all of these things fascinated her. Ned was more interesting to hanging out with her than the subject matter of their conversation but it was his in. He accepted and set his future in motion. It's strange how minute details can change your life forever. Finally he got to his class. He didn't pay much attention to the lesson. He was too focused on Sam. He had liked her from the first day that they met. He would finally get his shot with her.

The next day Ned was eager to see Sam. He had dreamt about her all night. He couldn't get his mind off of her. He quickly made his way to the coffee shop where she was waiting just as eager as him. Turns out she wasn't just interested in the Roanoke colony. They started talking about history to break the ice. Ned told her his theories. Ned thought the people could have died of a sickness, they could have been kidnapped by a neighboring Indian tribe called Croatoan and that's where you get Indians with blonde hair, or maybe they were moving to a new location called Croatoan. Ned said that it was just one of life's mysteries that may never be solved. Now this all may sound a little boring, but to Sam it was fascinating. She could rarely find a guy that was interested in her and could keep up with her in an intelligent conversation. Then they started to talk more about personal things now that they were more comfortable with each other. Of course, Ned left out the ghost stuff. The last thing he needed was to scare her off. They talked until their coffee was cold. He asked if she wanted him to walk her to her dorm and she accepted.

They started the long walk back to the campus. It was a dark night. Ned decided to take a short cut down the alley. Sam was unsure about it but, Ned said that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. She grabbed his arm. They began the walk down the terrifying alley. When they got half way through a man came up asking for money. The man obviously looked starved and his clothes were ragged and torn and looked way too big for the man. Ned apologized and told the desperate man he had no money to give him. The scared man pulled out a gun and yelled, "Give me your money or I'll shoo…shoo…shoot you!" Ned motioned for Sam to stand behind him. Ned tried to calm the man down and convince him to put the gun down.

Suddenly there was a noise. It scared the gunman and he looked towards where the noise was coming from. Ned, trying to save Sam, started to wrestle the man for the gun. Ned yelled for Sam to run as fast as she could. Then BANG a shot was fired. Sam stopped in her tracks to see what happened. Scared out of her mind, she turned her head. There stood the gunman with the gun pointed at her. Ned was on the floor in a pool of blood. She was frozen in fear. Finally she screamed in terror at the sight of Ned. BANG another shot was fired. The man ran away after he saw what he had done. Someone must have heard the shots because the sound of an ambulance was heard from the distance.

Delia was immediately called to the hospital. She quickly called Melinda to drive her there. She was experiencing her worst nightmare. Melinda was speeding down the highway. She didn't want her next "client" to be Ned. They finally got to the hospital. Now they must do one of the hardest thing ever…wait. They had been waiting for hours when the doctor walked over to Delia and said," Ms. Banks?"

Delia replied, "Yes?"

"Your son just got out of surgery. He's a lucky man. Any farther over and the bullet would have pierced his heart, but…"

"But what?"

"He did flat line."

Delia started to tear up.

"What?"

"But he is okay…you can see him if you want."

"Thank you."

After an hour or so it was Melinda's turn to visit. She walked in there relieved he was not a ghost. She started crying. Ned asked, "What's wrong?"

She answered," I was afraid you were going to die."

She squeezed him tightly.

"Okay that's enough remember I just had surgery."

"Right."

She let go. Then Sam suddenly walked in.

Ned excitedly said, "Sam! You're okay?"

She replied," Yeah I'm fine. How are you?"

"I've been better. Oh…Melinda this is my friend, Sam. She was with me tonight."

Melinda said," It's nice to meet you."

"Sam replied," You too."

"Well I'm going to leave you and Sam alone for a while."

Melinda was curious about Sam, so she went to talk to the doctor.

She asked," Excuse me doctor, but how is Sam, the girl that came in with Ned?"

The doctor's face became grave and he said," I'm sorry but she died."