Author's Note: Here's another story, since everyone seemed to enjoy my last one so much! As usual, no copyright infringements were intended. I don't own Ghost Whisperer, the characters, or the prologue following this note. I'll try to update as frequently as possible. The story is intended to take place in the 4th season, so as of now it's written in the future (as far as the readers are concerned). Hopefully this doesn't confuse anyone. Enjoy!

My name is Melinda Gordon. I'm married, I live in a small town, and I own an antique shop. I might be just like you, except that from the time I was a little girl I knew that I can talk to the dead. Earthbound spirits, my grandmother called them. They're stuck here because they have unfinished business with the living, and they come to me for help. In order to tell you my story, I have to tell you theirs.

Melinda woke up to the sun shining brightly through her open bedroom window. It was 8:00 AM on October 22nd, 2008. A cool, crisp breeze blew into the room carrying the faint of smell of burning leaves. Melinda smiled; Fall had always been her favorite season. Looking forward to the day ahead, she got out of bed and started getting ready for work. When she went downstairs her husband, Jim, was reading the morning paper in the kitchen. As she entered the room he looked up at her.

"Hey, babe." He said, smiling.

"Hey." She replied, walking over to him and planting a kiss on his forehead before she sat down beside him at the table. "I thought you had to be at work."

Jim glanced at his watch. "I guess I do." He said, standing up. "I just wanted to see you before I left. You want to grab lunch today at noon?"

"Sure. Sounds great." Mel told him.

"Alright then. I'll see you in a few hours." Jim said. He gave her a kiss and then he was out the door. Melinda left a half an hour later, calling Delia at the shop on her way.

"Hello?" Delia answered the phone.

"Hey, it's me." Melinda said. "I'm gonna grab some breakfast at Village Java. You want anything?"

"Hmm." Delia responded. "How about a muffin and a latte?"

"Good choice. I'll be there in a little while."

"Thanks, Mel."

"No problem. Bye."

"Bye."

Melinda hung up the phone and parked in front of her favorite coffee shop. She walked inside and stood at the end of the annoyingly long line to the counter. While she waited, she spotted a spirit walking through the window. It was a boy who seemed to be around the age of 20, wearing a Rockland University tee shirt and jeans. He looked essentially normal, although he was extremely pale with dark circles under his eyes. Melinda stared for a moment, and then looked away quickly. It was too late, though. He had already seen her.

"You can see me, can't you?" The ghost said, suddenly appearing directly in front of her.

"No." Melinda whispered, careful not to catch anyone's attention. "Go away."

"Nice try." He said. "If you couldn't see me, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"We're not." Melinda said, stepping forward in line.

The ghost wouldn't let up; he continued to follow her. "I need your help."

Melinda tried her best to ignore him, but he kept staring at her and it was starting to wear on her nerves. After a couple of minutes she finally responded.

"This really isn't a good time." She said angrily, forgetting for a moment that she was in public. She was now first in line and the girl working behind the counter gave her a strange look.

"I'm sorry." The girl said cautiously. "Did you want to order something?"

"No." Melinda said nervously. "I mean yes. I wasn't talking to you just now. Just thinking out loud… Sorry about that."

"It's ok." The girl said slowly, and waited for Melinda to order.

"Uh… I'll get one grande latte, one tall caramel macchiato, and two pumpkin spice muffins."

"That will be 12.43." The girl told Melinda. Mel handed over the money and walked around the college-age ghost to wait for her coffees. The ghost remained in one place for a moment and then reappeared right in front of Melinda again.

"They have to own up to what they did." The ghost told Mel angrily.

Melinda was starting to get a headache. Whether it was from the ghost's energy or simply from annoyance she wasn't sure, but she needed him to go away. She put a hand to her forehead. "Who?" She whispered. "Who has to own up?"

The ghost got directly in Melinda's face. "All of them." He said through clenched teeth, and then he disappeared. A woman standing a few feet away dropped her coffee on the ground, and Melinda grabbed a wad of napkins to help clean it up. Kneeling down, she started to dab at the spilled beverage.

"Oh my God. Thank you so much, I don't know what's wrong with me." The woman said to Melinda.

Mel smiled. "Don't worry, It happens." She said. Then she stopped for a moment. In the center of the puddle of spilled coffee, she saw letters beginning to form: O P E. Her forehead creased with confusion. OPE? She thought. What the hell is OPE?

The woman noticed Melinda's expression and broke her out of her trance. "Are you alright?" The woman asked.

Melinda looked at her. "Yeah. Sorry, I guess my mind is somewhere else today."

"It happens." The woman laughed.

After cleaning up the mess and grabbing the pastries and coffee, Melinda got in her car and drove to her store, "Same as It Never Was Antiques."

Delia was putting some new merchandise on the shelves when Melinda walked in. "Hi.' she said. "That took a while. Busy morning?"

Melinda handed Delia the coffee and wrapped muffin. "You have no idea." She told her.

After enjoying their breakfast, the two women got back to work.

A couple of hours went by and Melinda and Delia had finally finished putting all of the new items away. With nothing else to do for the moment, Delia covered the counter and Mel went into the back room to do some personal research online. She had a feeling that this ghost wasn't going to leave her alone until she helped him, so she decided that she might as well start working on the case as soon as possible.

With what little information she had, her best bet would be to search the college website, since the ghost apparently attended Rockland. She started out by looking at the newspaper page and campus police reports. It took her nearly an hour, but finally she came across something. The article read: 'Lucas Burns, age 20, died of alcohol poisoning on September 17th, 2008. Police and paramedics were called to the scene at 10:25 PM. Student was rushed to Mercy Hospital, however he was declared dead on arrival. His personal affects were collected by parents Jason and Angela Burns.' Melinda looked at the picture; it was definitely the ghost she had seen. She jotted down the parents' names on a small pad of light green paper, and proceeded to look them up in Grandview's online phonebook. I might have to pay them a visit later if I can't get any more information out of Lucas. She thought. She glanced at the clock on her computer; it was 11:45. Jim would be meeting her in 15 minutes. She got up from her chair and went back out into the main area of the store.

"Hey." Delia said. "I boxed up some of the stuff we need to inventory. Where do you want it?"

Melinda walked over to the box and picked it up. "I'll take it to the basement. Thanks, Delia."

"Mmm-hmm." Delia mumbled, looking in the mirror behind the counter while she ran her fingers through her hair.

Melinda carried the large box towards the stairs. She was about to descend into the basement when Lucas the ghost appeared right in front of her, almost causing her to drop the box.

"Lucas!" Melinda cried out, jumping with surprise. "Please don't do that."

Lucas glared at her angrily but said nothing. He was giving off a lot of negative energy, causing Melinda to feel nervous and slightly ill. She adjusted the box in her arms.

"I read about how you died." Melinda said a bit anxiously. "Alcohol poisoning. You want to tell me what happened that night?"

"You're going about this the wrong way." Lucas said darkly. "I don't want you talking to them."

"I don't understand." Mel said. "You said that they all need to own up to what they did. Who don't you want me talking to? You have to give me more to go on here."

A sudden gust of air came at Melinda, causing her to drop the box at her feet. She jumped aside quickly, and Lucas reappeared behind her. She spun around to face him. "Stop it!" Mel demanded.

Lucas was nose to nose with Melinda. His eyes were cold and hateful, and his jaw was clenched with rage. "Don't bother them!" He shouted. Melinda stumbled and before she could catch herself she was falling down the stairs. She let out a high pitched scream. It was the last thing she was aware of before making impact.