Summary: Suze moved away from home and got a job. Jesse went with her and they lived happily, that is, until it all went wrong.
Book 6 never happened. Set in the future.
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The lights flickered for a few minutes and then went off, leaving the building in darkness once again. The faint sunlight of the end of the day never shone any light in to the building due to its position and the place seemed even creepier because of it.
An old computer monitor was in the corner of a cold, abandoned room. The screen flickered on, coming to life for a few moments and then going black again. Water dripped through the tiles in the roof, splashing the monitor and soaking the floor around it.
A tap could be heard dripping somewhere in the building, though it had been nearly five years since the building had been supplied with any water and most of the water in the tanks had evaporated. The only water still entering the building was that of the rain that seeped in through the broken glass in an upstairs window and partly through the roof. Over the years it had slowly made its way through the top floor and dripped in to the room below. Wallpaper was coming off the walls and the damp was getting worse.
The building had once been offices and a lot of the furniture still remained in the building, rotting away or simply gathering dust. The reception desk downstairs had suffered from neglect. It was falling to pieces and the wooden cabinets at the end were rotting away where the water had soaked through. Odd pieces of forgotten paper lay in the drawers of cabinet, barely readable now.
The front doors had once been a stunning red that glimmered in the sunlight. Now the doors were chipped and the red was peeling off. The handles were once always shinning, showing even the slightest finger prints, but those too were now dull and unused, rusting away and loose.
There was a loud ringing, echoing around the building, but no one was there to hear it. A dusty phone rang in the dark, but there was no one to answer it. The wire to the phone suddenly snapped and the ringing ended. A cabinet drawer opened and then slammed shut and floorboards creaked.
Nobody had been to the place in years. The building stood alone. It had always been out the way and only a handful of people had ever worked there, though it had been a happy place. It had been filled with laughing, joking and people working hard to get to where they wanted to be. People were filled with hope and the company was planning on expanding that summer.
The winter had been harsh on the building and the winds and heavy snowfall had damaged part of it. There were plans to rebuild part of the building and add an extension to the side for the ever growing workforce. Summer came though and nothing had been done. Summer ended and the building was in an even worse state and almost beyond repair.
During the day there had been a power cut and when they got the power back something went wrong. It was believed there was a faulty appliance, possibly trigged by the power cut, which had caught fire. It had paper on it and nearby was a lot of wooden furniture. The fire spread quickly and it wasn't long before the whole building was alight. Firemen arrived and put out the blaze, but the place was barely recognisable and it was that day they lost one of their workers. They tried to sort the place out, but in the end it was too much and they all left and moved to a bigger place just outside of the town.
The building was abandoned and forgotten, along with the tragic events of the day. No one wished to remember it and those who cared for the person who died didn't live there.
Sitting near the top of the hill, the building was a reminder to anyone who gazed upon it. The hill rose behind it, shadowing it and making it appear darker than it was. Despite this the workers had ignored that and always had lights on. It had always made the place seem cheerful and it wasn't unusual for people to sit and watch the sun set behind the hill. Not any more though.
The small town lay below the hill, but few ventured anywhere near the foot of the hill. There were few visitors to the town and the town's people rarely looked that way, never speaking a word if they did happen to glance in its direction.
The sun set behind the hill, showing the end of another day and bringing darkness to the whole town. The town became quieter. The glow from the TVs disappeared and people turned off their lights as they went to bed. The town became lifeless except for the few animals that came out at night, scavenging for food and the young play fighting with each other.
Up on the hill a chime could be heard and all the animals stopped in their tracks as if hearing it for the first time. The people stirred slightly or just slept through, but no one woke. They were all used to it. It happened every night at twelve o'clock. It was the only time it could be heard and no one questioned why it chimed thirteen times. Maybe no one had ever counted or maybe they just didn't want to know the reason.
If anyone had looked at the time they wouldn't have seen anything out the ordinary. An old clock standing tall, amazingly still in great condition, against the wall in the reception area, both hands pointing to the twelve. The area set out how it had been when in use, although not in the condition it was before.
What no one would have seen is the young woman standing in front of it, her eyes showing sadness. She stood there every night in silence, just remembering and unable to let go of the past and that day when her life was taken horribly from her. The extra chime of the clock was caused by her. A sign that she is still there.
After the clock had stopped chiming a boy walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the forehead. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leant her head on his chest with a sigh.
Suze was glad that Jesse was there for her. He had moved with her and come to find her when she hadn't returned home that night. Now the two stayed together in the building, waiting and wondering.
As a mediator Suze knew that all ghosts needed to move on, though some didn't want to and others didn't know how. She thought that when she died she would move on and finally know what happens after that. Her love for Jesse had kept her from moving on and now she was unsure if she would ever know what happens. It didn't seem to bother Jesse though. He had everything he wanted in his arms and he didn't plan to let go.