"Mitchell!"

Mitchell sighed. She probably wants to know if I want a cup of tea, he grumbled inwardly, and thundered down the stairs and into the kitchen. He'd carried George upstairs- Annie had refused to look at the naked werewolf because she could see his 'bits'- and Mitchell assumed that his friend was sleeping it off. Annie was standing with her back to him, next to the sink. The vampire sighed, and leant against the door frame. "I'm fine for tea, thanks, Annie."

"No, Mitchell- look!"

"Mmm hmmm?" Mitchell answered absent mindedly, not really listening. He strode into the sitting room, where wreckage from George's 'time of the month' was strewn across the bare wooden floor. He sighed, and started filling a bin bag with bits of chair leg. This'll mean another trip to Ikea, the vampire reflected with a shudder. He hated Ikea. Behind him, Annie cleared her throat politely. Mitchell forced a smile before turning to face the beaming ghost. She held his mobile in his hand.

"Look at this, Mitchell!"

He wandered over to take the phone from her outstretched hand. The smile had slid from his face, but she either didn't notice or didn't care.

"It's a phone, Annie."

"No, silly!" The ghost crowed happily, ignoring the blank- yet strangely dark- look her housemate gave her. "Listen to the message!"

With several deep, restraining breaths, Mitchell put the phone to his ear and pressed 'Play Messages'.

"You have one-new-message," the tinny woman's voice informed him dully. Annie was skipping around the room with a brush, squealing ecstatically- more dancing than actual sweeping. "Message one…"

"Hi, Mitchell, it's Owen," was the next thing Mitchell heard, and he groaned; no wonder she was so happy… the message continued. "I just wondered how you all were, and I'm going to pop in later if that's alright. Give me a ring. Bye."

Mitchell snapped his phone shut, only to open it again and began to press Owen's number into the keypad violently. It had to be done… across the room, Annie paused in her manic dancing and looked at him worriedly.

"What are you doing?"

He ignored her, and put the phone to his ear. Annie padded to his side.

"Mitchell?"

"He can't come here, Annie," the vampire told her softly. The ghost gasped.

And kicked him in the shin.

"OW!" Mitchell yelled, dropping the phone and sending it skidding across the room. Annie darted over to snatch it up, cradling it in her arms like a newborn, and glared at him reproachfully as he nursed his leg. "What was that for?!"

"He has to come, Mitchell!"

"He can't, Annie, and you know it! Give me that-"

The ghost put the phone behind her back and danced away as Mitchell jumped towards her. Both jumped when the phone began to ring, and Mitchell took advantage of Annie's temporary distraction to grab his phone and glance at the screen.

"It's Owen," he murmured. "I'm sorry, Annie. He can't come here."

"Please, Mitchell!" Annie's voice sounded wavering. Sure enough, when the vampire glanced up, tears ran down her cheeks hot and fast. Mitchell sighed again: he never had been good with tears… "I'll hide! He won't see me!"

"Annie…"

"Please!"

"No!"

Mitchell yelled as she made another sudden move towards his shin with her foot. All trace of tears gone, Annie glared at her housemate evilly. The vampire shrunk back: he had fought with vampires, grappled with werewolves, but this ghost was scary. Scarier than anything he'd seen. She kicked.

And there was no knowing where she'd aim next…