Chapter 3

After she closed the antique shop for the day, she drove over to Eli's apartment. When she arrived she knocked on the door for a while before he finally opened it up.

She rushed by him and headed towards the couch. "I need your help with a spirit." "Well hello to you too." "I'm sorry, I just really need your help on this one."

Eli decided to give up on ever getting a 'hello' out of Melinda. "So what seems to be the problem that the great Melinda Gordon can't fix herself."

Melinda ignored his usual sarcasm and moved straight to the point. "This spirit has been sending me clues, but I can't piece them together. They just don't make any sense at all."

It was obvious that she was very frustrated. She had been searching through her mind for answers night and day. "Okay, so what were these clues?"

"They seem to revolve around the feeling that you can't breathe." "So he suffocated and died, end of story." Melinda couldn't believe this, it just seemed too easy.

"But nothing is ever that simple." "Then what other hints did it leave?" "He said I have to hurry." "Hurry? For what, he's already dead." "That's exactly my point. I don't have the slightest idea."

"Then try confronting him." "But Eli…" She had a bad feeling about this. "It's not that hard." he said in confidence. "Spirit, come out!" he shouted.

"Show yourself!" he demanded. Melinda was a little relieved when nothing happened. "See, he's just too much of a wuss to show himself." "Eli!"

The number one rule that everyone should know is that you should never try to piss off a ghost. Apparently, Eli was never taught this.

Suddenly, there was a cold chill. The spirit was right behind him on the other side of the couch. It was obvious that he was angry by the glare in his eyes towards Eli.

When Melinda's face went very pale, Eli knew something was wrong. "He's here isn't he?" He only received a nod from her.

Then the spirit wrapped its' fingers around Eli's neck and began to strangle him. Eli lost his breath. He couldn't breath, it felt like someone was choking him.

"Eli!" Melinda had quickly gotten her voice back. "Stop it! Let go of him!" The spirit didn't listen to her. He continued to suffocate Eli. Draining the life out of him.

Melinda had to do something fast. If this continued, Eli would be nothing, but a corpse. But what could she do? It was a spirit. So she couldn't physically make him stop. All she had were her words.

"Stop! You're going to kill him!" That one word began to echo inside the spirit's mind. 'Kill…Kill…' His grip around Eli's neck began to loosen.

Melinda took this as her chance to lead Eli far away from the spirit. Eli was leaning on her shoulders, gasping for breath. "Are you all right?" "I…I think so."

Melinda looked back at the spirit before he disappeared once again. He showed no remorse. It was like it didn't matter to him if he almost killed someone or not.

"Is…is he gone?" "Yeah,…he's gone." Eli released a sigh of relief. But it was a little too soon.

Melinda sat Eli back down on the couch. "What were you thinking?" "That he wouldn't show up." His answer wasn't well perceived by Melinda.

"Why would you endanger yourself like that? He could have killed you!" she shouted. She was obviously angry.

Why would Eli do something so…stupid? "I'm sorry, I really didn't think he could hurt me." "Then you weren't thinking were you?"

He had no reply for her. He knew she was right. He hadn't been thinking at all. Since he had nothing else to say, she decided to let herself out.

"Melinda…" she closed the door with a loud audible sound. Melinda began her drive home. She was somewhat blaming herself for what happened to Eli.

If only she had never went over to his apartment in the first place. But now she had put him in danger. 'Why did I ever get Eli involved?'

She knew that the spirit was powerful and what it was capable of. So why did she have to bring him in the middle of this? He almost died because of her.

As she continued driving, more fog began to blur her vision of the road. She made a right she thought would lead her back home.

As soon as she made that turn, her car began to travel downwards. It was like she drove herself into a ditch, but so much worse.

Melinda began to panic. Her car descended down the cliff. She had no to think as her car smashed into the rocks and boulders at the end of the cliff.

Her head slammed itself against the steering wheel. The air bag didn't properly open up. Her seat belt kept her from letting gravity take over.

Without it, she would have died instantly. She could no longer feel her legs. They were trapped below the steering wheel. She leaned forward as far as she could to see the damage.

Her legs were not even recognizable anymore. They were both covered in blood and she could see some broken bones.

Blood began to seep down her face from her head injury. She was already in enough pain and her head never stopped throbbing. But she was trapped inside her car with no way out.

She wouldn't be able to call for help unless… 'Where's my phone?' She slowly looked at her surroundings. She searched everywhere, but it was nowhere in sight.

When she stopped looking for it, her gaze landed on the hood of the car. There it was, her phone. But the screen was completely cracked.

And she didn't think she could move, let alone reach something that was over three feet away from her. Besides, her head was in too much pain to think of a solution.

She could feel herself beginning to lose consciousness. She had really thought that this was her last day to live.

Before she could fully slip into unconsciousness, she saw him. The spirit was standing outside her car's window watching her die and doing nothing about it.

He was the last image she saw as her body lost all movement and went limp. She had finally let go of her hold to stay awake.

An: I posted this as an early Happy New Year gift.

Youtube Channel: Emmamain100

Oingo Boingo: I know it's seems a bit greedy for me to ask for a lot of reviews, but all of your reviews are the only thing I have to look forward to in life.

And more reviews = faster update. Instead of waiting months for me to finally update and me feeling bad for taking so long and disappointing my fans.

P.S. I already have up to chapter 6 written, so as soon as I get enough reviews I'll update this story.

Happy New Year!

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