Hey guess what? I'm actually still alive! I know it's been FOREVER since I last posted, and most of you probably lost interest in the story, but in the off chance that you didn't, well, here it is:

When I woke, I was alone.

Ignoring the pain in my feet, I pushed myself to a standing position and leaned against a tree. Where could the others have gone? I strained my senses, reaching out for any sign of them. Nada, not even a distant snapping twig that would let me know they were close. Confused and more than a little frustrated that they would just leave me without someone staying behind to tell me where they had gone, I stepped forward. Thankfully it seemed as if most of last night's shallow cuts had scabbed over by now, and as long as I went slowly my feet were fine.

I crept forward, glancing down before each step to avoid the worst of the pointy stones and branches. "Derek?" I called softly, knowing he would hear me if he was within several hundred yards. There was no response but I didn't dare call any louder than that, not with the Edison Group searching for us.

"Simon?" I tried, though I should have known that if Derek hadn't been able to hear me, Simon wouldn't have been able to. "Tori? Guys, this isn't funny." I said it, but I didn't really believe it was a joke.

A heavy dread was starting to grow in the pit of my stomach. If I was being honest, I knew Derek wouldn't have just left me alone and unprotected. Telling myself otherwise was lying. But if they didn't leave me, that would have to mean something terrible had happened to them. And I just didn't want to acknowledge that possibility yet.

"Derek? Where are you?" I ducked under a low hanging branch. Wet leaves brushed the top of my head, spilling droplets down my back beneath the papery hospital gown, making me shiver. It was foggy, the entire worlds seeming to be coated by a gray blanket of mist. It was thick enough that I struggled to see past twenty yards in front of me.

It must have still been early morning for it to be this foggy, I reasoned. That would also explain why even though it was relatively light out, I couldn't see the sun. "Derek?" my hear thudded against my ribcage, threatening to escape.

My breathing came heavier now as I was forced to admit something was very wrong. My friends must be in trouble, they could be hurt, they could be…

"Hello."

If I said I didn't jump at the voice, I'd be lying. I leapt back, eyes darting around the forest. I slowly backed up until my back was to a tree, reaching down to pick up a branch and hold it in front of me. I knew I wouldn't be able to do much damage with a two foot long stick, especially if the figure that was materializing out of the mist was armed, but it felt good to at least hold something.

"Sorry," the stranger took another step forward. The voice was male and towered over me, though they were still far enough away that I couldn't make out any specific features. "I didn't mean to scare you. It's just, I've been looking for you."

I froze, debating. I could try to run but they had clearly already seen me. With the state my feet were in, I doubted I would get very far anyway. I could hide? Where, was the question. No time for that. I wasn't just going to turn myself in, though.

I shifted my grip on the stick, settling it more comfortably in the palm of my hand, prepared to fight. The figure took another step towards me, then another, until they were visible.

My first instinct was to relax, surely there wasn't any danger. The person standing in front of me was a boy who couldn't have been much older than me, with shaggy light brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He was tall and lanky, even more so than Simon, and an infectious grin was painted on his face. He looked so…friendly. It was hard to imagine he meant me any harm.

What would Derek do?

I hoisted the stick higher.

"Hi," he cocked his head, gaze fixed on the stick, the smile slipping a little bit. "Um…I'm not going to hurt you, you know."

I didn't say anything, keeping my teeth clamped tightly together, a glare painted on my face that would have made Derek proud.

After a moment he sighed, the smile disappearing entirely, though he still managed to look like a friendly puppy. A friendly puppy that I had just kicked, to be precise. Seeing that look of utter rejection on his face, I let the branch drop a fraction of an inch.

"Look," he took a seat on a nearby rock, picking at a scrap of moss that clung to it, "you aren't dead, right? I mean, you still seem alive, but…" he shrugged.

"Who," I had to take a deep breath and start again, "Who are you?"

"Me?" he glanced up. "I'm John Lennon."

"What?" I had to admit, he had surprised me.

"Yeah," he laughed at the shock in my eyes. "We age backwards here."

I studied him through narrowed eyes. "Where is 'here'?" Though I was beginning to be able to guess.

"The Afterlife," he said it like it was a proper noun so that one couldn't help but capitalize the first letter. I looked around, taking in my surroundings with a new perspective. Was it possible that I was somewhere else- a whole new world, it seemed- than the forest we had fallen asleep in last night? I suppose it was, as the current setting really could have been any forest. It had been too dark last night to tell for sure.

"But I'm not dead…" I said, confused. I wasn't dead, right? At least, I couldn't remember it happening, and you would have thought that I would have known if I died…

"Oh, so I was right?" he grinned again. "That's good, because we really need your help."

"Who's 'we'?"

"All of us."

"Thanks, that really clears it up." As I spoke, I realized the branch had fallen more and more and was now hanging loose at my side. I almost brought it back up again to defend myself, but decided that wouldn't be necessary. The boy had returned to picking the moss off the rock and didn't seem like he was going to attack any time soon. I figured if he had a gun he would have used it by now, and using any other weapon I might be able to take him.

"Ghosts," he clarified.

"What am I doing here, though?" I couldn't fathom how, after failing to conjure a ghost for the past few weeks, I was suddenly at the place where ghosts actually went. It was disconcerting, this sudden appearance of my powers. Even more unsettling was the fact that I really had no idea how I had gotten there, or how I would get back.

"You're going to stop the war," he said it simply.

"Huh?" was my intelligent reply.

"You're the Peace-Bringer," the boy said. "You started this war, so now you're going to have to fix it."

"What war?"

"The ghost war. There are some who believe we should take power in the human world. You can imagine that after dying, some people here hold a bit of a grudge against the living. We're trying to stop them, but if they defeat us, there'll be nothing stopping them from attacking the humans." My head was spinning so much I had to sit down. "That's why you have to fix things before it gets to that point."

"How is this my fault, though?" my ears were ringing.

He frowned sympathetically. "The ghosts leading the anti-living movement are doing so because of you, I'm afraid."

"Royce and Rae," I gave a little groan, hanging my head. Please let this be a dream. Otherwise, it was simply too much to handle.

"Yeah," he nodded once.

"What can I do?" For I had to do something. If this wasn't a dream, then things had really gotten messed up. I was going to have to fix them somehow.

"For now, nothing. I think you've been in the Afterlife for long enough. You're going a little translucent already, like all the new ghosts," he nodded at my hand. I glanced down and saw with alarm that it had taken on an almost shimmery glint, and I could see the outline of my bare leg through it.

"But…how do I get back?"

"You're a necromancer, it shouldn't be too hard. Try…visualization?" he supplied.

I pictured myself waking up, still curled next to Derek. A tugging in my stomach started, as if someone had tied a rope around me and was pulling. "That seems to be working," he observed, "you're flickering a little."

There was one other thing that was bothering me, though… "John Lennon had brown eyes," I accused.

He threw back his head and laughed, a very nice laugh I had to admit. "You're right," his blue eyes flickered mischievously. "I just wanted to see if you would buy it. My name's Brian-"

The invisible rope around me tugged once more, and I was gone.

So, I make you wait for god knows how long, and then drop this bomb on you all? Please feel free to hate me. I understand this is a tad too dramatic/plot twisty, but I figured I owed you something juicy after all this time. If it's too incredibly insane let me know and maybe I'll fix it…