Author's Note: At long last! I know, it's been forever since I updated. This semester has been agonizingly time consuming. I finally have a little bit of a break from all the homework, since it's almost over, so I got a chance to write another chapter. Not sure how great it is, I think I'm getting kinda rusty due to my writing hiatus, so PLEASE review and let me know what you think: if you love it/hate it/think I should just scrap the whole thing. Anyway, here it is:


After two more days, Melinda was released from the hospital with strict orders not to return to work for a week, and to take it easy in the meantime. If it were up to her, she'd be jumping right back into her normal routine, but Jim simply wouldn't allow it.

It was late evening and Melinda and Jim were lying together on the couch in the living room. There was a fire burning in the fireplace, and the sound of the crackling wood was the only noise in the room other than the sound of their steady breathing. Melinda's head was resting on Jim's chest, and he was running his fingers through her hair affectionately. She was beginning to fall asleep when she felt a breeze, and the fire suddenly went out. She shivered and lifted her head to look towards the fireplace.

In front of the fireplace stood Lucas, staring at Melinda. "Are you gonna help me yet? You said you would help me." He said roughly. As he spoke, the room grew colder.

"What was that?" Jim asked. "Did we leave a window open?"

"No." Melinda said distantly. "We're not alone." She slowly got up and walked over to where Lucas was standing. "How can I help you?" She asked. "Who do you need me to talk to?"

Lucas looked behind him, toward the fireplace, and then looked back at Melinda. Then, he disappeared and the logs spontaneously reignited in a small explosion of fire. Mel jumped, and then she spotted something on the floor right in front of her. She crouched down to pick it up. It was a photo of the guys from her vision. Behind them was a banner that read: Phi Rho Sigma 2008. She was staring at the picture when Jim came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. The sudden contact startled her, and she let out a small gasp.

"Are you alright?" Jim asked, looking at her carefully.

Melinda nodded. "Yeah." She whispered. "Look at this."

Jim look over her shoulder at the picture. "Where… Did that come from?" He asked warily.

"Lucas must have left it for me. I guess these are the guys I need to talk to."


The following day, Melinda and Jim went to Rockland University to pay the fraternity boys a visit. It took hours of begging on Mel's part for Jim to allow her to go, but he finally gave in, on the condition that he was going with her. In the car on the way there, Melinda tried to figure out how she was going to get the guys to talk to her.

"How am I gonna do this?" Melinda asked Jim. "I mean, I can't exactly just come out and say 'hey! I know what you did last summer!' and expect them to confess everything to me."

Jim chuckled. "I'm sure you'll find something. You've never had too many problems getting people to talk before."

"Yeah." Mel said. "I guess you're right."

"Just do what you usually do" Jim suggested, "say you're a friend of Lucas, make up some reason why you'd need to talk to them, and let your good looks and charm do the rest."

"Thanks, Jim!" Mel said sarcastically, slapping Jim on the arm as he laughed. "You're a lot of help."

"Well, I try." Jim said, grinning.

A few minutes later, Melinda was knocking on the door of the frat house with Jim by her side.

"Well here goes nothing." She said. Jim put his hand on her shoulder supportively.

A guy that Melinda recognized from the photo Lucas left her answered the door. He looked like he was about 21 years old, wearing a long sleeved fraternity t-shirt and a Rockland University baseball cap.

"Hey. What's up." He said, looking at Melinda and Jim.

"Hi. My name is Melinda, this is my husband Jim. I'm a friend of Lucas Burns, and I was just wondering if I could talk to you about the night he died." Mel said, deciding it was best to be somewhat honest.

The guy looked away and sighed with annoyance. "Look, I've already talked to the police, reporters, and people here at Rockland about what happened. I've got nothing else to say."

"It's okay." Melinda said. "I'm not here to judge, or to blame anyone. I just want to talk." The guy just stared at Melinda coldly for a moment, so she decided to add, "I never got a chance to talk to Lucas one last time before he died… I was just wondering how he was doing."

The guy's expression softened a bit, and he moved aside to let Melinda and Jim into the house. He walked them over to a large sectional couch where they could all sit down.

"So how did you know Lucas?" The guy asked.

"He's a family friend, really. I know his father, Jason." Melinda stated.

Jim thought for a moment, his brow creased in confusion. Then, he made the connection, and looked at Melinda with surprise. Melinda saw Jim's face out of the corner of her eye, and she cursed herself silently. She'd completely forgotten that Jim didn't know that Dr. Burns was Lucas's father. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to explain myself later… She thought.

The guy nodded. "So what do you want to know?"

"How was he doing?" Melinda asked. "In school? Socially? …I mean, I know he died of alcohol poisoning. I'm just trying to understand what would make him do that to himself."

"I have no idea." The guy said grimly. "We didn't know that he had been drinking. We have a pretty strict policy in the house about alcohol and underage drinking."

Just then, Lucas appeared on the other side of the room. Melinda shivered. He looked different than he usually appeared to her… He looked darker, more evil.

"He's a liar." Lucas growled angrily, and a mirror behind him fell off the wall and shattered.

"What the hell?!" The guy exclaimed, and jumped up to look at the broken mirror lying in pieces on the floor.

Melinda and Jim also stood up. Jim looked at Mel, who was staring across the room with a faraway look in her eyes. He grabbed her hand, trying to bring her attention back to him.

"I'm sorry." The guy said. "Weird stuff has been happening here lately. It's crazy."

Melinda's gaze remained fixed on Lucas, who was rapidly pacing on the other side of the room. He kept repeating the same thing over and over again, making her dizzy.

"They're all liars. I'll make them pay. They all are liars. I'll make them pay!"

"What kind of weird stuff?" Jim asked, still holding Melinda's hand.

"Stuff breaking." The guy said. "Things spontaneously flying off the wall. Radios turning on and off by themselves…" The guy kept talking, however his voice was growing low and muffled to Melinda's ears. Her head was throbbing, and Lucas' words continued to echo in her mind. She watched helplessly as Lucas appeared in front of the TV across the room. It was a large flat screen panel, mounted on the wall. Lucas stood beneath it and grinned evilly.

Meanwhile, the guy stopped talking mid-sentence, noticing that Melinda suddenly didn't look well. She was extremely pale, her eyes were glazed over, and she was beginning to sway a bit. Jim noticed as well, and he put his arm around her back in an effort to keep her steady.

"Honey?" Jim asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Is she okay?" The guy asked.

Across the room, the TV suddenly made a loud popping sound and sparks went flying everywhere. Lucas laughed madly, and then abruptly disappeared. It was the last thing Melinda saw before everything went black.


Jim tried to shield Melinda from the sparks flying across the room. He jumped in front of her and threw his arms around her. Just then, she collapsed right into his arms.

"Mel?!" He cried out, holding her limp body against him. "Melinda!" There was no response.

The sparks from the TV ignited a fire in the corner of the room. The TV itself was up in flames, as well as a shelving unit beneath it; and the fire was spreading quickly. Shit. Jim thought, as his instinct to put out the fire kicked in. But at the moment, his wife was more important. "Come on, babe." He whispered. "You're okay." He shifted Melinda's weight in his arms so he was holding her bridal-style and could carry her more easily.

Jim glanced at the fraternity guy, who was just standing there, in shock, looking from the fire, to the unconscious Melinda, and back again. "Get everyone out of the house!" Jim shouted. "Call 9-1-1."

The guy nodded, and ran into another room. Jim rushed out of the house with Melinda and made sure they were a safe distance away before gently placing her on the grass. He cradled her head in his lap, and lightly patted her cheeks.

"Mel? Honey, wake up." He pleaded worriedly. There was still no response. He checked her pulse and breathing. He knew that her condition was probably caused by the ghost, but he couldn't help but worry that it was something else. I shouldn't have let her come here. He thought frantically. She just got out of the hospital. I should have made her stay home and rest.

He continued trying to wake her, oblivious to everything going on around him. The fire had now spread to the entire 1st floor of the house. All of the boys had evacuated and were standing around the front yard, watching their house burn. A minute later, two fire trucks and an ambulance arrived. Jim's friend and coworker Bobby was working, and he ran over as soon as he spotted Jim and Melinda.

"Jim! What happened?" Bobby asked, crouching down beside him.

"It's an electrical fire… The TV exploded." Jim said quickly. "And Melinda just collapsed. I can't wake her up. She shouldn't have been released from the hospital so soon. I knew I shouldn't have let her come out. I knew it, and…."

Bobby interrupted Jim. "Jim! Calm down. It's gonna be alright. Take a deep breath, she'll be okay." He said, knowing how overprotective Jim was of Melinda. "Is she breathing?"

"Yes." Jim said, his voice cracking a bit. "Her pulse is strong."

"Alright." Bobby said, standing up. "I'm gonna get the stretcher. It'll be alright."

Jim watched his friend run off, and he stroked Melinda's hair and continued softly talking to her. "Please wake up, Mel. I love you…"


Jim paced the hospital corridor, waiting for any news concerning Melinda. It had only been 15 minutes at most since they'd brought her in, but it felt like days to him. He stopped and looked towards the doors leading to the emergency room when he heard his name being called.

"Jim!" Bobby called out, walking towards him.

"Bobby." Jim said worriedly. "How is she? Is she awake?"

"She's not awake yet." Bobby said, seeing the disappointment and sadness immediately washing over Jim's face. "They're not sure what caused her to pass out… They figure it's just too much stress too soon after being released with her kind of injuries."

Jim shook his head and punched the wall beside him, angry at himself for letting her get into this situation. Bobby jumped a bit at Jim's sudden outburst, and then put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Hey, man. She's gonna be alright." Bobby said soothingly. "She just needs to rest."

Jim simply nodded. "Ok." He said quietly. "Can I see her now?"

Bobby nodded and showed Jim to Melinda's room. Jim sat down in his usual spot beside her bed, and took her hand in his and kissed it tenderly. No matter how many times he saw her like this: lying in a hospital bed, looking so vulnerable, so small; he could never get used to it. He held her hand tightly, brushed her hair away from her face, and kissed her forehead. Then, all he could do was wait for her to wake up.