Nine

I was taking a walk around the park near Gina's apartment while Jesse is at the crash site to find Melinda. I was hoping to find her soon. She would know what to say to comfort me. I mean, Paul wanted me to be his Queen of Hell. But I won't do it if I can't win.

Then, suddenly, I saw a familiar tanned girl's figure with bright orange hair. Gina's shade. I rushed up to her. "Gi…Gina?" I asked shakily.

The girl looked up. "Suze! Oh, Suze, you won't know what has happened to me. I dreamt that I died! And this guy wanted me to kill humans for me to stay here. And then I woke up here, and I can't find Jake, and has being sitting here for days. I've got to hand Jake his present! What's going on?"

Passengers were staring at me, like, what is she doing, hugging the air? I sat down and took a deep breath. Just before I was going to open my mouth, Jake came hurrying by.

"Jake!" Gina got up to hug him. But Jake just walked right past her. "Suze, Jesse called and told me what's going on. You'd better get going."

Gina looked horrified and backed away. "I'm…dead?" she whispered.

"Gina…I'm so sorry." Now I was crying too.

"Gina?" Jake looked around wildly. "Oh my gawd, Gina…please don't tell me she's a ghost, Suze!"

I shook my head, my eyes burning with tears. Gina took out a small package wrapped in red wrapper. "For Jake, my lover, who will always be in my heart."

I took it and handed it to Jake. "Gina sents you her love. Oh, Jake, I…"

Jake looked sad. He cried and moaned Gina's name. Gina was crying too.

All of a sudden, all the crickets stopped shrieking and the owl flew away. A wind blew the smell of trouble towards me. My thumbs prickled. 'By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes'. Now I know what Shakespeare meant.

Paul materialised beside Gina. He patted her on the shoulder. My dear lady, don't be so upset. You can stay here with Jake, if that's what you want. Just join my army, and you can stay."

I gaped in horror. "No, Gina!" I shouted.

"Tsk tsk, Suze. Your friend's lost her life. You want her to lose the man she loved, too?" Paul snapped his hand and other ghosts appeared. Ghosts that apparently joined his army. Juliana is among

them.

"Juliana! Why?" I asked.

"Well, you couldn't find my daughter. I was alone, and Paul was there for me," Juliana said defiantly.

"Jesse is trying now? Will you leave if he finds your daughter?" I demanded. Juliana's resolve weakened.

"I—" Suddenly, headlights break the darkness around us. I turned to see Jesse walking towards us, holding a small girl's hand. Juliana shrieked and flew to the girl.

"Mel! You're alive!" Tears streaming, Juliana smiled tearfully at Jesse. "Thank you so much. I don't know how I can—"

"Juliana, stop complaining and get back on the team," Paul ordered. Juliana ignored him.

"Now that my daughter is safe, I will be able to move on now," she said. Paul scowled.

"Well, you never know what may happen if you were gone, Mrs. Warren. What if an, accident, happened? One that you can stop if you were here," Paul hinted nastily. Juliana turned pale.

"Ohmygawd. That's blackmail!" she shrieked.

Paul shrugged. "Get her, boys!" The ghosts started lumbering toward Melinda. Juliana went to protect her.

"NO! Stop! See, he doesn't care about you at all. What if one day your family died and went to heaven, and you're still here? And what if you wanted to join them up there, but he won't let you? He'll destroy you like he's going to destroy Juliana! He doesn't care if you wanted to move on or not. He only wants to rule the world. And you'll be his slaves. I don't know about you, but I have dignity, and won't do anybody's dirty work. You don't need Paul to stay behind. You only go when there is peace in your heart. So, please, abandon him. He'll bring you to eternal hell!" I cried.

Paul laughed. "How do you know they'll go to heaven, Simon? You ever went into the light before?" he asked, referring to the light in the corridor. "Maybe they'll stay because they don't want to go to hell?"

"Look, I'm not a fanatic or whatever, but I have seen several ghosts moving on peacefully. They're all relaxed and at ease, and they were growing with happiness. Because they can be with their creator, and is at peace with themselves. No more bottled up feelings of hatred and bitterness. Don't you want to feel what it's like to be really peaceful and happy?" I begged.

Some of the ghosts were wavering. They began to shuffle away from Paul.

"Stop it! Come back! If you don't, I'll destroy you!" Paul threatened. A little girl cried and soon there was mass hysteria. Ghosts

grabbed at Paul, while he tried to suck off their soul. But he can only do that one by one. After a few minutes, while he was in the corridor, a ghost killed his body. His soul was left in the void, and he cannot come back again.

Juliana, Gina, and the other ghosts all thanked us before fading away to their utopian heaven or whatever. Jake gave a prayer as he saw moonlight shining down on us. With a final glow, they were gone.

"It's beautiful," Jesse said. I hugged him.

"How did you find Melinda?" I asked. Jesse shrugged.

"I was walking around when I heard a moan. I called the others over, and we dug Melinda up. She had to survive on tap water for days! And she survived because the toilet had an opening through the sewers."

I wrinkled up my nose. Erk. Sewers. "You know what, I'm thirsty after all that dictating," I said.

Jesse laughed. "You make a great Vice-president, Susannah. Let's go."
Jesse and I walked off for a moonlight stroll, leaving Jake kneeling by the bench. The night was lovely, and you can feel the love that is in the air.