There will be 9 chapters. But the last 2 are short. this is the bulk of the story right here. pay attention.

"You really think this will work?" Jack asked Milton as he looked around.

All four kids were standing in the forest at the lake's edge, shivering as a chill breeze swept through the heavily shaded grove. After almost an entire afternoon of brainstorming, they had come up with a plan. Odessa was convinced Kim would be hurt because she didn't have closure from her own experiences so, to give her the closure she needed to leave Kim alone, the group settled on getting revenge.

It was easier said than done, getting revenge on a couple of teenage boys over 30 years later. Eventually, they decided on returning to the lake where Odessa was found, calling for her, and then explaining how she was valued. When they had her cooperation, they would work with her on prosecuting the boys who got away scot-free and discovering what exactly had gone wrong that night.

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"Well, no, but I don't-"

"Then this is our best bet to help Kim," Milton decided.

Jack knew Milton was right, but it was hard to let happen.

"How are you feeling, Kim?" Jerry asked, skipping some stones into the lake, sending ripples that warped the reflection of the rising moon.

"Cold," Kim grunted.

She hadn't expected it to be near that cold. It wasn't that late in the year yet, but apparently being in a shady forest at dusk did not listen to normal weather laws. Then again, everyone had brought a light jacket and Kim even wore a scarf, and yet Kim was the only one freezing her butt off.

Jack shrugged off his own jacket and wrapped it around Kim's shoulders. "Better?"

Kim hated to admit that Jack's jacket did feel better. Although, even with double layers, Kim couldn't seem to get rid of her chill, as if it had nothing to do with the weather or what she was wearing.

"Thanks…" she mumbled.

"So are we going to get this started or what?" Jerry interrupted.

"Yes," Milton answered, stepping forward and unknowingly pushing Kim and Jack aside.

Kim and Jack shared a look before following along with Jerry excitedly trailing behind.

When they reached the edge of the lake, everyone turned to Kim.

"So how do we summon her?" Jerry asked.

"I don't know," Kim admitted. "She usually just… shows up."

"Why don't we all go wait out of sight since we know she doesn't like to be in the same place as the rest of us," Milton suggested.

Kim grimaced. She had already been expecting as much when they had originally made the plan but it didn't make it any easier to let the boys abandon her at the same spot those boys had done to Odessa all those years ago. What if the threat still lurked?

"Just because we're out of sight doesn't mean we'll be out of sound," Jack reminded Kim. "If you scream we'll be here right away."

"You sure?" Kim asked quietly.

Jack nodded, discreet smacking the other boys until they nodded as well.

"Well… fine," Kim agreed.

Jack pulled Kim into his arms, wrapping his body tightly around hers and finally warming her up. "You can do this," he whispered into her ear.

Kim smiled and Jack let go all too soon. With that, he left with the others and Kim was standing alone at the bank.

Unsure what else she could do, Kim raised her hands to her face and opened her mouth. "Odessa!" she called. "Odessa! I know you're out there. Odessa!"

Kim paused, wondering what the boys could hear and how stupid she sounded. Still, they had no better way. Raising her hands again, she called out.

"Odessa! I need to talk to you! About… that night! Odessa!"

Kim paused again, then raised her hands to give it one last try.

Before she could make a sound, a sudden icy chill blew through the clearing and Kim stopped. She knew what was coming before she could see it.

Despite calling out for her, the sight of Odessa-pale, white, levitating-still shocked Kim and she took a small step back in fear.

"What are you doing here?" Odessa shrieked. "Leave now! Leave!"

Ignoring her requests, Kim began to investigate. "Listen, a-about that night, when did-"

"Leave now! Get out of here! You are not safe! Leave!"

"We just wanted to-"

"Leave!"

Suddenly Kim's words were caught in her throat. She couldn't speak. Odessa moved, she was right in front of Kim. She was inches away and Kim's eyes widened at the sight. She quickly stepped away, but Odessa just followed.

"Leave!" Odessa hissed. "Turn back now! Run!"

Kim tried to speak, she tried to stop, but Odessa was doing something to her. It was all she could do to just swallow and stumble away from the water.

Kim tripped on a loose rock and fell back, her right arm and hip taking the brunt of the fall. It hurt, but Kim could hardly feel the stinging pain.

Odessa flew closer and Kim thought she would fly straight through her if not for a sound behind her startling Odessa back.

"Kim!" Jack called, hurrying towards their fallen female friend.

"Odessa," Milton addressed, almost reverently, as he took in the sight of the ghost.

"Ghosts are real," Jerry marveled.

Despite the boys' presence, Odessa did not flee, although Kim knew she was beyond fearful.

"Run!" Odessa shrieked, pleaded to Kim.

Kim still couldn't move. She let out a gargled cry and coughed.

Jack took a concerned step towards her with outstretched arms when Odessa screamed.

Jack stopped in his tracks and looked curiously at the ghost.

"Do not touch her!" Odessa yelled. "Leave!"

"We're not going to hurt her," Milton tried to reason. "We're her friends. We came to help you."

Odessa shook her head rapidly. "No! No, liars! That's what they said! Leave!"

When Milton and the others did nothing of the such, and Kim continued to cough on the bank of the lake, Odessa acted. She flew straight towards Kim.

"No!" Jack shouted.

"Wait!"

"Woah, woah!"

Kim looked up at the cries from the guys just in time to see Odessa come at her once more only this time, she didn't stop.

For a few moments, there was nothing but silence.

Odessa was seemingly gone and just Kim remained.

The boys gave each other side glances as they slowly walked toward Kim.

Suddenly, Kim dropped to the ground, laying on her side. Jack rushed to her side, his hands on her arms as he pulled her into his lap.

"Kim? Kim, wake up!"

Milton's hand flew to her neck to check her pulse while Jerry moved her limbs to a more comfortable position.

"She's still breathing, I don't-"

Kim's body started shifting, like waking up from a good night's sleep. When her eyes opened, she seemed confused.

"Kim," Jack exhaled, lifting a hand to her face to brush his fingers across the skin.

Kim studied Jack for a moment before she bolted upright. Afraid she would pass out again, Jack kept a tight grip on her.

"Let go of me!" Kim suddenly screamed.

Jack, unfamiliar with Kim screaming demands, let go immediately.

As soon as she was free, Kim shot out of Jack's arms.

"Kim, wait-"

Kim just ignored Jack and stumbled to stand up.

"Slow down, Kim-"

"Don't touch me!" On her feet, Kim shuffled back before turning around and rushing away from the rest of the guys.

Jerry, the closest to her, hurried after her, grabbing her by the arm only a few steps later.

Kim screamed as if Jerry's hand was made of lava.

Jerry was about to let go when Jack hurried to the scene and joined them. He grabbed Kim's other arm and restrained her.

Kim screamed her head off.

"Let her go, man!" Jerry tried to shout over the screams.

"He can't let her run away!" Milton shouted back.

"Just make her shut up!"

Jack could hardly hear anything, but got the gist and quickly put a hand over Kim's mouth. Almost immediately he felt a sharp sting and realized Kim bit him.

Jack cursed as he let go and wondered how he was going to get Kim to be quiet.

Milton acted first, ripping off Kim's scarf and stuffing it unceremoniously into her mouth.

Jack would have scolded him for being so rough, but it got the job done and his ears were no longer burning.

Having her scarf removed, and stuffed in her mouth, only made Kim more frantic as she thrashed in Jack's hold.

Jack adjusted so he could wrap both arms around her and soon she was immobilized. She shook still, but they were much smaller movements.

As things quieted down, all that could be heard were Kim's muffled but agonizing screams and the shuffling of Jack's feet to stay upright as he held her body.

Milton and Jerry watched Kim curiously before Jack finally had enough.

"What are we supposed to do? Kim won't stop screaming, we don't know why, and Odessa is gone!"

Milton's eyes widened. "No she's not!" he gasped, suddenly stepping in front of Kim.

Jerry looked around for the ghost but couldn't see anything still. "Where?"

"Here," Milton said, pointing to Kim. "She's inside Kim!"

"What?" Jack and Jerry shouted at the same time.

"Think about it, she obviously wants Kim to leave. She was in distress and our presence only made it worse. Then you tried to touch Kim. Odessa flew at her, disappeared, and then suddenly Kim wanted nothing to do with us. Odessa is in Kim's mind," Milton explained.

"But she sounded like Kim. And she responded to Kim, not Odessa," Jack pointed out, wondering if Kim would be okay or if she was even still there. Could something like this even happen?

"Perhaps she is somehow both of them now?" Milton guessed. "There's only one way to find out."

"Kiss her?" Jerry suggested. "If she pushes me away, Kim is in there. If she likes it, somebody else is in there cause the only girl that has ever refused me is Kim."

Jack would have smacked Jerry if he had a free hand but Milton did it for him.

"No. We get her in a controlled environment and let her loose," Milton explained.

At Milton's direction, Jerry and Jack moved to their respective locations while Milton moved to his. When they were all ready, Jack carried Kim to the middle and released her.

Kim ripped the scarf from her mouth and backed away from the boys surrounding her, looking frantically for a way out. When her foot stepped too close to the water, she sprang forwards as if the water would drown her if she stayed longer than a second.

"Kim," Jack said softly, "It's just us." Jack took a careful step forwards but Kim matched it with a step back.

"Stay away from me," she trembled, holding out her hands in case Jack tried to charge at her.

"Kim, we're trying to help you."

Jack took another step. Kim whimpered as she retreated again. "No!" she cried weakly.

Jack sighed, afraid Kim was going to hurt herself if she kept backing up and shaking as violently as she was. As he walked towards her, she took pitiful shuffles back but Jack was there in just a few seconds and had his arms around her again.

Kim crumbled immediately, no longer fighting it. "Please don't hurt me!"

Jack took another look at her. Kim would never act like that.

"Guys this isn't her. What do we do?" Jack worried. Was Kim okay? Was she gone? Could they get her back or would they have to live with a skittish girl from 1980 stuck in Kim's body?

"This is better, isn't it?" Jerry asked after coming to terms with the fact that their friend was currently being possessed by the ghost that had been haunting her. "We can talk to the ghost now, and convince her to stop hurting Kim."

Milton nodded, "Jerry's right, let's just keep going with the plan. We have to figure out what happened that night. We have to know how Odessa died."

Jack sighed, but nodded, letting go of Kim/Odessa to do just that.

"Odessa," he spoke confidently. "We don't mean to hurt you."

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because that only made the panic rise again.

"Stay back!" she said, quickly shoving her hands between the pair to keep Jack at a distance.

"Okay!" Jack conceded. "We won't touch you. We want to help you."

Odessa shook her head. "No, you'll hurt me! You'll hurt me just like them!"

"No, we're not them," Jack insisted. "We're Kim's friends. We care about her. We want to save her and help her and we want to do the same for you."

"No!"

"Yes," Jack nodded. "We can help you. Just tell us what happened that night. We'll get you justice. Just tell us how you died."

Kim shook her head.

"We know they took you here. We know they left you," Jack said softly, carefully. "What happened after that?"

Odessa involuntarily took a step back.

"I- I couldn't get out-" she stuttered. "There was- there was something there- there in the water- No!"

Odessa screamed again as she took another step back, then another, then another. Her foot touched the water, the frigid water.

Jack stepped forward, to pull Kim's body back to safety but it only pushed her back more.

"Don't!" Kim gasped. "You'll scare- her!"

Jack stopped, looking back at Milton and Jerry for some kind of guidance but neither of them knew how to take it either. They were watching their friend be possessed and rather paranoid. They were just as scared.

"I- I can't!" Odessa whispered, eyes wide with panic as she looked around. "I can't!" she screamed.

"Odessa, calm down. We can help!" Jack tried to tell her.

"Jack!" Kim gasped, it was Kim now, really Kim. "It's calling her back!"

She took another step back, now ankle-deep.

"No! You can't take me back! You can't pull me back there! I won't go! I'm not finished!" Odessa screamed as her body seemed to be pulled back yet again.

A rock covered in mud caught Kim's foot as she walked and she fell backward into the water. Her entire body was submerged in a foot and a half of freezing lake water.

Kim tried to take control of her body, tried to use her limbs to push herself to the surface, but Odessa was too strong. Odessa wouldn't let go, she could feel it.

Odessa's soul was being pulled deep into the lake by some force and neither Odessa nor Kim was strong enough to resist. If Odessa didn't let her go soon, Kim would drown just like her.

The water was beyond freezing, Kim was numb and couldn't tell if she would even be able to move her limbs if Odessa wasn't in control. She opened her mouth to scream, or maybe it was Odessa, and her mouth filled with the cold lake water. She could feel it enter every inch of her body, inside and out. If it didn't take so long to die of frostbite Kim would have believed that to be the cause of death.

Jack let out a curse as Kim went under. He wasn't sure if staying back still applied but when she didn't reappear, he knew there wasn't much more harm Odessa could do than drown Kim.

Rushing forward, Jack splashed through the water to get to Kim's limp body. His hand gripped around her arm he yanked up, meeting resistance at the surface of the water and accidentally dropping her.

"Jerry, Milton!" Jack screamed frantically. "I can't get her out! She's going to drown!"

Jerry and Milton took the last few steps and joined in with Jack, using their combined strength to finally lift Kim out of the water and drag her to shore. They managed to pull her several feet from the water, but her body refused to be carried further away from the lake. The force that kept her pulled under had relented only enough to get her out of the water, but not away completely.

"She's fr-freezing!" Jack chattered, pushing Kim's hair out of her face as he held her in his lap.

Kim was limp, had her eyes closed, and was barely breathing. She was cold to the touch with no sun to warm her up and dressed in soaking wet clothes.

"Her wet clothes are- making it worse," Milton said quickly, crouching down as he reached for the jacket Jack had given her earlier. "The water absorbs too much of her body heat. She could get- hypothermia if we don't warm her up."

Jack nodded and worked with Milton to take his jacket off of Kim. He then threw her own jacket into the pile of wet clothes. When they reached Kim's shirt they stopped.

"Jack, we need to warm her up," Milton said lowly.

Before Jack could ask if it was okay Jerry pulled off his dry jacket and offered it to Jack.

Jack took it with a grateful nod and set it aside. When Jack's fingers gripped the hem of Kim's shirt, Milton and Jerry turned around to give the pair a little more privacy.

Jack worked quickly. He was so focused and worried about Kim that the ordeal was much less awkward than he would have thought undressing his female friend would have been. With her shirt off, Jack quickly moved to her pants, having a much harder time getting them off. His own fingers were beginning to seize up and he knew he had to get Kim warm fast. With Kim's pants at her ankles, he couldn't get them any further, Jack wrapped Kim in Jerry's jacket and zipped it up.

When Milton and Jerry turned back around, they carefully pulled Kim's pants off her ankles and Milton put his own dry coat around her legs.

"If we tuck her legs to her chest, it will keep her body heat in better," Milton instructed, moving Kim's legs as he talked. "And keeping her close to a warm body will help."

Jack nodded, unbuttoning his shirt and pulling Kim to his chest. She was so cold.

"Will more than one help?" Jerry asked.

Milton nodded and Jerry quickly sat next to Jack and pressed his own chest to Kim's exposed back, sandwiching her between Jerry and Jack.

Milton took a seat around them, using his hands to rub Kim's feet since nobody had dry shoes or socks.

The gang sat there silently tending to Kim, waiting for her to wake up. Milton wasn't sure if she had passed out from the cold, from lack of oxygen, or from Odessa but no reason was a good reason.

It was almost five minutes later that Kim's eyes began to flutter.

"Kim? Kim!" Jack gasped, putting his hand on her forehead and pulling her back just enough to look down at her face.

Kim's eyes fluttered again before staying open.

"Oh, Kim," Jack sighed. "Thank goodness you're okay. We were so worried about you, you're so cold. Oh, Kim… Kim!"

Kim's eyes began to flutter closed again.

"No! Kim, stay awake, stay awake Kimmy," Jack begged.

"Jack," Jerry gasped, hitting Jack's chest repeatedly.

"Kim, please!"

"Jack!" Jerry said again. "Look."

Jack tore his attention away from the fading Kim and saw what had Jerry so concerned. There, floating above-but not completely out of-the water, was Odessa in her ghostly pale white form.

"You!" Jack looked back and forth between Kim and Odessa. "You pulled her in with you!"

"I can't go back!" Odessa screeched. "I can't let you hurt her!"

"Look at her!" Jerry shouted.

Odessa flinched back at Jerry's harsh tone.

"Jerry," Milton hissed. "We can't scare her! She still has a grasp on Kim. If we scare her off, she takes Kim with her!"

"No!" Jack gasped. "Kim doesn't have time to survive that."

Milton shook his head solemnly in agreement.

"Well then, how are we going to convince her we can get revenge?" Jerry asked.

Milton thought hard, but Jack shook his head. "We can't."

"No," Jerry refused. "Jack, we can't just give up on her!"

"We aren't," Jack said harshly with a bite of anger at the notion of giving up on Kim. "We can't get her revenge. It's too late, there isn't anything we can do to help her. Revenge isn't the way to go about things anyways. All we can do is convince her that we just want what is best for Kim. This isn't about Odessa anymore, she's dead. This is about Kim now."

Milton flinched at the reminder that Odessa was dead and that Kim was far too close to the same fate.

"Jack's right," Milton realized.

Jerry wasn't so sure, revenge seemed like the best option. More and more revenge was sounding like the way to go. But Jerry had his friends' backs. If they believed revenge wasn't an option, he trusted Jack and Milton to know what was best and nodded. "Okay."

"Odessa," Jack called, calmer now but still firm.

Odessa gave Jack her reluctant attention.

"You have to let Kim go," Jack said.

Odessa vehemently shook her head. "I cannot!"

"Odessa, look at her!" Milton pleaded. "If you let her go we can help her!"

"N-No!"

"Odessa, we can't do anything about what's in the past," Jack reasoned. "We can't change what happened to you but there is still time to help Kim!"

"You will hurt her!" Odessa repeated, albeit more hesitantly than before. "Like them!"

"No!" Jerry insisted. "We care about her! We would never hurt her!"

"Odessa, please!" Jack begged.

"Let her go!" Milton chimed in honestly.

"Please. Let us h-help her," Jack begged, holding Kim tightly.

Odessa looked between Kim and Jack, Kim and Jerry, and Kim and Milton.

The trio was wrapped around the girl tightly. She was dressed in their shed clothes as the rest of them shivered from the cold. They didn't even seem to notice their own discomfort as they all peered at Kim caringly.

"Y-You care about her?" Odessa stuttered, not believing what she was seeing. "You want to help her?"

Odessa observed as Milton adjusted the coat around Kim's legs. Jerry was whispering quietly in Kim's ear. Jack was holding Kim's face gently, warming her cheeks.

They cared about her. They loved her.

She was looking at three boys who would never hurt Kim. Three boys who would protect Kim. Who would care for Kim before they even cared for themselves.

Odessa was wrong. These boys were not who she thought they were. Good boys did exist. Kim would be safe with them.

Odessa looked at Kim again and saw the poor fragile girl on the brink of… life? It was Odessa's fault. She was the one who pulled Kim's body into the water. She had to help the little girl. She had to her let go.

"I'm sorry," Odessa apologized in a daze. "I-I'm so sorry. She doesn't deserve this. I-I'll let her go."

The trio blinked, disbelieving as Odessa flew towards them.

Suddenly Kim's body convulsed. Her chest rose and wispy white tendrils slowly rose up and out of her chest and straight toward Odessa.

Jack watched in awe. The more the white left her, the warmer Kim became.

As it began to slow, Kim started to move again. A twitch of her fingers, a wiggle of her toes.

"Odessa," Jack said, looking up from Kim.

Odessa stopped and looked at Jack.

"You didn't deserve it either."

Odessa looked down at that. It was a nice sentiment. Something she had never heard in the decades she spent tormented in ghost form.

"I'm sorry," Odessa apologized again. "I just wanted to keep her safe. In a way that nobody did for me."

Jack nodded, finding he could understand wanting to keep Kim safe more than he knew he could before.

"You don't have to worry anymore, Odessa. She's safe with us. You can rest knowing that to be true."

Jack's words had a much greater effect than perhaps he intended.

Odessa's usually slightly pained face changed drastically. Her wrinkles seemed to disappear as the youthful face of a beautiful girl reappeared. She offered a small, content smile, one that reached up to her eyes and lit her face.

"Thank you, Jack." She nodded slightly to Jack, then to Jerry and Milton. "Thank you all. I can see just how much you care for the girl. Your friendship will heal her and that has set me free. I will be eternally grateful."

With those final words, the spirit of Odessa lifted up, higher and higher until she disappeared in the night sky.

Jack, Jerry, and Milton all watched, mesmerized as she left. It almost didn't seem real that she was gone.

They would have stayed there staring all night, if not for the soft cough that escaped Kim's frozen lips.

"Kim!" they all exhaled, turning their attention back to her.

"G-Guys?" she stuttered. "I-I'm c-c-cold."

"You're awake!" Jack cried, his head diving into the crook of Kim's shoulder.

"I'm n-naked?" she realized with wide eyes as she looked over and saw her clothes on the bank.

Milton blushed and quickly dropped Kim's feet out of his hands.

"We had to keep you warm," Jack quickly explained. "You were freezing, Odessa-"

"Odessa?" Kim asked nervously. "Where is she?"

Jerry smiled wide. "She's gone. Freed."

Kim saw the smaller, but just as genuine smile on both Jack and Milton. "She is? For real?"

Jack nodded. "For real, Kimmy."

"Oh!" Kim cried, diving toward Jack's chest once again. She did her best to hug him, and Jerry and Milton. They helped her out, wrapping her in their arms as well.

They just held each other for a moment before Milton reluctantly pulled back. "I hate to break up the live fest here but I don't know about you all but I'm freezing. I'd like to get back to the car."

Kim broke out into a watery chuckle as she agreed.

Jerry grabbed the pile of wet clothes while Jack picked Kim up into his arms and Milton trailed behind, making sure to keep Kim as covered as possible.

The walk back to the car was quick, even with Jack carrying Kim.

They sent Jerry ahead to turn on the car's heat and by the time they got there, it had warmed up nicely.

As soon as Jack laid Kim down and closed the doors she moaned. "S-so much warmer."

Jack chuckled lightly. "There's a blanket in the back. It's a little scratchy but it will keep you covered. Jerry's grabbing it for you."

Kim nodded as she snuggled closer to Jack.

"Thank you."

Jack nodded. "Let me know if you're still too cold. Do we need to take you to the hospital? Are you feeling sick?"

"Jack, thank you for th-that but… thank you for everything else too. F-for saving me and always b-being there."

"Always, Kim."

What a rollercoaster of a chapter, huh? There are 2 more chapters after this. I'll post them right after this. Remember they're pretty short but I think still good so definitely read them.

On another note, any good rom-coms you guys have watched recently? I've been slowly introducing my roommate to good movies she has somehow never seen. And by good, I mean like good-like the absolute best movies ever. So far we've watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Confessions of a Shopaholic, What a Girl Wants, Lemonade Mouth, and Crazy Rich Asians. Any suggestions PG-13 or under?

Love you guys. btw I love your reviews... they literally make my entire day :))))))