***

She watched in awe as the image of a seventeen-year-old boy materialized in front of her. He was tall, with dark hair, blue eyes, and big ears….He was the boy in the picture downstairs.

She screamed.

He screamed.

"Who are you?" She said, slowly inching towards the door.

"Who are you?" He said, inching back towards the safe and familiar closet.

"It's my house!" They both shrieked at the same time.

"You're a ghost." She said, staring at him. "You died. You're dead. Then how are you standing here, in this room with me?"

"You can see me?" He asked incredulously.

"Uh, yeah." She said, shaking her head affirmatively.

"I have been here since the accident. I found myself here, and I just can't leave. And in all these years, you are the first person to see me."

"And that makes me lucky?"

"It makes me feel lucky for the first time in ages."

"You didn't answer my question."

"You answered the question for yourself. I'm Alex Whitman. And who are you?"

"Jill. Jill Diane Valenti. And this is my house. Get out. Go haunt somewhere else."

"I can't. I can't leave this house."

"Why not?"

"A place with no cable TV or internet access? I'd rather be in someplace…more exciting, that's for sure."

"Oh. So how do I get you to go away?"

"I don't know. Your last name is Valenti? Are you related to the Sheriff?"

"The sheriff is my cousin." She said. "Oh, I cannot believe this! I am talking to something that doesn't exist. Ghosts do not exist. I am just extra tired. So I am going to go downstairs, sleep on the couch, and in the morning, none of this will exist." She muttered, closing the door behind her.

"Jill Valenti." Alex said, looking at the retreating figure. "The more things stay the same…the more it changes."

***

Alex watched her sleep.

It was a miracle.

Someone could see him. He'd gone so many years…so long without anybody seeing him…

That day. That horrible horrible day. Tess had been using him- using her mindwarping skills to satisfy her own selfish priorities. He'd always wondered why she picked him- perhaps because of his computing skills? He'd gone over to confront Tess…to let her know that he wouldn't play along anymore…and then Kyle had come into the room…and the next thing Alex knew he was back in his own room, in this ghostlike state that was now his reality.

Jill…Jill Valenti…a cousin of the Sheriff, she must be, a distant relative of Jim and Kyle. That must be why she seemed familiar…why she so familiar, as if he had known her for ages.

He was going to find out what happened, with Jill's help.

There had to be a reason he was still here, some mission that he had to fill…like the ghosts in that movie Maria made him watch… "Heart and Souls", with Robert Downey Junior.

So he would try to find out what happened to everyone- Max, Liz, Maria, Kyle, Michael…and Isabel.

And maybe he would finally find peace.

Maybe.

***

It had been the strangest dream.

Her house was not, repeat it, haunted by a ghost. A young, not too bad looking ghost.

She opened her eyes.

The ghost was still there. Alex, she reminded herself, he did have a name. Alex Whitman.

Jill rubbed her eyes and stared. As if she didn't have enough problems being Czechoslovakian. As if….

The phone rang, taking her attention off of Alex, and she rolled over and grabbed the phone.

"Jill!" Her best friend's voice chirped over the wire.

"Casey!" Jill exclaimed, glad to hear a familiar voice "How goes it?"

"Well, you know how things are at the Guerin house…always a zoo…"

"I think it's in the genes."

"Very funny. So how goes the life of a cop?"

"I was late for my first day on the job."

"I thought I was the one who didn't know what a watch was, Jilly."

"Very funny, Case. I got to meet and spend time with my cousins. Rob, Chad, and Anna…and I found out that my house is haunted."

"Get out!"

"I'm totally out!"

"Have you actually seen it?"

"Uh…."

"Is it there right now?" Casey squealed. "I am going to have to hitch the first flight down there that I can and see this for myself."

Jill glanced over at the clock. "Case, can I call you back later? If I don't get moving, I'm going to be late…for the second day in a row!"

"Yeah sure, but you'd better call back!"

"Give everybody my love, and say hi to my parents, ok?"

"Sure. Talk to ya later."

"Bye."

"That was a touching conversation." Alex said as Jill hung up the phone.

"It was a private conversation." She replied icily.

"Sorry. I couldn't help but overhear."

"Couldn't you, couldn't you just float off to another room or something?"

"It's my house! I can do whatever I want."

"I paid good money for this house, and I have the authority to have phone conversations with whoever I want! And I will!"

"Don't let me stop you!"

She walked over to her suitcase, and took out an outfit. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go get dressed, and I would like some privacy, Casper!"

Alex laughed. "Like I even want to see…I don't even like you!"

"Then it's mutual!" Jill yelled from behind the door.

She showered and dressed quickly, glad that she did call and get all the utilities turned on the previous day. Deciding to let her hair air dry, she skipped downstairs and got herself a Nutri-Grain bar for breakfast.

Alex sat on the couch, reading one of the books she had unpacked, one by John Grisham that he had never even heard of…because it was published 10 years ago…a classic book to Jill, but something totally new and original to him.

Jill looked at her watch and muttered a curse. She grabbed her purse and ran out to her car.

And Alex couldn't believe it when he was propelled through the air, through the door and into the passenger's seat of the car.

***

"I thought you couldn't leave the house!"

"I've never been able to before!" He said, rubbing his head. "Every single time I tried, I was yanked back into the house, just as I was pulled out here!"

"This is just great!" She sighed. "What are people going to say if they see you?"

"Who is that great looking man she has with her?"

Jill rolled her eyes. "Somehow, I don't think so. What if somebody knows you, and sees you? This is bad, this is bad, this is bad."

"Maybe only you can see me. Nobody, not my parents, not my best friends, not my girlfriend, could see me. Maybe there's something special about you, about us…"

"You had a girlfriend?"

"A very gorgeous one, actually."

"Miracles will never cease."

"I don't see you with an active dating life either."

"I'm new in town, and my last boyfriend was a jerk, ok? I don't have time to talk about this right now, I have to get to work."

"I'm not stopping you. Put the pedal to metal."

"Just stop the stupid clichés, would you?"

***

She was bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored.

Rob was off talking to the elementary school during career day, and she had the office to herself. It was a slow crime day. The phone hadn't rung, and she finished all the filing and other tasks she was assigned. So she was sitting at her desk, staring at Alex.

Alex had his feet up on her desk, and was looking at a calendar in amazement. "In the year 2025, If Man is still alive…"

"That's not how the song goes, is it?" She asked, and then shook her head. "I can't believe I'm talking to a ghost."

"And I can't believe I'm talking to an alien." He countered.

She sat up straight. "How in the heck do you know about that?"

He swallowed, and looked up at her. "I had friends that were aliens, a long time ago. Almost 25 years ago, a quarter of a century ago. I kept their secret, and I was alive then. I assure you I won't tell anybody, ok? I'm dead. Who would believe me?"

"How did you know about me?"

"I saw you use your powers."

Jill put her head in her hands. "Mom always warned me to be more careful."

Alex reached for her arm, and felt tingles run up and down his spine when actually felt flesh beneath his fingers.

"It's ok." He said, in a soothing voice.

"Yeah, it's just you this time…but it could be somebody else the next time. It could be the government, or somebody else. I could let it slip, and put everybody in danger. Everybody, my parents, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins…." She trailed off as the tears began to fall.

Alex got up and walked to the other side of the desk. He got Jill to stand up and he wrapped her up in his arms. It had been so long since he had held anybody, or been held. The human contact was amazing, just being able to feel like he was important…like he belonged…this was the best thing that had happened to him…since the prom.

Thinking about prom made him think about Isabel. Isabel, with her gorgeous face, and smile, she truly was loyalty. Isabel who tried so hard to hide the fact that she was vunerable, that she needed other people as much as anybody else. That she could not do everything by herself. That she could not carry the world on her shoulders.

Jill…Jill reminded him of Isabel. She had the same standoffish attitude. She had a secret to keep, and she guarded it with her life. But when she was singing, or talking on the phone to her friend, she was a totally different person. A young woman, full of love and passion, with light in her eyes that couldn't be extinguished. And seeing her cry…he was reminded of Isabel when they were searching for a way to rescue Max…as if she was only resulting to tears because it was the last resort…the only remaining option.

Jill twirled as she heard the door open.

"Rob!" She exclaimed, with a sob.

Her cousin rushed over to her side. "Jill, are you ok?"

She nodded, and accepted the shoulder that Rob offered. He escorted her into his office.

Alex missed her presence. He missed the human contact…he missed the connection that had been made…if it had only been for a split second. In frustration, he kicked the filing cabinet to his right.

"O-Z". He muttered. "The wonderful world of OZ my butt." He bent over to adjust the drawer, but noticed a file sticking out.

"Whitman, Alexander Charles." It read.

Despite the fact he didn't have a physical body, he felt sick to his stomach.