A/N: I promise it's about to get more interesting. I hope!
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Chapter 3: Complications
**Suze**
Okay, so we had to figure out what was wrong with Paul and fast. Unfortunately, to do that, we had to find Cali because I didn't know how to fix Paul, and I know Jesse didn't. "How do we even find her?" I asked him with a sigh. "I mean, she's gone. She's not even a ghost. She had no unfinished business or anything. She's just…gone."
"Well, I could try to figure out how to search for her. Maybe she was reincarnated," Jesse said with a shrug.
"Okay, try that. If that doesn't work, we're totally screwed." I looked at him as he nodded, not looking me in the eye. Hmm… "Jesse, you know something, don't you?" I accused, frowning and putting my hands on my hips.
Jesse blinked, attempting to look innocent. "What are you talking about, querida? What could I possibly know?" he asked, blinking at me. "Calixte gave me her powers, not her knowledge. I know no more than I did before," he said feebly.
"Jesse, you're not being very convincing," I told him. "I don't need to have Cali's powers to know you're not telling me something. What is it? You know how to find her, don't you?" If he wasn't telling me, there had to be some sort of a reason. He doesn't usually hide things from me without a reason, and I was determined to find out what it was.
"Alright, alright." He sighed. "I have to sort of…die…to get to her.Or at least, I'd have to split my body and my soul. My powers as a mortal aren't as strong as they would be if I were a ghost. Calixte is good at hiding. I need to be able to move fast, and I can't do that if I'm a mortal."
I blinked. Crap… "Could you do this without dying? Maybe just split yourself, and then come back fast…?" I asked, biting my lip. I really didn't want Jesse to die again. I mean, he'd just come back…I was so not letting him kill himself, even if it was unintentional.
Jesse thought. "Hmm. Well, Calixte had said she could do it. Split herself, I mean. She split her vision, so I know she can do that. But split myself without dying? I'm not sure. I can try…But what if…" He sighed. "Susannah, I can't guarantee I can come back alive. I might end up a ghost again. Or if I don't have any unfinished business anymore, I might end up just…gone. I don't want to do that to you, Susannah," he whispered, hugging me.
I sighed, returning his hug by wrapping my arms around his neck. "I love you," I heard myself whisper. Oh god! I said it…I actually said it…oh god! Oh god, oh god, oh god.
"Susannah," Jesse murmured into my hair. "Relax." He pushed me back, so we could see each other's faces. "I love you, too," he whispered, and then leaned in and kissed me. Yay! He loved me back! I can so hear the hallelujah chorus playing in the background… "Haaallelujah…haaallelujah…hallelujah, hallelujah, hal-le-lu-jah!" I could totally get up and break into song right now…if it weren't for the fact that Jesse was kissing me. I really didn't want him to stop kissing me. Ever.
"Well, I'm going to have to stop kissing you if you want to find Calixte," he muttered, amused, lips still touching mine.
"Can't it wait a few minutes?" I asked, and kissed him again. Jesse didn't answer. I mean, I wanted to find Cali, but I was liplocked with Jesse at the moment…We went on kissing for about five more minutes, then came up for air. When I leaned in, Jesse reluctantly – yay, reluctantly! – put a hand up.
"We should find her. Alright, I'm going to try to split without killing myself," he said with a shudder, and closed his eyes. I saw him frowning in concentration, and then he collapsed. My blood ran cold.
"Jesse?" I asked. He didn't answer…Oh god! Did he kill himself? "Jesse!" I shouted. Nothing. Oh my god…
~Relax, querida,~ I heard in my head. Where was he? I looked around. ~I'm in the shadowland,~ he told me. I bent over and checked his pulse. Nothing. ~I know it seems that way, but I'm not dead. Believe me. I've been dead, and this isn't it. Shift up and come help me,~ he mindspoke. I couldn't help it. I leaned over and kissed his lips. ~I felt that,~ he mindspoke, amused. I could almost feel him smirking and blushed.
I sat next to his body and closed my eyes, thinking of the cold, swirling mist, and the long, unending hall of the shadowland. When I opened them, I was there. "Jesse?" I asked, looking around.
"Susannah?" His voice echoed in the hall, then he appeared in front of me. He grinned when I stepped backwards and lunged forward and caught me when I tripped over my feet and fell backwards. "Smooth," he said, still grinning.
Since when did Jesse use the word "smooth"? How confusing. "Alright, let's go find Cali," I said, and looked at the doors. "Come on…where are you, Cali?" I asked them "Come on…"
Jesse sighed. "I've been trying to find her." He walked over to a door and pressed his palm against a door. ~Calixte?~ I hard him call in mindspeak.
"Call her Cali," I suggested, then blinked. Where had that come from? Weird…
~Cali? Where are you?~ he called. A door at the end of the hall pulsed red. ~Cali?~ We looked at each other, and then started walking quickly in the direction of the glowing door. When we reached it, we looked at each other, then looked at the door. Jesse touched it and yanked his hand back, shaking it. "Ow," he muttered.
"Hot?" When he nodded, I bit my lip. Okay. I had a pretty good pain tolerance…maybe I should give it a shot…I reached forward to the door. Even before I touched it, I felt heat radiating from it. I reached down to the knob. I knew it was going to be hotter than even the door, as it was metal, but I had to do it. I braced myself and wrapped a hand around the knob. Pain seared through me, and I turned the knob. The last thing I saw was red flames rushing at me, feeling some really, really intense heat.
"Susannah!" I heard…but it was quiet, and echoed…I heard Jesse call me again, and then I blacked out.
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A/N: Dundundunnnn! It'll get better, I promise…Lol. Lemme know what you think…
Emily: You'd think so, wouldn't you? Lol…The way I see it, is Cali would've been a mediator even if she was human. She only gave him her angel powers when she gave him the rest of her life force.