What If-

(based on the mediator series by Jenny Carroll/ Meg Cabot)

I couldn't get on the computer for a while there, sorry. My family is moving soon and we're trying to sell the house... needless to say, that requires being out of the house and away from the computer- a lot. Sorry again. B.T.W, that means that I won't be updating much for a while... which stinks pretty badly! ~Chels

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"Paul?" I asked, we were sitting in the library, studying.

"Hmm?" he responded, not looking up from his book.

"Do you think Jesse is alright, wherever he is?" I asked. It's been three weeks since he moved on, and I'm beginning to wonder if I am hanging on to his memory too tightly.

"I'm sure he's fine," He said absently, still reading the 'Encyclopedia of Paranormal', Father Dom is making us research all things ghostly, as if we don't have other things to do... like have a life!

"Actually-" Said a voice from behind me, "There's a whole bunch of unrest in the spirit realm. I'm sorry to say that Hector is one of those who is being effected by this." I swerved around so fast I almost fell out of my chair.

"Jesse? What's wrong with him?" I asked, panicked. Paul stared openmouthed at the girl standing in front of us, she looked like a life size Barbie doll.

"There's a being of some sort sucking the essence out of ghosts and taking their souls to make itself stronger. The process takes a while and is excruciatingly painful for the ghost. I'm afraid Hector is beginning to feel the pain, although it is in its earliest stages." She said.

"Who are you?" Paul asked. At the same time I asked, "What can we do to help?"

"I'm Sophia, the highest being in the realm of stage one afterlife, section three, division fifteen." She answered proudly, then turned to me, "It has come to our attention, through Mr. DeSilva, that you are a shifter and have mediating capabilities, and that you may know one or two shifters and mediators. The other higher beings and I have found that we can do nothing to stop this soul sucker, not unless we have the help of people such as yourself."

"Sign me up!" Paul said excitedly.

I nodded my head, trying to let all of this information sink in, then quietly responded, "I'll help, but I have no clue what I can do to stop this thing."

"I have an idea where to start," Paul informed me, "Thanks to your mediating lessons."

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Two and a half hours later I found myself in the shadowland. Paul and I had used our combined knowledge of shifting and mediating and came up with a plan.

The demon, we had found out, was called Drecsuvian. It originated somewhere in Scotland and was supposedly locked up in some type of escape-proof box. Wow, I guess it wasn't so escape proof, or else he wouldn't be using Jesse's essence as a martini right about now, would he?!

Anyways, right now we're playing hide and seek with this- thing. He's hiding somewhere in the Shadowland or in one of the realms of afterlife, we're trying to find him. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. One way we could tell that he's been somewhere is his smell. This thing stinks! He smells like chlorine mixed with a tin can, Chinese food and half the world population's smelly feet. As Paul put it: "This dude seriously needs some cologne...and a bath!"

"I think we're getting closer" Sophia said suddenly.

"Ya think?!" Paul exclaimed holding his hands over his mouth and nose. I followed suit, the smell had just grown.

"So, if we make it to this thing without passing out from its stench," Sophia said, "We're going to throw that blue goop you brought at it and hope it goes poof-gone-buh-bye?"

"Kinda." I answered, "We're going to throw the blue goop at it so it freezes, then we'll throw the hot pink goop at it so it will let all the souls go, then we'll throw the green goop at it so it goes 'poof-gone-buh-bye'."

Paul chuckled, "In lame-men's terms!"

"I am not lame!" I retorted childishly.

"You're right, you're just kinda...smelly." He answered. I guess you could call this flirting. A lot of it had been going on lately between the two of us. I couldn't do anything about it though, I still needed to get over Jesse.

"You two stop flirting and shut up!" Sophia interjected. "It's right around the corner. Now, hand me the blue goop!"

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How was this chapter? Huh? Hey, yeah, I want to fix the last chapter. Does anyone have any ideas? I can't leave it as it is, I'm just weird like that. ~Chels.