Okay, here's another one. Sorry I've taken so long. School's started again,
and I've been really sick on top of that. But I got Friday (yesterday) off
due to stomach cramps, and I managed to type while moaning in pain. So here
it is . . .
**************************************************************************** *****
Still very dazed, I somehow made it back to my room. Not house, I say, room. Because, you know, I kind of slipped in through my window. I know, I'm a rebel and I'll never ever be any good, yeah yeah . . .
I looked around fearfully, hoping against hope that Paul wasn't there. I mean, by what I had just heard from Jesse, Paul was a lot more dangerous that I'd ever dared to imagine.
A lot more dangerous . . .
Oh and psychotic killers always take a liking to me, why?!
To my paramount relief, Paul was nowhere in sight. Good. Because I wasn't to keen in ever making eye contact with him again, let alone having him stay in my bedroom.
Having made certain that Paul Had Left The Building, I collapsed on my bed, dizzy with happiness . . .
I was in love.
My life had meaning . . .
. . . Snore . . .
**************************************************************************** ************
Paul's POV.
Okay, you know, it kind of pisses you off when you go out on a limb for someone to help them move on, and they DON'T. Nope. I totally killed Heather's ex, and she was still hanging around!
This was NOT fair!
Well, as I told Suze, I like to make the best of a bad situation. The very best.
So that's how I ended up in bed with Heather again in my old bedroom. I mean, waste not, want not right? By the way, me going out on a limb? Er, that was kind of an overstatement. I mean, I had FUN. Pulling that trigger? That was one of the best moments of my life. The power and the absolute satisfaction I felt was way better than anything, even, well, sex. And trust me, sex is good.
So good I was at it again.
I know, but hey? I was desperate. Heather was just a quick solution, trust me, no more than that. I felt nothing for her. Nothing. I had fallen too bloody hard for Suze to even contemplate that nightmare. And Suze was killing me. Not physically, but because of how she wasn't letting me in . . .
'Paul,' Heather wheezed from beneath me as I was kissing her neck, 'Oh, I love you so much.'
I stopped. And yes, panicked too. 'What?' I said, alarmed. I pushed up from her, and glared.
She gave me a wistful smile. 'I said I love you.'
No, no, no, no, no, NO, NOOOO!!!!
I fell off of her, and hastily began putting on my clothes.
'Paulie Waulie?' she said, sounding confused, 'What's wrong?'
'Just shut up,' I snapped at her. The stupid bitch . . . Stupid, skanky, dumb bitch . . . Love? No, I don't THINK so . . . She was way out of line . . . This was NOT FAIR!!!
I turned to her as I was tugging on my top. 'Get out,' I growled.
Her eyes went wide, and she clung her cardigan to her chest. 'But . . . why? Why, Paul? What is wrong with you? Don't you love me like I love you, or is it-'
'No, I don't love you,' I spat. 'I hate you. Unfortunately for me, you happen to be very good at the thing I was craving the most, and that brought us together. That was it. And now you spring this love shit on me? Hello? You killed yourself because of a guy. You think you would have learned, Heather.' I threw her skirt at her and she recoiled. 'Now get out of my sight before I puke some chunky ghostly substance that I'm not sure even exists.'
Her eyes welled up. 'But . . . what w-w-we had here? That m-meant n-n- nothing to you? I thought you . . . you . . . '
I'll say it. I was disgusted. I truly was.
'What, Heather?' I asked. 'Tell me what you thought. You thought I loved you?' I laughed hollowly, looking down at her. She nodded pitifully. 'That is the most SORRY thing I've ever been unlucky enough to hear.'
She hastily scrambled into her skirt and her cardigan. 'P-Please, Paul,' she stuttered, her eyes overflowing with tears, 'G-g-give me an-n-nother chance? I'll do b-b-better, I swear! I'll do anything! Anything! I'd die for you!' she wailed, and threw herself at me. She clawed at my arms as I tried to push her off. Her usually pretty blond hung dirtily by her face, and her face was screwed up in anguish. But I didn't give a bloody two cents, did I? I was seriously starting to feel a heartfelt sympathy for Martinsen. I mean, how could he have lasted that long?
'Uh huh,' I said. I rolled my eyes and threw her across the room. She brutally collided with the wall, and slid down, sniveling. Blood ran down her forehead.
My God . . . She was just so hopelessly pathetic.
'Sorry sweetheart,' I shrugged nastily, 'You can't die for me this time. You're already dead.'
She screamed in wretchedness.
'See you in hell. That's where they send those screwy idiots who commit suicide, isn't it?' I laughed at her. 'Because I sure as hell know I'm going there . . .'
'You monster,' she sobbed, chewing on her fist as she tried not to cry.
'Thanks. I work hard at it,' I smirked sinfully, and dematerialized, leaving her wounded and whimpering . . .
~*~
Suze's POV.
'Suze! Phone!'
My eyes snapped open, and I jumped out of bed, and stampeded down the stairs. In the kitchen, mum was clutching the receiver, looking bad- tempered. 'Oh, so you come that fast when there's a phone call, and yet you take so long to get up for school. I should get someone to call you every morning,' she sighed. 'And I'll deal with you later,' she added ominously, and handed me the phone.
Uh oh. I guess my absence last night had not been neglected.
Guiltily, I took the receiver from her.
'Hello?' I said.
'Oh, thank the Lord you are safe!' cried Father Dom's deep, wise voice from the other end.
I blinked. 'Er, why him? What do you mean? How did you know -'
'Susannah, what happened last night? I called your mother to make sure that you'd arrived home, but she said that you weren't there. Then she got worried. We were scared that someone had hurt you. I was so scared that you didn't make it home safely. I knew I should have drove you, you silly girl! Look what could have happened-'
'Father Dom, babbling is my specialty,' I snapped. 'Look, I'm fine. Nothing happened last night. I just attended to my seriously disrupted schedule.'
'Susannah, what are you talking about?' he asked angrily. Not angrily as in furious, just angry with me for being stupid. I get that a lot . . .
'I just . . . had something I had to do,' I smiled, fondly remembering last night. 'Nothing special. Why did you have to go call my mum? She'll be on a war path now, thanks to you.'
'Well, I apologize for caring about whether your alive,' he said with irritation, 'I needed to know that you were safe, Susannah. I was very worried when your mother said that you weren't back.'
I groaned. 'Jeez. You old people. Well, wish me luck. I'm not going to be safe now, Father D. Mum's going to strangle me.'
'But, Susannah, I-'
I hung up.
What? "Never hang up on a priest" isn't a commandment, right? So I was safe. Well, I hoped. I turned around slowly, and saw that my mother was glaring at me.
Great. He really threw me in the deep end, huh?
'Suze,' mum said, but I stopped her.
'Look, if this is the bit where you say "I'm not angry, just disappointed," well I can skip that. I really can-'
'No, Susie,' she said with a sigh. 'I am angry. And very worried. I thought that we came to Carmel to make a fresh start. You promised that you would try harder to be good. And now you're up to your old tricks again, aren't you? I can't believe that you would do that, I really can't. I am so disappointed in you.' I saw that she looked close to tears, and her hands were shaking a tiny bit. Okay . . .
'So, what have you been up to?' she asked with a sniff. 'Have you been sneaking out to smoke? Jake mentioned last night that he caught you once-'
'Jake?!' I said, bewildered.
'Yes, Jake. He told me-'
'Mum, Jake hasn't got a clue. Yes, he caught me smoking, but that was directly after your wedding. You know about that, remember? He even thinks I'm in a gang,' I laughed.
She gave me a hard look. 'Are you?' she asked quietly.
'Whoa!' I shouted, 'Mum! I'm not, okay? I swear it on dad's grave-'
'Don't you bring that up,' she snapped, a tear rolling down her cheek. 'Susie, I don't know what's gotten in to you. You were going so well, honey. And then you just start sneaking out again-'
'I didn't sneak out!' I retorted. 'I was still out, mum!'
'What were you doing then?' she demanded, and angrily put her hands on her hips. 'Because I swear to God, Susannah, if it's drugs, I'll-' she broke off furiously.
WHAT THE HELL?!
I just stared at her. 'Mum, how can you say that?' I whispered, genuinely injured.
She looked stubborn. 'I can say that,' she replied. 'It's hard, but I need to know. What is it that you keep going out for? What was it back in Brooklyn? Is it that important that it keeps you from me? You know that you can talk to me, don't you Suze?'
Another tear spilt from her eyes.
That hurt so bad. She didn't trust me . . . One mistake, and she didn't trust me.
'I -'
I couldn't tell her. About mediation, I mean. That would just be too weird for her, and she wouldn't believe me anyway. She'd send me to a psychiatrist again . . .
'Mum,' I said slowly. 'Last night, I was out. At the park. I'm really sorry I worried you. I just needed . . . some alone time.'
Her angry look faded. 'Oh, Susie,' she said. 'I'm so sorry . . . '
I shook my head. 'No, I'm sorry. I should have called you from the school to let you know. I really should have. I'm an idiot. I just needed space to think about stuff.'
'About what stuff, honey?' she asked, choking on her sobs, 'About . . . your father?'
Huh? Er, okay . . . 'Maybe,' I replied, way weirded out by now.
'Oh, Susie,' she said again, and gave me the biggest, deadliest bear hug ever.
'Mum? Oxygen becoming an issue?' I said. She let go, and just looked at my face.
'I love you, you know that?' she said sadly.
'I kind of guessed that when you tried to devoid me of air,' I muttered dumbly. She laughed a little, and then walked out of the kitchen, leaving me wondering how insane I was.
Okay, now that was freaky . . .
Don't you just hate lying?
I sighed, and tramped up to my room. Man, did I feel bad. I mean, hey, last night was a blast, but now that I knew what Paul was, well, I wasn't in the best mood possible. I fell back into bed, feeling very sulky. Maybe I was just depressed anyway for no reason. I dunno. It happens some times . . .
I shut my eyes, and snuggled deeper under my covers. Oh, the warmth they had was blissful. Don't you just love it in the morning, when you feel so cozy and comfortable and warm? Well, I felt like that again. Ah . . .
Right up until the covers were ripped off me.
'Morning Suze,' Paul said cheerfully, clutching the quilt.
I sat up, really annoyed. And now ever more scared of him than I had been before. Well, if he didn't know that, I'd be okay.
'Get out,' I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
He looked at a complete loss. 'What's wrong with you this morning?'
My eyes went even thinner. 'I said get out, Paul.'
He smirked. 'Oh, really,' he said defiantly. 'And what makes you think I'm ready to leave?' He dropped the bedcover and walked towards me. That's right . . . come closer, Paul. Come closer, so I can -
'Ah!' he yelled as I turned, and kicked him in the stomach. I jumped off my bed, and punched him in the face. He grunted, and I kicked him in the shins. But as I was aiming a punch at his jaw, he caught my fist in his cupped hand, and twisted it. I gasped in pain, and he knocked me to the ground, where I bashed my head. Ow . . .
No matter . . . I kicked his feet out from beneath him - I'm good at that, you see - and then leapt on him, and punched him in the face. Several times, too. What? He deserved it, right?
I didn't dare say it out loud, but as I delivered those punches, I was thinking, "This? This is for Adrianna. And this one? This is for Jesse! And this?" I thought savagely as I readied my knee, "This is for me." Wham. Right in the . . . target.
I saw his pupils minimize into the tiniest circles in pain. Good . . . But I had celebrated too quickly, because at that moment, he grabbed my shoulders and rolled us over. I panted, and kicked up, but he wasn't affected.
'I'll ask you again,' Paul smirked, 'What makes you think I'm ready to leave, Suze? I really don't feel like it.'
'You bastard,' I spat, shaking my head, 'You selfish b-' He slammed me against the floor again and I cried out in pain. But now I was really annoyed. I thumped the side of his head and he fell sideways. I scrambled up, as did he. God . . . He shoved me against the wall, and grabbed my wrists so I couldn't hit him, and he pressed himself against me so I couldn't use my legs either.
'Let me go,' I said.
'Why?' he snarled at me. 'Why the sudden change of heart, Suze?'
I stared at him. 'What do you mean, "sudden change of heart"? Sudden change of heart, my arse, Paul. I've wanted you out right from the start . . . ' His eyes seemed to be trying to search me, read me. I didn't let him. He was angry too now. I thrust from him, and pushed him back, so he fell against the ground, but he came right back and slammed me against the wall again. God, his reflexes were snakelike! He glared right into my eyes with mild fire. The fear came immediately . . . I quailed beneath him. Why did he have this affect on me? It wasn't fair!
'Ah, Suze,' he said casually, 'If you didn't want to hear my information, all you had to do was say.'
I stopped thrashing. 'Information? What information?'
He smirked. 'Well, I might not be so keen to tell you, now. Something I heard on the ghostly grapevine, you know? Or, well, found out first-hand, anyway.'
I looked at him strangely. 'Let me go, and then tell me,' I said.
He dropped my hands. 'Happy?'
But I punched him anyway.
'You deserved that,' I told him.
He shrugged offhandedly. 'Probably.'
'So?' I said expectantly.
'Oh, that,' he said, and sat on my bed. 'Well, I assume you heard about that Heather girl and what she did?'
Suddenly, I was a lot keener to hear what he had to say . . .
'Yeah, so?'
He picked up one of the little teddy bears I had on my bed. For decoration, of course. 'Well, we bumped into each other,' he explained, tossing my teddy up in the air and catching it again, 'and she was ranting angrily about you, so I said that I knew you. Then she started going on about some guy called Bryce, or someone, and how she wanted to kill him. She said that she couldn't thought. I told her that she could. Accidentally, of course, and the next time I heard from her, Mr Ex was dead.' With that, he ripped the head off the teddy bear. It was a horrible tearing sound. Stuffing spilled from the neck sadly.
My mouth fell open.
'So it was your fault,' I said quietly. 'You told Heather how to kill Bryce.'
'Hey!' he defended, 'I told you, I didn't mean to. Don't go blaming me, okay?'
'I'll go blaming you if I want,' I snapped.
'Well, that's not all,' he yawned, stretching widely, 'But if you don't want to hear it, I'll just be going then-'
I rolled my eyes. 'Just tell me, Paul.'
His eyes snapped back to me. 'My, aren't we moody today?' I glared intensely at him. 'Okay, okay. After that, when I saw her again, she told me everything she did, blah, blah, and she says that now she wants to kill you,' he reported.
'WHAT?!'
'Hey? Don't shoot the messenger,' he said, lying flat on my bed. 'I've come to warn you. Might wanna bring out the exorcism equipment, you know, or she will kill you.'
Oh my God. I mean, I knew that she was pissed and all, but . . . killing me? Why me? Why did they always want to kill the mediator?
'One, Paul,' I said coldly, 'I'm harder to kill than you think. And secondly, I promised to Father Dominic that I wouldn't exorcise Heather.'
'One, back at you,' he replied, 'Who the hell is Father Dominic? And second, to you, what are promises? They're words meant to pacify, and nothing more. Save your own butt, Suze, or she will kill you. I know she can. She's a very angry ghost.'
'You seem to know a lot about Heather,' I said suspiciously. 'How much have you guys talked?'
He blanched. 'Uh, not all that much. But she made her meaning clear when she gave me your death threat. So watch your back.'
Did I believe him? I don't know . . .
I swallowed. 'Okay, then Paul. You've said that. Now leave.'
He looked amused. 'I think that my actions a minute ago expressed my feelings on going,' he smirked. 'You want another round?'
'I could take you any day,' I said. 'Except today. I'm annoyed, and I'm really not in the mood to kick your arse. I need competition, you see.'
He swelled up angrily. 'I'm more than a match for you, Suze! I could kill you so easily . . . but it would be such a waste, is all. Waste not, want not.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' I demanded.
He sat up, laughing. 'Whatever you like. Be that as it may, I have business elsewhere. So I'll see you around then.'
'Yeah, whatever,' I mumbled vaguely. 'Go-'
But he'd already dematerialized. Good. Finally. He was finally gone. Which was good. Yes. Very good. Finally.
You can say it, I suck.
~*~
'So Suze, what exactly happened yesterday?' Adam was asking me.
We were both sitting in the park on a bench. Everything was very peaceful. There was a beautiful breeze coming and brushing against my face, blowing my hair back a little. The lush green foliage around me made me feel very connected to nature for some reason. A lovely Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, CeeCee couldn't make it, so Adam and I had met up.
'Er, nothing,' I said.
'Oh, come on, I know it wasn't nothing. CeeCee doesn't go fainting because she sees a shower. I mean, it might explain the smell-'
'Adam, it was nothing. Brad must have left my shower running as a joke - wait till mum sees the water bill, it won't be so funny then - and CeeCee, I dunno, maybe she just slipped and bumped her head.
'I checked her head while she was still out,' he said firmly, 'And there was no bumps, bruises or cuts. And believe me, it's very easy to see cuts in CeeCee's hair.'
'Uh huh,' I said. 'I really don't know what's going on-'
'You know what, Suze?' he said, staring right at my eyes. I gulped. 'I think you do know. And you're not telling me.'
I gazed back at him. He had no idea . . . And he wasn't going to.
'Adam,' I said, 'I don't have a clue what you're on about, okay? Drop it. It was weird, yes, but I don't know why it happened. Ask CeeCee, okay?'
'I did,' he replied, turning his face away from me. 'She said the same thing. You girls . . . I bet you told her to picture me naked, right?'
I laughed. 'Yeah, now THAT would make her faint, all right.'
'Precisely!' he said triumphantly. 'I know that all you women want me! You are all too shy to ask me out, though! But please, don't be. Just, don't assume anything if you ever picture me naked again, okay? I'm very deceiving, you know-'
'Okay, Adam, can you stop before you gross me out completely? That was just wrong,' I giggled, and he shoved me of the bench all together. I screamed in laughter, and he bolted.
'You are so dead!' I yelled at him. And let's face it, I'm faster than him. I totally jumped at his knees and brought him on the grass. Then I gave him a friendly punch in the stomach.
'Ow,' he laughed - and wheezed at the same time. 'Now that was just mean, Suze. Apologize?'
'Never,' I said.
'Okay then,' he said quickly. We both scrambled up, still laughing. We walked around the park, not talking. I frowned down at the pavement more with each step.
'Suze, you look constipated. What's wrong?' he said.
I stopped frowning. 'Huh? Oh, nothing.'
He stopped. 'God, not this again. For God's sake, just tell me. I won't think you're a freak of nature. I successfully rank at that place.'
I smiled. 'Yeah, whatever. Just, Adam?'
'Yes, my darling?' he groveled jokily.
'Tell me more about Heather Chambers. Besides from what you told me on my first day. What was she like?' I asked.
He looked pained. 'You're asking me to actually remember the days of Heather Chambers? I planned to only share these things with my therapist, you know Suze. But yeah. You know what she would have been like. Kelly Prescott's twin only more evil. Both blond, gibbering idiots.'
'What about Bryce?' I said. 'What was he like?'
'Bryce Martinsen? He was all right. He was big into surfing, but he never gave me any trouble. Just the silent type, rather, and a little bit slow between you and me. Don't tell him that, he could beat me to a bloody pulp if he wanted to-'
'You don't know?' I interrupted.
He stared at me. 'Don't know what? There are loads of things I don't know, like elements on the periodic table, meaning of life, birds and the bees-'
'Bryce is dead,' I said bluntly. 'He was shot.'
Adam looked startled. 'Whoa,' he said slowly. 'Really? And here's me thinking he was going to die like they did in the horror movies, you know, all cut up into little pieces with blood everywhere . . . '
I didn't tell him that the way he died was basically something out of a horror movie. That I knew of. I mean, a supernatural being shooting you? That's not your run of the mill way of dying, right?
Adam still seemed mildly stunned. 'But Bryce,' he said, 'He was one of the good ones. I mean, he wasn't a stupid jock, just a jock. But he never gave anyone a hard time. Why don't you ask Jake what he was like? They were buds.'
'I'll pass on that,' I said, not too interested. 'Having a conversation with Jake would only end with the line "Are you sure you're not in a gang?" I couldn't take that on a Sunday.'
He kicked at a twig on the ground. 'Fair enough. Why do you want to know about Bryce and Heather anyway?'
'Hey? Why are people talking about me?!' demanded a voice from behind me. I stopped and whirled around, and came face to face with none other than . . .
Well duh. Bryce.
But yeah, I wasn't expecting to see him. Neither was he.
'You can see me?' he said, awed.
'Hang on,' I mouthed. Adam was gawking at me. 'Adam, go get me an ice- cream,' I said quickly, shoving a handful of dollars to him.
'But, Suze, who-'
'Go.'
'Okay,' he squeaked, and ran off. I turned back to Bryce, with his beachy blond hair and his broad shoulders. Oh woe, revenge of the hotties . . .
He stared at me some more, and not to flatter myself, but he looked impressed. Yay. I'm being eyed by dead hot guys. That's up to two points now!
'Well?' I said, 'what do you want? I've heard a lot about you, Bryce.'
He looked bemused. 'Really?' he said. 'How come?'
'Because your ex-girlfriend's a ghost and has been making my life hell,' I said, 'And naturally, I wanted to know her history. She was the one that killed you, wasn't she?'
He sighed and nodded. I think so,' he muttered glumly. 'By what she wrote. Her and her friend.'
I stopped walking. 'Huh? Friend? She has a friend? Is that humanly possible?' I said harshly.
'Whoa, twenty questions, babe,' he said. 'I don't know. She mentioned a friend. I don't know who she was. Or he.'
Or he . . . Heather with a ghostly boyfriend? Ugh. That was worse than when Harmony got with Spike in Buffy. Ha, it kind of made sense, right? But who was this person? I mean, yeah, it probably was a girl, right? Yeah. Some other scorned skank out for revenge teamed up with Heather. No one I knew . . .
'I'm sorry,' I said, 'I don't know who her friend could be. And I'm really sorry that she killed you. That wasn't fair. I feel so bad. I know it's my fault, I was supposed to stop her . . . '
He dragged a hand through his blond hair and sighed, as if this was all way too much to deal with. Or, if Adam was right, way too much to penetrate his brain all at once. 'It's not your fault, babe. You couldn't have done anything, right?'
'Yes I could have!' I shouted in my frustration. He twitched. Great, he's scared of me now . . . 'It's just, dealing with these ghosts is my job. I have to do. And my priority is to make them move on before they hurt someone else. And I've screwed up. I was too wrapped up in my stupid freaking life to remember that. It's my fault that you're dead, Bryce.'
He shrugged. 'Okay, if you insist. I'm going to see if I can catch a wave or something-'
'You can't,' I said, 'You're dead.'
Now, he looked really heartbroken. 'Oh yeah . . . ' He gazed longingly at the beach. 'Dead. Yeah . . . '
Oh my God. I felt so guilty now. Poor guy. So what if he was two buns short of a baker's dozen? Just because he wasn't too bright, it didn't mean he didn't deserve to live. That stupid cow . . . She was really going to pay now. That is, if she hadn't crossed over yet. I mean, Bryce would have been the thing holding her back, right? But, Paul was making out like she was still hanging around to off me too.
Hang on . . . I have a thought here.
Paul . . .
*You seem to know a lot about Heather . . . How much have you guys talked?*
What if -
'Suze! I got you a double cone with chocolate and rainbow ice cream, and a honeycomb cone for me. Happy?' Adam broke in, passing right through Bryce. Adam shivered, and Bryce dematerialized.
Damn, lost that thought . . .
I took the cone off Adam, and promptly began licking. Oooh, lovely, sweet and cold.
'Ah, this is the life,' Adam said through a mouthful of ice cream. I noticed that he'd managed to acquire a large dollop on the tip of his nose. I snorted, but didn't tell him. 'Eating a huge honeycomb ice-cream that I didn't pay for, walking in the park on a sunny day surrounded by the beauties of nature, and I'm with the most beautiful girl at Juniperro Serra Mission Academy that doesn't find me repulsive.'
'Oh, no,' I said, 'I do find you repulsive, I do.'
He grinned broadly, as if this was a fantastic revelation. 'Ah, I knew it!' He began jumping in the air, apparently for joy, when he jumped too wildly and his little scoop of ice cream fell right off his cone and onto the grass. His face fell completely. I laughed, and flicked the rainbow scoop of mine onto his cone.
'Thanks!' he exclaimed, and buried his face into it. Not literally, but let's just say that it didn't last too long. And I'd licked it and everything, too. I tell you, Adam's one weird one . . .
But yeah, I'd made up my mind. Tonight, Heather was going down.
~*~
I packed my things carefully. You know, the usual. A torch, a rope, a little Swiss Army knife - God knows where I found that - a bunch of pieces of metal for lock picking, and all the stuff for an Brazilian exorcism. I mean, I didn't have a photo of her, so I'd have to trick her into exorcising her from the school. I mean, killing Bryce was bad enough, but now she intends on killing me? How rude!
I stuffed my bed with pillows, so it looked like I was sleeping. I just hoped no one checked too closely, you know?
It was about ten when I snuck out. I rode to the school on Dopey's bike, dressed entirely in black. So, reasoning hadn't worked with Heather. She was now going to learn the hard way, the stupid cow . . .
By ten thirty, I was standing outside of Mr Walden's classroom. Very carefully, I smashed the window, and climbed in. I mean, the security system at Juniperro Serra? Well, that went as far as locking the doors and hoping for the best. I carefully climbed in, avoiding the sharp glass. I mean, blood? No, not cool. Doesn't suit my skin colour at all. I ran down the dark, echoing hallway until I was in the library, where they keep all the old school photos. I flicked through all the folders until I at last came to Heather's picture. With the knife, I cut it out, and ran to the Chemistry classroom, where I set up everything for the exorcism.
I felt very focused, and not very emotive. Like, you know when you have a goal, and you can only think about that one thing? Like that . . .
I was just lighting the candles, when a voice made my heart seize up.
'What the hell are you doing?'
I almost dropped the match in shock.
'Paul!' I hissed, 'You scared the shit out of me! Get out of here!'
He sauntered over. 'Oh, well. Just dropping in to see how you're going. Not to help, I'm not into this Voodoo stuff you like, but if it gets the job done . . . ' He shrugged and looked down at me.
'Just go away, or you'll get yourself exorcised.'
'See? You do like me, otherwise you wouldn't care if I got exorcised. You like having me around, don't you Susie.'
'Get an afterlife, Paul,' I snapped. 'Fine. Stay. In fact, stand in the middle of this circle!'
He smirked broadly and crossed his arms. 'And I'd be doing that why?'
I ignored him. I had a job to do, and he wasn't going to screw it up.
'Just go,' I sighed.
And for once in his sorry existence, he did as he was told and dematerialized. Great. So much for the no emotion tactic. Now I was frustrated about stinking Paul! Jesus, I was going to kill him. Or, well . . . you know what I mean!
Everything was set. The candles winked brightly at me with yellow, iridescent light, and the chicken blood had been painted on the ground in the right shapes. Now for the photo. I dug into my pocket-
But it wasn't there.
'Shit,' I cursed. I must have dropped it. Groaning quietly, I tiptoed outside the classroom and down the dark, sinfully silent hallway, scanning the ground for the cut out photo of Heather. Ah, there it was, a few meters ahead. A small black rectangle on a grey, spotty floor. I ran over to it and bent down, just as something really hard collided with the back of my head.
I sank into the darkness of my own mind . . .
**************************************************************************** ***************
So predictable, I know.
I know that not much happened here, but just wait. It's still all coming. Please keep reviewing, I'm thinking that I might do like, a series of these stories, you know, with the Paul/Jesse swap? What do you think? And if you have any requests for the stories, make them in the reviews that I know you are going to write because you are all such wonderful people.
Please review?
Love Princess Roxanne!
**************************************************************************** *****
Still very dazed, I somehow made it back to my room. Not house, I say, room. Because, you know, I kind of slipped in through my window. I know, I'm a rebel and I'll never ever be any good, yeah yeah . . .
I looked around fearfully, hoping against hope that Paul wasn't there. I mean, by what I had just heard from Jesse, Paul was a lot more dangerous that I'd ever dared to imagine.
A lot more dangerous . . .
Oh and psychotic killers always take a liking to me, why?!
To my paramount relief, Paul was nowhere in sight. Good. Because I wasn't to keen in ever making eye contact with him again, let alone having him stay in my bedroom.
Having made certain that Paul Had Left The Building, I collapsed on my bed, dizzy with happiness . . .
I was in love.
My life had meaning . . .
. . . Snore . . .
**************************************************************************** ************
Paul's POV.
Okay, you know, it kind of pisses you off when you go out on a limb for someone to help them move on, and they DON'T. Nope. I totally killed Heather's ex, and she was still hanging around!
This was NOT fair!
Well, as I told Suze, I like to make the best of a bad situation. The very best.
So that's how I ended up in bed with Heather again in my old bedroom. I mean, waste not, want not right? By the way, me going out on a limb? Er, that was kind of an overstatement. I mean, I had FUN. Pulling that trigger? That was one of the best moments of my life. The power and the absolute satisfaction I felt was way better than anything, even, well, sex. And trust me, sex is good.
So good I was at it again.
I know, but hey? I was desperate. Heather was just a quick solution, trust me, no more than that. I felt nothing for her. Nothing. I had fallen too bloody hard for Suze to even contemplate that nightmare. And Suze was killing me. Not physically, but because of how she wasn't letting me in . . .
'Paul,' Heather wheezed from beneath me as I was kissing her neck, 'Oh, I love you so much.'
I stopped. And yes, panicked too. 'What?' I said, alarmed. I pushed up from her, and glared.
She gave me a wistful smile. 'I said I love you.'
No, no, no, no, no, NO, NOOOO!!!!
I fell off of her, and hastily began putting on my clothes.
'Paulie Waulie?' she said, sounding confused, 'What's wrong?'
'Just shut up,' I snapped at her. The stupid bitch . . . Stupid, skanky, dumb bitch . . . Love? No, I don't THINK so . . . She was way out of line . . . This was NOT FAIR!!!
I turned to her as I was tugging on my top. 'Get out,' I growled.
Her eyes went wide, and she clung her cardigan to her chest. 'But . . . why? Why, Paul? What is wrong with you? Don't you love me like I love you, or is it-'
'No, I don't love you,' I spat. 'I hate you. Unfortunately for me, you happen to be very good at the thing I was craving the most, and that brought us together. That was it. And now you spring this love shit on me? Hello? You killed yourself because of a guy. You think you would have learned, Heather.' I threw her skirt at her and she recoiled. 'Now get out of my sight before I puke some chunky ghostly substance that I'm not sure even exists.'
Her eyes welled up. 'But . . . what w-w-we had here? That m-meant n-n- nothing to you? I thought you . . . you . . . '
I'll say it. I was disgusted. I truly was.
'What, Heather?' I asked. 'Tell me what you thought. You thought I loved you?' I laughed hollowly, looking down at her. She nodded pitifully. 'That is the most SORRY thing I've ever been unlucky enough to hear.'
She hastily scrambled into her skirt and her cardigan. 'P-Please, Paul,' she stuttered, her eyes overflowing with tears, 'G-g-give me an-n-nother chance? I'll do b-b-better, I swear! I'll do anything! Anything! I'd die for you!' she wailed, and threw herself at me. She clawed at my arms as I tried to push her off. Her usually pretty blond hung dirtily by her face, and her face was screwed up in anguish. But I didn't give a bloody two cents, did I? I was seriously starting to feel a heartfelt sympathy for Martinsen. I mean, how could he have lasted that long?
'Uh huh,' I said. I rolled my eyes and threw her across the room. She brutally collided with the wall, and slid down, sniveling. Blood ran down her forehead.
My God . . . She was just so hopelessly pathetic.
'Sorry sweetheart,' I shrugged nastily, 'You can't die for me this time. You're already dead.'
She screamed in wretchedness.
'See you in hell. That's where they send those screwy idiots who commit suicide, isn't it?' I laughed at her. 'Because I sure as hell know I'm going there . . .'
'You monster,' she sobbed, chewing on her fist as she tried not to cry.
'Thanks. I work hard at it,' I smirked sinfully, and dematerialized, leaving her wounded and whimpering . . .
~*~
Suze's POV.
'Suze! Phone!'
My eyes snapped open, and I jumped out of bed, and stampeded down the stairs. In the kitchen, mum was clutching the receiver, looking bad- tempered. 'Oh, so you come that fast when there's a phone call, and yet you take so long to get up for school. I should get someone to call you every morning,' she sighed. 'And I'll deal with you later,' she added ominously, and handed me the phone.
Uh oh. I guess my absence last night had not been neglected.
Guiltily, I took the receiver from her.
'Hello?' I said.
'Oh, thank the Lord you are safe!' cried Father Dom's deep, wise voice from the other end.
I blinked. 'Er, why him? What do you mean? How did you know -'
'Susannah, what happened last night? I called your mother to make sure that you'd arrived home, but she said that you weren't there. Then she got worried. We were scared that someone had hurt you. I was so scared that you didn't make it home safely. I knew I should have drove you, you silly girl! Look what could have happened-'
'Father Dom, babbling is my specialty,' I snapped. 'Look, I'm fine. Nothing happened last night. I just attended to my seriously disrupted schedule.'
'Susannah, what are you talking about?' he asked angrily. Not angrily as in furious, just angry with me for being stupid. I get that a lot . . .
'I just . . . had something I had to do,' I smiled, fondly remembering last night. 'Nothing special. Why did you have to go call my mum? She'll be on a war path now, thanks to you.'
'Well, I apologize for caring about whether your alive,' he said with irritation, 'I needed to know that you were safe, Susannah. I was very worried when your mother said that you weren't back.'
I groaned. 'Jeez. You old people. Well, wish me luck. I'm not going to be safe now, Father D. Mum's going to strangle me.'
'But, Susannah, I-'
I hung up.
What? "Never hang up on a priest" isn't a commandment, right? So I was safe. Well, I hoped. I turned around slowly, and saw that my mother was glaring at me.
Great. He really threw me in the deep end, huh?
'Suze,' mum said, but I stopped her.
'Look, if this is the bit where you say "I'm not angry, just disappointed," well I can skip that. I really can-'
'No, Susie,' she said with a sigh. 'I am angry. And very worried. I thought that we came to Carmel to make a fresh start. You promised that you would try harder to be good. And now you're up to your old tricks again, aren't you? I can't believe that you would do that, I really can't. I am so disappointed in you.' I saw that she looked close to tears, and her hands were shaking a tiny bit. Okay . . .
'So, what have you been up to?' she asked with a sniff. 'Have you been sneaking out to smoke? Jake mentioned last night that he caught you once-'
'Jake?!' I said, bewildered.
'Yes, Jake. He told me-'
'Mum, Jake hasn't got a clue. Yes, he caught me smoking, but that was directly after your wedding. You know about that, remember? He even thinks I'm in a gang,' I laughed.
She gave me a hard look. 'Are you?' she asked quietly.
'Whoa!' I shouted, 'Mum! I'm not, okay? I swear it on dad's grave-'
'Don't you bring that up,' she snapped, a tear rolling down her cheek. 'Susie, I don't know what's gotten in to you. You were going so well, honey. And then you just start sneaking out again-'
'I didn't sneak out!' I retorted. 'I was still out, mum!'
'What were you doing then?' she demanded, and angrily put her hands on her hips. 'Because I swear to God, Susannah, if it's drugs, I'll-' she broke off furiously.
WHAT THE HELL?!
I just stared at her. 'Mum, how can you say that?' I whispered, genuinely injured.
She looked stubborn. 'I can say that,' she replied. 'It's hard, but I need to know. What is it that you keep going out for? What was it back in Brooklyn? Is it that important that it keeps you from me? You know that you can talk to me, don't you Suze?'
Another tear spilt from her eyes.
That hurt so bad. She didn't trust me . . . One mistake, and she didn't trust me.
'I -'
I couldn't tell her. About mediation, I mean. That would just be too weird for her, and she wouldn't believe me anyway. She'd send me to a psychiatrist again . . .
'Mum,' I said slowly. 'Last night, I was out. At the park. I'm really sorry I worried you. I just needed . . . some alone time.'
Her angry look faded. 'Oh, Susie,' she said. 'I'm so sorry . . . '
I shook my head. 'No, I'm sorry. I should have called you from the school to let you know. I really should have. I'm an idiot. I just needed space to think about stuff.'
'About what stuff, honey?' she asked, choking on her sobs, 'About . . . your father?'
Huh? Er, okay . . . 'Maybe,' I replied, way weirded out by now.
'Oh, Susie,' she said again, and gave me the biggest, deadliest bear hug ever.
'Mum? Oxygen becoming an issue?' I said. She let go, and just looked at my face.
'I love you, you know that?' she said sadly.
'I kind of guessed that when you tried to devoid me of air,' I muttered dumbly. She laughed a little, and then walked out of the kitchen, leaving me wondering how insane I was.
Okay, now that was freaky . . .
Don't you just hate lying?
I sighed, and tramped up to my room. Man, did I feel bad. I mean, hey, last night was a blast, but now that I knew what Paul was, well, I wasn't in the best mood possible. I fell back into bed, feeling very sulky. Maybe I was just depressed anyway for no reason. I dunno. It happens some times . . .
I shut my eyes, and snuggled deeper under my covers. Oh, the warmth they had was blissful. Don't you just love it in the morning, when you feel so cozy and comfortable and warm? Well, I felt like that again. Ah . . .
Right up until the covers were ripped off me.
'Morning Suze,' Paul said cheerfully, clutching the quilt.
I sat up, really annoyed. And now ever more scared of him than I had been before. Well, if he didn't know that, I'd be okay.
'Get out,' I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
He looked at a complete loss. 'What's wrong with you this morning?'
My eyes went even thinner. 'I said get out, Paul.'
He smirked. 'Oh, really,' he said defiantly. 'And what makes you think I'm ready to leave?' He dropped the bedcover and walked towards me. That's right . . . come closer, Paul. Come closer, so I can -
'Ah!' he yelled as I turned, and kicked him in the stomach. I jumped off my bed, and punched him in the face. He grunted, and I kicked him in the shins. But as I was aiming a punch at his jaw, he caught my fist in his cupped hand, and twisted it. I gasped in pain, and he knocked me to the ground, where I bashed my head. Ow . . .
No matter . . . I kicked his feet out from beneath him - I'm good at that, you see - and then leapt on him, and punched him in the face. Several times, too. What? He deserved it, right?
I didn't dare say it out loud, but as I delivered those punches, I was thinking, "This? This is for Adrianna. And this one? This is for Jesse! And this?" I thought savagely as I readied my knee, "This is for me." Wham. Right in the . . . target.
I saw his pupils minimize into the tiniest circles in pain. Good . . . But I had celebrated too quickly, because at that moment, he grabbed my shoulders and rolled us over. I panted, and kicked up, but he wasn't affected.
'I'll ask you again,' Paul smirked, 'What makes you think I'm ready to leave, Suze? I really don't feel like it.'
'You bastard,' I spat, shaking my head, 'You selfish b-' He slammed me against the floor again and I cried out in pain. But now I was really annoyed. I thumped the side of his head and he fell sideways. I scrambled up, as did he. God . . . He shoved me against the wall, and grabbed my wrists so I couldn't hit him, and he pressed himself against me so I couldn't use my legs either.
'Let me go,' I said.
'Why?' he snarled at me. 'Why the sudden change of heart, Suze?'
I stared at him. 'What do you mean, "sudden change of heart"? Sudden change of heart, my arse, Paul. I've wanted you out right from the start . . . ' His eyes seemed to be trying to search me, read me. I didn't let him. He was angry too now. I thrust from him, and pushed him back, so he fell against the ground, but he came right back and slammed me against the wall again. God, his reflexes were snakelike! He glared right into my eyes with mild fire. The fear came immediately . . . I quailed beneath him. Why did he have this affect on me? It wasn't fair!
'Ah, Suze,' he said casually, 'If you didn't want to hear my information, all you had to do was say.'
I stopped thrashing. 'Information? What information?'
He smirked. 'Well, I might not be so keen to tell you, now. Something I heard on the ghostly grapevine, you know? Or, well, found out first-hand, anyway.'
I looked at him strangely. 'Let me go, and then tell me,' I said.
He dropped my hands. 'Happy?'
But I punched him anyway.
'You deserved that,' I told him.
He shrugged offhandedly. 'Probably.'
'So?' I said expectantly.
'Oh, that,' he said, and sat on my bed. 'Well, I assume you heard about that Heather girl and what she did?'
Suddenly, I was a lot keener to hear what he had to say . . .
'Yeah, so?'
He picked up one of the little teddy bears I had on my bed. For decoration, of course. 'Well, we bumped into each other,' he explained, tossing my teddy up in the air and catching it again, 'and she was ranting angrily about you, so I said that I knew you. Then she started going on about some guy called Bryce, or someone, and how she wanted to kill him. She said that she couldn't thought. I told her that she could. Accidentally, of course, and the next time I heard from her, Mr Ex was dead.' With that, he ripped the head off the teddy bear. It was a horrible tearing sound. Stuffing spilled from the neck sadly.
My mouth fell open.
'So it was your fault,' I said quietly. 'You told Heather how to kill Bryce.'
'Hey!' he defended, 'I told you, I didn't mean to. Don't go blaming me, okay?'
'I'll go blaming you if I want,' I snapped.
'Well, that's not all,' he yawned, stretching widely, 'But if you don't want to hear it, I'll just be going then-'
I rolled my eyes. 'Just tell me, Paul.'
His eyes snapped back to me. 'My, aren't we moody today?' I glared intensely at him. 'Okay, okay. After that, when I saw her again, she told me everything she did, blah, blah, and she says that now she wants to kill you,' he reported.
'WHAT?!'
'Hey? Don't shoot the messenger,' he said, lying flat on my bed. 'I've come to warn you. Might wanna bring out the exorcism equipment, you know, or she will kill you.'
Oh my God. I mean, I knew that she was pissed and all, but . . . killing me? Why me? Why did they always want to kill the mediator?
'One, Paul,' I said coldly, 'I'm harder to kill than you think. And secondly, I promised to Father Dominic that I wouldn't exorcise Heather.'
'One, back at you,' he replied, 'Who the hell is Father Dominic? And second, to you, what are promises? They're words meant to pacify, and nothing more. Save your own butt, Suze, or she will kill you. I know she can. She's a very angry ghost.'
'You seem to know a lot about Heather,' I said suspiciously. 'How much have you guys talked?'
He blanched. 'Uh, not all that much. But she made her meaning clear when she gave me your death threat. So watch your back.'
Did I believe him? I don't know . . .
I swallowed. 'Okay, then Paul. You've said that. Now leave.'
He looked amused. 'I think that my actions a minute ago expressed my feelings on going,' he smirked. 'You want another round?'
'I could take you any day,' I said. 'Except today. I'm annoyed, and I'm really not in the mood to kick your arse. I need competition, you see.'
He swelled up angrily. 'I'm more than a match for you, Suze! I could kill you so easily . . . but it would be such a waste, is all. Waste not, want not.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' I demanded.
He sat up, laughing. 'Whatever you like. Be that as it may, I have business elsewhere. So I'll see you around then.'
'Yeah, whatever,' I mumbled vaguely. 'Go-'
But he'd already dematerialized. Good. Finally. He was finally gone. Which was good. Yes. Very good. Finally.
You can say it, I suck.
~*~
'So Suze, what exactly happened yesterday?' Adam was asking me.
We were both sitting in the park on a bench. Everything was very peaceful. There was a beautiful breeze coming and brushing against my face, blowing my hair back a little. The lush green foliage around me made me feel very connected to nature for some reason. A lovely Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, CeeCee couldn't make it, so Adam and I had met up.
'Er, nothing,' I said.
'Oh, come on, I know it wasn't nothing. CeeCee doesn't go fainting because she sees a shower. I mean, it might explain the smell-'
'Adam, it was nothing. Brad must have left my shower running as a joke - wait till mum sees the water bill, it won't be so funny then - and CeeCee, I dunno, maybe she just slipped and bumped her head.
'I checked her head while she was still out,' he said firmly, 'And there was no bumps, bruises or cuts. And believe me, it's very easy to see cuts in CeeCee's hair.'
'Uh huh,' I said. 'I really don't know what's going on-'
'You know what, Suze?' he said, staring right at my eyes. I gulped. 'I think you do know. And you're not telling me.'
I gazed back at him. He had no idea . . . And he wasn't going to.
'Adam,' I said, 'I don't have a clue what you're on about, okay? Drop it. It was weird, yes, but I don't know why it happened. Ask CeeCee, okay?'
'I did,' he replied, turning his face away from me. 'She said the same thing. You girls . . . I bet you told her to picture me naked, right?'
I laughed. 'Yeah, now THAT would make her faint, all right.'
'Precisely!' he said triumphantly. 'I know that all you women want me! You are all too shy to ask me out, though! But please, don't be. Just, don't assume anything if you ever picture me naked again, okay? I'm very deceiving, you know-'
'Okay, Adam, can you stop before you gross me out completely? That was just wrong,' I giggled, and he shoved me of the bench all together. I screamed in laughter, and he bolted.
'You are so dead!' I yelled at him. And let's face it, I'm faster than him. I totally jumped at his knees and brought him on the grass. Then I gave him a friendly punch in the stomach.
'Ow,' he laughed - and wheezed at the same time. 'Now that was just mean, Suze. Apologize?'
'Never,' I said.
'Okay then,' he said quickly. We both scrambled up, still laughing. We walked around the park, not talking. I frowned down at the pavement more with each step.
'Suze, you look constipated. What's wrong?' he said.
I stopped frowning. 'Huh? Oh, nothing.'
He stopped. 'God, not this again. For God's sake, just tell me. I won't think you're a freak of nature. I successfully rank at that place.'
I smiled. 'Yeah, whatever. Just, Adam?'
'Yes, my darling?' he groveled jokily.
'Tell me more about Heather Chambers. Besides from what you told me on my first day. What was she like?' I asked.
He looked pained. 'You're asking me to actually remember the days of Heather Chambers? I planned to only share these things with my therapist, you know Suze. But yeah. You know what she would have been like. Kelly Prescott's twin only more evil. Both blond, gibbering idiots.'
'What about Bryce?' I said. 'What was he like?'
'Bryce Martinsen? He was all right. He was big into surfing, but he never gave me any trouble. Just the silent type, rather, and a little bit slow between you and me. Don't tell him that, he could beat me to a bloody pulp if he wanted to-'
'You don't know?' I interrupted.
He stared at me. 'Don't know what? There are loads of things I don't know, like elements on the periodic table, meaning of life, birds and the bees-'
'Bryce is dead,' I said bluntly. 'He was shot.'
Adam looked startled. 'Whoa,' he said slowly. 'Really? And here's me thinking he was going to die like they did in the horror movies, you know, all cut up into little pieces with blood everywhere . . . '
I didn't tell him that the way he died was basically something out of a horror movie. That I knew of. I mean, a supernatural being shooting you? That's not your run of the mill way of dying, right?
Adam still seemed mildly stunned. 'But Bryce,' he said, 'He was one of the good ones. I mean, he wasn't a stupid jock, just a jock. But he never gave anyone a hard time. Why don't you ask Jake what he was like? They were buds.'
'I'll pass on that,' I said, not too interested. 'Having a conversation with Jake would only end with the line "Are you sure you're not in a gang?" I couldn't take that on a Sunday.'
He kicked at a twig on the ground. 'Fair enough. Why do you want to know about Bryce and Heather anyway?'
'Hey? Why are people talking about me?!' demanded a voice from behind me. I stopped and whirled around, and came face to face with none other than . . .
Well duh. Bryce.
But yeah, I wasn't expecting to see him. Neither was he.
'You can see me?' he said, awed.
'Hang on,' I mouthed. Adam was gawking at me. 'Adam, go get me an ice- cream,' I said quickly, shoving a handful of dollars to him.
'But, Suze, who-'
'Go.'
'Okay,' he squeaked, and ran off. I turned back to Bryce, with his beachy blond hair and his broad shoulders. Oh woe, revenge of the hotties . . .
He stared at me some more, and not to flatter myself, but he looked impressed. Yay. I'm being eyed by dead hot guys. That's up to two points now!
'Well?' I said, 'what do you want? I've heard a lot about you, Bryce.'
He looked bemused. 'Really?' he said. 'How come?'
'Because your ex-girlfriend's a ghost and has been making my life hell,' I said, 'And naturally, I wanted to know her history. She was the one that killed you, wasn't she?'
He sighed and nodded. I think so,' he muttered glumly. 'By what she wrote. Her and her friend.'
I stopped walking. 'Huh? Friend? She has a friend? Is that humanly possible?' I said harshly.
'Whoa, twenty questions, babe,' he said. 'I don't know. She mentioned a friend. I don't know who she was. Or he.'
Or he . . . Heather with a ghostly boyfriend? Ugh. That was worse than when Harmony got with Spike in Buffy. Ha, it kind of made sense, right? But who was this person? I mean, yeah, it probably was a girl, right? Yeah. Some other scorned skank out for revenge teamed up with Heather. No one I knew . . .
'I'm sorry,' I said, 'I don't know who her friend could be. And I'm really sorry that she killed you. That wasn't fair. I feel so bad. I know it's my fault, I was supposed to stop her . . . '
He dragged a hand through his blond hair and sighed, as if this was all way too much to deal with. Or, if Adam was right, way too much to penetrate his brain all at once. 'It's not your fault, babe. You couldn't have done anything, right?'
'Yes I could have!' I shouted in my frustration. He twitched. Great, he's scared of me now . . . 'It's just, dealing with these ghosts is my job. I have to do. And my priority is to make them move on before they hurt someone else. And I've screwed up. I was too wrapped up in my stupid freaking life to remember that. It's my fault that you're dead, Bryce.'
He shrugged. 'Okay, if you insist. I'm going to see if I can catch a wave or something-'
'You can't,' I said, 'You're dead.'
Now, he looked really heartbroken. 'Oh yeah . . . ' He gazed longingly at the beach. 'Dead. Yeah . . . '
Oh my God. I felt so guilty now. Poor guy. So what if he was two buns short of a baker's dozen? Just because he wasn't too bright, it didn't mean he didn't deserve to live. That stupid cow . . . She was really going to pay now. That is, if she hadn't crossed over yet. I mean, Bryce would have been the thing holding her back, right? But, Paul was making out like she was still hanging around to off me too.
Hang on . . . I have a thought here.
Paul . . .
*You seem to know a lot about Heather . . . How much have you guys talked?*
What if -
'Suze! I got you a double cone with chocolate and rainbow ice cream, and a honeycomb cone for me. Happy?' Adam broke in, passing right through Bryce. Adam shivered, and Bryce dematerialized.
Damn, lost that thought . . .
I took the cone off Adam, and promptly began licking. Oooh, lovely, sweet and cold.
'Ah, this is the life,' Adam said through a mouthful of ice cream. I noticed that he'd managed to acquire a large dollop on the tip of his nose. I snorted, but didn't tell him. 'Eating a huge honeycomb ice-cream that I didn't pay for, walking in the park on a sunny day surrounded by the beauties of nature, and I'm with the most beautiful girl at Juniperro Serra Mission Academy that doesn't find me repulsive.'
'Oh, no,' I said, 'I do find you repulsive, I do.'
He grinned broadly, as if this was a fantastic revelation. 'Ah, I knew it!' He began jumping in the air, apparently for joy, when he jumped too wildly and his little scoop of ice cream fell right off his cone and onto the grass. His face fell completely. I laughed, and flicked the rainbow scoop of mine onto his cone.
'Thanks!' he exclaimed, and buried his face into it. Not literally, but let's just say that it didn't last too long. And I'd licked it and everything, too. I tell you, Adam's one weird one . . .
But yeah, I'd made up my mind. Tonight, Heather was going down.
~*~
I packed my things carefully. You know, the usual. A torch, a rope, a little Swiss Army knife - God knows where I found that - a bunch of pieces of metal for lock picking, and all the stuff for an Brazilian exorcism. I mean, I didn't have a photo of her, so I'd have to trick her into exorcising her from the school. I mean, killing Bryce was bad enough, but now she intends on killing me? How rude!
I stuffed my bed with pillows, so it looked like I was sleeping. I just hoped no one checked too closely, you know?
It was about ten when I snuck out. I rode to the school on Dopey's bike, dressed entirely in black. So, reasoning hadn't worked with Heather. She was now going to learn the hard way, the stupid cow . . .
By ten thirty, I was standing outside of Mr Walden's classroom. Very carefully, I smashed the window, and climbed in. I mean, the security system at Juniperro Serra? Well, that went as far as locking the doors and hoping for the best. I carefully climbed in, avoiding the sharp glass. I mean, blood? No, not cool. Doesn't suit my skin colour at all. I ran down the dark, echoing hallway until I was in the library, where they keep all the old school photos. I flicked through all the folders until I at last came to Heather's picture. With the knife, I cut it out, and ran to the Chemistry classroom, where I set up everything for the exorcism.
I felt very focused, and not very emotive. Like, you know when you have a goal, and you can only think about that one thing? Like that . . .
I was just lighting the candles, when a voice made my heart seize up.
'What the hell are you doing?'
I almost dropped the match in shock.
'Paul!' I hissed, 'You scared the shit out of me! Get out of here!'
He sauntered over. 'Oh, well. Just dropping in to see how you're going. Not to help, I'm not into this Voodoo stuff you like, but if it gets the job done . . . ' He shrugged and looked down at me.
'Just go away, or you'll get yourself exorcised.'
'See? You do like me, otherwise you wouldn't care if I got exorcised. You like having me around, don't you Susie.'
'Get an afterlife, Paul,' I snapped. 'Fine. Stay. In fact, stand in the middle of this circle!'
He smirked broadly and crossed his arms. 'And I'd be doing that why?'
I ignored him. I had a job to do, and he wasn't going to screw it up.
'Just go,' I sighed.
And for once in his sorry existence, he did as he was told and dematerialized. Great. So much for the no emotion tactic. Now I was frustrated about stinking Paul! Jesus, I was going to kill him. Or, well . . . you know what I mean!
Everything was set. The candles winked brightly at me with yellow, iridescent light, and the chicken blood had been painted on the ground in the right shapes. Now for the photo. I dug into my pocket-
But it wasn't there.
'Shit,' I cursed. I must have dropped it. Groaning quietly, I tiptoed outside the classroom and down the dark, sinfully silent hallway, scanning the ground for the cut out photo of Heather. Ah, there it was, a few meters ahead. A small black rectangle on a grey, spotty floor. I ran over to it and bent down, just as something really hard collided with the back of my head.
I sank into the darkness of my own mind . . .
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So predictable, I know.
I know that not much happened here, but just wait. It's still all coming. Please keep reviewing, I'm thinking that I might do like, a series of these stories, you know, with the Paul/Jesse swap? What do you think? And if you have any requests for the stories, make them in the reviews that I know you are going to write because you are all such wonderful people.
Please review?
Love Princess Roxanne!