A/N: Yes, I can assure you that I will be deviating more in the 2nd installment. Also, A Father Dom type character will appear then (which is probably why this first part sucks. No one for Jesse to talk to).

Chapter 7:

I decided to walk down to the school rather than take the subway. If the security wasn't still down, I needed the least number of witnesses as possible. Lucky for me, even though New York is the city that never sleeps, that doesn't mean they all hang around Brighton Academy. The place was deserted when I got there. I went around to the side of the campus with the chain-link fence and jumped it easily. Of course, who just happened to be standing by the ruined fountain but Bryan himself.

There wasn't a sound, of course. The crickets in the park had gone into hiding, remaining silent. People may be ignorant of ghostly appearances, but not animals. They notice all right. He was glowing a slight blue in the moonlight and had his back turned to me. I cleared my throat to get his attention. Bryan swiveled around fast and stared at me. If I had a nickel for every time I've seen that confused stare, I'd be a billionaire.

I wasn't sure how to start out so I just said, "So… Bryan. We need to talk."

"You're that new guy." He blinked and added wonderingly, "You can see me…"

"Yeah, I can." Jeez, how many times did I have to go through this conversation? It's so much easier when the ghosts come to me and just tell me exactly what they need. "We need to talk about what happened this afternoon with Shannon."

His eyes narrowed at me. "What has that got to do with you, besides ruining it?"

I pushed down my temper, courtesy of Father Dominic's training in patience. "It has a lot to do with me. I'm a mediator and I'm here to help you."

"Help me?" Bryan echoed. "How could you? I'm dead."

"Well, that's just it," I explained, "You're dead but you're still here. You're not supposed to be though. Sometimes some ghosts have unfinished business and mediators help them work it out so they can move on."

Bryan looked relieved and relaxed a bit. "Well, I guess I understand."

"Good. So, care to tell me why you're trying to kill Shannon McKinley?" I sat down on one of the stone benches to listen. This ought to be a good story because as far as I know, there's no good reason for anyone (even ghosts) to kill someone else. Maybe beat to a bloody pulp, but that's a rare exception.

To my surprise, he started off by saying, "That bitch." He continued with a sour look, "This whole thing is her fault."

I was taken aback, as you can imagine. "What?"

Bryan paced in front of the broken fountain, explaining, "We were driving together upstate when all of a sudden she tells me that she doesn't think it's going to work out," he said the last part in a disgusted mocking voice. "Turns out that she wanted to break up. Something about trying to 'find herself.' Bullshit." He emphasized the last word with a noisy tremble from the chain fence.

I cast an uneasy glance at the fence and ventured a bit farther, "So when the car veered off the road…?"

"We were too busy arguing to see the sign about the sharp turn." He turned his frowning visage to me, arms crossed once again. "See? It's all her fault."

Trying not to sound accusing, I asked, "What does this have to do with killing her?"

"Well," He scowled and said as if it were obvious, "She's supposed to be with me. That's why I haven't moved on, as you put it."

I shook my head empathetically. "It doesn't work like that, Bryan," I tried to sound kind. Really, I did. But it didn't make a difference.

He was glaring in suspicion now. "What do you mean?"

I explained further, "I mean, even if Shannon died, she'll probably move on and not become a ghost. She wouldn't end up here." I gestured to the garden courtyard. After all, while a raging ghost would hold back a normal person, it wouldn't hold back the oncoming afterlife. Stupid loose ends, maybe, but not another ghost.

Bryan shouted angrily, "Bull!"

"I'm serious, Bryan," I said as I put compassion in my voice (it usually made them feel better). "I'm sorry you had to die just because of the heat of the moment, but we're just going to have to find another way to fix this. You can start over." Although I didn't exactly know if you could count possible hell and damnation as starting over, I didn't want to mention that part.

Bryan suddenly sounded earnest, "I can? How?"

I thought about it. All the ghosts that had moved on did so because what they wanted was done. So I said, "I suppose you just have to really wish for it and make that your ultimate desire, not Shannon."

"I have been doing that!" said Bryan, exasperated. "When I first realized I was like this, I wanted nothing more than to get my old life back."

Uh, oh. "That's not what I meant, Bryan," I said quickly before this thought went too far. "I meant moving on to another life, or heaven, or something."

"You son of a bitch!" He pointed an accusing finger at me, "You said I could start over! You said I could get it back!" I could hear the chain fence clinking and rattling, and it wasn't because of the wind.

"That's not what I-"

"You LIAR!" He was a goner now. His eyes weren't glowing; they were practically burning with bright blue light. He continued to point at me, "I saw what happened today! You're here to take my place, aren't you?! That's my locker, Josh and Justin are my friends, and Shannon is my girlfriend!"

I let out a string of colorful Spanish curses as the bench beneath me leapt up, throwing me. Suddenly, the rubble of the fountain began to quake and a chunk the size of a bowling ball emerged from the pile, hovering about waist height and dangerously spiked in several places. Before I could vaguely register that the thing looked like a tiny planet, there was a dull thud and the wind was knocked out of my lungs. All I could see was the midnight sky.

I could still hear the chain fence madly clanging against their metal poles. Bryan wasn't done. I shouted an obscene word before quickly rolling to my side, the chunk of stone barely grazing my head. As the thing circled around to try at me again, I scrambled to my feet, but slightly hunched because of the attack on my torso.

Diving out of the way more times than I could count, it wasn't long before I couldn't keep up with it. I was kneeling in exhaustion as the thing finally paused and just levitated about thirty feet away, next to Bryan whose face was glowing an eerily blue light and twisted with pure hatred. I knew he was going to launch that thing straight at my head. But suddenly my view of Bryan was obscured by someone else materializing between us.