Royce was in a panic. He'd been searching for Joey for what seemed like forever. He followed the sounds of the Jackal, figuring the nutball would lead him to her. But then the sounds stopped. He feared what that might mean.

He kept walking, calling Joey's name once in a while. Passing a deadend hall, something caught his eye. He turned down there and came across a big rock on the floor. He picked it up and was met with a strange tingle in the back of his neck.

An image of Joey picking up the rock flashed in his mind. Then her pinning the Jackal down and beating him with it. Royce dropped the rock and shuddered. He didn't know what had happened, but he head an odd feeling that he should go back to the library. There was no time to analyze it. He went back quickly, hoping his instincts were leading him to the right place.

---

In the library, Dennis was held immobile by an invisible force. Moss looked at him amused.

"I think I like you better this way," Moss sneered. "I don't have to hear you talk or watch you spaz like a freak."

He turned his attention to the body on the table. It lay there motionless, unbreathing, and he knew her heroically imbecilic plan had begun. Sooner or later, Joey's ghost would return to complete its mission. And Moss would be waiting.

Moving to the opposite side, he looked at Denny over the table. He grabbed the face of the dead body and jerked it back and forth harshly, inspecting it closely. The spine moved easy. Rigor mortis hadn't set in yet.

"You know," Moss said to Dennis as he moved his fingers down the body. "Your sister's kind of hot for a kid. I'm thining about having a go with her when she brings me back; break her in. Show her how a real man works before she gets stuck with some stupid little punk..."

He spun around and froze Royce whose bat was raised to swing. Moss had heard the ghost approaching before he started talking. Now he looked gleefully at his newest statue.

"It seems my puppet has returned," he mused. "Let's seewhat little dances you can do."

He spouted off a few spells, but was surprised to see they didn't work. A few more and still nothing, to his frustration.

"Well," he said vexed. "I may not be able to control you like before, but, as long as I have such a rapt audience, I might as well put on a show."

Moss reached to the floor for a sharp shard of glass. He held it before his face, moon light glinting off of it, saying "Now, I know I can't just stab the body, that would ruin the whole plan. The way I figure it, I can leave a few scars. It'll give me something to look at when I'm riding her like Secretariat."

Repositioning the glass in his hand, he brought it down to within inches of the body. But it would go no further. He did it again, but try as he might, he couldn't push the shard past those few inches. An angry growl burst from him as he threw the glass at the wall. With a deep breath, he steadied himself.

That's when he heard it; the crunching of galss near the darkened door. He looked up in that direction and saw Joey standing there. Her arms and shirt were scratched and ripped. She looked crazed, like she had been to Hell and returned to demonstrate.

"You think you're one bad Casper, don't ya," Joey said. Her voice quaked as if she held back the ultimate rage of her being. "I think you should meet my new best friend."

She raised her hand, pointing straight at Moss. "Sick 'im, boy!"

A maniacal howling erupted as the Jackal came out of no where, lunging at Moss over the table. The lunatic tackled the lawyer to the ground and began tearing into his blue-gray flesh. The action broke Moss's hold over the other two ghosts. Denny crumpled to the ground as Royce completed he delayed swing.

The unfrozen apparitions stared wide-eyed at the scene before them. They began backing away. Royce nearly ran into Joey. He was relieved to see her there. Then, he noticed the way she looked.

"God, Joey what happened to you?" The sight of her made him forget everything else.

"Shhh..." she whispered, folding her hands in his. She stooped down and picked up the Jackal's headcage.

"Ryan," Joey shouted over the Jackal's crazed laugh.

The demented creature stopped mid-swipe and turned to her. She held up the cage and a smirk tugged at her lips. "I think he'd look even better in this."

An evil, knowing smile appeared on Kuhn's disturbed face. He stood and hauled Moss's split body with him. Stepping toward Joey, he reached out for her. Royce moved in front of her protectivly. The Jackal stopped and looked amused at the torn ghost. Joey stuck the cage out around Royce's shoulder. Kuhn grasped the thing in his clawed hand and walked toward the door, eyeing Royce who followed his movement while keeping Joey behind him.

Once the Jackal disappeared down the hall with a triumphant cackle, Royce felt Joey's arm wrap around his waist. She rested her head on the back of his shoulder in exhaustion. He spun around and folded her into his arms. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as he hands grasped his shoulders. He gently caressed her new scratches the way she had touched his scars so many times. Another sappy thought crossed his mind. He wished he could kiss every one of those cuts away.

Joey pulled away, holding him at arms' length. Then, she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the table where her brother waited.

"Well boys," she said more high-spirited. "The good news is the hard part's over."

"What's the bad news," Dennis asked.

She shrugged, but Denny knew better. He had known Joey for exactly eighteen years that day. He could tell she was worried about something. His head told him to ask her, but his gut told him to let it go. His gut prevailed.

Joey hopped back on the table with her corpse. Royce and Denny stood to either side of her. She looked up through the shattered ceiling, marvelling at the moon amd stars. She sucked the unneeded cold air into her unneeded cold lungs and sighed. Positioning herself so she would overlap with her body, she looked at her two companions.

Then, she leaned over to Royce and whispered "As mush as I love your scars, you should probably try getting rid of them."

He was confused for a second, then remembered. Royce shut his eyes and tried making himself wholee. He concentrated on the night he first tried to kiss Joey. It didn't work. He started getting angry with himself; frustrated that he couldn't do it. Joey couldn't bring him back that way. A stray, aggrevatingly true thought came to him. If he didn't come back, he could never feel her hand...

"Royce." Joey's voice cut through his comtemplation. "You did it."

It was true. His right side was flawless compared to its former gruesomeness. Royce opened his eyes to look at Joey. He knew the shameless longing he saw in her eyes mirrored his own. It took all his will power not to pull her to him and hold her until there was no more pain within her. Joey sighed again, as if it expressed some unspoken worry or fear.

"Give me your hands," she said. Royce and Denny complied and Joey held them firmly. "Here we go."

She began leaning back, her spirit alligning with her body. Soon, her head and hands melded into her corpse. As she entirely disappeared inside herself, screams of agony were ripped from the throats of Royce and Dennis.