A/N: I've changed a few things in the previous chapters. Namely, the amount of time Suze's has been in a coma. It's now two weeks. I know that's really out of the blue, but I don't know how else to change things without rewriting the entire story, which would take even MORE time and leave you guys without new chapters and having to read material you've already read. And seeing as it's just a few minor changes, I'm sure no one wants me to do that.

"All right, where are we going?" I asked as I started the car.

"The Mission," David said quietly.

"What's going on, David?" I asked quietly. "I know Suze isn't buried under a bunch of rubble this time, so just tell me what's going on."

There was a pause. "Jake, just take me to the Mission, okay? When we get there, don't ask any questions, just get back in the car and drive home. If Mom and Dad ask any questions, you have no idea where I am."

A grim chuckle escaped my mouth as I looked at him. "Dave, if you really think I'm going to do that, then you don't know me at all. I'm not going anywhere, so you might as well tell me."

Dave let out a sigh and rubbed his face. "You won't believe it," he said flatly.

"Try me."

David looked at me. "Maybe we should wait until we get to the Mission."

~*~

When we walked into the church, the first thing I saw was Father Dominic poring over a book. His eyes grew huge as he saw the two of us walking towards him. "Jake?"

I stared at David. "You're meeting him?" I stared at Father Dominic incredulously. "Father, aren't you supposed to be encouraging him to obey his parents?"

"Jake—"

"Because I don't know if David's told you this, but our mom and dad usually frown on sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night without permission. Just to let you know."

Father Dominic gave me a tired smile at this. "Yes, I understand. But in this case—well, sometimes someone must do the right thing for the wrong reasons."

Just then we heard two male voices coming closer. "I'm getting too old for this crap," one voice grumbled.

"Spare me," another voice snapped. "You're loving this. Finally getting out into the world, having a little adventure instead of staring at the TV watching Nick at Nite—"

"Watch it, you—" The door opened and Paul Slater walked in, pushing an old man in a wheelchair. Their eyes widened simultaneously. "Ackerman?" Paul asked, incredulous. "What are you doing here?"

I stared at him. "Funny. I was about to ask you guys the same thing."

The old man gestured at me. "Who the hell's this guy?"

Father Dominic, behind me, sighed. "Oliver, this is Jake Ackerman, Suze's oldest brother. Jake, this is Dr. Oliver Slaski, Paul's grandfather."

The old man looked me up and down. "Huh. Doesn't look much like her."

I gritted my teeth and said, "Will somebody please explain what's going on?"

They looked at me. Father Dominic stood in front of me and said, "Jake…it's best if you don't know—"

"Like hell," I interrupted. "You don't have a damn clue what—" my breathing was becoming ragged, like I'd run a marathon. "My family's been in this nightmare for two weeks, and you've known what's wrong with her the whole—" I swallowed. "You bastards."

Father Dominic looked away. "This was precisely what I warned her about…"he muttered. Then his eyes focused on a point beyond my shoulder. "Jesse, I'm not sure if…"

I whirled around. There was no one behind me. "Who are you talking to?" I stared at the priest warily. Maybe he was losing it…I looked at David, and he shrugged.

Paul threw up his hands, his eyes focused on the same point in space that Father Dominic and his grandfather was. "Fine, De Silva. Go right ahead."

That's when my car keys flew out of my pocket and were suspended in mid-air.

"Jesus," I said weakly. "Is everyone seeing what I'm seeing here?"

"Well, yeah," Paul said easily. "Only we can see the guy that's holding your keys." He walked up to me and clapped a friendly hand on my shoulder. "Jake, I'd like to introduce you to Jesse De Silva, our resident ghost. He's a lot like Casper actually. Only not bald. More's the pity."

My legs were like jelly. "This—isn't—happening," I croaked, watching my keys being thrown up in the air and caught by invisible hands. "I'm—I'm seeing things…"

Paul sighed and turned to Father Dominic. "Give me a hand here, would you?"

~*~

After a lot of talking, and more tricks by the ghost—spirit—whatever—they finally had me convinced.

"So…my sister can see ghosts?" I asked in Father Dominic's office.

"For the last time, yes," Paul said impatiently.

"And she's also got the ability to enter some ghostly netherworld."

"Correct," Dr. Slaski said. "Although she really shouldn't have gone up there in the first place…"

Paul snorted as he sat down in a chair next to his grandfather. "Oh, please. It's not that big a deal. I've been going up there since I was ten."

"Yes, and look how well you turned out," Dr. Slaski shot back. "Might I remind you that the reason I'm dying a slow death is because I went up there one too many times?"

I paled. "Is that why she's in a coma?"

"Not exactly," Father Dominic interjected. "You see, Suze's soul is trapped up there."

"Why?" I asked. "From what it sounds like, you guys can go in and out of that place anytime you feel like it."

"Usually, that's the case," Dr. Slaski said. "The problem is, that there are certain spirits up there that don't want your sister to leave…and are keeping her prisoner."

"Why are they doing that?"

"Well, not every ghost that exists is as friendly as Mr. De Silva here," Dr. Slaski said, gesturing to the space to the right of Father Dominic's desk.  He paused, listening to something, then smiled. "He wants me to tell you that you're handling this very well."

"Uh…thanks." I muttered. "Hey, wait. Did he smash that doctor's computer in the hospital? Not that that was a bad thing…"

Paul laughed. "Yeah, that was him. Not exactly an even-tempered kind of guy, is he?"

"Huh. Nice job, dude," I said, gazing where everyone else was, even though I couldn't see him. Then I got back to the important stuff. "Okay, bad ghosts who don't want Suze to leave. Wait, why don't they want her to leave?"

Father Dominic cleared his throat here. "Jake, I assume you know what an exorcism is."

"Yeah, sure, along with every person who's seen the Exorcist."

"Some of the ghosts that Susannah has had to deal with are rather…troublesome. In some cases, the only way to stop these ghosts  from creating even more havoc is by exorcizing them. And your sister has performed quite a number of exorcisms."

I rolled my eyes at this. "Great. She can't even do the laundry without turning all the white stuff pink, and yet she's a pro at kicking the butts of the undead. That is so typical."

Paul snorted at that. Father Dominic continued.

"The problem is that about two weeks ago, your sister was dealing with a very…angry ghost. One that was furious at his death, which he considered to be unfair."

"Oh, come on, Father D," Paul interrupted. "Enough with the sugarcoating. The guy was a violent ass, pure and simple." Dr. Slaski hit him on the head. "What? I can't say ass in front of a priest?"

His grandfather hit him again, and Paul rubbed his head. "Guess not," he muttered.

"Okay, so there was a nasty ghost out there. Then what?" I demanded.

"Suze found the ghost, right when he was about to take someone's life," Paul said. "She couldn't do an exorcism, so she just grabbed the guy and took him up there with her. Apparently this ghost was so angry that his fury somehow called all the other ghosts up there that were taken to their afterlives against their will. They banded together to create this…force that won't let Suze go. And now's she's stuck up there."

"So get her out," I said, folding my arms. "I mean, if you guys are the same as she is, then why not get her out?"

"What do you think we've been trying to do for the past two weeks?" Paul asked. "Every time we try, that—thing recognizes us as shifters and won't let us get near her. So, we thought that if we got David up there—"

"They might see him as an ordinary spirit and he could get close enough to set her free,"

Dr. Slaski finished.

I looked at David, who had been pretty quiet throughout all this. "But you're not a shifter." I shot him a wary look, having second thoughts. "Right?"

David smiled slightly at that. "No. I'm not."

"Then how are you going to get up there?"

David met my gaze squarely. "Jake, they're going to exorcize me. That's how I'm going to get up there."

I stared at him for a long moment. He had to be joking. "You—you're not—you're joking."

But David wasn't really the joking type, and he didn't seem to be joking…

"Oh my God—are you crazy?" I yelped. "No, no, this—this is insane." I looked at Father Dominic, who seemed unable to look me in the face. "You're just going to let him do this?"

"Jake," Dr. Slaski said patiently, "—we have exhausted all our other options. This is the only way we can think of to get your sister back."

"Then think up another option," I said harshly. "You don't even know if this'll work—"

"I can do it," David objected.

"There are a million things that could go wrong."

"Jake, we know—" Father Dominic tried to say, but I was on a roll.

"For all you know, he could be trapped right up there with Suze. Or they might kill him. Or he could come back, with Suze, but die anyway from the after-effects of being up there."

"All your concerns are valid," Dr. Slaski said.

"I know what I'm doing," David insisted.

I stared at him, disbelieving. "Oh, please, you're a kid! You're thirteen years old—Christ, you don't even have chest hair yet and you're gonna make this kind of decision?"

"I don't have a choice!" David yelled at me. "This is the only way we can bring her back." His voice cracked as he said, "I have to bring her back. Jake…Suze always has to take these risks for other people, people that she doesn't even know most of the time. It's about time someone took a risk for her."

"You're not going to do this," I told him, my voice hoarse.

"Watch me."

"No, I…" I took a deep breath. "I get what you're saying, believe me. But you don't have to do this."

Paul interrupted. "Well, unless you're planning to leave Suze in a coma, then—"

"No," I said. "That's not what I mean." I glanced at Father Dominic, and I knew that he understood what I was trying to say.

"You want to do it," he said.

"Yeah," I said, holding out my arms. "You need somebody to exorcize, right? Well, then, you've got me."