A/N: This is a short chapter, but I had to update something, so...Thanks for all the reviews and demands to get my lazy ass into gear. It helped.

"Suze!" I hollered. My voice was getting hoarse from all the shouting, which made no sense. I mean, it wasn't like I had vocal chords…oh, hell. I didn't even know why I was trying to make sense of anything anymore. Nothing about this made sense. I had just been exorcised on the advice of a ghost I couldn't even see, was currently in a ghostly netherworld trying to get my stepsister back to Earth so she could snap out of a coma…hell, my life had beaten Stephen King and Anne Rice in weird, okay?

I checked my watch again. Dammit. 17 minutes and counting. "Susannah Simon, get your mediator ass over here!" I howled. "NOW!"

A cold wind ruffled my hair, and I shivered.

And then…it came.

It was like a tornado, only more…solid, somehow, and with streaks of color breaking up the gray. My skin was crawling, and everything inside of me was telling me to run, because this…thing, whatever it was, wasn't right, wasn't natural. And somewhere, I could hear screaming.

Then the tornado disappeared, and there was this huddling girl with wild dark curls rocking back and forth in front of me…

"Suze?" I croaked.

She looked up at me, her eyes wide and frightened. "J-Jake? What-"

I stumbled towards her, and collapsed on the ground. "You're okay," I whispered, and hugged her hard. "You're okay."

I heard a choking sound, and then she was hugging me back. "God, it is you," she breathed. "How-"

"Long, long story," I said, releasing her. "We have to go," I said, standing up and tugging at her arm. She resisted. "Suze, we don't have a lot of time."

"How'd you get up here?"

"Father Dominic exorcised me," I explained, impatient. "And unlike you, I can't stay up here for more than thirty minutes-"

"Why you?" she demanded. "Jake, you're not supposed to know anything about this-"

"Yeah, and by the way, thanks so much for keeping us all in the dark," I said sarcastically. "By the way, it was either me or David. No one else could get past those—things."

"David? But he's so-"

"Young? Exactly!" I agreed. I liked Father Dominic and all, but that had been an insane idea. I tugged again at her hand and this time, Suze didn't resist, and stood up. "Okay, we have to get out of here," I said. "Like, now. I've got less than twenty minutes to get-"

And then it returned. The spirit…thing. I grabbed Suze's hand and--they started to circle around us, like we were the eye of a hurricane. My legs were threatening to give way, I was so scared.

What am I doing here? I don't belong here! I screamed inside my head. Or maybe out loud, I don't know. The only thing I was sure of was that I wasn't letting go of Suze's hand. I don't belong here, I screamed again.

And somewhere, a hissing voice responded, Yes. You do not belong. Get out. Leave.

Not without her, I answered.

And then we were...for lack of a better word, invaded. These wind-spirits...they went through us, inside of us--they were outside, inside, invading, circling like vultures--

And the utter cold...it was numbing, it dove at you like knives. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think--all I knew was that this hurt so, so much.

I could hear screams. My own. And Suze's too, maybe, I didn't know.

And I could feel their minds, sort of. I got a sense of who they were, or had been when they were alive. I got a vague impression of a British solider...maybe from the Revolutionary war...a girl with blonde hair...but the thing that hit me the most was the rage. And the hatred. Suze had banished them here, and they weren't going to let her go. Or me.

A rough chant started. Letgoletgoletgoletgo--

And I started my own. Nonononononono--

Lethimgo, they said to Suze. Savehimfromthis--And I could feel her grip relaxing just a little--

Don't you dare let go, Suze, I yelled out to her. If you do, I swear I'll come back the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. You guys hear me? I screamed out. I am not letting her go!

My hand was going numb, and I could no longer feel Suze's hand in mine.

Oh, God, I'm sorry--I gasped out. I'm so sorry. I didn't know who I was apologizing to. Maybe Suze, or David--or my entire family.

Then I blacked out.

~*~

Why do you do this? a voice asked.

I don't have a choice, I answered.

Yes, you do. There is always a choice.

Not here, not with this. I had to save her.

You have to protect her, don't you? the voice asked. Not just her, but your brothers, your father, your stepmother, all of them. You need to keep them safe. Why?

~*~

I was little when my mother was sick. One night, when I was eight, I came down to get some water and saw my mom sitting there at the couch.

"Hey mom," I said.

"Hi, sweetie," she said, smiling. Her face was a lot thinner these days, and she had a scarf wrapped around her head like a turban. It didn't matter though, because all of us--me, Dad, Brad, and David—we all thought she was still beautiful. "Come here and sit by me."

I didn't need to be told twice. I sat down next to her, and snuggled in. She was a lot thinner than she used to be, but her skin still smelled like raspberries.

"This is nice," she murmured after a moment.

"Yeah," I agreed happily. "Think the new medicine will work?"

"We'll see," she said distantly, then started to stroke my hair. I knew she hated to talk about the medicine and all the stuff the doctors did, but she hadn't said no, so...maybe it would be okay. "Jake, sweetheart, can you do me a favor?" I knew she was changing the subject, a thing of adults that I hated, but I let her anyway.

"Uh huh."

"Take care of your siblings. Just--just look out for them, okay? Can you do that?" Her eyes were shining, and she was blinking a lot.

"Sure," I replied, grinning up at her. "I'll do it. No problem."

"Thank you," she whispered, holding me tight. "That's my boy. That's my boy."

~*~

And somewhere, a voice said thoughtfully, Ah. Now I see.

~*~

Groaning softly, I opened my eyes. I was on the floor, and I felt like I'd been worked over by the nastiest wave ever.

I tried to sit up, and realized something.

My hand was still holding on to Suze's. Not as tight as before, but her hand was still in mine. She was there, unconscious, but there.

I hadn't let her go.

"Suze?" I said softly, shaking her shoulder. "Suze, wake up."

She moaned. "Wha..." She sat up slowly, holding her head. "What happened?"

My breathing was unsteady. "I think...I think they're gone." I paused, looking around. There was no one there. No one but us...With more confidence, I said, "They're gone, Suze. We got rid of them."

Suze looked at me. "No. You did." She paused, and her eyes were shining. "Jake—thank you."

"Let's get out of here first," I suggested. "Then you can thank me. Preferably with money."

She grinned, then her forehead wrinked. "Jake, what happened to your rope?"

I looked down. The rope tied around my waist was frayed, the end broken. "Oh God," I murmured. "And I've only got--" I checked my watch, "--thirteen minutes left! Suze--"

"Maybe I could help," an amused voice said.

I turned around. A man with green eyes was standing there smiling at us. Green eyes—that looked exactly like Suze's.

"Dad?" Suze croaked.

His smile grew wider. "Hey, sweetheart."

I shook my head slowly in disgust at the insanity of the situation. "The sad part is, I can't even be surprised at this."

Mr. Simon looked at me, grinning. "Great job, Jake."

"Thanks," I said.

"I have a message to relay," he told me, adding. "Now, normally, this doesn't happen but—your mom says she's proud of you. Really proud."

My voice was unsteady as I asked, "Can you give her a message back?"

He nodded. "Sure."

"Could you tell her that I—"

"She knows," he reassured me. "She's always known. Always." He turned to Suze. "Sweetie, I gotta go now."

"You're moving on," Suze realized.

He nodded. "Yeah. Time for me to bite the bullet I guess," he joked. He grew more serious. "You were always telling me it was time. You were right."

Suze was crying softly. "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too, sweetie," he said, drawing her into a hug. "But you'll be okay. You're gonna be just fine." He paused, his jaw clenching. "I love you."

"Love you too," I heard Suze mumble into his shoulder. She stepped back finally, wiping her cheeks.

Mr. Simon looked at me, and I could see the tears in his eyes. "Come on. Let's get you two out of here."

~*~

I looked down the hole. There I was, sleeping on the floor. Everyone was pacing around me, and I could see David chewing his fingernails.

Mr. Simon gripped me by the shoulders. "Thank you. For everything," he said honestly, then pushed me out of the hole.

I might have yelled as I fell back into my body. After that, there was nothing.

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2nd A/N: Heh. Heh heh. Love writing cliffhangers. So much fun. Stay tuned.