Chapter 4:

I was in complete shock. One moment, I was cradling Jesse close to me. The next, he's gone. I scrambled to my feet and looked around the room frantically. Hoping that I would see him shimmer back with a smile on his face, like it was just a big joke. But there was only Brad, staring at me like I was insane. He didn't know.

I was suddenly aware that my face was wet with tears. I hastily wipe them away and try to hold back the sobs that leave me trembling. Keyword try, as I was obviously not succeeding. When David banged into the room, I still didn't have control of myself.

"Brad! It was the most amazing thing! There was –" He stopped short when he saw me in there as well, crying my eyes out. "Suze..?" I was far too gone to be embarrassed that Brad and David were seeing me like this.

Instead, I just stood up and muttered, "He's gone…" This was a billion times worse than before. At least then, I had known what had happened. Jesse was just stuck somewhere and I had gone to get him. Simple enough once I figured it out. But this was different. Jesse had not been exorcised since there was no swirling vortex into shadowland. And by the look of anguish on his face, Jesse had not moved on either. He was just gone.

There was only one person I could really talk to.

Bolting out Brad's door, I ran to the phone in my room and called up Father Dominic. Once again, someone I didn't know picked up. I cleared my voice as best I could and asked, "Can I speak to Father Dominic?"

A moment later, the kind elderly voice I recognized so well came on to the line, "Yes?"

I let out an unappealing squeak as I stifled as mucus-y sob, "Father Dom, it's happened again."

His voice full of worry and surprise, he asked, "Susannah? What's happened again?" I think he must've realized there was only one other time I came to him crying. "Is it Jesse? Was he-?"

"He's just gone!!" I wept into the phone. "Jesse looked hurt and he fell down and he-" I paused to sniffle unattractively, "He disappeared! That's never happened before!"

"Susannah," Father Dom said kindly, "It pains me to say this, but there may be forces at work here that we can't control."

"No," Something had suddenly clicked in my head. What's wrong with me? Why hadn't I realized it? Irritably wiping away my tears, I said decisively, "Someone's controlling it." And I knew exactly who it was. Who is the only person with a definite grudge against Jesse and has access to forces that most people can't control?

That bastard Paul, that's who.

Father D only asked, bewildered, "Susannah?"

I said hurriedly, "I'll explain tomorrow, Father D. There are some things I have to work out first." Mainly about how many times I was going to punch Paul in the face until he told me what was going on. Then maybe throw in a few extra just for good measure. This was the second time he's sent Jesse away somehow, and this time I had explicitly told him not to. That was the deal! Goes to show how good his word is.

As I hung up the phone, Father D was scolding me, "Susannah, don't you go and –" Whoops. Just a little too late. I felt bad about that, but I already knew what he was going to say, really. Might as well save us both the trouble. If I never actually heard him then I wouldn't be disobeying, right? Yeah, I'll just keep telling myself that.

I was already planning out how I was going to beat answers out Paul tomorrow when I heard a voice at my door, "Suze?"

"David?" Sure enough, my youngest step-brother was peeking through a crack in my door, his red hair plainly visible. I gestured for him to come inside and asked, "Need something?"

He stepped inside, looking awkwardly down at the carpet, "I was just wondering…"

"What happened back there?" I supplied. He nodded. I must've really freaked the little guy out, I guess. Well, maybe less so than Brad, but how often do you see your stepsister bawling for no reason? Not a lot, especially if it's me. I sat down on my bead heavily and explained, "Jesse's missing again, David. And Brad knows."

That made him look up. "Wait, Brad?" David blinked at me, surprised, "He does?"

I sighed, "Yeah, I wouldn't bring it up though. I think I've spooked him enough for one night." I wouldn't have been surprised if Brad continued to avoid me after this little fiasco.

But the David peered at me curiously and asked, "And… who's Jesse?"

I stared at him in shock as I said, "C'mon. You know Jesse." I couldn't believe that little David, our resident scholastic sponge, would have forgotten about his previous encounters with my spectral boyfriend. "Jesse, the ghost who lived here. Remember?"

David looked just as surprised as I was. "Oh… oh, right." He shook his head, as if to clear it. "I must've forgotten." He quickly left without saying goodnight. Let me tell you right now, David does not forget anything. Ever. He probably remembered his first words and who he was talking to.

Was it possible that Jesse's disappearance was having an effect on people?

Weird. I had to fix this, whatever it was and fast. It was too late to seek out Paul and make him tell me where Jesse was. If it was anyone else, I'd go right down, break in, and start the inquisition regardless of whether it was 4 AM. But this was Paul, the guy who had the ghosts of Hell's Angels as minions. Let me repeat that. Ghost minions. See, now why couldn't I have a set-up like that? Well, granted, Jesse was my little fringe benefit to the mediating job, but he wasn't here anymore. And whose fault was that? Paul's of course. I just couldn't catch a break, could I?

I had a terrible time sleeping that night, obviously. I had that same dream again. You know, the one in shadowland where I'm running away from something and finally open one of those doors. I never actually see what's inside though. Oh well. With my luck, it was my own personal hell, consisting of Sister Ernestine yelling about proper manners while Paul and Kelly Prescott taunt me about Jesse. Whoop-dee-do. Anyway, that morning, I got ready as quick as I could, eager for once to get to school. Surprisingly, Brad was acting normal. Normal for him anyway, which included snide comments about whatever he decided was funniest at the moment. Today, it was how impatient I was to get to school.

"What's with you?" Brad asked, revealing a chewed up pancake. Eww. "Seeing the principal again about 'student affairs'?" he laughed. I was looking at the bits of food that had flown from his mouth to the table distastefully when I realized that he was implying something else as well. And let me just say: EWW. I love Father Dom and all, but seriously. What the hell kind of sicko would even suggest such a thing? Maybe if he was forty years younger and not a priest, I might've had some sort of silly schoolgirl crush on him. But now? Gross. Instead of telling Brad this in an eloquent and intelligent manner, I whapped him upside the head with my fist. Not hard, just enough to send him sprawling on the floor. It was just the two of us there as David and Jake were still upstairs and Mom and Andy had left already. No one for him to complain to.

As he muttered something not fit for young ears, I said, "If you must know, I need to get to school to talk to some people about Jesse."

He stood up and looked ready to hit back, but stopped and looked at me funny. "Jesse who?"

Oh, god. It was happening to Brad too. "Jesse. The ghost you met last night?" I could've just let Brad forget Jesse. It would've benefited both of us, honestly. He could go back to being an ass and not freaking out, and I could continue to keep Jesse a secret. But somehow, I didn't want him to. Forget Jesse, I mean. No one should forget Jesse. He was here and I'll make sure he comes back here as well.

Brad got that same look of sudden realization that David had last night. His eyes widened and he said in a small voice, "Oh."

When everyone was ready, we piled into the Rambler and went to school. We dropped off Jake first, since he had some big thing to do tonight and would get a ride home in time for dinner. He said it was for a class, but I had my suspicions that it involved somebody with a skirt. It was only hesitantly that Jake gave the keys to Brad. A major trust on his part.

At school, there was another big change I noticed. No one was staring. Not a whisper, not a snicker. Kelly Prescott even came up to me to tell me about the plans she was making for prom. Under normal circumstances, I would be relieved but in this case it only made me more anxious. This whole Jesse thing was affecting everyone now.

Finally, it was lunch. As soon as we were released, I jumped out of my seat and gave a hasty explanation to CeeCee and Adam. Making my way to the inner parts of the Mission grounds, namely the cemetery, I thought about why this was happening. People forgetting, I mean. Even if Jesse unexpectedly disappeared, it wasn't like a lot of people knew him. But even then it was like he suddenly didn't exist at all. I made a mental note to get an answer for this out of Paul. When I got to the end of the path, I was in for a shock.

Jesse's tombstone was blank.

It was still there, but there wasn't a word on it. Just a smooth slab of granite. I kneeled down beside it, almost dirtying my skirt, and inspected everything around it. The earth beneath it looked untouched as if someone just thought to add a headstone without a grave. Something was definitely wrong. This wasn't just about Jesse missing now.

Paul saw me already waiting in the graveyard. "You're early, Suze." He smirked charmingly, "I'm flattered."

I really wasn't in the mood for his simpering. I stood up and looked him dead in the eye, "Cut the crap, Paul." I demanded, "What did you do with Jesse?"

He crossed his arms nonchalantly and leaned against the blank headstone, "I didn't do anything to Mr. De Silva."

I nearly yelled, "Liar! I know you had something to do with what happened last night." There was so much anger in me right now. He was lying directly to my face with that same smug expression. I just really felt the need to break it.

Instead of confirming or denying what I said, Paul just looked up, shielding his eyes with a raised hand. He asked calmly, "Did you watch the stars last night, Suze? They were almost as beautiful as you."

I glared at him for trying to change the subject. "What?"

He looked back at me, a small, knowing smile playing on his lips. "The stars. Did you watch them?" he asked again.

I brushed it off and answered, "No, David did. But what does that-"

He shrugged and looked back up at the blue, clear sky. "Ah, well you still have a chance I suppose." Paul's smile grew wider. "The spectacle lasts all weekend."

I asked, exasperated, "What are you babbling about?" Seriously, I was trying to get some answers out of the guy, and he was talking about the stars. Did he want me to go to the planetarium with him or something? Sorry but no. A little too nerdy for my tastes. The only one who would be remotely interested would be David or possibly CeeCee's Aunt Pru.

Paul turned those devilishly bright eyes to me and replied, "There was a supernova last night, Suze. The death of a star. Happens probably once in a lifetime." He patted the headstone as if for emphasis.

"What does that…?" I trailed off and got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I did not like the way he said that.

"Lesson number one, Suze," Paul said matter-of-factly. "A shifter can go back in time during the burst of a star."

No. He couldn't have. "You… you didn't." I couldn't believe my ears. My heart started beating wildly in my chest. Paul had changed history. Specifically, he had changed Jesse's history. Somehow, somewhere, Paul Slater had prevented Jesse's death and that was why he wasn't here. Now it was like Jesse had never been here. Any proof that Jesse existed just yesterday was slowly fading away. And no one noticed but me.

They were forgetting because it never happened.

But that wasn't what hurt most of all. It was that now, Jesse had never met me. As selfish as that sounds, it was. He never read books on the bay window of my room. He never coddled Spike on his lap as I did my homework. He never kissed me, right here in this spot in the cemetery. I could swear my heart was breaking right where I stood.

I bit the inside of my lip to keep the tears back since Paul finally answered, "I did." He added, "Now before you go on about not laying a hand on Jesse, I'll have you know I didn't. I just…" he paused as if just now thinking of a loophole, "talked to some people."

I clenched my right hand into a fist at my side, just itching to use it. Tasting the slight metallic hint of blood that meant I had bitten a little too hard, I demanded, "Tell me how. Now." If Paul could do it, so could I.

But he just shook his head in mock sympathy, "Not a chance, Simon. If I told you, you'd get ideas in your head and go marching into 1850. We can't have that now, can we?"

I could barely see straight, I was so angry. He was standing there and holding the one thing I wanted just out of reach. I could only mutter, "You've gone too far, Paul. You've really done it now." I had pulled back my fist and was going to send smashing straight into his eye when I heard someone shriek.

"Miss Simon!" It was Sister Ernestine. I turned to Paul and gave him my deadliest glare, hoping he couldn't see the tears that were welling up. He just smiled as if nothing had happened. The sister had made her way to us and screeched at me, "Miss Simon, if you can't conduct yourself in a civilized manner towards your fellow students, then I suggest you go to the principal's office immediately!"

I huffed, "Gladly." I refused to look at either of them a moment longer and turned on my heel towards Father Dom's office.

A/N: This took longer than usual because of parties and I couldn't find my Haunted book for reference. Kinda crappy, I think.

Next chapter: Father Dom talks, Brad gets bullied by Suze, and it's time to cut class.