A/N: I have no excuse for not uploading this chapter except for extreme laziness. Also: other things that needed my squealing attention (such as the new title to Harry Potter 6 and Hayao Miyazaki's adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle). Since I just now found out they're re-releasing the books, I'll start turning more fan attention to Mediator.. in a bit.

To Esodes08: Interestingly enough, I do have a way of covering my ass on that plothole. And it's coming up in this chapter, actually.

Also, has anyone actually looked up Carmel, California? It's absolutely beautiful…

Chapter 5:

I flung open Father Dom's door and sat down angrily in front of his desk.

"Susannah?" Father D himself looked up from his paperwork to stare at me. I was going to meet him that morning, but I guess I was too busy worrying about the memory block thing to come. His blue eyes blinked in surprise as he said, "Goodness, I was so worried you were going to do something brash like-" Father Dom put down his pen with a look of concern and asked, "Oh, dear. You weren't sent here, were you?"

I replied curtly, "Sister Ernestine. I was about to smash Paul's face in."

"Mr. Slater? Good heavens. Why?"

I shook my head, still in disbelief myself. "He did it, Father D. Jesse's gone because of him." At this point, restraining my urge to punch something was making me tremble a bit. Or at least that's what I told myself. I ignored the prickling tears that were threatening to spill and continued, "He went and changed history. People are starting to forget."

"He changed history?" repeated Father Dom in shock. "You mean he prevented Jesse's death." I have to say, the old guy was taking it a hell of a lot better than I had. Father Dom just lowered his head in thought and his fingers steepled. He finally looked at me and asked levelly, "Is that such a horrible thing, Susannah?"

"What?" I couldn't believe my ears. Father Dom did not just say that.

"Jesse has now, presumably, led a full life now. He was not murdered at such a young age, and he did not have to haunt your house for a century and a half alone," Father D continued saying, but wouldn't quite meet my eye. I think he was trying to avoid my glare.

"But…But how do we know that?!" I couldn't believe that we were even having this discussion. Father Dom didn't have to see Jesse curled up on the floor in pain last night like I did. It sure as hell didn't look like he was going to be all right. I told him so, "He was in agony!"

Father Dom stood up and paced behind his desk, looking thoughtful. He explained, "Well, souls are timeless, Susannah. If Paul really did change the past, Jesse's soul was probably pulled back to relive his life as it should."

I didn't buy a word of it. About Jesse being okay, I mean. It suddenly hit me. "Life in Northern California," I perked up, remembering how I found out about his past in the first place, "The book that talked about Jesse's history with Maria! Do you have a copy?" There was only one way to be sure Jesse's was all right. Or at least, had been all right. You get the idea.

"No, but…" Father D hesitated, "I think I might have seen that title in Jesse's room. Come with me." I followed him out of the office and towards the rectory.

This was the first time I had been inside the place. It was a lot bigger than it seemed from outside, but still in the same style as the school. That is, the minimal electrical devices and thick walls. Lucky for us, the other residents of the rectory were out somewhere else during the day. Now I kinda see why Brad made that comment earlier. Even in a laid back place like Carmel, principal-priests don't usually take their students – even the vice-president of the student council – up to the living quarters of the rectory. It just doesn't seem right.

We came to the top floor and at the very end of the hall was a very plain, wooden door. Father Dom started searching through his pockets, but instead of his usual cigarettes he came up with an old fashioned silver key which he proceeded to use on the lock on the door. That was actually a pretty good idea since it probably kept any snooping residents out and wouldn't have mattered to Jesse, being able to dematerialize and all that.

Father Dom seemed to be having some trouble with the door though. He had unlocked it, but it wouldn't budge. "That's odd…" And with more strength than I would've given him credit, Father Dom rammed his shoulder against the door, which gave way and had him tumbling inside.

I rushed to help him up, but we both stopped when we got a good look around the room. My eloquent reaction was "What the-"

The room itself was ordinary: a simple bed and nightstand, quite a few bookshelves, a single window, and a woven rug on the floor. It was a bit rustic, but strangely warm. Like Jesse. No, that wasn't what caught our attention. It was that everything there was coated in a fine layer of dust and cobweb, as if the room hadn't been used in years.

"Goodness…" said Father D as he straightened up, brushing the dust off his clothes. "I see that this has affected more than people's memories."

Father Dom walked over to the bookcase and scanned the titles while I looked around the room. I lightly skid the toe of my shoe across the rug, making a neat clean line in the ashen dust. I just couldn't get my mind off Jesse. Whatever happened to him after last night meant that he kept on living a century and a half ago. Did he remember me? Did he try to come back? Did he beat the crap out of Diego for trying to kill him?

I sat down in a huff on Jesse's bed, momentarily forgetting the dust as it came up in a swirl and got on every inch of my clothes. Brushing it off nonchalantly, my mind wandered elsewhere. Namely to what I was going to do about all this. Paul, of course, wasn't going to give me any information about what he did to go back in time. Father D wasn't a shifter so I couldn't ask him.

Ugh, I was missing something! Besides Jesse, that is. There had to be some way for me to follow how Paul did this. Before I could try to come up with what that something was, Father D exclaimed, "Ah, here it is!" I stood up and cleaned off my skirt, looking at him expectantly.

He had an old leather book in hand and was flipping carefully through the pages. He finally stopped at one that I could see had that portrait of Maria on one side. He read aloud the caption, "Maria de Silva 1830-1916." Father D skimmed the following pages and his brow furrowed in a mixture of shock and confusion. Without looking up from the book, he said to me, "It seems that Maria still marries Felix Diego in the end."

"What?" I suppose it shouldn't have been too big of a surprise. Jesse did say before that he wasn't going to go through with the marriage, even if it meant bringing some shame to his family. It was probably the first thing he did when he got back. Nobody needs a psycho bride like Maria. Except maybe Diego, of course.

Father D continued, "It says here that Jesse cancelled the arrangement after an attempt on his life was revealed. While Felix was suspected by the De Silvas, nothing could be charged against him. Maria went on just as she did before this… change."

"And Jesse?" I couldn't keep the hopeful squeak out of my voice.

Father Dom paused to glance up at me, but it was a neutral one. He finally said, "He never married, it seems. Jesse..." Father Dom cut off as his eyes widened and traveled down the rest of page, "Oh, dear."

I took a step towards him, "What?" Had something happened to Jesse, even with Paul's meddling?

Father D sighed and turned to me, "Jesse disappeared shortly after his attempted murder. No one knows what happened to him." He closed the book and replaced it on the shelf.

I sputtered, "But… That's almost exactly what happened last time!"

Father D nodded and supplied, "Except now, Jesse is not a spirit." This did not make any sense. How could that even be possible? If something really drastic had happened, as in Jesse dying all over again, wouldn't he have popped up here again? What was so different about the past that Jesse had not stayed as a ghost?

Well, that was it for me. I turned on my heel and opened the door, muttering, "I'm getting to the bottom of this."

"Susannah, wait!" But it wasn't Father Dom who had said it.

In front of me was a girl my age, pretty with curled black hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a hoop dress, much like Maria had worn last time I saw her. Oh yeah, did I mention she was dead? The girl was staring at me expectantly. She did look oddly familiar, but I just blurted the first thing that came to mind, "Who the hell are you?"

"Susannah…" She scoffed, "This is no time for games." When she saw that I wasn't kidding, the girl looked startled and raised her eyebrows in a way that again looked oh-too-familiar. "It's me, the girl who's been haunting your room for the past hundred and some years. Carmen. Carmen de Silva."

Behind me, Father D said softly, "Oh, dear…"

"Susannah, Father Dominic…?" Carmen looked almost frightened at how confused the two of us were. Looking back on it, I probably would have been too. The space-time continuum had been royally screwed thanks to Paul and his travels.

I massaged my temple in a vain attempt to make the pain go away at this new development. Obviously, this girl was related to my missing love interest, but somehow came to haunt where he should have been. I muttered, "First Jesse, now this."

"My brother?" Carmen perked up immediately, "You have some news about Jesse?"

"Your brother?"

"Yes, don't you remember?" she insisted, sounding a bit desperate. "His real name is Hector, after our grandfather."

Okay, I want to say that I handled the situation well, I really do. But I didn't. Hey, I was upset, all right? Jesse was gone, his little sister popped up outta nowhere, and I suddenly got the greatest idea ever. But instead of telling Father D and Carmen about this, I headed straight for the stairwell and said, "That's it! I am fixing this right now!" I left the two of them pretty speechless outside of Jesse's room.

While normally I would be keen to get some info out of Jesse's little sister, Carmen triggered a realization that I was so stupid to have missed. I mean, it was right there! The only problem would be getting there. But what's family for, right?

Brad was sitting at his usual table, looking slightly happier than he had been that morning. Shame I had to bring it all down again. I tapped him on the shoulder, "Brad, we need to talk."

He turned around rather impatiently and asked, "About what?"

I answered shortly, "Jesse." As a look of surprise came over him, I muttered, "C'mon," and pulled him up off his seat and dragged him to a spot where we wouldn't be overheard. I didn't want to go back to the cemetery in case Paul was still there, so I took a chance with an empty hallway, keeping an eye out for novices. Brad looked uncomfortable at this uprooting, but was keeping a surly silence. Checking to make sure no one was around, I explained to him, "Look, I need you to take me somewhere."

"Now?!" He quickly lowered his voice and said through gritted teeth, "Suze, we're at school!" Oh, yeah. As if school was suddenly important to Brad. His eyes darted down the hall, but were most likely to be looking for an excuse not to take me.

I kept my temper in check since Brad needed to be conscious to drive. "This is more important than school, Brad," I added in almost a growl, "And if you don't take me, I'll find every ghost in the state and have them stalk you."

That got him. "Fine! Jesus!" His heavy shoulders slumped in defeat and he asked grudgingly, "Where do you need to go?"

"Paul Slater's house," I replied in barely a whisper, in case he was anywhere close by.

"What for?! He's here at the school."

I explained hurriedly, "Because it's not him I want to talk to. It's his grandfather, Dr. Slaski." Why hadn't I seen it sooner? Dr. Slaski was perfect. He knew everything about being a shifter and he obviously didn't think much of his grandson if he warned me about him. But we had to go now. There was no way I could talk to the old guy if Paul was actually there.

Brad looked at me funny and asked, "Who?"

"Jeez, I'll explain later." I glanced around and caught sight of Brad's watch. Crap, five minutes till lunch was over. "Go to the car and I'll meet you there. I have to take care of something first."

Still looking peeved, Brad resentfully nodded. We turned in opposite directions, him towards the exit and me back to the courtyard. I quickly found CeeCee and Adam again who were having the weirdest conversation.

"Here she is," said Adam, "Suze, settle a bet for us. Is it really better to have loved and lost than to have never have loved at all?"

The confused shock I felt must have registered on my face because CeeCee added, "The quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson is going to be an essay in our Lit class, remember?"

The question did take me aback a bit even though I knew that I hadn't told them yet. About what had happened to Jesse, I mean. Instead of answering the question though, I asked, "CeeCee, we're still on for tonight, right?"

She perked up, "Of course we are. You're going to tell us all about…" she trailed off, a rather puzzled look on her face. "That guy…" Her face screwed up in concentration as she tried to remember. I should've known CeeCee's curiosity wouldn't go down without a fight, even against the changes in the time stream.

"Jesse," I quickly supplied. This idea of mine required major help and CeeCee had to be completely aware for it.

"Yes! That's it. Jesse." She raised her eyebrows suspiciously, "Speaking of which, where were you? Paul Slater came by looking for you."

"I don't have time to tell you right now," she gave me that look again, "but I will tonight, all right? Right now I need a favor from you and Adam."

Adam quit munching on his chips and asked, "What do you need, Suze?"

I leaned in and spoke lowly, "If anyone asks, especially Paul, I got sick and went home with Brad. Father Dominic will vouch for me." Before they could argue about either me leaving or Father D, I continued, "I'll still meet you at your house around four or five, but if I don't come back by the time school's out, take David home. Trust me on this."

CeeCee looked at me shrewdly, just aching to ask more, but finally just said, "All right, Simon."

Adam sighed dramatically but also agreed. As I left though, he added, "This better be one hell of a secret though. Sounds like a spy novel." Oh, if he only knew.

A few minutes later, just before the other students of Mission Academy were herded back into class, Brad and I were in the car and driving off campus. Along the way and in between my directions to the Slater house, I told Brad about the situation at hand. The entire explanation: including Paul, Dr. Slaski's work, and what had happened in the past couple of days. I expected him to freak out a bit more, but it seemed to finally soak in. He was surprisingly attentive about the whole thing.

Brad repeated flatly, "So you're telling me that this old guy is going to help you change history because Paul Slater changed it last night, but no one knows it but you and the principal?"

"Basically," I replied.

He snorted, "You're nuts, Suze." Shrugging, he glanced at me and asked, "Even if this is all true, what's the big deal? So some cowboy ghost is gone, so what?"

"It's important to me, Brad. And," I thought about how to put this, "something tells me I have to. If not for Jesse, then for his sister." She had looked so hopeful when I mentioned Jesse's name back at the rectory. In a way, I was responsible for Carmen being stuck here even if I didn't know the circumstances. I know Jesse was able to handle being alone for 150 years, but I didn't know a thing about his sister, despite the time change.

Brad, however, seemed to know her. "The one in your room? Carmen?" He paused for a moment before asking, "Is she hot?"

"Ugh! Brad!"

"What?! Like you're any different, lusting for her brother." I just looked out the window sourly. As vulgar as he was, Brad had a point. Not that I'd admit it to him though.

A/N: Sorry if the chapter feels rushed, my mind's a big jumble from all the fan-news I'm gathering at once. If you see some sort of plothole or mistake, tell me. Next chapter features Dr. Slaski's warnings, a final explanation to Adam and CeeCee, and a little trip to the past.