Chapter Seven:
I thought maybe the night before had taught Susannah a lesson, but no. The girl
was foolish enough to go back to see Heather at the mission.
And this time, she told me that if I knew what was good for me, I wouldn't go
down there.
If she knew what was good for herself, she wouldn't have gone, either. The
girl was crazed! I thought it was remarkably stupid of her to go down to the
mission, knowing full and well that Heather could easily kill her. Nombre de
Dios, I had never seen such foolishness.
I liked Susannah and all, but she was crazy. The girl was plainly out of her
Mind!
I refused to allow her to go. If she wanted to kill herself, fine, but she'd
have to get past me first. I would not allow such foolishness on my watch.
Heather had tried to kill her, and I was not about to let it happen again. What
would the poor girl's mother think? I highly doubted Susannah's mother knew
of her gift.
I waited for her to come out of her room. I didn't want to make her angry by
stopping her before she was able to leave her room. I'd let her think she was
going to get away with her stupid charade first.
She opened the window and climbed down the roof. She let herself drop down to
the ground. She went into the garage and took a bicycle. As foolish as her
adventure was, I had to admire her for her ability to escape unnoticed.
She tried to leave, but I took the opportunity to stop her.
I'd been leaning on a tree. I straightened when I realized she'd seen me.
I once again asked her if it wasn't a little late to be going out. She made
some comment about going to stop Heather. She proceeded to tell me that if I
knew what was good for me, I'd not show up at the mission that night. She was,
she informed me, going to perform an exorcism. I thought that ironic. That she
warned me, I mean. Hadn't she just, a few days earlier, told me she wanted me
gone? Wouldn't that be a perfect way to be rid of me-just let me go along
with her and be rid of two ghosts at once?
Susannah hopped on a bike and was about to leave. I planted my hands firmly on
the handlebars. "No," I said. "You are not going,"
She looked pained. "Jesse, I can handle myself," she said. "I'm a mediator.
It's what I do."
Then she yanked the handlebars out of my grasp and sped away. Like the fool I
am, I just stood there and watched her.
After a few minutes, I realized what I needed to do. I dematerialized and
rematerialized in her brother David's room. I knew David cared about Susannah.
I didn't know if my plan would work, and if it failed, I would go down to the
mission. Susannah would need help. Heather was so full of rage. Heather had
only injured Susannah the night before. Tonight, I was certain Heather would
kill her.
I touched David's shoulder. He didn't respond. I touched him again. Had I
been alive, I'd have been holding my breath, waiting for a response.
He woke up.
"Susannah is at the school. She is in a great danger. Go help her," I told him
somehow. I knew that he couldn't see me or hear me as Susannah had. I prayed
that he would somehow understand my message. I hoped a dead man's prayers were
still heard by the ears of God.
