Wow! I posted my chapter, went to bed, then when I woke up I came down and checked my e-mail… to find, like, 9 reviews! In less than 12 hours! You guys rock. And to award you for your rock-ness, I wrote a new chapter for you guys. That, and I actually got some work done on my thesis (Analyzing The Scarlet Letter to decide whether Hawthorne condemned or condoned adultery. Yawn.) So, enjoy, and keep the reviews coming :)

Chapter Two

"Krystal!" I jumped up and gave her a hug, which she returned, sort of shocked.

"You can see me too?" She asked. I nodded, and sniffed.

"Oh, Krystal… you… you…" I couldn't get it out, but as it turned out, I didn't need to.

"Are dead? Yea, I know. It sucks."

"How did the fire start? Was it wiring?" Father Dominic asked. "That happened at another building last week." Krystal snorted.

"Not wiring. Unless the wiring just happened to decide to combust while the guy who tied me up was throwing gasoline all over my furniture and carpet." I dropped my mug, which shattered.

"Gasoline?" I asked faintly. Jesse and Father D. looked shocked. "You mean… he killed you?"

"Yeah… I was working on that lit paper we have due next week, and I then there was a knock at the door so I went to get it, and the guy hit me over the head with something… then when I woke back up, I was tied to a chair, and he was dousing the couch with gasoline… then, he jumped out the window… and I just saw him toss a match in. That was the last thing I remember."

"Oh my God," I said weakly. "Do… do you know who?" She shook her head, and I sank back into the chair. Jesse put a hand on my shoulder comfortingly, and, as usual, was rational and level-headed.

"Do they have any leads?" She shook her head.

"I don't think they are even suspecting arson at this point. I heard a fireman talking, apparently Linda, the landlady, called in, reporting a gas leak about an hour before, and that's what they think happened. A random spark hit the gas, and kaboom." The room fell silent, all of us lost in thought.

"Can you take me there," I asked Jesse. "I need to see if I have anything left."

"Of course, Querida."

"I'm going to head over now," Father Dominic said. "I'll see if I can get any information." He headed towards the door.

Krystal left with Father Dominic, and Jesse and I got dressed—me, back into the outfit from yesterday—and left his apartment.

We went onto the subway that took me within a block of my home. Jesse and I managed to find seats, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I held on to his waist. "Everything will be okay, Querida," he whispered, and kissed my forehead. I gave him a small, sad smile and kissed him gently on the lips.

We were still kissing each other gently when we pulled into another stop, and I heard someone call my name. I pulled away from Jesse reluctantly, a bit annoyed at being interrupted.

"Oh, hey, Angela." Angela was a friend of mine. Well, sort of. She was more of a hanger-on of my little group of friends at college, and the younger sister of my friend Beth. "What's up?"

"I was just heading over to your building, actually. Krystal asked me to meet her there at around nine to help me with my bio paper. I totally do not get the whole tRNA thing." Krystal was awesome at science, I remembered sadly.

"Oh Ang.." I trailed off. "Krystal… Krystal… there was a fire at the building, on her floor…" I was about to say that she died, but I realized that I wasn't supposed to know that. "I'm not sure if she's okay," I amended. Her eyes widened, and the pleasant smile that had been on her face dropped off.

"There was a fire?" I nodded sadly. The train stopped again, and we were at my street. The three of us got off. "Listen… I'm going to go let Beth, Cate, Lisa, and Mara know… okay?" I nodded, and she went off in a different direction.

The building was still standing, thank God. A fire truck was still parked outside, with a few firemen and police officers mulling around. I saw Father Dominic talking to a police man, and Krystal's ghost was hanging out nearby.

Jesse squeezed my hand reassuringly, and I walked over to a fireman who was at the door to my building. "Excuse me… can I get up to my apartment? I live in 4C." He looked at me, scrutinized me.

"What's your name?"

"Susannah Simon." He looked at a clipboard, and nodded curtly.

"Did you know the girl in 1D?" I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Yes. Krystal Matthews. She wa--is my friend." He looked at my sympathetically.

"We… found a body in that apartment. We contacted her family, but they all live in Texas. They're on their way, but we need an ID on the body. Could you come over to the morgue, and tell us if it's her?" I nodded silently. He led me to a police car, spoke to the policeman quickly, who nodded, and climbed in with me. Jesse slid in next to me.

About ten minutes later, we pulled up to the hospital, and the policeman led me to the morgue. It was cold, and when they led me to the body, I saw Krystal appear next to me.

"Brace yourself, guys… it's not pretty," she told me. Jesse needn't worry… he was pre-med.

He removed the sheet, and I gasped involuntarily. Her once beautiful face was burned, nearly beyond recognition. It was charred and blistered, and her hair, her perfect, soft, shiny hair, was fried. However, despite the fact that Krystal actually told me it was her, I recognized a locket that her boyfriend, Dave, had given her. I also recognized the tattered skirt that she was in, as the one that I had loaned her the day before for her date with Dave.

"That's her. I recognize her necklace… and the skirt is mine." They re-covered her, and slid her back into the wall. "We have an ID," he called to someone. "Now, can you tell me, what is her full name?"

"Krystal Anne Matthews."

"Her date of birth?"

"Um… April-something. The 28th, maybe. Or it might be the 18th."

"The eighth, Simon. Cate's birthday is October 18th. And Mara is December 28th."

"The eighth. It's the eighth." He nodded.

"You can go." Jesse and Krystal helped me out of the morgue, and set me down at the nearest chair, my knees had gone weak, and I was beginning to cry again.

"It's like that summer… when we found your body, Jesse. It never really hit me that you were dead until I saw your skeleton," I sobbed, earning some weird looks from other people sitting there. He pulled me into his arms, and held me against him, stroking my back and shushing me.

"I know… I know, Querida."

Krystal looked at me, sort of uncomfortably with such an outpouring of grief for her sake. "Suze, listen, it's okay… I'm still here. Just… not in my body."

"But seeing you… and you were all charred and blistered and dead…" I cried. A woman who was sitting near me stood up too casually and walked over to the nurse's station, said something quietly, and then the nurse turned and looked at me. Jesse noticed this, and hastily wiped away my tears.

"Susannah… I hate to say this, but let's go for now. We're getting some.. unwanted attention." I looked up, and realized what was going on—and what I had been saying—and nodded quickly and stood up.

"Okay." I sniffed, and Jesse wrapped his arm around my waist, and he led me out to the police car. The policeman had followed us at a distance, giving us some privacy. We climbed back into the car, and he drove us back to my apartment building.

I climbed up the creaking stairs, the smell of smoke lingering in my nostrils. I could hear the louder creaks of Jesse's steps from behind me, and we eventually got up to the fourth floor. I unlocked the door—thankful that there was actually a door to speak of—an was relieved.

There was water damage, and everything was very smoky, and some of the walls were darkened. But nothing was burned. I still had most of my stuff.

"Thank God," I sighed. The landlady came up behind me.

"Hey, Ms. Simon. Listen, I talked to almost everyone else about this… but, because we have to fix and remodel the bottom floor, into to mention most of the other floors—it's a miracle they got here before the fire got the fourth floor—but, this building will be uninhabitable for the next 3 months, at least." I nodded, expecting as much.

"Okay… thanks, Linda." She nodded, started to leave, then stopped. "I'm…sorry about Krystal. I know you two were close." I gave her a small smile, and she left.

"Damn. Now I have to find a new home, on top of everything else," I moaned, and sank down onto my couch—which I realized, too late, was soaked.

"Well, Susannah, you can move in with me, for the time being…if you're comfortable with that, of course." I gave him a smile, and threw myself at him.

"Thanks so much, Jesse. Are you sure? I can be a bit of a hassle to live with," I said, with a smile on my face.

"I think I can manage it," he joked, grinning back at me. I had cheered up considerably, knowing that I could still talk to Krystal, that I wasn't living with only the clothes that were on my back, and that I had a home.

I called my parents, and let them know what was going on. My mother was shocked when I told her I'd be living with Jesse, then sympathetic when she heard of Krystal's death. She told me that she'd send Andy over to get my furniture, and try to fix the damages. Then Jesse and I packed up my stuff, and left the still smoldering and smoking building,

Not a very happy chapter for Suze, huh? Well, I might get a chapter out tomorrow, if I don't have school (we do, after all, have over a foot of snow.) But, as for this one, let me know what you think.

I got a bunch of review last time, I expect a bunch of reviews this time ;-)