Chapter 3

"Isabelle's sister..." mused Sam when I met up with her, Tucker and Danny after school. We had, of course, told Sam and Tucker all about Isabelle and her strange warning.

"I don't think Isabelle said anything about a sister last spring..." added Tucker, staring down at his PDA. Danny snapped his fingers suddenly.

"Yes she did!" he nearly yelled. The three of us looked at him in surprise for a second, then a look of comprehension slowly dawned on Sam's face.

"Yeah...she did. Remember? 'I am willing to give you my precious necklace for a few short hours. It cannot make you more disabled, as can be done...that half of the necklace belongs to my fool sister...' She did mention her sister, just not by name." Sam reminded us.

I nodded slowly. "If and when she finds me...what do you think she'll do with me?" Sam wrapped an arm around my shoulders. She could tell how much Isabelle's warning had shaken me.

"Maybe...she'll kill you. I don't mean to sound morbid (that's Sam's job), and I don't mean to scare you, Em, but maybe she will. I mean, a ghost has already tried to kill you once, remember?" Danny pointed out. We were all quiet, remembering. Hopefully Vlad had nothing to do with this.

"Well there's no point in dwelling on it." I said. "Let's just forget about it for the time being"

"Agreed." chorused my three friends. And I did forget about it, for a few months, anyway.

I got used to Henry Viscardi after awhile. I still didn't really have any friends in school, but I didn't really care. Danny popped in to visit me at least once a day, and I was constantly reminded that no matter what, I still had three great friends. A few months into the semester, my English teacher, Miss Senari, came up to me.

"Emily, with your straight A+'s in this class and your love for English, I'd like to have you tutoring a few kids who aren't doing as well as you in this class." It sounded cool to me. I've always loved teaching. So I said yes. Miss Senari beamed at me.

"Wonderful! Now, I'd like you to meet your first student. You two may or may not know each other. Emily, Chrissy. Chrissy, Emily."

And, there, in front of me, was that snobby girl with the "I'm better than you" look in her eyes that I had chosen to sit next to that first day.

"Oh great." I muttered under my breath. I was so annoyed that I didn't notice my ghost sense going off. Luckily, no one noticed.

"Uh...hi." I said tentatively. Chrissy merely grunted. I didn't want to work with this girl, but what choice did I have? I mean, if I want to become a special ed teacher someday, which I do, then I'll have to work with all kinds of kids. I figured it would be a somewhat broadening experience. It turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life.

I later wondered why I had never put the pieces together, never suspected, never a clue. I guess the warning scared me so much I put a brick wall in front of it that didn't come down until later. But anyway, I scheduled to work with Chrissy every day for an hour after school.

It took a week of working with her before the symptoms began to appear. Sam noted that I seemed tired and lethargic. I thought it was just my usual tiredness from the daily battles with my balance that I have. Things didn't become serious until about a month later.

I was sitting on my bed talking to Danny, who (at the moment) was in human form. I got up to get a drink and that's when it happened. I stood up and the ground came rushing up to meet me. I fell flat on my face. Danny, who's used to my bad balance, merely waited for me to pick myself up like I always do. But this time, I couldn't pick myself up, though I struggled hard. My legs just didn't seem to cooperate. Danny hoisted me up, and I fell back down immediately. That's when I realized that my hand was clenched into a fist. And I couldn't unclench it. That's when I got really scared.

"Danny?" I said. Danny was looking at me in alarm and concern. "I think something's really wrong. I'm scared." Danny slid off the bed. His face was pale.

"I'll go get your parents." He rushed out of the room, leaving me still on the floor. I was terrified. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

A/N: Oh, how I love leaving you guys at cliffhangers! Two chapters in one day and I'm on a roll! Maybe I'll even get three chapters in today. That would be amazing. You know what, I should stop imagining and start doing. Read and Review!