F l a s h l i g h t

by Stark Raving Lolly

Nathan Blake. Robin Lawrence. Charles Austin. Bart Ford. Four boys, all dead. A violently haunted exboarding school. A fire in 1969. A man named Cole to run from. A mystery to be solved...and a love to be determined. Busy, aren't we Suze? [FINISHED]

7. Fortunaschwein

WOW. Some of those reviews were WHOPPAS! Please, do that again! Special thanks to Bianca and Manda for making Lolly's eyes explode with bliss. Wow . . . they were BOTH 4kb!

Esodes said: "I really think that Suze is warming up to Dani. I think that Paul and Dani work great together. Really, I do!"

Lolly said: WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING, DAMN IT????

Hayley said: On what the planet? Hey duuuude, that kinda rhymes . . . erm, not really. Well, we'll see how well Suze is warming up to Dani this chapter. Nah, acknowledgments to Esodes, teehee, for the "hammer" thing . . .

bunnygirl1 – your fanfiction did NOT need a . . . scene! To quote a review you once got, "some things are best left to the imagination." And that was the best time to NOT DO A . . . SCENE. Don't stress about the lack- of-a . . . scene. Your story is the epitome of luminous perfection. And that is that.

tinkerbaby466 – I didn't come up with it. There's a font that I downloaded onto my computer, called Fortunaschwein. It sounded cool. It was either that or Baskerville. Teehee . . . I didn't even BOTHER suggesting that. It's too plain.

shawni – good point. We forgot about a scene there. Our bad. We'll add it in later, lol.

Sammy – We will tell you NOTHING. We PLEAD THE FIFTH.

Alda Rethe – LOLLY LOVES YOUR STORY. And yes, it has been said. Hayley and Lolly have no lives. Teehee. Well, minimal. But that's why it takes so long for us to update, sometimes. TEXAS AND AUSTRALIA ARE VERY FAR AWAY.

Laaaa . . . shutting up now. I like this chapter, it's kind of funny at some places, teehee . . . Lolly was high when she wrote her bits. God bless morphine. And Hayley had a headache and her muscles ache from Band Camp. BAND NERDS FOREVER!!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Our group, the newly formed SIA, was shuffling professionally down the long path that lead to the school. As I'd observed before, the grass was completely and utterly dead. It was no different from this side of the fence, except perhaps, even more depressing. God, was there ANYTHING around here that wasn't dead?

I mean, besides the SIA.

Well, majority.

YES JESSE I AM LOOKING AT YOU.

Aren't I a sweetie? Oh, laaa.

I shot him a sideways look. He was still glowing faintly, one of his large hands clamped down on Jack's shoulder. Almost like a father figure. Which Jack was probably lacking, at the moment, living with his delirious Pops at the moment. But . . . it made me kind of angry to think that Jesse thought he could be that father figure. That he could just move in on the kid. I mean, I do not like to consider Jack as property, but he was my turf. I was the one who'd thought him how to SWIM, right? I'd befriended him first, I'd made him unafraid, didn't that mean anything to him anymore? And what business did Jesse have, just going all paternal all of a sudden, and being the mediator guru? That was very rude of him. Jesse wasn't even a mediator!

I mean, not that I WANTED Jack to be struggling as a growing mediator, but . . . did it have to be Jesse? Did ANYTHING have to be Jesse? Did it HAVE to be him that had haunted my room? Did it HAVE to be him that I first fell in love with? Did he HAVE to be here now, making me remember all of these terrible things? Making me think badly of him? I mean, as much as I loved to hate him, I didn't want to just diss him in my mind, without shouting it out and giving him some knowledge of why I thought he was such a butthead.

But anyway. Courtesy of my furtive sideways looking, I noticed that Jesse was staring up at one of the hundreds of windows. They were all looming closer as we were walking. Every bobbing step drew them nearer. The windows, I mean. Well, that and the, er, rest of the school. My own gaze was magnetically drawn to the many windows, and with comprehension that made my stomach tense, I saw one of the curtains twitch very obviously.

Oh, neat.

'We are being watched,' Jesse said very quietly, stopping and making Jack stop also. You know, that whole hand-still-on-shoulder-muah-there-is-no- escape-fool thing still happening there.

Paul halted, and turned to glare at Jesse. Well, it wasn't a nice look. No inspirational, warm fuzzy feelings there. It was more like die-bitch-die.

Ha. That'd be the day. Paul calling Jesse a bitch.

Oh, I'm odd.

'I said,' Jesse repeated calmly, 'We are being watched. By whom, I am not certain. One could only assume it is this ghost whom we have been called to expel. I just witnessed movement of the curtains in that window on the fourth floor.'

Jack wrinkled his nose up at Jesse. 'You talk weird,' he stated.

Jesse stared down at Jack in confusion.

Paul was still looking at Jesse like he was scum. Which he was. But then, so was Paul, so he couldn't talk. Or, um, look. So, much as I hated it, I had to back Jesse up.

'Yeah,' I shrugged. 'I saw it too. And yeah, Jesse does talk weird.'

Jesse scowled at me, and I laughed in a kind of nasty way. I instantly felt kind of bad, but I stood my ground. Paul considered me with a lazy, lingering gaze, and then rotated back to the front, marching forward and going all Fearless Leader, proclaiming himself leader of the pack. He jogged – in a business suit still but yeah – up to the very front door of the school, and pulled out the jangling keys once more. Beside me, I heard Dani let out a sigh of admiration. 'Isn't he brave?' she whispered to Adam wistfully. He grinned down at her. 'Brave? Ha, he a mockery of brave! I am the brave, strong one here, ma'am. Do not let the flab fool you. It is merely, er, relaxed muscle.'

Jack chuckled, and Jesse just stared at him.

'Odd,' he finally concluded, after thinking about it for a few moments. 'Susannah, you have odd friends.'

'Birds of a feather,' I said simply, still walking to where Paul was waiting for us, looking incredibly smug and superior, 'Aren't you glad you escaped the friendship circle in time?'

A had a funny expression on his face. Like what I was saying was really bothering. I cared? Oooh, heavens no. Or hell no. Or whatever's in between. I don't think there's a happy medium between heaven and hell. I am a strong believer in heaven (or hell) on earth. We create our final destination here. I think when ghosts move on, they just go. I really do. Well, now, anyway. When I was sixteen, and was blissfully wondering what would happen if I died and came back as a ghost and moved on with Jesse, I believed that there would be somewhere that we'd go to after death where we'd live in eternal happiness and would receive our just rewards for all the good we'd done.

Now I know that heaven and hell lies where we stand. Good and evil lies in people. We can choose to do good, or bad. Oh, wonders of free will. We make our paradises and our purgatories. It is us, and our decisions, actions and words, that define who we are and how our lives will be. Good and evil exists strongly on earth. So I believe that earth is the only plane of existence, besides from the Shadowland. Beyond that . . . there is no existence to me.

Oh, happy days, Suze. Really.

Paul, after searching through the many keys, found the correct one and unlocked the door. He left it unlocked for a moment, turning around to lean on the door all casually. Well, as casual as one could be in a business suit. His gaze fell on me, and he grinned, asking, 'Would you do the honors, or shall I?'

I looked up at the large, looming building ahead of me. The school, I had to admit, was magnificent. Even though it was a little old, it was still an undeniably beautiful place. There was a sort of darkness that I could sense strongly . . . like an aura surrounding the place. Even though it was early morning outside, I felt as if the inside would stay forever night.

I really didn't know if I wanted to go in there yet. I mean, who knew what lay behind that door? That ghost . . . he was probably waiting for us. I saw the curtain flinch earlier. He knew we were there. I'm sure he already had our welcoming party planned. And no, I don't mean a nice party with streamers and a banner that reads "Welcome to Fortunaschwein Ex- Boarding School". Yeah, the OTHER kind. I'm pretty sure this ghost knew what hazing was, considering that this was an all boys high school. Uh oh . . .

But, of course, I didn't want to show Paul my fear. He'd never let it go if I chickened out. But I didn't want to go in there alone. So I sought the only help I could bear to get at a moment such as that.

'Come on, Jack. Let's go.'

Jack looked at me for a moment like I had grown a second head or something. 'Go where?' he asked me, furrowing his eyebrows.

'In there,' I replied simply, motioning to the large entrance to the school. Jack's face suddenly changed from confusion to utter fear. His blue eyes widened as he inhaled a short breath.

'What? You're not scared, are you?' I teased him as I patted him on the shoulder. 'Of course not,' he gulped in reply.

I knew Jack was afraid. I remembered that exact expression of fear from when he first told me he could see ghosts. Little frivolous things like going outside or even swimming used to scare him. But that summer I helped him overcome his fears. Everyone including my boss, Jack's parents, and even Paul thought that I was some sort of miracle worker. It was my duty again to show Jack that there was nothing to be afraid of.

I put my hand on his other shoulder supportively, and squeezed it lightly. 'Come on,' I told him as I gave him a quick wink. Then I added, 'Payback for the saliva attack.' He blushed a bit, but then began to follow me to the front door.

I felt a little dizzy as we took the long walk up the path leading to the front door. I knew that once we reached the front door, there was absolutely no turning back. Not under Paul Slater's watch.

Jack stopped for a moment and turned around to look at Jesse, who decided not to follow us. 'You coming, Jesse?' Jack asked him nervously, standing with a kind of collapsed anxiety.

Jesse smiled at Jack warmly and replied, 'I will watch you go inside and I will meet you in there. Is that all right with you?'

I wanted to answer that for Jack, but he grinned. 'Sure.'

How about, not so sure? How about, NO?

How about, shut up Suze?

That was when a very loud whistling sound swooped through the air, blowing up my eardrums with incredible decibels. I covered my ears, and glared around.

'Did you hear that?!' Jack gasped, his face alive with fretful exhilaration.

'Naw, my ear just got chilly,' I said sarcastically. 'Of course I heard it.'

Everyone murmured in agreement. CeeCee shivered as Jesse accidentally stepped through her.

'What was it?' whispered Adam, looking around vigilantly.

I shrugged. 'Either wind, or, well, the ghost.'

Adam's eyes went wide. 'What the hell? Ghosts can scream that high? Oh, I want a refund. I want out,' he snapped. 'It's like listening to Kelly Prescott when someone says her skirt is dorky. Oh, pandemonium ensues there.'

No one really cared all that much.

Jack gave me a fearful, wobbly grin. I threw a fake smile back at him in encouragement, but not feeling it. God, did I ever feel like smiling lately?

This was the pits.

I saw Paul giving me a strange look. 'What?' I snapped.

'Open the door already,' he groaned impatiently.

I blinked, as Dani – tugging on his arm with a dirty look on her face, whinnied, 'Yes, Sue. Open the sodding door.'

Suze. SUZE you fool!!!

And with that, I shoved the door open. An almighty creek plagued all of our ears. It sounded like Dopey trying to sing, if you asked me to pin point it. The huge wooden door swung open slowly, as I pushed it with my shoulder. It took effort, may I say? And it wasn't like anyone else was offering to lend a hand. Oh, how sweet that was not. My foot was kind of sliding on the pavement as I shoved at the door. There wasn't enough friction between the ground and my shoe. This door, damned thing, it was one of those ones that tried to swing back at you. Heaven only knows why, but yeah. After a good ten seconds, I managed to force it right open. Then I shoved the provided brick against it to prevent it from slamming back. I took a few steps back and leaned against one of the pillars in the entranceway, taking a small rest.

Of course, my efforts were wasted when Paul pushed his way through the door that I opened. A few steps in, he stopped and breathed it all in, as if it were his claim. CeeCee and Adam crowded in the doorway, trying to see what was inside without taking a step in.

'Whoa,' I heard the echo of Paul's voice from the outside. I wondered what he was whoa-ing about. But walking into the house second didn't seem a role fit for me. I was surprised Dani the leech didn't go in there with him. Instead, she stood to the side like a wallflower at a dance.

Adam and CeeCee still loitered by the door, peeking in. It was obvious that it was hard for them to see inside because it was dark in there compared to the bright morning sunshine outside. Jack found his way back to me and gave me a questioning glance.

Jack wasn't going to go in the place if I didn't. Neither was anyone else for that matter.

So I let curiosity get the best of me. I pushed past CeeCee and Adam and slipped through the dark and narrow entrance. I stood a little behind Paul, trying to see over his broad shoulders. Damn . . . I should have worn platforms.

'What?' I asked Paul. He didn't reply. Instead, he stepped forward some, and then turned back to me, a wild smirk playing on his lips. I didn't know what he was smirking about until I looked away from him and actually looked at the room. Just one look forced a mighty, 'Wow' from me.

The shadowy, dome-shaped entrance was a little dusty and dark, but it was majorly classy. The huge room was filled with dark wood, stained glass windows, and deep crimson paint. The whole room was like a void. It was practically empty, and it was dark and echoing. In the middle of domed room hung a large, crystal chandelier. Paul switched on the dusty light switch and it began to twinkle, the light playing on the crystal magnificently.

'Oh my God . . . it's beautiful,' I breathed. I could hear my words echoing throughout the room. It was so big that it nearly engulfed Paul and I as we stood there, admiring its grandiose.

'Cool!' Jack exclaimed as he squeezed himself inside. He scuttled over to one of the walls, looking up with a bright smile on his face. 'Suze! Look at the paintings. Aren't they awesome?'

In a daze I stepped closer to one of the paintings. I brushed off some of the dust that formed in a thin layer over it. It was of a young man of about thirty or so, sitting with his arm gently rested on a table. He had a head full of golden blonde hair. I couldn't believe how someone so young could appear so old though. There was no gleam in his eyes or anything. I thought the man in the picture would have been more attractive if he at least smiled. But I guess it would have been a pain to smile for hours while some guy painted your portrait.

'They're like the ones you and me saw at that boring historical place back when I was seven, you know?' Jack noticed, cocking his head to the side as he admired a piece that was painted of a horse. 'You know, the one of that pretty lady and the other one of Jesse when you went to give that historian dude those letters from that Hector guy.'

I went a bit rigid for a moment. I pretended to be busy looking at the painting. Maybe I wasn't the only one with an overactive memory. Well, okay, maybe he had forgotten the "pretty lady's" name and he also forgot that Jesse's REAL name was Hector. Or maybe Jesse never told him. Well, that's pretty stupid. Why would he do such a thing?

To keep him from getting in his business? So Jack won't find out what happened to him and help him move on? Or did he just not want there to be a repeat of what happened last time?

Well, it could be a lot worse. I mean, at least Jesse didn't know about the –

'What letters, Susannah?' I heard Jesse ask me. Obviously he had materialized upon hearing his name or something.

Damn.

I turned around slowly to face Jesse. I noticed that Paul was just as interested in hearing my answer as Jesse was. Dani, who had come in with Adam and CeeCee, was tugging at Paul's arm so they could go make-out – er, I mean – check out the paintings together. But he wasn't budging. He was awaiting my reply.

'You had, um, some mail that came a bit late,' I explained, swallowing hard. This was something I tried to hide from Jesse for a long time. As his former roommate, it thought it wasn't proper of me to be checking out his mail. Even if it was, say, a hundred and fifty years late. But then again, WHO CARES?

'Why do I feel bad about this?' I asked myself. 'So I read your letters? I couldn't NOT read them. I was trying to find out exactly what happened to you ages ago because you sure as hell weren't dropping any hints. And yeah, I took them to the Historical Society place because that Clive guy would have appreciated them more than me. OR you even. First of all, Maria was totally boring, and secondly . . . MARIA DE SILVA CANNOT SPELL FOR SHIT.'

'Susannah!' Father Dom whipped out his chiding tone quickly. 'Do not use that language here, please.'

Who was Father D to tell ME what language to use, Father-I-can-curse-my- little-head-off-at-the-computer? But I was too busy looking away from Jesse in embarrassment to jump on the old priest's case for it. I wasn't ashamed of the whole cursing thing . . . it was just the way Paul and Jesse were looking at me. It was hard to tell what they were thinking, but I think it went along the lines of, "Back away slowly from the head case and no one will get hurt."

To confirm my thoughts, Jesse lifted his scarred eyebrow and then did something shocking. He laughed at me.

Which, needless to say, was so NOT funny. I mean, yeah I tend to babble when I get nervous and stuff, but it wasn't something to laugh about. And the whole Maria comment? Yeah, did you hear him denying it? I think not. I was just speaking the truth. Totally not funny. I blinked at him.

CeeCee even managed a giggle. I couldn't for the life of me think why. I mean, what? I didn't say anything funny. Had Jack drooled on my skirt again? I bent over accidentally to look, and Adam and Jack then cracked up. I stood up straight to glare at him, and Dani – because she didn't want to be left out – started laughing too. At me.

When there was NOTHING funny.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

'Stop laughing,' I snapped at them. They all kind of did then, save CeeCee who still had the uncontrollable giggles. 'Priorities much, Suze?' CeeCee asked me, once she regained her composure.

I wanted to yell at her to shut up, but I thought better of it. I ran my hand through my hair and slowly strolled in the entrance way, looking some more. Dani tugged Paul along to one of the paintings to admire it, her head leaning on the shoulder of Paul's business suit. I wanted to ask her if the painting was prettier looking at it from the side, but I didn't want Paul to say something. Well, that or acknowledge my presence. Heaven knows I did not deserve to be in the same room with Supermodel Danielle Moore and he Super-shifter boyfriend Paul Slater. Wow . . . they even get superhero names.

Me? I'm not a superhero. I'm a super-zero.

'Ooh, Suze,' I heard Jack's voice echo behind me, 'look at the stairs! They go on forever!'

'Don't stray too far away,' Father Dom requested as he stood next to me. 'We wouldn't want to get lost or anything.'

Or anything? What was that supposed to mean?

Well, judging by the size of the mansion's entrance room, I could see that it really wouldn't be hard to get lost in this place. Especially if you were too busy admiring its dark charm instead of trying to figure out where you were. But taking a peek around didn't seem like such a bad idea at the time, really.

'Can we explore, then, Father D?' I asked.

CeeCee piped in with a mischievous smile at Adam, nudging his side, 'In pairs?'

'Very well, then,' Father Dom replied. 'But we must report back here. This, the entrance room, shall be the meeting place.'

'I will go with you, Padre,' Jesse said promptly, shooting a glance at me.

Okay, ouch. That seriously hurt a bit. I mean, I could care less who Enrique-wannabe partnered with. In fact, it was "for the best" that he paired with Father Dom. Or, oh yeah, "padre," in Jesse-speak. The old priest needed someone strong to go with him, in case they encountered the ghost. And yeah, Jesse's a good guy to have on your team because, well, he can't get hurt really by ghosts because he's just so dead.

But that wasn't the reason I was hurt. It meant that Jesse wasn't going with me. Okay . . . I'm not supposed to want Jesse to come with me on this little journey. The least time I spent with him, the better. But he had already done that to me once. And I needed him then, when I went away to college. I really, truly did. What if the ghost decided to attack me? Would he just leave me there, and not check up? AGAIN?

Jack grabbed my hand, just then, and said gleefully, 'Suze! Suze! I want to be with you, Suze!'

Well, at least somebody did.

I looked away from Jesse, furious at my moment of weakness . . . God, I was such a loser. I didn't need Jesse. No way. I was above needing him. I had learnt to rise above it.

I had to learn to survive.

Paul offered his hand to Dani and pleaded, 'Will you be my buddy?' using the Slater Puppy Eyes, no less. On Jack, it was adorable because he had that round, youthful face. But on Paul . . . well, it just looked . . . I dunno. A man in a business suit with his piercing blue eyes widened and his lower lip pouty . . . yeah, totally contradicting.

Dani slipped her hand into Paul's and cackled her psycho laugh. I swear . . . I wanted to rip out her vocal chords myself. Paul quickly shook off the puppy eyes and kissed the top of her hand. I felt the urge to gag. Lucky thing I didn't eat breakfast.

I looked back to Jack and replied, 'Yeah, I'll go with the only SANE Slater here.' I made sure I made my voice loud enough to cause Paul to throw an evil glare at me. I looked at him flatly, and squeezed Jack's hand.

Jesse breezed by me, gripping his large hand firmly on Father Dom's arm, gently guiding him out of the entrance way. I swear, if Jesse were alive, he'd make a great attendant at the old folk's home. Paul took Dani's hand and twirled her around leading her in the opposite direction of Jesse and Dommy. I looked at Jack, who grabbed my hand enthusiastically.

'Let's go up those stairs, Suze!' Jack exclaimed as he pulled me towards them. He was just so enthusiastic about it, it made me want to pinch his little adorable cheeks. But then I remembered that he was thirteen, not seven. The pinching cheek thing wouldn't go over so well. And er, anyway . . . at his age now, he was bordering the whole cheek-pinching thing of his own. Er, just not the cheeks on a girl's face, you know?

As we went up the never-ending staircase, I began to think about what I was like when I was thirteen. I mean, it's such a fragile age. Things just start to change as you graduate from eighth grade and go on to high school. And it's not just you, it's everyone. Your friends change, the limitations your parents put on you change, and even the homework load changes. Mostly, you have two choices . . . either to try to embrace your fleeting childhood, or to go ahead and embrace your blooming adulthood.

When I was thirteen, I wanted to grow up so fast. Part of me already had since my dad had passed away so long ago. And yeah, there was also the whole ghost thing too. But sometimes my head was making checks my butt couldn't cash. I was way ahead of myself then.

I wanted Jack to stay young and innocent forever, you know. Which, in the caring hands of Father Dominic and Jesse, was possible. Of course, corruption had its source too. The face of corruption was his own older brother, Paul Slater.

You may think I'm trying to be so dramatic, but it's the truth. Hell knows Paul has the ability, not only to be a powerful shifter, but also to put crazy notions into peoples' brains.

Like making me think that he actually loved me once, for example. Crazy as that might seem . . .

'Wow,' Jack said as he pulled me down the hallway after finishing the long climb up the stairs, 'Look at the statues! And the photos of all the boys!'

I looked at one photograph of what seemed like the whole school, dated 1969. The latest and last all-school picture taken of Fortunashwein. There were more of those pictures lining the hallway, but I felt drawn to this one for some reason. I looked through all of the boys' faces.

'Look at the one with the glasses,' Jack pointed to one guy as he snickered. 'He looks like he has no eyes! And look at that guy . . . he moved when they took the picture. You know, this one guy in my class ALWAYS does that every year. Sister Ernestine gets mad at him for messing up the picture.'

I noticed, after looking at the picture for a long time, that he wasn't the only guy that ruined the picture. Three others were doing the same thing on the top row. Upperclassmen and their pranks . . .

Then all of a sudden I heard a terrible noise. I looked over my shoulder for a moment, scanning the long hallway. I then realized it was Dani's maniacal laugh, coming all the way from down stairs. I pursed my lips in annoyance.

'Oh, PAUL! You are too funny!' Dani cackled, squealing in delight.

Trigger the gag reflex now . . .

'Stupid redhead . . . just because she's an anorexic model with the teeny waist and the fake- Jack? Do you think they're fake?' I demanded, grabbing Jack's shoulders and shaking him a bit.

'Huh?' Jack asked me, cocking his head to the side in curiosity. 'You mean her eyes? Yeah . . . they are pretty big.'

'Well, them too,' I frowned. 'They're probably glass eyes, you know. Probably blind as a bat that stupid . . . Do you like Danielle?'

'She's okay,' Jack replied. 'She's really, really pretty.'

I rolled my eyes at him. Seriously, what is up with guys these days? First it's Paul, then it's Doc, and now . . . JACK? He's too young to fall for her fake-boobed charms. I swear . . . that is the decline of the male population right there.

Jack saw my expression and added, 'But you're prettier, Suze. It's okay.'

I turned back to Jack, and pleasant warmth developed. I smiled at him amiably. 'Yeah, whatever. Aww, you're gorgeous, you know that?'

He beamed that infamous Slater smile. 'I get that a lot,' he said.

Crap . . . I could have sworn I saw a definite flash of Paul Slater, right there . . .

Not good . . . not good at all. He's my Luke Skywalker . . . and I was not going to lose him to the darkside.

We continued down the dark hallways, checking into the rooms. The carpet on the floor was a rich crimson, and the walls were dark brick. There were actually like, candles along the hallway, but they weren't lit. The wicks were still tall and slightly charred, but judging by the caking dust and the cobwebs around the brackets that held them to the wall, they hadn't been used for a long, long time.

Some of the doors that we checked were locked. Some were only closed. And others were wide open.

How's that for consistency?

Seriously . . . I'd only been in this house for about ten minutes, and it was creeping me out no end already. How long did we have to stay here? I mean, we weren't . . . staying OVERNIGHT, were we?

Ew, the cobwebs! The COBWEBS!!!

There was something to be said for the hallways though. They were wide and – although daunting – strangely accommodating. And the other thing? Oh yeah, to find a smashed vase or a knocked over statue wasn't such a big deal.

What can we say? Ghosts get bored.

They like to break things.

Hmm . . . I frowned, and thought dark thought of Jesse.

. . . Just like Jesse broke me . . .

'Whoa, what happened here?'

Jack was tugging my hand. I looked down at him, not really seeing him that well. I was still thinking. My skin was still creeping a little, and my polo shirt suddenly seemed a little too loose on my torso. As if I'd shrunk, just by thinking myself to be small and pathetic. Whoa.

He looked up at me for explanation.

I blinked, and then snapped out of it. Stupid Suze . . . don't be a loser . . .

'Jack, keep your eyes peeled, okay . . . we might find him, or, uh her.' I looked down the hallway nervously. It seemed to go on forever, just getting darker and darker . . . just like the Shadowland.

Accept there were no cold, winking stars above.

And no fog. Just darkness.

'Suze! I hear something coming from over there . . . ' Jack said suddenly, stopping. I groaned at him. I didn't hear anything. But he looked kind of freaked, as he pointed to a room up ahead with the door closed.

'It's locked, it's fine – ' I began, turning the door handle to prove that all was well, Miss Clavelle, but the door WASN'T locked.

Yeah, THANKS door. SHOW ME UP WHY DON'T YOU?

Jack stared at me. 'Well?'

'Well what?'

'Are we going in?'

'You just said you heard something! You're supposed to be wetting your pants or something, and begging me to back away,' I scowled. What? I really didn't think there was anything in this room. I mean, the door was perfectly normal. No big sign saying "EVIL INSIDE, ENTER IF YOU ARE NOT A WUSS" or anything.

And excuse ME, I'd DEFINITELY be going in thank YOU.

He pouted up at me. 'Let's check it out,' he pleaded. 'Please, please, ple – '

'Okay!' I griped, shoving the door open. Darn Slaters . . . CAN'T take no for an answer now, can they?

Don't I know it . . .

We wandered into the elegant room. It had a good sized bed in it, some drawers, a bookshelf, and a mirror hanging over a small desk. It was probably one of the dormitory rooms. I noticed it was dark just like everything else in the house. Must have been a bummer to board in this school.

'What's that?' Jack asked as he pointed to a square door on the wall. He let go of my hand and walked over to it. He opened the mini-door and peeked in. 'Cool,' he breathed excitedly, 'it's a dumbwaiter! Wow, these rock!'

Jack poked his little curly head in there. I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him out, saying, 'Jack, I wouldn't get in that if I were you.'

Truth is, I really didn't know where that dumbwaiter went. I mean, we didn't even know what and where everything was in this place. We just got here for goodness sakes. I couldn't chance little Jackie-poo getting hurt. Not under my watch, and not at all. I still had my duty, as a former babysitter, to make sure the little one was safe.

'I just want to see where it goes,' Jack looked at me innocently. If you would have given him a little halo-thingie, he would have looked just like a little angel right there. A darling, cute little angel.

But I put my foot down. There was no reason to give into the Slater charms. Wow, they really must be genetic . . .

I gripped his arm tighter. 'Jack . . . I don't think that's such a good idea.'

Jack wrenched his arm from my grasp and, ignoring me completely, decided to crawl inside. He made himself comfortable inside and smiled back at me. I let out a sigh of relief. He was safe.

I guess that I thought too soon, because the next thing I know, I feel this chilling wind. It sent shivers up my spine and made every single hair on my body shoot up. The wind or air or whatever it was made the door to the dumbwaiter instantly slam shut.

'JACK!' I yelled, banging my fist on the door. 'Jack! JACK!'

'Suze!' Jack choked in panic. 'Help me!'

He began banging on the inside wall, trying to get himself out. I tried to help him by bashing the door frantically. I even tried to lift it up but it just . . . wouldn't . . . come . . . up!

'Jack!' I shouted again as a terrible panic rose in my heart. Suddenly, I heard a very small chuckle. I whirled around to see who it was, but there was no one there at all. Coward . . .

'It's really dark in here, Suze,' Jack said as calmly as possible, 'but I'm okay.'

For a minute there I almost wanted to believe him. That is, until I heard another dark, masculine laugh that began ringing in my ears.

'Jack . . . listen,' I whispered to him. 'Did you hear that?'

'Uh huh,' Jack said, his voice muffled behind the wall. I heard another laugh . . . one final soft laugh and then it all stopped.

And the dumbwaiter descended.

'JAAAAACK!' I screamed as I tried to open the door. I finally managed to open it rapidly, and I was barely able to catch the rope from the top of the dumbwaiter. It had been cut. Snippety snip . . . as they had been trying to do to Jack's life.

I held onto the rope with all of my strength. I knew it was a long way down. I mean, Jack and I went up a LOT of stairs. I could hear Jack gasping as he stirred around in the dumbwaiter below . . . trying to claw his way out.

'Jack, stop panicking,' I shouted down to him. 'Stop moving!'

'Suze, is that you?' Jack stopped moving for a moment.

I was breathing hard, trying to stay still as I held on to the rope with all my might, and all my willpower. My face was shaking from the strain, and my nails were digging into my palms, but I could barely feel anything but the pain of my grip on the rope. 'Yeah, Jack,' I said as steadily as possible. There was a definite quaver in my tone, but I hoped that Jack wouldn't hear it. Then he'd know that I was panicking. He could die . . . if I dropped this, he could die . . . I could kill him. I literally held his life in my hands. 'Look Jack,' I said, sounding like a shrink, 'I'm going to try and pull it up. Just stay still until you get out. Or else I might . . . well, nevermind, just do as I say.'

I was going to say or "or else I might drop you" but I didn't want to make him scared. As many times as I had faced impending death, I knew the last thing he needed to be was scared. I knew, though, that it's hard. Especially because all the while, one message keeps playing in your head over and over:

I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die.

Jack's going to die, Jack's going to die, Jack's going to die.

'I'll try,' Jack gulped, swallowing his fear.

I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, I thought to myself. I grabbed the rope with my other hand as well and heaved up. It came up slowly and steadily. I was shocked by how well it was working. I mean, where had all this strength come from? Certainly not from me, wimpy-wienie-Suze.

That little box-thingie was extremely heavy with all of that metal and wood. It was, like, pulling up half a car or something. It was pretty hard to do, mind you, so I crawled on the ledge separating the inside and outside of the small elevator, still pulling straight up.

'I can see you,' I told Jack as the box came into view. 'Can you crawl out yet?'

'Yeah,' Jack answered as he began moving around. I slowly stepped back into the room, pulling my rope with me as it brought Jack up more. There was a small part was peaking out, just enough for Jack to squeeze through. But all of the movement that he was making made it harder for me to hold on much longer.

'Careful now,' I gulped, trying to force down my panic. 'Hurry . . . I can't hold it much longer.'

It really did feel like I was going to drop it. He was halfway through. If I dropped it accidentally, we'd only end up with half of a Jack. Or worse, it could bring him back down with it, and he'd be crushed. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my grip more.

Suze . . . just calm down . . . for the love of God . . .

DON'T.

LET.

GO.

My face was screwed up and was trembling almost as much as my arms were. I just couldn't anymore, I – I was going to drop it, SHIT! I was GOING TO DROP –

With one final push, Jack managed to tumble out from the dumbwaiter onto the floor. I let go of the rope with a grunt and fell back on the floor, panting. Jack stood still for a few moments . . . and about ten seconds later we heard an almighty crash. Jack quickly winced from the noise.

'Oh my God. That could have been you,' I said grimly. Jack leaned himself against the wall. Just then, a sudden jolt of pain shot up my arms. I breathed even harder, and jammed my eyes shut. Probably pulled my muscles or something.

Then I realized.

Shit . . .

I couldn't believe it.

For a second, I'd been ready to just let go.

Give up.

After five whole years of refusing to LET GO, I'd just been about to. Let go of Jack Slater. He could have just DIED. I could have killed him! I would have been a murderer! A failure!

I scrambled up, and just grabbed Jack, pulling him into a fierce hug. Even though I didn't say a word, my brain was furiously whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry . . . "

What was I, now? I was weak. I was a FRIGGING QUITTER.

I cuddled Jack closer to me, my heart thumping hard in my chest so dangerously, I could feel the threat that my ribs would shatter. I breathed into his hair, and he just remained still, and freaked.

'Suze, I'm sorry, I should have listened to you, I promise I will from now on, I was just curious to see where – I'm sorry and please calm down, it's okay – '

'Are you all right?' I demanded, pushing him away from me and holding him in front of my face, glaring into his clear blue eyes in infuriated concern.

He nodded. 'Yeah,' he replied breathlessly.

That was when the chuckle returned.

My blood ran cold. Very cold. I spun around so sharply, I felt like there were papercuts all over my body. Small, and stinging horribly. 'Jack?' I swallowed, licking my very dry lips, 'did you just hear that?'

Again, he nodded dumbly.

I turned away, and searched the room suspiciously. There was not a single movement, save the dust that was very visibly floating in the air. Not even the curtains moved. Which was understandable, because the windows had probably not been opened for –

Hold that thought. This one had been opened, very recently. And the curtains had been pushed aside recently.

What did THAT mean? Was it Dic – um, Mr Head's wife? Or was it this ghost?

I seriously, SERIOUSLY hoped it was the former –

Another sudden wraithlike snigger made me flinch. Flinch? I FLINCHED? My GOD. Okay, this ghost was going DOWN.

'Hey!' I snapped, 'Come out, now!'

There was no reply. Jack shuffled closer to me quietly with calculated steps. 'NOW!' I yelled into the humid room.

But nothing came. I sighed, and ran my hands down from the roots of my hair to the tips, feeling a stressful exasperation, My heart felt heavy, and I wasn't sure why. Oh yeah, I almost committed manslaughter that was it.

Bingo.

Jack touched my arm softly with very cold fingers. 'I don't see anything, Suze.'

I scowled at him, but not AT him, if you know what I mean. Just, in his general direction, while thinking about this crappy ghost. 'God, creepy son of a bitch. Too SCARED to fight me? Well, FINE, we'll just – '

That was when, with a roaring rumble, the dumbwaiter came crashing up the shoot, and stopped in perfect condition – not broken or anything. Only on the door, was . . .

Well . . .

'Ew,' Jack said in revulsion. 'Is that barbecue sauce?'

I too looked at the now tainted door of the dumbwaiter. A very, very disturbing brown handprint was smeared across the door. I felt the hairs over my arms raise accordingly.

'No,' I whispered breathlessly. 'Jack, that's . . . blood.'

'Ew,' Jack repeated.

Suddenly, the mini chandelier above my head tinkled in warning, and about a second before it actually happened, I shoved Jack out of the way as it plummeted down to the ground, shattering most effectively. Crystal and glass flew everywhere. I gasped from my butt-position, and looked quickly at Jack, who was looking right back at me with wild eyes.

'Jack, come on! Someone's messing with us, we have to get out of here!' I urged, scrambling up as he followed my lead. I barged at the door, then grabbed Jack by the scruff of his shirt. We both burst out with an explosion of dust that we had unsettled again, and began running down the hall in a fairly unruly manner, and at break-neck speed.

Random bangs and laughs echoed demonically behind us. They were eerie, bodiless and horribly haunting. I felt my heart jolt as each and every one. They chilled even me, Suze Simon, to the core. I had to get Jack out of here . . . oh yeah, and me too.

We reached the stairs, after an eternity of rapid sprinting. I swung round on the ball on the top of the banister, and bolted down the stairs, Jack in hot pursuit. We got to the third floor, when a nicely timed event stopped me in my swift tracks.

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

Now, THAT was a noise that could stop traffic. Oh yes, I'm totally traffic now. Beep, honk. I am a Porsche. Come and drive me long and –

Don't finish that sentence.

But yeah, when someone screams out "AAAH!" you tend to stop, and your eyes tend to widen, and your grip on the banister of the staircase that you are fleeing down tends to become rather slippery.

Especially if that scream had been that of one of your best friends.

I stopped dead.

'CeeCee!' I shouted, starting to panic that little bit more.

'SUUUUUUUZE!' I heard CeeCee shout again, her voice shrill and pleading.

Jack gasped and planted his feet, stopping us completely. I whipped around and looked into his wide eyes, which were filled with obvious fear. 'Come on, Jack,' I pleaded with him. Jack still held his ground, however.

'W-what's going o-on?' Jack asked. I was getting goosebumps from his icy fingers, which were gripped on my wrist. You know, the whole cold iron grip thing.

The little guy was scared. And he had every right to be. I mean, he just barely escaped his death only a few minutes ago. It was all my fault too. I had put him in this danger. I shouldn't have made him come with me. I should have left him with Father Dominic and Jesse.

I never should have let him join the SIA. The SIA should have never been formed. I KNEW this was a bad idea.

Allow me to take a moment to say "I TOLD YOU SO!!!"

Moment taken.

There I go again, with all of this quitter-talk. Regret wasn't going to get me anywhere. It wasn't going to stop Jack from being afraid, and it certainly wasn't getting CeeCee out of whatever danger she was in right then.

I had to brush the lint off my shoulders, pick myself up off the ground, and focus on the task at hand.

'I don't know,' I replied to his previous question. 'All I know is that her shouts are coming from the level below. We gotta run, Jack.'

Jack didn't question me this time. We took off running down a flight of stairs to the second floor. I pulled Jack down the long, narrow hallway towards the shouts of CeeCee – and now Adam. Whoever or whatever it was had them both.

'Where are you guys?' I asked desperately, stopping moment to find my bearings.

'HERE!' I heard Adam's muffled voice yell. 'WE'RE NEXT TO THE HUGE MIRROR!'

This time, it was Jack that was doing most of the running. He pulled me down that eerie hallway, until I caught my reflection in a large full- length mirror. Jack stopped and commanded, 'Knock or something . . . make a noise so we can tell where you are.'

Right beside the mirror, we could hear furious knocking on a small patch of the wall, which was covered by a thin but beautifully decorated tapestry.

Jack tapped on the wall and turned to me, asking, 'How are we supposed to get them out of there?'

'Adam, CeeCee, get as far back as you can. You too, Jack,' I commanded as I ripped the tapestry off of the wall with a yank.

Jack moved away a bit as I put my arms out and took a few steps back. I ran at the wall as fast and as hard as I could, kicking right through it. Most of the wood fell away. I had put a very impressive hole in the wall. The good news was that I had kicked the wall so hard . . . just enough for the two of them to push the wood away to get out.

The bad news? That also included the wall making a very impressive hole in me. Bits of the wall jammed right in my leg. I groaned in pain as I touched my leg gingerly, but then with my hands, I began tearing at the wooden wall, making the hole bigger so that CeeCee and Adam could climb through.

Then I flopped on my butt, my face all screwy.

'Suze!' CeeCee gasped, as her ashen face popped out. Well, it was always white, but now, it looked kind of grey. She slid out of the hole-proudly- sponsored-by-Suze-Simon, and stood up carefully, then offering a hand to Adam. He crawled out too, looking very freaked.

'Whoa, what WAS that?' he asked, in a rasping voice, looking like he'd lost his nerve. I didn't answer him, too busy removing the bits of wood from my ankle. I swear to God, I really need to stick with the jeans. I TRY to go all out for the whole first-day-as-an-SIAan, and look what I get? Joy. Nah, it's strictly Mudd jeans for me. Or hell, maybe I should just invest in a bulk loan of overalls or something.

And a hard hat.

Nifty . . .

'I don't know, I replied to him finally. The injury was bleeding cheerfully by then. I grimaced again, peering at the damage. My ankle was stained with a dark red, which was a lot redder than that spooky handprint on the dumbwaiter door had been. Ew . . . Jack moved a little closer, looking at my ankle sympathetically. He patted me on the back, trying to be soothing.

'How did you end up in there?' I wanted to know. My voice was kind of thin and like, only half there. I had a bad feeling that whoever it was messing with Jack was the same one who shoved Adam and CeeCee into a wall.

A seedy smile swam over Adam's features. I tell you, he'd grown up a lot everywhere else – taller, better built – but his face still looked adorable and just like the resident Court Jester. Always ready to pop out the jokes. But then, he had matured a lot. There was a far more serious side to him now, something that had been born when he began to really appreciate CeeCee.

'Well, we were standing there, just making-out – '

'Exploring,' CeeCee coughed hurriedly, shooting him an "are you insane???" glower.

Adam smirked. 'Yes, exploring. Each other's mouths – '

CeeCee coughed again, and continued for him. 'Yeah, well, suddenly, something pushed us RIGHT THROUGH THE WOOD, Suze,' she explained earnestly, looking very freaked.

'Then it was dark,' Adam recollected solemnly.

'Right through, Suze. It's not possible! I am made of matter,' CeeCee said huffily, crossing her arms. Funnily enough, neither of them had really noticed my poor ankle just yet. Which was understandable – they were both confused and freaked out about what had apparently just happened to them. But excuse me for wanting some compassion, right?

'You're made of matter,' I nodded, 'But maybe the wood wasn't.'

Adam blinked idiotically. 'Uh . . . huh?'

I sighed as I slid my shoe off my foot, removed my sock, and used it in a vain attempt to staunch the flow of blood. I was starting to feel kinda light-headed. And you know, light-headedness isn't all it's crack up to be . . . I'd removed most of the splinters from the skin, I think, but it still hurt like crazy. I peeled the sock away to check it, but the blood was kind of sticking the fabric down to my leg.

'Oh, that's attractive,' I murmured dully, leaning forward more.

CeeCee and Adam seemed to be sharply jerked out of their little post- paranormal dreamland, and at long last, perceived that I actually had a big boo-boo. Better late than never I guess . . .

'Shit!' Adam started muttering blasphemy, and CeeCee gasped. 'Oh, Suze, what happened?'

I gave her a maddened look. 'I put my foot through a wall, that's what,' I replied moodily. 'I told the lot of you, that this SIA thing was a silly idea, and that you two had not the brain capacity to look further than yourselves and see that these ghosts can actually hurt the people that they can TOUCH more than you – '

Jack yawned hintingly, telling me basically to shut up and stop my emotional psychobabble. What? I was annoyed. Don't give me crap, okay? Jack had almost died, and hell, who knows, I might not have heard CeeCee and Adam. And then where would they have been?

In a supernaturally locked closet, that's what.

Dead.

So can you BLAME me for being a little peppery?

CeeCee looked kind of hurt. 'Suze, I didn't mean to . . . ' she trailed off, looking weirded out. Adam was just staring at my leg with raised eyebrows.

Then Jack exhaled noisily. 'You know, Suze, I can fix that,' he said, nodding at my gash.

I kind of ignored him. My ankle was starting to resemble a balloon. Which was just not cool. I am not into the party favour look, you know?

Not to mention this balloon was an ugly purple, with a gooey red slash along it.

Wanna kiss it better?

Ew.

'Suze, really. Jesse taught me how,' Jack insisted with a whine.

Wait. '. . . What?' I demanded, stopping at giving him a harsh look. Again, something weird fluttered inside of me. Jesse taught him how. Jesse was his best friend. Jesse watched over him now.

God, does Jesse LIVE WITH HIM TOO???

I don't want to know.

I swallowed, and then shook my head, cavalierly. 'Whatever,' I shrugged. Adam had his arm around CeeCee's shoulder, as they were both staring down at me, looking quite shocked. Wow, fat lot of help they were. Didn't want them in my life-crisis, Jesus.

Jack knelt down beside me, frowning. He looked up for a moment, and then past me. Then he blanched and shivered a little.

'What?' I asked quickly. I mean, that kid had just PALED like his blood had funneled out or something.

He shook himself. 'Nothing, just, um, that painting over there, the one with the pretty lady in the red dress – ' he pointed, ' – just winked at me.'

'Jack,' I scolded, 'Stop perving for one minute? God, you and your brother . . . I swear – And now you're perving on TWO DIMENSIONAL babes, well, that's just – '

'Suze, it really did!' he whined, pouting. My foot pulsated sorely and I stifled a grunt.

'Yeah yeah, I believe you, whatever,' I said hastily, 'Just . . . please, this really hurts.' He looked down at my foot cluelessly. 'Um,' he mumbled, his voice laced with nervousness – at me biting his head off, most likely – 'Suze? I can't remember what he – '

'Fine, call him,' I snapped. God, that was what he was aiming towards, wasn't it? Right? They wanted to just call Jesse and try to get us to get over ourselves, right? THANKS.

Jack stared. 'What? Call Jesse? I can . . . like, whenever I want to?' he looked perplexed.

Oh yeah . . . non-shifter. Bummer.

I rolled my eyes, and winced again. CeeCee and Adam were still looking like not-so-Greek statues. 'God damn it . . . ' I muttered darkly. 'Uh, okay, Jesse, get your butt here. I've been gored, you'll be pleased to know.' I threw the message out across the astral plane with my mind, closing my eyes and imagining him being summoned to here . . .

With a cascade of dazzling sapphires – metaphoric, God I WISH – Jesse appeared almost instantly. Now that's service.

'Susannah,' he whispered in a gentle voice. 'Wanna hammer?'

WHAT THE HELL?!?!?! ((A/N: Manda! Snort!))

I looked up at him, scandalized. 'What did you just say?' I demanded in horror, my mouth open.

Hammer? HAMMER? HOW APPALLING! JESSE JUST ASKED IF I WANTED TO –

'I said, 'What's the matter',' he arched his eyebrows skeptically. 'Is this suddenly socially unacceptable?'

My heart was pacified. Thank the Lord. 'Oh,' I replied, feeling a blush steal my cheeks. 'Right. Sorry, my bad. I need a hearing aid or something – '

I was cut off by a stupefying burst of pain. I bowed my head and jammed the sock harder against my leg, holding my breath. God almighty!

'Nombre de Dios, Susannah!' Jesse exclaimed, 'what have you done to yourself?'

Oh yeah, like I did that on purpose.

Needless to say, when he said that . . . something tugged painfully at my heartstrings, as if he was playing them like a bass guitar or something. That Spanish . . . that very phrase . . . it brought back so many memories. How I'd always manage to get myself in deep shit, and he'd have to dig me out of the shit pile.

Good times, man. Good times.

Gone.

'Shut up with the Spanish, God spare me . . . please, just . . . do what you do. That thing? That thing that you do? The . . . um, thing?'

Jesse narrowed his eyes, bemused.

I threw a dull look at CeeCee. 'I haven't got a clue, have I?'

She shrugged, baffled. 'Neither. I can't even see the guy.'

Oh. Yeah.

That was when – to my somewhat alarm – Jesse bent down, scooped me up, and carried me into the classroom that we were all hanging outside of. Hey! Not with the touchy feely stuff! Get off, get off!

I had to learn to live without that . . . I didn't want to get used to it again . . .

'Wow . . . she can fly too,' Adam breathed.

I threw him a dirty look as they followed us – um, me and Jesse – in.

God . . . it felt so weird. Him touching me, I mean. His arms were all warm and strong and muscly and ghostly and I felt myself unwillingly . . . well, melting again. Like, going all limb and woozy. Ugh, not hot. I stiffened very quickly, trying to make this whole thing seem as impersonal as possible. It was like, he was secretly doing more than that. Like he was trying to break down the walls I'd built up around me. And, well, you know how ghosts can blow things up . . .

I wouldn't stand a chance, right?

It was just, well, he could have EASILY walked me, but noooo, he had to go all swashbuckling and heroic on me, and CARRY me like I was a helpless abandoned kitten or something. But he picked me up too fast for me to shove myself away and grab my crucifix and scream "Stop in the name of the Law – I mean, Lord!" at him. Which, I kind of wanted to . . .

But then Adam and CeeCee would give me even weirder looks.

And Jack would get bored and he might, um, fall asleep due to um, boredom or something. And he might snore. Or drool all over my top again. Which I did NOT want.

Or hell, he might slip down a dumbwaiter, and DIE.

. . . Whoa . . . that was random . . . how'd I get to THAT?

When Jesse finally set me on one of the desks, I felt very relieved and at the same time, very VERY giddy. I practically jumped away from him, which made CeeCee and Adam exchange freaked glances. Something was pumping in my chest very hard. Oh yeah, heart. Stupid internal organ . . . blah. I didn't like it. Not at all.

STOP PUMPING, DAMN IT!

My heart, not Jesse.

. . . AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

I shuddered violently and glared furiously at the blank blackboard, screaming in protest at my weird, WEIRD brain. What was my damage? God, I was a freak . "Jesse" and "pumping" in the same sentence was . . . ew . . .

Don't explore those possibilities, kindly.

Jesse then squatted in front of my foot, a frown on his face. I watched him expressionlessly as he very meticulously examined the wound. Thank God I wax my legs . . . honestly. Or this would have been a rather mortifying situation. Um, not that people in Jesse's time would freak at the sight of hairy legs.

Ugh. What if MARIA HAD HAIRY LEGS?

EWW. He was about to MARRY his COUSIN with HAIRY LEGS.

DOUBLE EWW.

But seriously . . . the way he was doing this, it was just so . . . you know. Remember that Jimmy Choo thing, so long ago? Like that. EXACTLY like that. But . . . bad Suze. That was the past. Adios to the past, remember?

Yes, my 'adios amigos' policy.

That was when Jesse's fingers touched the skin around the gash. Oh crap. I just about keeled over. I had no idea why . . . it was like my whole ankle had swelled up. It felt as hard as rock. Oooh, damn it. Remind me to give CeeCee and Adam lifelong IOU cards, right?

Jesse apologized abundantly. And so he should have. I mean, yeah, it wasn't his FAULT that he had cold hands – kind of a side-effect of the whole dead thing – but he still should have warned me. Now my leg felt like it was about to pop in dissent.

And rain the world with pus.

Amen.

. . . I don't know what's worse . . . hairy legs or pus.

Oh GOD I'm insane.

Then, what Jesse then proceeded to do next would have made any female mediator's breath catch sharply in her throat and her eyes widen in interest and thrill.

He ripped off the bottom of his shirt.

So can you BLAME me for kind of, um, squeaking? What? Hey, I was NOT expecting Jesse to go all striptease on me, OKAY?! But well . . . a girl's gotta admire something. And when those somethings come in the form of some heavy duty abdominal muscles, well . . . um . . .

Oh, SHUT UP.

Jesse looked up quickly. 'Susannah?' he asked, 'Did I – '

'No, I'm fine,' I said.

'Then why did you make that noise?'

I went very red. 'Um . . . noise?'

He blinked, clutching the material of his shirt loosely in his hand, ready to obviously tie it around my leg. 'Yes, you made a . . . well, a high- pitched noise. I assumed that I hurt you. Is that why you made that sound?'

NO IT'S BECAUSE I CAUGHT SIGHT OF YOUR ABS, YOU NINCOMPOOP.

'Um . . . yeah . . . '

My face was burning. I felt so humiliated. Sorry, it was just too embarrassing. I felt like I was in an oven of degradation. God, it was annoying.

Be rest assured. God, Jesse is not the kind of guy to suddenly rip his shirt open and scream, "Susannah...I just realized... I'm SEXY!"

Oh, Mother Mary, forgive me.

And HIM if he ever did that.

Why me? Why were all of these completely wrong thoughts just swimming in my head? Especially since they were wrong thoughts about JESSE of all people. This was supposed to be over a long time ago.

God, I felt so WEIRD. Like, something about Jesse was making my mind race faster than it had done in a long time. All these insinuating things that he was doing . . . I'd never blushed so hard, not since that thing with the mushroom feet and the Critical Theory Since Plato and when he said that "At last I have you where I want you . . . "thing.

And hell, I was SIXTEEN, OKAY? Everything was an innuendo back then.

WHAT WAS MY EXCUSE NOW, HUH???

Ugh . . . I'm gonna burn in hell.

Yay. That'll be a party.

Well, hmph! Jesse's NOT INVITED.

So stick THAT up your bum and fart it! I –

Holy crap . . . discussing FLATULENCE?! What was I ON, man?!

I almost – ALMOST – thanked the distraction of Jesse carefully wrapping the length of his shirt around my leg carefully. He was being so . . . gentle. Like his gentleness was a plea for forgiveness or something. Like he was trying to prove something. What, I had no idea. What would an insufferable gentleman of the 1800s want to prove to me? Oh yeah, add ex-boyfriend to that list, and we might have struck gold . . .

But I didn't want to be proven anything. So when he was quite done, and I was watching new blood absorb slowly and carefully through the old material, I sniffed a brief thanks and shrugged, looking back to Jack who'd wandered over, smiling.

'He's good at this stuff,' he beamed at Jesse. Ugh . . . Of course, the Jesse Fan Club. Lick his spurs, why don't you, Jack?

Jack bent down and I freaked.

No! I didn't mean it –

Oh. It was safe. He was picking up my shoe. Well, that was okay. I mean, better than tonguing any nineteenth century footwear, you know? Oh man, I need therapy.

I looked away from Jesse totally, over to Adam and CeeCee who were watching in a quiet fascination – how a layer of blood was probably just floating over my skin. Because they couldn't see the fabric. It was dead, with Jesse. A ghost of the true shirt.

Whoa, way to reproduce.

Um . . . clothing. Not –

YOU KNOW.

Jesse caught my eyes again, and once I was looking at him, I couldn't look away. There was genuineness in there, a purity that I remembered so well. It seemed uncanny that this man – no, ghost – had broken my heart so long ago. It was like that hadn't really happened. No, that he was TRYING to make me forget.

Butt head.

'Is that too tight, Susannah?' he asked with an apprehensive frown and a strange tone in his Spanish voice. His eyes were so black and deep. But I just saw them as hollow.

They'd always be hollow. That was my image of him now. Void . . . cavernous . . . empty . . .

I sighed lazily. 'It's fine,' I assured him. I was in a grump now. Stupid laughing ghost . . . he thought he was going to get the BETTER of me, huh? Try to kill Jack, and make me all freaked out?! NEVER!

Jesse stood up, and for a terrifying moment, I thought he was going to pick me up again. I was kind of relieved when he offered his hand politely, a strange little smile playing across his lips.

Stupid lips . . . baaah. Make me go all weak-kneed, why don't you?

I shot him a glare, and instead, supported my weight on Jack, who looked more than happy to help. To Jesse, I shot back an aloof, 'Thanks.'

I didn't even look at him, but I could hear from his tone that he wasn't pleased. 'Any time you need me, querida,' he said softly, sounding lost.

Yeah, ANY TIME. Okay, how about FIVE YEARS AGO? That works for me, you jerk.

Wait. Rewind. Pause. Did he just call me –?

Nah must've heard him wrong or something.

I limped past Adam and CeeCee, who – looking stunned – followed Jack and I. My foot wasn't quite as painful as before. In fact, it felt kind of numb. Maybe Jesse had done it too tight. Yeah, that was it. Dumbass . . . cutting off my circulation, NICE.

'I should return to Father Dominic,' Jesse said, 'I did not provide him with an adequate explanation of my sudden disappearance.'

'Cool,' I said. 'Go disappear then.'

I heard him dematerialize. Oh, finally. NOW he listens to m –

Well, he kind of ruined my early celebrating by materializing in front of me, looking very irritated. Well, whoop de freaking doo.

His black, curling hair was gleaming rather nicely, and his angry eyes looked all hot and mad and stuff, but I conveniently chose to ignore that. I pleasured him to a very bored expression on my part. 'What?' I groaned.

His look hardened even more. 'We should all go to him,' he said in a firm tone. 'He will be expecting us all back now. We should go.'

'Oh, okay, will do. I'll just . . . I dunno, roll down the stairs or something. Or hell, Jack? Why don't we take the dumbwaiter?' I beamed in dry sarcasm. My forced smile slid off my face like raindrops down a window.

'But Suze,' Jack began, 'The dumbwaiter's haun – '

'Broken,' I cut off, looking down at him. He blinked up at me weirdly, and shrugged, with a soft 'whatever, then . . . '

Why I didn't want Jesse to know about the ghosts, I had no idea. But whatever. It didn't really matter, right?

Jesse looked even more annoyed. Oooh, what fun. Let's all poke him and see if he bites, then? Happy joy. 'Susannah,' he chided crossly, 'Do stop acting like a child. This is not the time, nor the place. I understand that you are in pain,' he lowered his gaze to my foot, 'and no, not just that physical pain. If you would look beyond yourself, Susannah, you will see that you are not the only one that has been thrown into an awkward position.'

'Oh yeah?' I shouted, shoving past him with Jack, who looked torn, 'What's so bad about this for you, Jesse? Seeing me again? Well, thanks. I'll have to work on that make-up applying now, won't I – '

'Do not speak of your damned paints!' he snapped, 'Susannah, we must settle these differences, if we are to – '

But I was now yanking Jack along, mindful of the stabbing pain in my ankle, but not really caring any more. My GOD. Jesse thought HE was suffering? What an ass! He was NOT the one that got left all alone in a hospital room! He did NOT get dumped on the night of his GRADUATION DANCE. You know, your last chance to hang out with your friends before you skip merrily away and become an adult? HE NEVER EXPERIENCED THAT!

So he should SHUT his hot Latino FACE.

I could hear Adam and CeeCee murmuring from behind me. I flushed again. Wonder what they were saying? "Suze has no job. Suze has no boyfriend. Suze has no life. Suze has no reason to have a life." Yeah, that's right. Maybe so. So I'd appreciate it if certain cowboy GHOSTS didn't screw up my whole "not living" thing. It was WORKING for me.

But then, Jack stopped me. I couldn't really move any more, because he had stranded me. 'Help,' I said to him. Jack pouted. 'Not until you start being nice to Jesse,' he carped, 'It's getting annoying hearing the two of you fight.'

'And it's getting annoying hearing the one of you fight,' Adam added.

I shot him a glare. Jesse stood by the doorframe, looking fondly at Jack.

Stupid jerk.

Jesse, not Jack.

Jack's a sweetie. A slightly exasperating one with the drooling, the dumbwaiter incident, and coming to the defense of Jesse DeSexy – er, I mean, DeStupid. But still a sweetie-pie.

I groaned, and looked over at CeeCee and Adam for assistance, but they just stood there. Funny, they seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Thanks a bunch, guys. Really. You're BOTH off my Christmas list!

Grrr . . . argh . . . I felt like foaming at the mouth, just to show them how annoying they were being.

But I, um, didn't.

Ew.

Finally, I rolled my eyes at Jack. 'Whatever,' I said. What? I didn't have to MEAN it. I just had to get down those stairs, okay? It was only one floor . . . I mean, it wasn't like I had to lie for long, right? The guilt couldn't set in too heavy in such a short space of time –

Jack beamed at me brightly, and at Jesse, and then held carefully onto my arm again. My ankle, oh so traditionally, throbbed in objection at my movement, but I just really wanted to go and sit down in a bench and "elevate my foot" and shut up, cross my arms, and sulk at everyone. My temper was filthy.

He assisted me to the stair railing, followed by the ever-useless lovebirds, and Jesse – to my chagrin, walked down behind me, making sure I didn't fall.

Joy. I'd rather trip, honey. Serious.

Well, okay, I didn't MEAN it. Because about on the seventh step down, I kind of did put too much weight on my ankle, which buckled, and I was destined to fall flat on my face and bump the rest of the way down the stairs if Jesse's hands had not shot around my waist, and pulled me back into him, making me swallow very, very hard and making my head pump – no, BEAT . . . ew – faster than before.

Oh God . . . his embrace was getting kind of possessive.

And . . . warm.

Which I DID NOT WANT.

I squirmed away, sending him back a glare. 'I'm fine,' I stressed, and managed to get onto the ground floor. Jack aided me over to a guest bench, and I shyly rested my foot on the edge of the armrest, feeling awkward. You know, with the skirt and all. So I just chucked 'em both up there, ya know? Making it look not so slutty and stuff.

((A/N: It's HAILING in Aussie land, argh! H- Oh, and the weather in Texas ain't that great either. Rain, rain, and more rain. ))

Apparently the world thinks I should be slutty or something, or else my movements were a little too fast for my current state because I nearly fell off of the guest bench. Luckily Jack was there so I could grab his arm to steady myself. I probably looked like a total loser and all, considering the fact that I got injured THE FIRST DAY. How's that gonna look on the resume?

I heard someone coming, and I thought it was Father Dom so I tried to straighten myself a bit so that I looked better than I actually felt. But much to my disappointment, it wasn't the good Father. It was My-Size- Barbie – er, I mean Danielle.

'Well,' she said with a coy smile, 'look what Sue has already managed to do . . . '

I glared back at her. S-U-Z-E! Annoying bitch . . . why did she make it her goal to make me more miserable than I already was? You'd think she'd have some sympathy for the crippled or something.

Yeah right. The last thing I needed was sympathy. She was right, wasn't she? I'm just pathetic little Sue, who already obtained an injury within the first few hours of setting foot in this house. This just wasn't looking so good for me.

Someone's having an off day.

Strike that. Someone's having an off LIFE.

Just as I thought I'd had enough unbearable pain for one day, Paul decided to grace me with his presence. Well, okay, not actually me. He followed Dani and gave her one of those hugs-from-behind. You know, where he wraps his arms around her waist and places his head on her shoulders? Yeah, that.

He nuzzled her neck a bit and then propped his chin on her shoulder. As he saw pathetic little me all stretched out on the guest bench with my sore foot, his piercing blue eyes widened. 'Whoa,' he said as he lifted his chin off of Dani's bony shoulder. 'What happened to you?'

'Oh, nothing,' I joked weakly, avoiding his stare by looking at the carpet. 'I just, you know, saved a few lives . . . the usual.'

Paul stared at my leg. The gory one with the blood leaking from it . . . not the other one. That would just be wrong and creepy and disgusting and –

My previous complaint about the impure thoughts I tied to Jesse? Yeah, it applies to Paul too. Ew . . .

Dani nudged him, bringing his laser gaze from my leg right into my eyes. Let me tell you, I panicked. I felt my soul burning with each passing moment. My life was already hell enough...no need to suffer from permanent sunburn.

I looked at Jack pointedly and asked, 'Are you okay?'

Jack gave me a funny look. 'Why are you asking me that?' he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

'You had a close call back there,' I reminded him, patting his arm for emphasis. 'I feel quite obliged to ask, as to check for any psychological reactions to your traumatic near death experience. I can help you out, you know. That's my job as a psyche major.'

'I wouldn't say it was traumatic,' Jack said as he furrowed his eyebrows, 'but it was pretty freaky.'

'Denial,' I said as I shook my head solemnly. 'It can happen to anyone at any age.'

Paul walked over by the bench I was on and knelt by it to examine my leg more closely. 'Ouch,' he said as he fingered the bandage made of Jesse's shirt.

'Yeah, ouch. So stop doing that,' I snapped as I swatted his hand away. Paul scowled as he draped his arm on his bended knee all casually and stuff. Which, you know, looked totally weird since he was in a business suit and everything. Only, I noticed that his tie was a bit crooked and the top button on his shirt was undone. You don't need a lawyer to figure out that Paul had been up to something else besides ghostbusting, if you know what I mean. Unless Dani was a ghost and we were discussing her bust.

Um, wrong?

Ignore me . . .

I propped myself up on my elbows and glared at Paul icily. 'We seem to have a poltergeist,' I explained to him coldly. 'I couldn't see it. Stupid coward, whoever it is, is hiding. But I heard some laughing when after it tried to kill your poor innocent little brother.' Paul looked stunned.

'Oh, wait,' I hissed coldly, only loud enough for Paul to hear, 'you already tried that.'

Paul's eyes narrowed dangerously at me, and surprisingly, so did Jack's. Oh well. Paul had probably, I dunno, brainwashed him too. See? EVIL! He stood up and walked over to Dani. Ha, probably for protection from me. I mean, if someone tried to stab him, Dani could just do a Scary Movie 1 and jump in the way and –

Oh my GOD, what is my problem?!

I tossed my hair coolly. 'Where's Father Dom?' I asked with an indifferent smile.

Jack stopped glaring and sighed. 'Jesse went to go get him, I think. He's bringing him here, Suze.'

I nodded. 'Whatever.' Then I looked unkindly over at Paul. 'So, did you and Danielle dearest get sucked into an invisible hole in the wall while making out as well? CeeCee and Adam have Been There, Done That. They're mighty proud of themselves.' My voice was iced with a coldness that weirded me out. It actually was kind of therapeutic to release some of the harbored bitterness that I'd been hiding for all these years. I'd never met anyone who fully deserved the wrath that was building up inside of me. Now it was time for said wrath to be shown to its creators.

Namely, Paul and Jesse.

CeeCee was grinning feebly, but Adam was beaming with delight, as if to say, "YES, WE WERE TASTELESSLY TONGUING EACH OTHER, MOCK US IF YOU WILL, FOOLS WHO HAVE NO ONE TO TONGUE."

Whatever.

Paul grinned naughtily at Dani. 'No,' he said, running his lawyer's hands down her sides, 'No walls.'

Huh?

'Oh Paul!' cackled Dani, smiling horribly. I mean, it might have looked nice on camera, but up close, it was disgusting. Well, maybe that was just because I thought she was an uber-bitch. Oh well, life's like that.

I rolled my eyes. 'Sorry I asked . . . '

That was of course when Father Dominic came bustling down the adjoining hallway in his all blacks. That is to say, he had that annoying black uniform that priests wear as casual dress, with the little white priest's collar to boot. Not to mention the shiny black Cole Haans. Whoa, Father Dom had style for an old guy.

'Children!' he cried, looking alarmed as he marched into the actual entrance section, with all of the creepy paintings staring at him, 'There you are. Jesse informed me that Susannah has suffered an injury.'

Jesse materialized behind him, his face torn between aggravation and anxiety. Like, he couldn't decide whether he was pissed at me or worried.

What can I say? I have that effect on people.

Paul moved closer still to Dani, his arms coming around her snugly. He smirked down at me, with a haughty gleam in his eyes. God, he was so full of it . . . Nevertheless, my eyes snapped away. I glared at the floor, feeling low.

I already got smooshed. Wow, what a great start to the SIA.

Not.

'Look,' I said, rolling my eyes, ' I'm fine. It's this ghost we need to like, focus on now. Anyone else have a close call with him – um, it?'

I saw Jesse look away. Good. I'm glad he picked that up. It was high time that I started realizing that I couldn't let ghosts walk all over me. I know, Paul's advice. I should have preferred to snog my old cat Spike than to have listened to him, but his rule was very much so applicable in Jesse's case. I had realized that Jesse was dead, and like HE'D EVEN SAID, our breaking up was "for the best." See? Jesse was the one that made me think like this. You know, being all cynical about ghosts and stuff. So yeah, it was his fault. He ruined everything.

So Jesse was an "it" to me too.

My ex-it.

Ha . . . exit. Cute. Yeah, exit of my life. I didn't even live anymore.

'Me and Jack are accounted for,' I went on snobbishly, 'I mean, with the whole dumbwaiter thing – don't ask. CeeCee and Adam had a close call – resulting in my heinous ankle . . . but anyone else?'

Father Dominic kind of blushed. 'Well . . . the female subject of a portrait, er, winked at me,' he mumbled his words together.

Aww . . . widdle pwiest got winked at. Aww.

'Paul? Jesse?' I asked them both, conveniently ignoring Dani, much to Paul's annoyance. He gave me a hard look and was about to say something, when I cut them off. 'Oh yeah, of course. You two were busy in each other's passionate embrace,' I interrupted crudely. 'Father Dom . . . please tell me you have a different story. I mean, Jesse doesn't seem like that kind of guy and well, you, well that's like, unorthodox, right?'

Adam and CeeCee snorted with laughter, and Paul regarded them with a cold look. He then glared back at me, and was joined by Father Dom, who looked insulted. 'Susannah,' Father D said in a grave, irritated tone, 'I am being quite serious.'

I smiled sweetly at them all. 'Aaah, just like old times. Everyone hates Susie again.'

Jesse got about half a syllable out, but I cut him off too. Yay, just like scissors. You know, with the cutting off and stuff? I'll give you the snip! I'll cut anything, from paper to umbilical cords to your –

Er . . . never mind.

I don't wanna be scissors so much, anymore . . . eww . . .

'Look,' I said quickly, 'I can stand, I'm fine – ' I heaved myself up with a soft grunt and pretended to stand on my left foot. If they looked close enough, they would have noticed how badly it was shaking. Oh, God it hurt . . . I SO needed Tylenol. Or a vodka.

Mmm . . . is there anything alcohol can't fix?

Besides AA sufferers?

Whatever.

. . . Ick . . . something smelt funny.

Of course, it was about then when I had to get all cocky with the face that I was vertical again, and I stood a little more heavily on my left foot. It twisted under the little weight I'd put on it, and I stumbled sideways. 'OW!'

With a soft thud, I landed on the floor. Jesse, CeeCee, Adam, Father Dom made spontaneous movements towards me to help me up, but Jack was closest. I could have sworn that I saw Paul twitch, though. Oh well, my bad.

I crawled back onto the cough with vexation. 'Okay,' I said cantankerously, 'Maybe not then.' I sniffed the air again. That weird smell was still there! 'God, what is that SMELL?' I asked in mild disgust.

'Gilroy California, garlic capital of the world,' Paul enlightened me with an underlying anger in his tone.

'Bite me,' I said to him. He clicked his teeth together with a demonic glint in his eyes. Then the next moment he stuck his snobby nose in the air.

'Bite me, ha,' Adam said. 'Joy, I bet Dracula steers clear of this place. With the garlic and – '

'Honey, we got the joke,' CeeCee patted is arm dotingly. Adam grinned down at her and tickled her side. I rolled my eyes, smiling a little. Then I noticed Jesse smirking at me.

'Hey!' I snapped, 'I know that you are thinking very forcibly of No. 2 pencils at this very moment, stop it!'

His galling smirk stretched wider across his face like a plague, but he coughed and looked elsewhere.

Jerk.

CeeCee and Adam and yeah, even Paul and Dani were looking at me strangely. 'Is that supposed to be kinky?' Dani wanted to know.

'Ew!' was my response. And a dirty look to Paul, too. 'Shut her up, will you?'

'Suze, don't be a –' he began, but Father Dom hacked a cough. We stopped arguing, and looked at him in surprize.

'We must make a decision, now. All of us,' he added with a reproving look at me.

Everyone murmured softly. I stayed silent. What decision? What? Were we going to do a Big Brother and evict two people out of the house? Oooh, goodie. Paul and Dani are up for nominations, and Jesse – the intruder, has been asked to leave the house.

I, of course, am Head of Household. Ooh, does that mean I get that fancy HOH robe, too? I think I might like this gig.

Happy day.

'What is it we have to decide upon, Padre?' asked Jesse, moving forward with a feline elegance. His broad shoulders were on an angle, and he stood tall, regarding Father Dominic with a curious, twinkling dark gaze.

Father Dom's snowy white hair caught a band of light that was peaking through the window. It was almost two o'clock now. MAN time had flown. Exploring had taken ages, it was just the whole near-death-experience that had happened fast. 'Well, we must determine whether we will be residing here. This school is clearly dangerous.'

I stared at him. 'Well, of course we are,' I said, as if it were the only option.

Jack protested instantly. 'But Suze, what if – '

'Jack,' I snapped, 'Remember how I taught you to swim? Well . . . actually, I have no point to this story . . . ' I trailed off, but then barked doggedly, 'But I was right then and I'm right now. We're staying. Well, at least I am. If anyone else wants to take a hike, go then. I'm getting these ghosts out of this school. Capishe?'

CeeCee nodded smilingly, and tugged Adam's sleeve, who shrugged good- humoredly. 'We're staying, Suze,' Cee corroborated with twinkling violet eyes. Adam shuffled closer to here in a very categorical manner.

I felt a flush of warmth. They were backing me up. 'Thanks . . . ' I smiled.

And that wasn't sarcasm, for a change.

'Well, we figured we kind of owed you for the leg thing,' Adam shrugged.

'Duh,' I said.

Jack beamed from next to me, and sat down just by my legs. 'Me too,' he said loyally.

I wasn't so chuffed about him staying on board . . . but that was only for his safety. He was too young for this. It was a wonder that Paul didn't say anything against the whole thing –

Oh yeah. Paul doesn't give a shit about Jack. How could I forget?

I cast a steely eye to Father Dom, who was giving me an intense gaze with his tired baby blues.

'I don't think it's wise to leave you here, er, unsupervised,' Father Dom grumbled. I shot him a smutty look, but he continued, 'so I will indeed join you. But we must be careful,' he stressed. He didn't sound so pleased, but oh well. Holy people have to make sacrifices, right? Like, marriage, sex, shiny red cars, and sleeping in grimy motels when their former students gave them ultimatums.

My stare flickered over to Jesse, who was also giving me a "FOOLISH EARTHLING!" kind of regard. 'You in?' I asked, managing to hold all personal grudges from my tone for a change. He stared, and then blinked, looking softer.

'I . . . I shall stay.'

I acquiesced appreciatively, then glared at Paul and Dani, and in a fake peppy voice, I bubbled, 'Well, we got our little package, we don't need you two, so please, continue to make out or whatever, on like, Neptune or something?

Jack pulled a face. 'But Suze, he's my br – '

'Idiotic oppressor? Yeah, noticed.'

Paul was pissed. His hands dropped from Dani, and he stepped forward angrily. I had to say, he kind of made my breath catch for a second – a reflex from long ago that I hadn't gotten over – but I remembered that I wasn't sixteen anymore. 'I'm in,' he retorted at me heatedly.

I smirked at him infuriatingly, and I saw his eyes flash. 'No, it's okay Paul,' I said in a mockery of compassion. 'We're already got a shifter. Moi.'

'We have mediators, Father Dom and Jack. Father Dom's like a guru or something . . . CeeCee's out journalist. And Adam . . . well,' I said cluelessly, 'he's, um, bait.'

'Yeah, I'm – hey!'

Jack was now positively glaring.

'So yeah, it was nice knowing you, Danielle. I hope you make lots of money walking down blocks in skimpy clothes. It sounds fascinating, really,' my voice sang cheerfully. I was getting one over Paul – of COURSE I was perky. 'Because Paul? You're not "in".'

I actually witnessed his knuckles ball. Ha! Bring it on, you retarded Ally McBeal wannabe.

He stepped right in front of me, so he was looking down at me – still lying attentively on the bench with Jack sitting against my thighs. It was, um, kind of intimidating. You know, with his shadow cast down upon me and all. I almost lost myself to a squeak, but I maintained this bizarre confidence that possessed me.

But his face was just so . . . angry . . . 'Yes,' he growled, 'I am in.'

'We don't need you.'

'Yes you do.'

'We don't – '

'You're just too proud to say so.'

'Paul, Susannah,' Father Dom regarded us both, 'please stop being childish. I would expect this behavior from my first graders, but certainly not from you adults.'

I scoffed, ignoring Father Dominic. 'Guys? Do we need them?'

Adam and CeeCee blushed and mumbled something incoherently which sounded suspiciously like "Nyeah-oh"

Then, Jack piped up with an angry yes.

Although, he wasn't the only one who said it. Oh, no. Father Dom, and of all peop – um, ghosts – JESSE.

Father Dom fiddled with his glasses, then his collar, and then fixed me with a stare. 'Susannah, listen to him,' he presaged in a turbo-Gandalf mode, 'He's a lot more powerful than you are, and you know it. Stop being proud. This was always one of your biggest problems, believing yourself to be invincible. You are not.'

I stared at him, aghast.

He said that in front of EVERYONE. It was like him asking . . . I dunno, if my PERIOD was regular or something! I felt like – God, dying his HAIR blue or something! That traitor!

And adding insult to injury, Paul smirked from above me, looking so smug that I wanted to badly to just punch what was apparently lurking fifty centimeters in front of me –

His, um, stomach. Yeah.

He said so only I could hear, 'Told you so.' A cruel, condescending smirk curved along his lips, and his eyes were cold and proclaiming of triumph.

Damn him. DAMN THEM ALL.

I looked away from him, now freakishly pissed. 'Screw you.' I then provided Father Dom with my snake eyes. And he was like, TOTALLY CALM! All wise and – and serene and STUFF!

WHY IS THE WORLD AGAINST ME? WHY?

'So, we're ALL staying,' I summarized darkly. I was NOT happy. 'Well, that's nice. One big happy, over-large family. You know, like one of those terrible families they feature on Dr. Phil sometimes? Okay . . . so yeah. Father D? Carry on?'

Father Dom narrowed his eyes at me. Aaah, he DID notice that I'd said something a little different from "Father D." Muahaha. He deserved to have references to our new employer.

'I . . . yes, sorry. We will officially be spending the nights here. I do not know if this is wise, but . . . well, Susannah believes it to be necessary, so we will give her the benefit of the doubt – '

'Hey – '

'We will, of course, cook food here. I believe that CeeCee was quite accomplished in her cooling classes, if I remember, so she and Adam could probably pull off something very pleasant for all of us. We will bring everything from the cars into here, and then CeeCee and Adam can start preparing something. I'm sure that we are all hungry.'

'Starved,' Jack moaned sadly.

I patted his back sympathetically, and Paul finally walked back to Dani. My breathing pattern returned to normal. What? He just . . . creeped me out, okay? I still wasn't immune to him yet. The way he made me feel, I mean. Like, you know, scared and threatened. Only, lately he was making me feel horribly inferior too. Which I was, but still.

'I'll give you a hand,' Paul said.

Yeah, to Dani.

For me? He had another glare.

'Bite me,' I said again. 'Yeah, nice. Leave the disabled person to tough it out with her damaged leg. Real nice, Slater.'

'Pleasure's all mine,' he shot back, walking to Dani coolly. My blood boiled. That ass . . . he was gonna DIE someday!

Well . . . er, yeah, I mean – um . . .

Dani was shooing Paul out, giggling nastily at me. Her, I mean. Not him. Bah, God help him if suddenly decides he's homosexual, I swear. There will be hell to pay. Dani's hips swayed pretentiously as she walked out the front door with a stalkerish Paul following.

Paging the Paul Fan Club, we have a sighting...

'Did he like, do an Adam and Eve? Get a spare rib from him, and make a girl? They DESERVE each other! Because she is the snobbiest, cattiest little - God! And HIM! What's his dilemma? I wish they would both –'

Father D looked like he was about to have a coronary. So it was a wise thing to do when Jack pulled a "scissors" and cut me off.

'I'll help you, Suze,' Jack offered with the most adorable smile. Aww, I felt like pinching his cheeks, but I didn't. I sighed and thanked him.

I couldn't believe he and Paul were from the same gene pool. Seriously...how could someone so thoughtful and kind come from a family with two neglectful parents and a snobby older brother on a huge ego trip? I know when I first met Jack that I had asked that same question. But that was when I thought Paul was hot summer-fling material. Ugh...

Jesse lowered his gaze back to me, his dark eyes swirling with mysterious intentions. His top was still ripped at the bottom, and wasn't tucked into his tight pants anymore. The ripped, fraying edge fell gracefully over his belt. He actually looked more casual and modern like this. Hotter, even.

God, make this HARDER, why don't you???

'Jack,' he said in a low voice that seemed to cloud my head, 'You must carry your own things. I will assist Susannah.'

I stood up very suddenly, which was INCREDIBLY STUPID on my part, because all of the blood that had gone from my foot when I had elevated it suddenly surged back down. 'It's fine,' I said suddenly, 'I can get it myself – OW.'

And I toppled into Jesse's chest.

Smooth move, Ex-lax.

His hands caught me instinctively. I felt like someone had just shot both of my lungs. With a sharp inhale of dusty air, I ignored how warm Jesse – this ghost – felt, and I swallowed hard, looking up at him with huge eyes. His hands were each around my forearms tenderly, with a bit of my hair entwined between his fingers. He held me for about five seconds before I coughed and leant on his elbow to steady myself, before hopping pathetically to the wall. CeeCee and Adam were snickering at me. I shut my eyes, summoning patience, and opened them with a sigh. When I did, Jesse had dematerialized.

'Rest your foot, you silly girl,' Father Dom tutted me. He helped me back to the bench. I was in a strop. 'Sit there and do not move, or heaven help us, you'll end up in a wheelchair.'

I narrowed my eyes up at him. 'This sympathy thing? You need to work on it.'

Jesse came walking through the door, telekinetically making several of my bags float in front of him. God . . . He couldn't actually materialize with physical things, so he had to do it manually. Or, well, you know. The levitating thing. He was showing off.

'Dios, Susannah,' he exclaimed, 'Why is your baggage so heavy?'

Father Dom, Jack and Cee and Adam all took the hint to go and get their stuff. NO! DON'T LEEEAVE ME!

I blushed slightly. 'Shoes . . . and, well, stuff. Watch that blue one, it's got Doc's ghost stuff in it.' He very carefully made the suitcases settle down in the center of the room in an impeccably neat pile. 'God, Jesse,' I whispered, 'Just . . . stop it . . . '

'Stop what, Susannah?'

I didn't answer.

'Where are you planning on sleeping?' he queried.

'Gutter,' I said. 'Gotta love hygiene.'

He smiled. Oi! Stop appreciating my SARCASM, twit! 'No idea. Bah, hopefully not something too many flights up. I seem to have a slight stair problem,' I gave my monstrosity of a foot a pointed glance.

'Well, show me the way, Susannah,' he made my bags hover again, 'These are quite heavy.'

'Jesse,' I said, feeling pained, 'stop being so . . .' I sighed at his confusion. 'Put them down.'

'I am perfectly fine. We ghosts cannot pull muscles.'

Remind me to die soon.

I devastatingly remembered that dumbwaiter up. God, that had been hard. Under no normal circumstances would it have been possible. I'd just been so scared . . . I guess it had been adrenaline.

Well, the bit before I had decided I was going to let go.

God, I'm a loser . . .

'I want to sleep,' I said tetchily, 'I am not a morning person, and I want rest.' I hobbled over to the stairway gingerly, wincing in pain as I knocked my foot against my other one. 'Okay, follow me, I'm gonna . . . um, choose a random bedroom.'

Yeah right. I knew the room I wanted.

I grimaced at each step, as sharp, acute pains bolted up my leg. 'This so, totally, majorly, horribly sucks . . . '

Again, Jesse followed behind me to catch me if I fell. It seemed . . . like he was doing this in not just a physical way. Like he was saying that he'd be there to catch me, in every aspect.

Could have done that five years ago, honey.

I made it up to the first floor after a painstaking ascent.

Then the second . . . then the third . . . Then finally, I reached the fourth floor. My stupid freaking foot was screeching in pain. I wanted to tell it to shut up, but . . .er . . . talking to my foot? Not so hot. 'It's a hard-knock life . . . for me,' I mumbled melodically.

I looked around at all of the broken vases and fallen paintings and unsettled dust of the familiar passageway. I finally got to my room, the one I'd been in before with Jack.

'Aaah, random room located.' It really was a beautiful, sophisticated room. But that wasn't the reason I wanted to stay here. 'Nice?'

'It is a very nice room, Susannah,' Jesse said. He placed the baggage inside the door.

'Yep, this room.' I was sure now. I wanted to be the one to find this ghost. Be the one to exorcise it. NOT Paul, NOT Jesse, NOT Father Dom. ME. I had to do this. I had to prove that I could do something right for once, prove that I wasn't a permanent screw up. Everything lately had been a big joke. And the laugh is on me.

Ha ha. Oh how funny that isn't.

I was going to get this ghost. It was in this room, somewhere. I'd find it, and I'd exorcise it. It didn't deserve to be heard out. It had tried to kill Jack, and was obviously not worth the time or energy of mediation. I could say that something had gone right, once it was gone. Something . . . anything. That I'd won.

That would wipe the stupid trust-me-I'm-a-lawyer look of Paul's sycophantic face.

'Jesse?' I said awkwardly.

'Yes, Susannah?' he looked back to me, locking me in a gaze that I just couldn't tear away from. I coughed, and blinked, and he shook himself, realizing he was making me all freaked and stuff.

'Um . . . you're still here,' I pointed out. 'I want to, er, sleep. You know, the snoring thing? Er, not that I snore. I mean, you'd know if I snored, so I don't have to tell you, because, you were there when I –'

WHAT THE HELL DID I THINK I WAS DOING??? Maybe CeeCee was right about the crack thing. Someone must slip it to me in my sleep or sometihng.

I turned away, 'Um, I mean – '

Jesse stepped forward gallantly. 'I will watch over you if you – ' I squeaked at him, and his expression faded. 'Oh, I – never mind.'

'Um, yeah . . . ' I shifted guiltily, and then sat down on the edge of the bed. It was totally dusty. Ugh. I yanked the top layer off that was burdened with caking dust, and then I place my own – a soft, warm one. I then slid between the folds, and my foot stopped yodeling in agony. Thank God.

Jesse looked over to me, his dark eyes looking vague and um, kind of reckless looking . . . 'You may call me if you need anything, Susannah. Rest, now.'

I smiled dryly. 'No rest for the wicked Jesse.'

God, could this conversation get any more PLASTIC?

Jesse waited a moment more, looking like he wanted to say something. But with a sigh, he dematerialized in a curl of azure shimmering.

I sighed, and, without understanding a single damned thing I was doing, I just fell into a much needed slumber, my hair spread out on the pillow and my arm muscles aching from the strain of saving a life, and almost ending it.

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Whoa . . . talk about long chapters. They say size really doesn't matter, but we know you girls LOVE the long ones. Just can't get enough of 'em can you?

Chapters, we mean.

So for your viewing pleasure, we have created another incredibly large chapter. We hope you don't, like, hire Paul to sue us because of the length of it. We are aware of how long it takes to read because, well, when we edit we have to read it for ourselves. Thus Hayley might have to bump her glasses prescription up a notch while Lollykins takes her horse tranquilizers to get rid of the headaches.

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Love Lolly and Hayley.

Btw . . . it's gonna get better. WAY. You'll see . . .