a/n: I have officially decided you guys are awesome. And yes, in response to reviews I have decided that I'm going to continue through out the entire series. The sequel (it'll probably be called Rojo or something to that effect) will probably be up shortly after I finish Eterno, which should be completed sometime next week (translation: Monday at the latest). Somebody commented that I'm a fast updater. It's true, I like posting as soon as I finish writing. I'm OCD like that. My friend Katy (who writes X-Men fics) tells me I'm going about it the completely wrong way. She said to fish for reviews I need to keep ya'll waiting. Well, that seems innately cruel to me, no offense Katy. I figure if you have it why not share it? Also I don't own The Mediator

Chapter Nine: Exorcismo

I don't know why what Heather said bothered me so. I regarded Susannah at most like a little sister. Somebody who did not yet know what was best for her and needed guidance of an elder brother, as her own elder brothers did not seem to care about her. She was certainly not of any... love interest to me. She was at most just the girl living in the room where I was murdered.

I don't know why it bothered me.

But it did.

I left the court yard shortly after Heather. The clergy would be waking up shortly for matins and I didn't want Father Dominic to see me and blame me for the mess. While I had been praying I realized the sky had lightened considerably. When I rematerialized outside Susannah's room I also realized that our chance to warn Bryce away from the Mission was also up. Even though Susannah was just stumbling out of bed as I appeared I knew that Bryce would probably be on his way by now.

I had a nagging feeling that nothing good could come of this.

As the Ackerman boys and Susannah left for school I could not help but to feel a little helpless. I would have followed Susannah to school but I doubted that she would like that very much. One thing I had noticed about her was that she was very, very stubborn. If it was even suggested that she might need help she got defensive. She did not like people thinking that she was weak. In my time women were expected to be weak. When Susannah had first denied my help it had been a blow to my ego.

And there was also that priest to be taken into consideration. While I hardly had any... ungentlemanly intentions with Susannah, I doubted that the Father would see it that way.

I was so anxious as I saw their car roll away that I didn't even get a book to read. No, I just gently pried the window open and sat at the seat, watching the fog roll over the hills and listening to the distant crashing of waves. Slowly the fog thinned and the sun warmed the window seat. I use to love the sun. Now when it shined down on me I seemed dimmer, less substantial.

I moved away from the window seat and began to pace. At one point I felt a tug, but I ignored it.

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I went to the beach shortly before Susannah came home and stayed there until midnight, watching the waves roll in and crash on the beach. The sand sloped steeply here and I took peace in the full moon.

You can imagine my surprise when I found Susannah jumping off the roof when I returned.

I knew she couldn't possibly be going back to the Mission. That would be insane. I had hoped that last night's expirience might knock some sense into her.

Had Susannah found a young man? I didn't like young men in this century... they were too bold, but if they could do a better job of restraining her...

"Okay," Susannah said after spotting me, "Let's get one thing straight now. You are not going to show up down at the Mission tonight. Got that? You show up down there, and you're going to be very, very sorry."

Okay, so it wasn't a guy.

"I mean it," she said, "It's going to be a bad night for ghosts. Real bad. So I wouldn't show up down there if I were you."

The girl was insane. Either that or she had a death wish.

"Susannah, what are you up to?"

"Nothing," she marched over to the carport and grabbed her brother's bike. "I just got some things to settle."

I almost cringed. "With Heather?"

"Right. With Heather. I know things got out of hand last time, but this time things are going to be different."

"How precisely?" You are going to be seriously injured this time before I rescue you? I thought morbidly.

Susannah sighed, "Okay, I'll level with you. I'm going to perform an exorcism."

I felt myself go numb.

An exorcism? If anybody deserved it Heather did, but wouldn't that be dangerous?

I reached out and grabbed the bike. "A what?"

Susannah swallowed, showing a bit more of her vulnerablity then she probably would have like. Her voice was devoid of emotion when she said, "You can't help me. You can't go down there tonight, Jesse, or you might get exorcized too."

The was no doubt. The fact that I had been contemplating the past few days was confirmed.

"You are insane."

"Probably," she said quietly, looking off at the moon.

"She'll kill you. Don't you understand? That's what she wants."

The image of Heather sliding her finger over her throat played in my head. Over and over and over...

"No," Susannah shook her head, "She doesn't want to kill me. She wants to kill everybody I care about first. Then she wants to kill me."

I wasn't sure but I could have sworn I heard her sniff with pent up emotion.

"But I'm not going to let her, see?" she continued, "I'm going to stop her. Now let go of my bike."

I shook my head. I couldn't. I would be sentancing her to death. "No. No. Even you wouldn't be so stupid."

"Even me? Thanks."

"Does the priest know about this Susannah? Did you tell the priest?"

"Um sure. He knows. He's, uh, meeting me there."

"The priest is meeting you there?" I asked, not quite sure whether to believe her or not.

"Yeah, uh-huh," she laughed nervously. "You don't think I'd try something like this on my own, do you? I mean, jeez, I'm not that stupid, no matter what you might think."

I relaxed a little. "Well, if the priest will be there..."

"Sure, sure he will." she said a little too quickly, a little too distantly.

"You're lying, aren't you? The priest isn't going to be there at all. She hurt him didn't she? This morning? I thought so. Did she kill him?" It would certainly explain the tug I felt this morning. Would I always feel it when a mediator was near? Or in danger?

Susannah shook her head, her eyes shiney with unshed tears.

"That's why you're so angry. I should have known. You're going down there to get even with her for what she did to the priest."

I was surprised when she exploded, "So what if I am? She deserves it!"

I gripped her bike tighter. "Susannah, this isn't the way. This wasn't why you were given this extraordinary gift, not so you could do things like..."

"Gift!" she choked out, "Yeah, that's right, Jesse. I've been given a precious gift. Well, you know what? I'm sick of it. I really am. I thought coming here, I'd be able to make a new start. I thought things might be different. And you know what? They are," she hissed, "They're worse."

I was frightened by the anger in her words. The hate. "Susannah..."

"What am I supposed to do, Jesse? Love Heather for what she did? Embrace her wounded spirit? I'm sorry, but that's impossible. Mayber Father Dom could do it, but not me, and he's out of commission, so we're going to do things my way. I'm going to get rid of her, and if you know what's good for you, Jesse, you'll stay away!"

With that she gave the kickstand a vicious kick and jerked the handle bars away. A second later she was off. Off to her death, I was afraid.

"Maldecirlo! Conducirlo! Ella tiene una deseo de muerte!"

Susannah's peddling figure disappeared over the hill.

a/n: review! Por favor!