A/N: Part three of the Rick arch is finally finished! I hope you enjoy this third part and hopefully, I'll have the fourth and final one finished soon. Enjoy! xx Mariah

Jim - 45
Payne - 43
Melinda - 41
Ned - 19

Katie - 16
Aaron - 12
Mackenzie - 6


Melinda blinked to stay awake, finding herself staring into the fridge to grab her coffee creamer. She grabbed it and closed the fridge, walking over to her cup and pouring a little in. She set it down and bent down to lean against the counter as she sipped at her coffee. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this tired. Probably when Mackenzie was a baby.

Now it was Katie who needed her again. She had stayed with her through the night after her episode when Millie appeared, and through her nightmarish slumber. It was all too familiar to her teenage years and she would not leave her daughter to fight these battles alone as hers had. Jim had even stayed as long as he could before Melinda had shooed him away around midnight. He had to go to work the next morning, while she could just call Delia and have her open the store.

Which was exactly what she'd done the night before, knowing that she would need to be with Katie for the next few days at least. Now it was morning, nearly seven and she still hadn't gotten any sleep. When she heard footsteps coming down the stairs she was on her third cup of coffee and she slowly stood up as she finished that mug.

It was Jim, who was dressed and ready for work. He looked tired, but she hoped he had gotten enough sleep to get him through the day. "You look tired, Mel. Did you get any sleep?" he said, pressing a kiss to her head as he came around behind her and began to brew himself a cup of coffee in the Keurig. "You never came to bed last night, and I was hoping you would at some point."

She sighed, shaking her head. "Katie needed me. She was in and out of it all night, and I remember too many times when things got bad like that, and I didn't have anyone. I couldn't do that to her," she leaned back into him just a bit. "I wish you didn't have to go to work today."

"I arranged to be out a little early," he said, leaning down to kiss her lightly. He embraced her for a few warm moments before he moved to grab himself a coffee mug, further explaining his agenda for the day to her as he always did. "I should be out around one, but I don't have to be in until nine today so I can make breakfast and bring the rugrats to school. You take care of things here with Katie and keep me filled in."

"Of course, I will call you if anything changes. Thank you, Jim, " she said, turning to embrace him as he placed his cup just in time for the coffee to start brewing now that the water was heated. "I don't know what I'd do without you. Everything has been so crazy lately and sometimes I forget to tell you how good you are to me, but I love you."

"Go try and get some sleep, Melinda. You need a least a nap to function today, hmm?" He reminded her as he turned toward the fridge and grabbed the eggs and milk out.

"I've had three cups of coffee that's not going to be as easy as you think." She chuckled, watching him begin to prepare breakfast before he turned to her, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. As often as their kisses may be she hadn't been expecting this one and chuckled as she leaned in to kiss him back. Her hands ran through his hand, resting at the back of his neck and when they separated, she proceeded to rest her forehead against his. "Mmm, well, good morning to you too."

"Will you try for me?" He asked, kissing her again and leaning her up against the fridge for good measure. He loosened the tie on her robe and found her naked underneath. "When did you find the time to lose your clothes?"

"I just never put them back on after I showered this morning," she hummed as his hands cradled her breasts in the palms of his hands. "Maybe had a little help from the cosmic law of french toast too... who knows?" He grinned as his lips moved to travel over her neck, showering her with kisses and he laughed, his hands moving lower now and between her thighs causing a moan to travel from her throat. "You... are... too... good for me, you know that?"

"I believe it is the other way around, my dear," he reminded her like he always did.

"I believe you should know your child is now in the room," Katie spoke up as she came downstairs. She cleared her throat rather loudly but didn't look up from her phone on purpose until Melinda had time to tie her robe closed. "And Mackenzie and Aaron are coming down too. They are brushing their teeth."

She leaned up to kiss her husband once more while Katie grabbed the cup that Jim had made for himself and took a sip of it. "You know, that was your father's." She said, glancing over at her daughter. "Good morning to you too, by the way, Katherine."

Her daughter eyed her over the rim of the deep coffee mug as she took another sip before holding it toward her dad. "Here, he can have it back," Katie said with a shrug.

"You can keep it, bug," Jim said, cheerful in the morning as usual as he pressed a kiss to their daughter's cheek. "I can make another cup no problem. Go pop a squat by the island because I'm about to start making breakfast."

"Thanks, Dad," Katie said, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek before she walked past him. "Good morning, mom. Sorry, I ruined your night last night and your morning sex redo today." Katie plopped on the stool and stared into the abyss of the black coffee cup before pulling out her phone again.

"You okay, kiddo?" Jim asked, glancing at her to see that she was also watching Katie out of the corner of her eye as she grabbed the orange juice from the fridge.

"Yeah, just... drained. I just feel out of it so apologies for anything blunt I say today in advance," Katie muttered and finished the cup of coffee as Aaron and Mack came running into the kitchen.

She and Jim shared another look, but she shook her head. It wasn't anything to be worried about. Melinda felt that way all the time and would have to work through this with Katie to help her control it all. It wasn't helping that her brother and sister were now going to be loud and bouncing all over the place for the next half an hour.

"Why does Katie get to stay home from school?" Aaron whined, moving to sit at the island and set his backpack on the floor. It was right off the bat with him, being older and more attentive than Mackenzie was, but once Mack knew what was going on there was no stopping her.

"Yeah, can we stay home too?" Mackenzie asked, climbing up the stool a little slower and more carefully than her brother.

"No, you two are both going to school. I don't want to hear any whining out of either of you," she said, taking another moment to have a silent conversation with Jim. He was worried about Katie but didn't know what to be expecting exactly to a degree. He had never seen this with her because by the time he met her she had a semblance of control over her visions and such to a point. "Today is special circumstances for your big sister and I'd butt out if you two want computer time tonight. Also quiet voices. It is way too loud in here."

Suddenly both younger kids were quiet and Katie laughed quietly as she got up to pour herself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. Her daughter drank hers black frequently, like her father. It was so odd to her because she could hardly stand coffee without sugar unless she really needed the caffeine.

"I don't know how you drink it straight," she muttered shook her head. "I enjoy my tastebuds thank you very much."

"I like the bitterness. It wakes me up in the morning," Katie shrugged and took a slow sip, careful of the warmth. "I do enjoy an iced coffee in the middle of the day though."

"I'm glad to see you're in somewhat good spirits. To a degree. We need to talk about everything more later though," she said smiling at her. "I'll be upstairs trying to get some sleep if you need me."

"I think I'm gonna get some breakfast from dad and then try and get my homework started," Katie said and smiled at her mother as she walked over to sit at the kitchen island with her brother and sister.

Melinda nodded and walked past her, taking a second glance at her family. She knew she had to get Katie out of the house at some point and also needed to swing by Rick's to talk to him about the newspapers he'd found. But first, she needed sleep.


After getting a few hours of sleep, even if most of it was tossing and turning, Melinda got up and ready for the day. She showered and got dressed. She had set out a nice skirt and blouse and it looked nice for the warm spring day. Melinda walked across the hall to Katie's bedroom door. It was ajar and some soft music was playing.

"Sweetheart," she said, knocking on the door.

The music stopped abruptly. "Yeah?" Katie said softly. "You can come in."

"I was just thinking it would be good for us to get out of the house for a bit." She suggested, putting her hands in the pockets that were hidden in her skirt.

Katie was lounging in bed on her stomach with her computer in front of her and legs in the air. The teen was still in comfy clothes, considering she probably hadn't wanted to leave the house today by the look on her face.

"Really? I didn't really want to go anywhere today," Katie sighed, glancing back at her computer screen and typing a little more before closing her laptop.

"I think it would be good," she sat down and placed her hand on her lower back, rubbing back and forth slowly. "The fresh air. It's nearly seventy today. You could wear one of the new outfits you desperately needed, so I ordered them for you online."

Katie feigned laughter for about thirty seconds before she moved out of bed. "Okay, but I'm gonna need to shower and do some makeup before I'm ready to go out into the world."

Melinda wasn't outright convinced that Katie was feeling up to it, but she was glad she hadn't resisted too much. "I'm going to make us a quick lunch, so that should be fine sweetie." She moved toward the doorway of Katie's closet where she was choosing between two of the new dresses she'd gotten. One was yellow and off the shoulder and the other was a strapless blue one. She liked the yellow one the most, but knowing Katie's attitude lately she'd probably pick the opposite of what she'd suggest. "I like the blue one."

"You do?" Katie held it up to her and shrugged. "I think I'll go with the yellow one."

"That one's very nice too," she smirked and nodded. "Just come down when you're ready, honey." She let out a giggle as she walked away and pulled her door closed behind her. She was too good at that.

Melinda made it downstairs quickly and went about her usual routine to make an early lunch for her and Katie. She set out the ingredients to make BLT's and grabbed a pan to make the bacon. As the pan warmed up, she set out to slice tomatoes and some lettuce.

One of her favorite things was the fresh veggies they had in the backyard. It had started as Mackenzie's science project but had grown to something bigger the more everyone enjoyed the fresh vegetables. As the pan was warm enough and she tossed the bacon in and set out to toast the bread.

She finally heard footsteps just as she was lying the bacon on the bread along with the lettuce and tomatoes. Katie came into the kitchen a moment later. She'd braided her wet hair and had applied some mascara and nude lipstick to pair with her yellow dress and flats.

"You look nice, honey." She said, giving her a sandwich on a paper plate. "Eat up. You and I have a field trip to go on."

"How do you do this everyday mom?" Katie asked, sitting on a stool in front of the plate. "It's so... tiring and I feel like I could just- uh I don't know..."

"I know sweetheart. It's a lot to handle when you're this age." Melinda didn't know quite what to say at first and took a minute as she put the pan in the sink to think it over. "I had someone in my life who taught me how to be brave," she said as she turned back around. "I hope I can be that for you."

"You are my hero every day, mom," Katie said as she gathered up one half of her sandwich to ready for a bite. "Every single day."


It wasn't until they were driving for maybe twenty minutes until Katie took her headphones out and looked over at her mother. The teen was looking around her surrounding and they were driving toward the edge of town. They usually didn't drive out this far, especially not just the two of them. It was mostly country roads out here and secluded, private properties.

"Where are we going, mom?" Katie asked, looking up from her phone. She had pulled out her headphone for the first time in over twenty minutes, and it was because she was indulging in a new audiobook.

Melinda tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she listened to the music and her daughter's question. It had always been quite the drive to Rick's house because he lived on the opposite side of town from where they did. "We are going to Professor Payne's house. He had some stuff we need to go over," she explained, checking her side and the rearview mirrors. "Shouldn't be too much longer. Maybe another twenty minutes."

"Okay. That's enough to finish this chapter then," Katie said with a smile.

Just then, Millie appeared in the backseat and then in front of the vehicle. Melinda immediately felt her energy as her heart rate spiked and the steering wheel suddenly jerked. Her Jeep was headed to go into oncoming traffic for a moment, but she corrected quickly.

"Leave us alone," she yelled and grabbed onto the steering wheel once more. "If you are going to only cause destruction I will not help you. Do you understand?"

"MOM, what's going on?" Katie yelled, looking into the backseat. Millie was only there for another moment before she was gone. "What do you want from us? Tell me."

"Hold on, baby," she jerked the wheel back to find the energy Millie had put out there, but a little too much, and now the car was headed off the road and toward the treeline. She slammed her foot down on the brakes as they were jerked around and the car came to a thudding stop as it collided into a tree trunk.

It had been a moment of excruciating loudness to sudden quiet. She could taste the coppery blood in her mouth from biting down too hard. The airbag had deployed and she felt the aching from being shoved around as looked over to her daughter. When Katie didn't immediately look back over at her, warning bells went off in her head. Why wasn't Katie alert like she was?"

"Katie?" Melinda called out quietly to her, reaching her hand out to touch her shoulder. "Sweetheart, are you okay?"

When her daughter didn't answer, she unbuckled slowly, feeling her shoulder ache as she leaned forward and over the center console.

Katie still didn't move and she could feel herself beginning to panic. This was all her fault. How could she ever forgive herself?

"Katie? Baby, can you hear me?" She asked, slowly turning her head and supporting her neck like Jim had advised her to do if she was ever in a car crash with someone.

Her daughter's eyes were closed and as she pressed her fingers to her neck, her pulse was very faint. She felt her everything go into overdrive as she realized she'd essentially caused this crash and hurt her own daughter.

She knew the best option for her was to call 9-1-1 and was hoping someone else already had as she grabbed her phone, not even caring as the screen was shattered to all hell. She just needed to make sure her daughter was okay or she'd never be able to forgive herself.

Once she'd gotten off the phone with the dispatcher, she felt better. EMS were on their way, along with a squad car. Now it was time to call Jim. She had to call her husband.

Melinda could feel her breathing escalating and she knew she had to rein in her emotions right now. It wasn't the time or the place. She had to stay calm for her daughter.

She pressed the few digits of his number before it popped up and she called it. It only rang once before he answered.

"Mel," by the breathlessness in his voice she thought he might already know. "Are you hurt? Bobby just called and told me they sent a crew out for a car crash. The car matched your Jeep and I was about to call you. Is everything okay?"

"Jim, I need you here right now," her voice threatened to break as she looked over at Katie, who was still unconscious but thankfully breathing. "It wasn't that bad, but Katie is unconscious... I don't know what to do.. and it was the ghost, she messed with my car. The rain wasn't helping, but... it was my fault, Jim. We hit a tree."

"I'm already on my way, Melinda. Don't worry, okay?" He said, trying to keep calm, but she could hear his emotions through his voice. He was just as worried and scared as she was. "Just breathe, honey. Everything is going to be okay. Did she hit her head?"

"I don't know... I tried to control spinning out into traffic and instead hit a tree. It's all my fault, Jim. I should've been paying attention to road, but the ghost appeared… and it happened so quickly." She could feel herself losing control of breathing and starting to hyperventilate.

"Mel, honey, I need you to breathe. You're having a panic attack from all of the stress," his words were calm, soft, just like they always were. "I'm almost there. I'm right behind the rig, okay? Can you hear the sirens?"

She nodded and slowly took in a short and quick breath as she heard sirens approaching. That meant Jim nearly here too. Her tears were flowing heavily when he had to hang up and she tried to control her breathing, but it wasn't until he was at her window that she relaxed enough to catch her breath.

Jim had the energy to soothe any worry with his smile, and by speaking those same reassuring and soft words to her that he always did. He assisted a paramedic that helped her out of the car and onto a gurney with a neck brace on just in case. As much as he loved the attention and pressed a kiss to his palm as she squeezed it, she wanted him here so he could reassure her and take care of their daughter.

"Will you go to check on our daughter for me, honey?" She asked softly. "I'm fine riding alone, Jim."

He nodded and pressed a soft kiss to her lips as he climbed out and closed the rig's doors. "Take care of her, Bob." He tapped the door twice before they drove off and she knew everything was going to be fine as long as Jim was there for Katie.


"Mom, I'm fine," Katie reassured her mother for the twentieth time that night as she sat in her hospital bed. "I don't know why you and dad are overreacting and making me stay the night here. It's just a concussion and a dislocated shoulder."

"I'm putting my foot down for your safety," Melinda said and shook her head. "You are staying overnight. End of story."

Her mother wasn't budging on her and her father's decision, not even a little. When they'd come into the emergency room that night, Melinda's heart hadn't felt right in her heart until she'd been reassured that Katie was fine. Despite losing consciousness, the teen had only suffered a concussion, some minor bruising around her ribs, and a dislocated shoulder. Melinda had been knocked around quite a bit too, but only had some bruising around her ribs and cut that was stitched up on her forehead.

It certainly could've been a lot worse, but that didn't help with Melinda's guilt. She could've killed them by hitting that tree, thank god she'd come to a stop somewhat beforehand, but she couldn't help but think that the ghost had wanted her and Katie to get hurt.

That was scary. No ghost had ever really done that before, not since before her children were born.

"Why don't you just lay back and enjoy another day or so off school, kiddo," Melinda said, sitting down slowly in the chair she'd pulled up beside her bed. "Dad even brought you your computer and a blanket from home. Your brother and sister came by to see us and I'm going to be here all night. I got myself a cot and everything to keep you company."

"I know," Katie sighed. "But I wish I was in my bed, not this stupid hard one." There was a knock on the door and the teen perked up, looking down at her phone. "Thank you for all of my stuff though. I really appreciate it."

"Are you expecting someone?" Melinda glanced up from the book she had pulled out to read. She slowly started to put her bookmark in as the door opened a little. "Is it Hannah?"

"Maybe," Katie shrugged, smiling as Ned peeked around from the other side. "Hey. I'm so glad you're here."

Ned was in his pizza delivery uniform with a pizza in hand. "I heard you wanted a pizza. More like you begged for it." He brought the pizza over to her quickly. "Hey, Mel."

Melinda shook her head and opened her book again. "Hi, Ned." Katie had him wrapped around her pinky finger and it was hilarious.

"Thank you so much," Katie said slowly moving out of the bed to hug the nineteen-year-old the best she could with one arm as he set the pizza down. "Seriously. You are the best."

"Whoa, lay back down and be careful. You don't need to pop that out of socket again," Ned moved her back to the bed, but not before giving her a light squeeze. "You just got into a car crash, why else would I bring you pizza free of charge?"

"Again, thank you." Katie smiled, opening the box. She immediately grabbed a cheese slice and took a big bite. "I am starving and all the cafeteria had was tossed salad and veggie pizza."

"I thought the veggie pizza was pretty good," Melinda interjected as she laughed slightly. "But of course, you're like your father and have to have cheese pizza."

"It was fine, but cheese is always the best," Katie giggled and took another eager bite.

"Well, I should get back to work. Boss will be mad if I'm late with another pizza and we have to give it to them for free." Ned smiled and stepped back. "I hope you feel better, Katie, and I'm glad I could come and see you. You too, Melinda."

"I'm glad you came too. Thanks for the pizza, Ned." Katie leaned back into the bed.

As Ned left, another person entered which they both realized was Rick. He was quiet, like usual, and Melinda stood to walk toward him. "What are you doing here? Usually, you just call first," she said, glancing back at Katie who had now turned on the tv and was watching a movie while eating her pizza. "What's wrong?"

"I feel terrible. You two were coming to see me," Rick sighed. "This feels like it's my fault."

"It was Millie. She appeared and all hell broke loose." Melinda explained, sidestepping with him toward the doorway and going to walk out to talk privately with him. "This was not your fault, Rick. If anything, it was mine. I could've killed my daughter for how I was driving."

"She's overreacting, as usual. I'm fine," Katie said, for the twenty-first time that night. "Just a concussion and some bruising... and this shoulder thing."

Rick chuckled. "That spunk, I'm used to that being directed at me." He said, winking at her mother as he stepped forward. "Happy to see you pulled through, kid. I didn't worry as much as your mom, that's for sure. I do feel pretty bad."

"Yeah, that was all pretty scary in the car today," Katie whispered. "What do you think happened, mom?"

"I saw Millie in the rearview mirror. I don't know what else to think," she shrugged. "Nothing like this has ever really happened before. At least not since before you born."

"And what about the voices? I heard them right before everything went dark." Katie explained. "Didn't you hear them?"

"No, I didn't hear anything." Melinda shook her head. She was confused, tapping her foot as she thought before she began to pace. "What did you hear?"

"All sorts of things, but it's all a bunch of gibberish in my head right now." Katie sighed.

"Whoa," Rick gasped, looking at Katie and then her mother. "You can hear voices that Melinda can't? That would make her more powerful than you."

"That's not how this works, Rick." Melinda sighed, pacing the floor. "In the beginning, you get everything. You hear voices, feel the energies, see spirits, have visions, the whole shebang. But as you get older you learn to tune things out so you can function."

"Well whatever she's hearing is probably from the tunnels," Rick explained. "Or worse. Millie is working for the other side to try and hurt you two."

"Rick, don't." Melinda said, stopping instantly and to kick him in the foot. "Katie doesn't need to know about that right now."

"The tunnels?" Katie asked. "What tunnels?"

"You didn't tell her about the tunnels?" Rick asked, confused by the look on his face.

"No. Why would I tell my teenage daughter about the thousands of souls trapped under Grandview, Rick?" Melinda yelled, biting her tongue a moment too late. Well, there was no going back now. She glanced at Katie, who was looking even more confused now "You know, I did want to keep some of the horrors I've experienced a secret from my kids. But thanks a lot."

"Well now I'm intrigued," Katie said, looking over at her. "Will, you just tell me what tunnels these are? They are in Grandview?"

"Only if you promise to never go down there without me. That is a can of worms that does not need to be tampered with." Melinda said, walking over to her and holding her hands. "Promise me, Katie. Right now."

"Why not?" Katie asked, looking over at Rick then. "What's down there?"

"What's down there? More like who's down there," Rick cackled and then shut up, sitting down in Melinda's seat when she gave him a glare that scared him quiet. "There are so many spirits trapped underneath Grandview you would freak."

"Shut up, Rick," Melinda muttered, looking back at her daughter. "Promise me, Katie, or I will never tell you."

"I promise," Katie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Now I expect the whole truth. I am old enough to know."

"Okay. The whole truth, I promise. Before you were born, there was a ghost. Her name was Tessa, and she was my great-great-grandmother. I didn't know that at the time, but when I went searching for her I went through these tunnels… underground." Melinda started to explained and then sighed, not wanting to go into full detail and scare her daughter more than she probably already was. "Long story short, there are a lot of evil spirits down there and I was trapped. For hours. I didn't know if I was even going to make it out of there because the air had gotten so thin. I was faint and could barely sit up when your dad found me."

"Ahem," Rick muttered.

"Oh, right, I can't forget Rick was there too and Delia. They both helped your dad find me." She said. "And that's why you can never go down there alone. Alright?"

"Okay, I'll never go down there alone mom. I promise, but wait… did dad save you? How?" Katie asked, squeezing her hands. "I asked for the whole story mom."

"Your dad is a force to be reckoned when your mom is in danger. That man broke through a brick wall to save her." Rick explained, moving up to down on the opposite of her.

"He did?" Katie had always been in awe of her father, she thought he was a superhero, but this had only further proved that he really was.

Melinda hadn't intended on telling her much more, but seeing the look on her daughter's face felt good. Despite everything. When Jim had saved her, she had truly thought she might've died, and he'd been right there. Going into the unknown after her, risking his own life to save hers. She didn't stop Rick from continuing the story, only watched Katie's reaction.

"It took him a whole hour, but he didn't take a break. He just kept at it with the sledgehammer until he got through." Rick explained animatedly. "He led us through the tunnels until we heard your mom calling out, and then he saved her. It was amazing."

"Is that why there's a random door in the wall downstairs in the basement of the store?" Katie asked. "The one that has that really complicated latch on it?"

Melinda had been quiet for some time, thinking back to that moment and how truly scared she'd been before Jim had come and saved her. What if he hadn't gotten there in time? She glanced up at Katie, who was listening to every detail Rick was giving her in awe. Her daughter would've never been born if she'd died down there. None of their children would've been born. Jim would've been a widow and her gift's line would have stopped there.

That had to mean something, right?

"Yeah. That's why," Melinda explained. "There was just plyboard covering it for a while, but we kept having to go down there and your father put a door in so it would be safer once we got pregnant with... with you." She remembered that's had been with her first pregnancy, the one she and Jim had lost. Aiden. Katie didn't know about him either. "We didn't want any of you roaming down there. It's way too scary and unsafe."