Chapter 5

The ringing of the phone echoed though out the house. Mr. Mystery raced down the stairs, muttering about people calling so late at night, and walked across the spacious living room to retrieve it.

"Hello?" he said grumpily into the receiver of the cordless phone. Silence. "Hello?"

"Hi, dad," Martin replied, not expecting to hear the voice of his father this late. "Did I wake you?"

"Martin?" he seemed pretty shocked to hear him, too. Martin wasn't one to call home for any reason, making this a little unusual. "No, no, I was already up writing a speech to give at Harvard in a couple of days." More silence. "Uh, so, what is it Martin? Are you okay?"

"Just fine, dad," he sighed, propping his elbow on his knee and his hand on his chin. "Can't I just call to say hi?"

"Yes, yes you can," Mr. Mystery smiled faintly, it fading quickly. "But you never do. Which means either that you're in trouble or you need money for some item that you don't even need. Now which is it, Martin?"

"Dad, I--"

"If it's money, I'll have some wired over to the school and you can pick it--"

"Dad, that-that's not what this is about." He rolled his eyes and flopped backwards onto his bed. Java sat in the corner of the room browsing through a Paranormal Monthly magazine with interest. "Where's Diana?"

"She's not here," he said with a frown, looking around the room. "In fact, I haven't seen her since this morning."

"Well, where'd she go?"

"I'm not sure," he replied slowly as if thinking about it. "But she did take off in quite a hurry, though she didn't say where. I'm sure she's at the library, Martin, and she's just running a little late is all."

"Two hours late?"

"Well, yes, now that you mention it." Mr. Mystery looked at the clock hanging on the wall. 11:00. "She's fine, I'm sure. I'll let her know you called for her when she gets here. In the meantime, son, it's late. Go to bed. As they say, 'early to be, early to rise makes man healthy, wealthy and wise."

"Whatever you say, dad."

"Oh and Martin--" He looked at the phone, the line cut off. With a shake of his head, he put the phone back on the stand and headed back up the stairs.

Martin sighed, tossing the phone at the end of his bed, mocking his father's choice of saying.

"I asked for that one," he said sourly. He stood up off the bed and grabbed the set of car keys off the floor. He'd been looking for them for weeks, finally finding them underneath a magazine that got knocked off his night stand when the pillow flew onto it. "You stay here, Jav, and watch for Natalie. I gotta go find Diana."

"Stay...here?" Java asked, looking around the room in fear.

"Don't worry, Jav. She's not after you, so she won't hurt ya." He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. "I think."

Diana walked through the door of the house, shutting the door quietly as not to wake up her mom and stepdad. She tiptoed into the living room, cutting on the television displaying a newscast as she took off her jacket. She hadn't intended on staying out this late, but time slipped away.

She crept into the kitchen, retrieving the pitcher of ice water in the refrigerator. She wanted something cold, but she didn't feel like soda and water was the only other thing to drink.

"Diana Lombard! Shouldn't you be in bed?"

She screamed, throwing the contents of the water in the pitcher in the face of the person behind her.

Martin stood frozen, water dripping from his hair and face.

"You deserve that, you know," Diana stated, trying her best not to laugh. "Sneaking up on people. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Uh, duh," he replied through clenched teeth. "I live here."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know." She rolled her eyes and without her drink, strolled tiredly back into the living room. "And this was your house long before it became mine, too. I know."

"I didn't say anything." He shook his head in an effort to get most of the water out of his hair. Great, now his hair was all flat and wet. He'd have to fix that later.

With a long, deep sigh, Diana let herself fall back onto the sofa, kicking off her shoes with a pained look. Tired, yes, but she wasn't about to go to sleep. Bad things happen when she fell asleep. She scoffed. Like bad things didn't happen when she was awake. Nightmares of a girl falling off a roof and day visions of Natalie. She felt she was hanging on by a thread. At least here she felt safe.

"No, seriously, Martin. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," he answered, leaning against the door frame of the kitchen. "Dad said he hadn't seen you since this morning, so I thought I'd stop by to see where you'd run off to."

"I'm wasn't running, Martin, I was researching." She propped her feet up on the table and sunk down in the blue sofa. She glanced at him in time to see that 'crazy, not stupid' look. Sometimes she despised him. He may not have know what, but he tended to always know when she was hiding something. It was scary. "Does dad know your here?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Not exactly," he replied, grimacing up at the stairs. "And I'm pretty sure me showing up after midnight won't do much to raise his spirits I sure won't get a 'Hey, son! How's school!'"

She smiled over at him. The relationship between him and his dad was rocky at times. Not that they didn't get along cause they did... sometimes. They just didn't see eye to eye. He wanted Martin to live by certain standards, to be like him, to play by the rules, to grow up, only Martin was far from being like his father. Martin was...well, Martin. That created problems.

"So, anything on Natalie?" she asked. She'd rather talk about ghosts than family problems. They always came back to her being little miss perfect.

"Nata--oh." Right. His reason for trying to get in touch with her. Duh. "It's simple really." Hyper mode. He couldn't help it. This was exciting stuff! "Like any ghost who torments people, she wants revenge. In this case, she wants to get back at the girl who stole her boyfriend. She thinks that's you."

"Me!" she exclaimed, quickly covering her mouth and looking over at the landing. She sat silent for a moment, listening for signs of someone getting up. Martin nodded with a beaming grin. "I didn't steal her boyfriend! He's probably... old." A look of disgust painted her face.

"Yeah, but you look like her." He pulled a picture from his pants pocket and handed it to her. "You two even have the same first name. Freaky, huh? Kinda like your doppelganger, just add couple of years. Or a lot."

Diana looked at the photo, an old school picture, with awe. They did look similar, almost like twins.

"That explains her calling your name," he said with a proud grin. He loved being the one to come up with the answers first. She may be the brain at school, but when it came to anything paranormal, he was all over it.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"I don't think she wants to harm you, though, unless you think driving you loco counts. She wants what she lost long ago, even if it means possessing the competition." He grinned at her playfully. "You."

"Possession? Haven't I been through enough of those?" she asked weakly with a small smile. She handed the photo back to him and exhaled deeply. "Can we stop her?" Please say we can, she begged in her thoughts. Please, oh please, let her be stoppable.

"I hope so," he sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. Thank you Diana. Now it's messy and it keeps falling in my eyes, he sighed. Forget it. It's beyond fixable right now, being without a mirror and all. "I don't think I'd like a ghost as a step sister." He gave her a small smile, sitting down beside her. "So..."

"So what if we can find Jack? Bring him to her? Let her torment him in his beach house in Miami?"

"Not likely. He's not returning my calls, remember?"

"Oh, right." That was all his fault. He had to mention Natalie. "If we can't get to Jack, how else are we going to stop her?" She leaned her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his with a shuddering though of Natalie becoming her forever. "One more day, Martin. I wonder what happens on the seventh day?"

"I don't plan to find out," he said softly. "We'll get through this. We always do."

"There's a first time for everything," she managed to say before she yawned. "Maybe you should go. I'm getting sleepy." She looked up at him. "You remember what happened last time I fell asleep, don't you?"

Huh, how could he forget? "Yeah," he nodded with a slight chuckle. He met her smiling gaze with a smirk. "Dad's probably sleeping."

"So is mom." She looked up at him in confusion. What was his point?

"Oh, so she's here?" he asked, surprised. Diana nodded. "That's weird."

He hardly ever saw her and sadly, neither did Diana. She was always on a business trip somewhere in the world. Like his dad with him, she hardly had time to talk to her only daughter. That led him to believe that all of Diana's compulsiveness for being the best was to get her mother's attention. Which, by the way, hardly ever worked. He just wasn't going to tell her that.

"Diana."

His voice softly called her name, beckoning her to look at him. She did just that. His brown eyes gazed back at her, pieces of wet blonde hair falling around them, full of energy and at the same time concern, a smirk played on his lips.

"Huh?"

His response was a kiss, sweet yet passionate. She felt herself melt at the mere touch of his lips on hers. Still, she pushed him back, glancing behind her.

"This is the wrong place, Martin!" she whispered harshly at him, a grin plastered to his face that was so close to her she could feel his breath on her lips. "In case you've forgotten, certain people are upstairs! What if they wake up!"

Wrong place? Yeah, buddy it was. He thought that would be the last of her worries though. Actually, he was just getting prepared to be hit or slammed into the floor or kicked to the end of space. But since she didn't, why stop?

"I'm not doing anything," he joked, pressing his lips firmly on against hers. This time she kissed back. He smiled against her lips. She wasn't protesting now was she?

Her hand moved to the back of his neck, running her fingers through his hair, using her other hand to pull up the black shirt he was wearing. Helping her out, he pulled the shirt off, throwing it somewhere behind him. Nope. This definitely wasn't a protest. It almost seemed that she wanted this more than he did. He'd use this against her later, possibly the next time she decides to paint her hand print painfully on him.

He pushed her back onto the sofa, moving his lips to her neck, gently biting and sucking every inch, inhaling the sweet scent of some kind of perfume. Jasmine. She had a spray bottle of that stuff in her bag. Not that he rummaged through it or anything. That would be wrong, but only if she ever found out, right?

The silk touch of her hand made brought his thoughts back to now as she slowly ran her fingertips down his bare, bronzed back and back up again, leaving a trail of fire wherever she touched. It was torture. An enjoyable torture that brought him back to her lips. That wasn't enough. He wanted to breathe her, erase her fears and love her more than anyone ever had or ever could. He could give her more than she ever imagined. Not guys like Marvin. And he was going to prove that.

He slid his tongue into her mouth, causing her to gasp slightly, her fingers clutching his still wet hair. His tongue was wet and scalding hot, tasting faintly of chocolate. So, he was still devouring her candy stash, huh? He stroked her tongue gently, instantly stopping her breath. Her head was spinning from his kiss, from the heat of his hand that was caressing her side.

"Martin..." she whispered breathlessly against his lips.

That's better. If she'd said Jack, he was going to hurt her. He grinned in-between kisses, snaking his hand underneath her shirt touch her warm, smooth skin. He could have sworn that she was trembling beneath him. Her hands felt shaky as they ran over his muscular arms, trying to pull him even closer to her.

"This is as close as I can get, Di," he whispered breathlessly against her cheek with a soft laugh. Already a piece of paper couldn't even get between them and she was still pulling at him.

She moved her head to find his lips again, her arms wrapping around his neck. His heart was pounding and he feared he'd never get his breathing under control. He was lost in her smell, her touch, her kiss...

"MARTIN MYSTERY!"

Hey, he knew that tone. That you are in so much trouble, young man, and your punishment will be severe. Wait a minute.

"Dad?" He looked up to see his dad at the bottom of the staircase, obviously not very happy that his son and step daughter were getting along so well without fighting.

"Honey, what's wrong? Martin's not even here--Oh," Mrs. Lombard looked in shock, clutching the railing to steady herself. "Diana?"

"Tell me things could not get any worse this week," Martin sighed, sitting up, pulling Diana's shirt down as he did.

"Diana, honey, are you okay?" her mother asked.

"Martin, I can't believe you," his dad said, outraged. Martin had heard all this before. "In my own house for crying out loud!" Just not about the subject at hand.

His dad always started out the same way without fail every time. 'Martin, I can't believe you!' Or 'Martin, what have you done this time!' Martin leaned his head back against the sofa. Yeah? Well, sometimes he couldn't believe himself either, but you don't see him having a heart attack over it.

"Dad, I can explain," Diana intervened, standing up and walking over to him. He was sleeping. They both were. She was sure that they were. Why choose now to wake up of all times?

"You don't have to explain anything, dear," he replied, glaring at Martin. "Does she Martin?"

"I think what you saw was pretty much self explanatory," he responded with a smile. "Don't you think, dad? Or do you want me to go into detail?"

"Young man, that smart mouth is the last thing I wanna deal with right now!."

"Right," he said forcibly, grabbing his shirt up off the floor and putting it on. "At least we were getting along for once." Okay, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say in this situation. "Not exactly what you were expecting though, huh?"

"Martin, I really don't expect anything out of you anymore," his dad said matter of factly. Martin got up and walked over to the door. Exit quickly and no one got hurt, hopefully. "This was the last straw from you. You've been a running problem for this family and now to have you... She's your sister! The shame, Martin!"

"Step!" Martin turned back to him, correcting him. "Step sister. We're not related, not really. It's not like we're bound by blood or anything."

"By law, she's your sister!"

"Na uh," he shook his head. "By marriage. I didn't tell you to go out and get married. Why should that come back on me?"

"Martin, I know what you're thinking and I'm not trying to take your mother's place," Mrs. Lombard said calmly. "But to push such a thing on my daughter. It's absurd."

"Mom, Martin didn't push anything on me," Diana sighed. "Dad, this isn't Martin's fault. He couldn't take without me giving, right?" Her mother's eyes glared at her, and Diana gave a nervous chuckle. Oops. Wrong thing said at the wrong time.

If it could've, Martin's mouth would have dropped to the floor. Did she just say what he thought she said? Whew, what got into her?

"Diana Lombard!" her mother scolded.

"Now, Diana, sticking up for Martin will only get you in trouble," his father said, putting an arm around her. "You know better than that."

"That's it," Martin said in disgust, opening the door. "I'm outta here." He'd heard those words before and it was no biggie. But from his own father... Martin slammed the door behind him.

"Maybe I was too hard on him," Mr. Mystery sighed, sitting down on the steps. "Or maybe I'm not hard enough." He looked up at Diana, taking her hand. "He may not be your actual brother, sweetheart, but..." He trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"Diana, get upstairs. I want to speak with you," her mother said, holding her head as if she had a headache. Apparently, she had a lot to say, but Diana didn't have time for that right now.

"I'm sorry, mom, but I have to find Martin. Can we do this later?"

Before even giving her mom a chance to reply, she was out the door, leaving her parents staring after her in shock. Boy was she gonna be in trouble with them later. What could they possibly do though? Maybe she could have MOM back at the Center erase their memory or something. No, that wouldn't be a good idea. Then she'd know, but then again, she probably already knew. She knew everything else that happened in their lives. Why not this? Her life was starting to sound like a soap opera on daytime television.

She ran up to the SUV right as the ignition turned. She opened the door and jumped in, closing it back behind her, waiting for the vehicle to move. Why wasn't it moving now? The engine was running, but why wasn't this damn thing moving!

"Uh, Martin? You can drive now," she said nervously, watching the door to the house, knowing that at any second, their parents were going to appear.

Martin said nothing, staring at her blankly.

"Martin. Drive."

"Diana, what are you doing?" he asked with a sigh.

"In case you've forgotten, Martin, we have a final showdown with a crazed ghost tomorrow." If he wasn't so damned cute right now, she'd smack him for being an idiot. One look at those pouty lips and into those amazing brown eyes stopped her from doing just that. Otherwise he'd be smacked over to Japan with a concussion. "I don't know about you but I am so not ready to be outsmarted by a transparent dead girl. Do you know what effect that would have on my grades? I mean, I'm one of the top students at Torrington. I don't even know if she was smart when she was alive."

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, listening to her endless chatter. How could someone so boring captivate him, get under his skin and leave him wanting more? How could someone like Diana, who was the complete opposite of what he was, have the power to make him do anything for her at the snap of a finger? It was a scary thought. Would all be worth it?

"What if she does possess me and my grades slip? How am I supposed to get into an Ivy League college then!"

She continued her griping, almost too fast for him to understand. An involuntary smile slowly spread on his lips. She was definitely worth every second.

"And what about you, Martin? Who's gonna make sure you don't get kicked out of school? And don't you dare say you won't because you've already been threatened numerous time since last year. And what about someone being there to make sure you finish things? You've already shown me that you're incapable of doing that--"

"What do I not finish?" he asked quickly, interrupting her long list of complaints.

"You're homework for one."

"I do so!" He thought for a minute as she arched her eyebrow at him. "I did once."

"Oh yeah? When? Kindergarten?" He snarled at her with a sarcastic laugh. "It's not just your homework, Martin. There's other things also."

"Do I even wanna know?"

She leaned over and kissed him. Short and sweet and to the point, but enough to leave him speechless and he wasn't even the one who was jabbering on and on like the energizer bunny.

"Let's get out of here," she whispered in his ear, caressing his cheek.

And go where exactly? Her room was haunted, his room was partially haunted, actually, the whole school was, and a hotel was just too cliché. Oh, wait. That's not what she referring to. Okay, so first, they'd take care of Natalie and then they could be alone. Duh, Martin. He was starting to wonder he if shouldn't just slap himself for thinking forbidden thoughts about his step sister.

"Why aren't we moving?" she asked, looking at him intently.

He inhaled deeply, forcing the air out between his lips as he exhaled, shifting the car into gear. This was going to be a long night...

I don't know anything about Diana's mother whatsoever, but I thought she might be something like that. It's just a guess. If anyone does know anything about her mother, let me in on it! Please!

Oh, and here's a HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys rock! Keep it comin'!