Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers Trilogy or any of the characters. If I did, I wouldn't be here.

Info: Sorry, it took me a while to update. I've been busy lately. Any-hoo, I just wanted to let you guys know that some of the other characters will be showing up in this chapter. I'm going to ask again that you not leave any comments complaining about the whole Simon/Chloe situation. If you have any suggestions or any other, comment (minus shots at Simon/Chloe) please feel free to leave a review. I'll update soon, on one condition. I want to have at least five reviews. That there is what we call a bribe, kids. :) Enjoy!

I honestly can't say how long I stood there just staring at Amanda. I didn't know what else to do but stare.

"Are you schizo?" Amanda spoke slowly, questioning.

I couldn't stop myself from thinking back to when I'd first been brought to Lyle House, when Dr. Gill first told me that I "had" schizophrenia. "Now, Chloe, have you ever heard of schizophrenia?"

"N-n-no," I couldn't think of anything to say. I felt as if I were frozen, unable to move any part of me.

Amanda scoffed as she turned so that her back faced me again, "Ok, I'm sure. Now come on already."

Get a hold of yourself, Chloe!

"W-where are you taking me?" I had to know.

Amanda spun around so fast I had to bite back a yelp. She was so close now I swore I could feel her breath on my face. I stared up at her, waiting for her to respond and trying to look calm.

Amanda was at least a head taller than me, about Simon's height. She had a thin face framed by long, black hair. I wanted to look away as soon as I saw her eyes. Her left eye was a blue so light it seemed white, and her right eye was broken. It was literally split into different pieces, like broken glass.

"You'll find out."

I heard a door open across the hall.

"What the hell are you doing up?" Derek.

"A-A-Amanda, this is Derek," I mumbled.

"Amanda?" There was a moment of silence, and then I saw recognition cross Derek's face, "Is there a ghost here, Chloe?"

Amanda slid away from me, but I could see the malice in her eyes, especially frightening in her broken eye.

"Now look what you've done, you brat!" Amanda scolded.

"Derek would like to know what you wanted to show me, too," my voice cracked.

"Well, maybe I don't want to show him!" Amanda was furious. If she were a cartoon, smoke would be coming from her ears.

"Amanda," Derek spoke again, looking around the hall for any sign of a ghost, "I really would like to see."

I saw her cheek sparkle again, and I was sure it was a tear. What happened to her?

"Fine," Amanda sighed, defeated. "Tomorrow night at midnight. Bring all of your friends."

"You want me to bring Simon, Tori, and Andrew, too?" I was shocked she'd given in so quickly.

"What?" I pulled my gaze away from Amanda just in time to see Derek's eyes on me. He didn't know what was going on, and for Derek that was like falling off a cliff.

"No, just those two," Amanda said, pointing to the room I shared with Tori and the room Derek just come out of.

"Ok. Where should we meet you?" I asked. I wasn't so scared now that Derek was here. It could have been anyone, as long as I had someone with me, I felt better.

"I'll find you. You can gather your friends," Amanda spoke, rubbing her cheek.

"O-o-ok," I suddenly felt woozy. My head was spinning.

"Good. Fine," Amanda croaked. Her voice sounded heavy, the tears weighing in her voice.

I vaguely saw Amanda nod and fade away. The last thing I saw was the floor and Derek running over to me.

∙ ღ ∙

What just happened? I could hear someone breathing softly next to me. I was stuck in that place between sleep and consciousness, when your head feels all fluffy. It reminded me of being drugged.

I don't really remember what happened. I only remember a ghost, a poltergeist, named Amanda. I remember she was taking me… somewhere, and she said she was related to Dr. Davidoff.

I rolled onto my back, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand. I felt someone rubbing my shoulder and jumped up, everything that happened last night rushing back to me.

I looked over to see Simon, looking confused and startled.

"I'm sorry. Did I scare you?" I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks.

I started giggling, "N-no. You didn't scare me. I was just startled."

I saw Simon shaking his head in mock disappointment and came to sit back on the bed.

I noticed sunlight streaming into the room, almost like it were afternoon. I also noticed Tori's bed was empty.

"What happened?" I suddenly realized Derek must have carried me in here last night.

Simon smiled, "I was hoping you could tell me. Derek only said there was a ghost and you fainted."

I felt myself blushing again. Great.

"Oh, yea," I laughed again, "There was a ghost, a poltergeist, named Amanda. She was trying to take me somewhere. I knew it was probably stupid to follow her, but I had to know what she wanted."

Simon nodded, "I told Derek you probably had a good explanation for following a ghost."

I gasped. That reminded me of what Amanda had said.

"She was related to Dr. Davidoff. She wants all of us, you, Derek, Tori, and me, to meet her tonight so she can show us… whatever it was."

"Dr. Davidoff! She's related to Dr. Davidoff!"

"What's going on?" Derek was running into the room with Tori behind him.

"Calm down. I was telling Simon what happened last night," I motioned for Derek to shut the door. "Is Andrew awake?"

Derek spoke slowly, confused now, "He went to pick up lunch."

Lunch? I looked at the bright light flowing into the room. It was afternoon!

"Why did you follow her? What did she tell you? What were you telling Simon?" Derek was upset, confused, and probably hungry. He wanted answers and fast.

"Hold on, Derek." I sat up farther on the bed and motioned for everyone to sit down. Tori slid onto the foot of my bed, but Derek ignored me and just glared.

"Ok. First, I followed Amanda because she's a ghost that just happens to be here. You can't honestly be ok with that. Second, she told me some pretty interesting things, and that's what I was telling Simon."

Simon spoke again. He seemed all right, just a little shaken, "This ghost, Amanda, told Chloe she was related to Dr. Davidoff…"

Derek cut him off, "How the hell do we know she's telling the truth, Chloe?"

I sighed. Derek's attitude ticked me off. How could he not trust me? "She was crying, Derek."

That seemed to convince him. He shut his mouth and waited for Simon to continue.

"She wants all of us to meet with her. She wants to show all of us whatever she wanted to show Chloe."

"Do you think that's safe?" Tori spoke for the first time since she'd entered the room.

"I think we'll be… o-ok," Of course, I stuttered. My stutter was a telltale sign I was lying.

"Chloe?" I expected Derek to notice my stutter.

Simon picked up my hand, "If you don't think it's safe, Chloe, we don't have to meet with her."

"Simon's right, Chloe, but it might help us to know what it was she was going to show us."

Wow, Tori must be really out of it to just sit there and not insult anyone. Still, Tori had a point. What about Aunt Lauren, if she's still alive. What Amanda wants to show us could help save her. What about Rae? Even if she betrayed me, she didn't deserve to die. My dad. If he ever found out about anything, the Edison Group did… I can't even think about that.

To make everything worse, we're in danger every second. I couldn't let anyone get hurt because of me.

I took a deep, long breath, "We can meet with her, but we'll have to be careful."

Derek's head shot up, "Andrew's back."

"Should he know about this?" Tori got up from the bed.

I spoke before Derek got a chance, "Amanda didn't want him to."

"Neither do I. We'll handle this ourselves."

"But we can trust Andrew, Derek," Simon got up, too, still holding my hand.

"We should still try to handle this on our own." As much as I hated to admit it, Derek was right. It was probably better to handle things for ourselves.

"Kids!" Andrew yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

At least lunch might help keep our minds off the agonizing day we would have today. Well, our patience would pay off… hopefully.

Ok, that's chapter 3. A little bit of a cliff hanger. I hope you liked it, and will keep reading. I'll try to update sooner, but don't forget the bargain (bribe). Well, if you liked it, please leave a comment. If you didn't like it, leave me a comment; let me know how I can make it better. Thanks for reading everyone!