Jeremy was surprised when Anna appeared at school. "What are you doing here?" He asked her.
"I wanted to surprise you." Anna told him.
"You seem to have a habit of that."
"I just had to get away from things for a while." Anna said.
"Meet me at my place after school." Jeremy told her.
"Okay."
That afternoon, the two of them were talking in Jeremy's room. "So, your mother was in love with Johnathan Gilbert, and he betrayed her?"
"Pretty much." Anna said.
"And now my uncle John wants this invention-device thing that she gave to Damon."
"Yeah, I think it's a good thing she did. If she that thing activated, she could get hurt or maybe killed." Anna told him.
"John mentioned there were more Gilbert journals. I bet that's how he knows everything." Jeremy said. "And you're mom, is she…"
"Of course she is. She saved me when she turned me." Anna told explained. "I probably shouldn't have said anything, it could get you in big trouble."
"I won't tell anyone."
"You're uncle wants her dead, you know."
"You don't know that." Jeremy said.
"I'm a ghost. I can see things about people that some people can't even see themselves." Anna told him. "I can tell he wants her gone."
"Even if that's true, there's nothing I can do about it." Jeremy pointed out.
"I know." Anna told him. "But at least everyone else is on you're side, even if you can't see that."
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm one of those people." Anna said. "Well, you know what I mean." Jeremy glanced at the door. "What?"
"Sometimes I worry that Jenna will walk in and find me talking to…"
"Got it." Anna said. "Though, she's still downstairs right now. I can kind of sense people's movements."
"That's pretty cool."
"It doesn't always work, though." Anna told him.
A few hours later, she was back at her mother's house. "I felt you calling me." Anna said. "What's wrong?"
"There's something I need to tell you." Pearl said. She sat down. "I'm leaving."
"What?"
"I was wrong to think I could start over here. I've got to move on." Pearl explained. "Besides, it's too dangerous. Too many people know the truth about me."
"Will I still be able to see you?"
"Of course. I'd call you as soon as I found somewhere else." Pearl pointed out. "You gave me my life back, I don't want it to be for nothing." Anna disappeared. She needed time to get used to the idea.
Jeremy was asleep when Anna found him. "Jeremy?"
"Yeah?"
"Sorry I woke you up."
"It's fine. What's up?"
"My family's moving." Anna said. "I'm not sure what will happen once they leave."
"Are you afraid that you'll disappear? I mean, for real?"
"Yeah. Once the vampire problem's taken care of and my mother's free, what'll happen to me?" Anna pointed out. "There'd be nothing left here, I'd move on, disappear, whatever."
"Well, until that happens, you've always got friends on this side."
"Thanks, Jer." Anna said.
A few minutes later, she got back to Pearl's house. She felt her mom call her, so she knew something was wrong. "Mom?" She called. Then she found Pearl and Harper on the ground, both of them staked in the heart. "Mom! Oh, no!" She went over to her side. "Mom, please wake up." She knew it was pointless, though. She could feel she was really gone this time.
After spending what felt like hours to try and sense any trace of her mother, she decided to visit Jeremy again. She appeared in his room a few minutes later. "Anna? What's going on?"
"My mother's dead." Anna told him.
"What?"
"Someone killed her. And no matter what I try, I can't find her. She's gone." Anna told him.
"I'm sorry." Jeremy said. "I should've done something…"
"There was nothing you could've done, you couldn't have stopped it." Anna pointed out. She was surprised when she thought she felt Jeremy holding her hand. She looked down. Slowly, the two of them embraced each other. They jumped apart, surprised by what was going on.
"How the…" Jeremy began.
"Did you…feel that?" Anna asked. He nodded. "How is this possible?"
"I don't know. You're the expert on ghost stuff."
"But I've never known about this in my life." Anna told him. "Or my afterlife." They looked at each other.