~ Jed ~

It was late, but I still sent Ryan a text. *Still thinking about moving out? There's a space opening up here.*

*You're not moving out, are you?* he sent back almost immediately.

*No, other tenant got bounced. I'm guessing she'll be out sooner than later. Are you interested?*

*Very. I'll call her tomorrow to find out what the terms are. And is there a place for my equipment?*

I thought about the space in the attic. *I'm pretty sure we can work something out.*

*Cheers then. I'll talk to you tomorrow.*

*Nite.*

~ Gemma ~

Jilly was in a black mood. "How come you're going back there? Wasn't getting possessed bad enough for you?"

"Because Ryan needs a hand moving his things out. I'll stay out of the basement area and I'll be fine," I insisted.

"She didn't get you in the basement last time, that's just where she took you."

"I'll stay with Jed and Ryan, it'll be fine, I promise."

She seemed to take that well enough, but an hour later, she started in on me again. "You can't go back there. It's a bad place."

"I know, but nothing actually hurt us."

"That's because He didn't come for you."

"Who?"

"You know." She raised her eyebrows at me meaningfully.

"You mean the one Grace mentioned? Ba'laam?" Was that what she was so frightened of?

"He came for me in that place. Said I could join his family. He would keep me safe if I did exactly as he said."

Lord, she'd never said a word. "And what did you say?"

"Told him to sod off. I had my own family. He said that you couldn't protect me forever and he'd have me eventually."

"I protected you?"

Jilly shrugged. "That's what he said."

"You don't have to come with, we won't be gone all that long."

"Please, Gemma…" she pleaded. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"It'll be alright," I assured her. But when we pulled up to the place, looking just as dark and foreboding as ever, despite the fact that it was still light out, Jilly's warning still echoed in my mind and she was giving me her best puppydog eyes from the back seat.

"I'll just wait out here in the car, if that's alright," I decided.

"Of course it's alright," Jed smiled. "Do you want me to stay with you? I can text Ryan that we're here and he can start bringing things down."

"No, don't be silly. Go and help your friend with his heavy things. I've got Jilly to keep me company."

"Alright." Jed lingered for another moment. "If… if anything happens, text me, yeah?"

"I absolutely will," I promised with a smile.

He leaned over and gave me a quick kiss. "Won't be long," he promised.

~ Jed ~

Ryan didn't have all that much personal stuff, but he had a lot of computer equipment to be loaded into his vehicle. After I don't know how many trips up and down the bloody stairs, I was cursing Warren's name for being too bloody cheap to repair the ancient lift that hadn't worked since he'd reopened the place.

My mobile chimed with a text, and I pulled it out to take a look, expecting it to be from Gemma. It was from her phone, but it said:

*Help her*

*Help her*

*Help her*

I immediately rang her number, but there was no answer. Dropping the box, I ran down to the car park, spotting her car there easily. Her purse and phone were on the floor of the front seat, but Gemma was nowhere in sight. "Gemma!" I called out, only to be met with silence. "Shit… Jilly, are you around?" Not that I expected to hear her, but last time she'd found a way to contact me. Was she the one who'd sent the text? Where could she have gone?

Ryan came out, trying to lug two boxes at once. "Hey, I almost killed myself on the box you left by the door."

"Gemma's gone missing," I said, near frantic with worry.

"Maybe she just went for a coffee," he said, looking around.

"Then she would've sent a text to let me know. Instead, I got this." I showed him the help her texts. "Besides, her phone and purse are still here in the car. I have to find her."

"Do you think she's been taken, like the other girls?"

"I don't know, mate, but I've got a bad feeling about this. I'm going to check near the basement area where I found her before."

"I'll go look upstairs. Maybe she had to come up and use the loo?"

"Right, call me if you find anything," I said, taking off at a run for the entrance to the cellar. Only she wasn't there. "Jilly?" I tried again, but there was no response, no flashes, nothing. "Come on… someone knows where she is. Where's Gemma?" I called out to the empty corridor, feeling like a complete git since I wouldn't be able to hear it if a ghost responded anyway.

*Anything?* I sent to Ryan as I ran through the halls, looking everywhere I could think of that Gemma could possibly be.

*Nothing* he sent back a minute later.

*I'm going to check the building, floor by floor*

*I'll help. I'll start from the top down. Don't worry, we'll find her.*

If only I could be sure of that. I resisted the urge to keep running, thinking if she was trapped somewhere and not able to make much noise, I might not hear her, and forced myself to slow down, calling out her name as I made my way through the building. All I could keep thinking was, I shouldn't have left her alone, not after what'd happened to her the last time. I should've had her stay at home completely. I should've realized how vulnerable she was to a place like this.

Ryan and I met on one of the floors that hadn't been completed yet, and from the moment I saw his face, I knew he hadn't found anything.

"Should we call the police?" he asked.

"And tell them what? My girlfriend's been missing for an hour? All they'll do is laugh."

"Maybe we should just calm down a bit? You're right, she hasn't been gone all that long. Maybe there's a perfectly good explanation for where she's gone?"

I shook my head. "No, someone's taken her, I can feel it. I'm going to go check the grounds."

"We should check the graveyard first," he suggested, and I gave him a grim nod, glad he was taking this seriously. Only another two hours later and there was no sign of her at all, and I was about to jump out of my skin with worry.

"It's just such a big place. She could be anywhere, behind a locked door or… I'm going back to that corridor where I broke the wall down."

"For what? We already checked there."

"I don't know. Maybe I'll break it down again. I just have to do something or I'll go mad."

"Alright, I'll go with you," he volunteered. It was full dark now, and the corridors were that much creepier as we went up to that floor.

"Gemma?" I called out again, hoping against hope I'd find her. "Jilly? Are you there?" There was no flickering of the lights, but there was… something…

"Has it gone colder?" Ryan whispered, and that's when I recognized what it was.

"Yeah, something's here. Hello? Do you know where Gemma's gone?" I called out. The shivering sensation that a goose had walked over my grave went through me, but there was no response. "Fuck!" I slammed my fist against the wall in frustration. "I never thought I'd wish I could see ghosts, but I'd give anything to talk to one right about now or get a flash of where she is."

"I mean… there is a way…" Ryan said, but immediately looked like he wished he hadn't said anything.

"What?"

"It's not really an option, forget I said anything."

"No, tell me. What did you mean?"

"Well… think about how you got the ability in the first place."

"You mean as a baby?"

"Yeah. You… well, you died. So, like I said, not really an option."

And then it hit me, what I had to do. I had to die.

~~~ Feedback is Love ~~~