Chapter 1: Of Paul Slater

Paul knocked on the door to my room.  I opened it and let him in.  After all, a promise is a promise, even if it meant I probably just sold my soul to the spawn of Satan.  Paul still didn't know what his grandfather, Dr. Slaski had told me about the Shadowland.  To stay away from it.  But I didn't even want to know what Paul would do to Jesse if I broke my promise.  Whether I liked it or not, I knew I had to comply with Paul's every wish.  I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Jesse materialized at the same moment. "Suzannah….," his voice drifted off as soon as he saw who was at my door. I visably saw Paul tense, his fists white from clenching them.

"Hey, both of you, calm it, will you?  Paul, remember what you said.  No fights, no exorcising, no nada."  I shot a look at Jesse.

Ever since Paul had been coming to my house to "teach" me all there was to know about the shifting business, Jesse had been coming more and more agitated.  He paced my room nightly rambling on and on to himself in Spanish and glancing protectively over at me.  He thought I was sleeping and that I didn't notice, but I did.

Paul cast a wary glance at Jesse, making sure Jesse wasn't about to jump him and strode into the room, a box under his arm.  It was this box that held all the secrets I ever wanted to know…most importantly, one involving soul transference.  But Paul wouldn't teach me everything he knew right away, he said that it needed to be done "slowly".  I didn't really mind, it just meant that I could stay away form the Shadowland and not die, as Dr. Slaski said I would after a time. 

Jesse dematerialized, probably from the need to jump Paul right then and there and beat him into a bloody pulp, as he's done once before.  I laughed at this and Paul looked at me, confused.  "What's so funny?" he asked

"Nothing.  So what are we doing today?" I said as I sat down on the floor, not wanting to brave the bed.  That happened once before and I was too scared to let myself kiss someone other than Jesse again.

"Today is actually a way to get inside other people's minds.  Like, for example, ghosts.  Sometimes a ghost has problems, like being mute, or not knowing why they are here.  Then you turn to this."  He glanced at me to see my reaction.  I very carefully kept my f ace indifferent and replied, "Never met a mute ghost".

Paul kept going, watching my face carefully.  I knew why he was doing this, it only had to be because of Jesse.  He very obviously wanted me to enter Jesse's mind and send him into the Great Beyond, for good.  I knew his tricks, and I kept my usual air of indifference about me.

"You simply have to believe you are the person, every fiber of them is you and mold your mind" he continued, "they will know, of course, when you do this which why you should ask them first to avoid confrontation".

Ha, Paul, talking about avoiding confrontation?  He really was trying to get me to like him!

The little visit went on, Paul trying way too hard to be polite and me trying to be indifferent to the profound statements he was making, which, by the way, caught me attention very quickly.

He left a little later, after we talked about mind-molding a little longer and then trig, which I was failing and Paul had offered to help me with.

I know what you're thinking.  Paul, helping me with trig and mediator stuff?  Am I crazy?  I don't know, maybe I am, but I do that I want Jesse to stay here and not get exorcised or something.  Paul can do things like that when he's mad, I've seen it, and mad for Paul is like psychotic-crazy for any other person.  To tell you the truth, I'm scared to death of him and that isn't going to change anytime soon.

Jesse materialized right after he left.  His eyes flashed at the door, around the room, and then at me.  "Suzannah, I don't like this.

"Jesse, he's perfectly safe, for now" I think I was trying to convince myself of that too. "We made a deal.  He's too scared to lose me, I think"

"I still don't like this" Jesse breathed.  He sat on my bed with his elbows on his knees and ran his tendony hands through his gorgeous hair. 

I had only seen him this agitated once before, and right after that he confessed his undying love to me.  I looked at Jesse slowly from my seat on the floor, "He showed me how to read minds today, Jesse.  I think I'm getting somewhere in these lessons, however much I hate them".

"Read minds, huh?" he said, glancing at me.  "You want to try it out on me or something?"

"That's the thing. I think he wants me to so I can find out why you're still here and when I do, it will send you away, Jesse".  He looked sadder than I have ever seen him.  I got up and sat down next to him.

Jesse, always the perfect gentleman, stopped looking depressed at once and stood up.  "He knows something, Suzannah. I could tell by how he looked at me today.  He's going to try something, but I don't know what.  You need to go to Father Dominic, right now."

"Jesse, I can handle this on my own, alright?  I don't always need to go running to Father Dom!"  Why can't Jesse trust me?

"Suzannah, this boy isn't that simple.  He's tricky and will get you in some underhanded way!  I've never seen someone like him before."  He started pacing the room like he does sometimes at night and swore a few times in Spanish.  Let me tell you, Jesse looks extremely good mad.  He always looks good.

I walked right in front of him and put a hand up "stop!  I know you're angry at me, Jesse, but you need to realize that if you do something, Paul will get you, big time.  And I'm not so sure that I can live with what he does to you…again"

I grabbed a pair of boxers and a sweatshirt and ran into my bathroom to change.  I was completely embarrassed about what I just said.  That I can't live without him?  Yeah, not so hot to admit to a ghost.  I mean, he's dead.  I washed my face and went back into my room.  Jesse was sitting at the bay window, staring out to the sea.  Not wanting to interrupt him from his moment, I quietly slipped into bed. 

Once Jesse thought I was asleep, he strode over to my bed and kissed the top of my head, whispering "good night, querida" into my hair.  Just as he was dematerializing, I whispered "I love you Jesse" into my pillow.  He shimmered, and was gone.