"Heed my advice, young lady. This isn"t over," she said as I ran from the room, slamming into my mother a few feet away.

"Jane! Are you okay?" my mom asked, pulling me into a hug. "I know, honey. We"re all going to miss her. She was a wonderful lady. I know you felt a connection to her."

"What?" I asked, wiping my face on my sleeve.

"Ruth"s death is sad, but she suffered for a long time."

I looked back at the room and saw the door wide open from when I rushed through moments earlier. The room was empty. The dresser clear. Ruth was dead.

"What time did it happen?" I asked.

"About 30 minutes ago. Jeannie and Bebe were with her the whole time. She died peacefully. Jeannie had to go sign some paperwork, and your grandmother and I went to get her some lunch. She hasn"t had a full meal in days. I"m sorry you missed her."

"Me, too." I stared at the empty bed and thought of the woman I just talked to. The dead woman and her final words to me. I shuddered and my mom wrapped her arm around me.

The following days pa.s.sed in a blur. Funerals, even the expected ones, required a lot of work and preparation. My parents closed their shop for a couple of days and my mother and grandmother a.s.sisted Jeannie with all the details. My mother gave me a job, collecting the flowers and cards sent in condolence so we could send appropriate thank yous later. I made a spreadsheet, listing names and ca.s.seroles anything I could do to keep busy and out of the way. Anything, I knew, to keep Ruth"s final words out of my mind.

"Dad, we may have to eat this one," I said, sliding a chicken and something ca.s.serole across the kitchen counter. I"d just spent 30 minutes trying to shove 15 plastic containers with enough food to last us for months into the freezer. "Dad?" I called. He and I had been left at home while the others left early for the funeral home. I heard his voice in the front hall and I followed the sound, hoping whoever was speaking with him had not brought another ca.s.serole. I crossed my fingers hoping for cookies.

"Oh," I said when I saw him standing next to Connor. "Hey."

"Hi," he said. Connor looked handsome in his suit and tie. s.h.a.ggy hair pressed down on the sides. The blue in his tie caught the color of his eyes, and with everything going on the b.u.t.terflies in my stomach seemed inappropriate.

"Your mother called," Dad said, rushing past me. "She wants different pictures for the display or something. I"m just taking whatever she left on her desk. Connor said he would give you a ride."

"All right," I said. Dad leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"See you in a bit."

"Okay," I called but the back door closed with a slam. He was gone. "Things have been crazy around here," I told Connor.

"Yeah, I can imagine," he said, slipping an arm around my waist. "Anything else?"

Neither of us wanted to say her name, so I shook my head. "Not a water tower in sight."

"Good. Maybe your aunt was just as crazy dead as she was alive."

I made a face. "That"s a terrible thing to say."

"Maybe so, but I hope I"m right. Either way both Tonya and Char have been quiet for close to a week. Maybe she was wrong."

"I hope so." I picked up my bag and wiggled on my shoes. "You ready?"

He scrunched his nose. "As I"ll ever be."

"Tell me about it." I wrapped my arm around his waist. "Thanks for coming with me. The idea of hanging out in a cemetery is less than appealing."

"What? This should be our idea of the perfect date or something." He gave me an elusive, mega-watt smile. "In an emo, ghost channeler kind of way."

"Shut up."

"Oh, I got you something," he said. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small purple velvet bag.

"What"s this?" I took the bag and loosened the tie. Inside was a round piece of metal on a string. It was the same symbol Connor had on his arm.

"For protection."

"Does this really work?"

He shrugged. "At this point I"m willing to accept any help we can get. Charlotte may be gone, but there"s always another ghost around the corner."

As we walked out the front door, Connor nudged me and gestured to the house next door. I looked up in time to see the curtain drop.

"Wait for me in the car?" I asked.

"Sure."

We parted on the driveway and I ducked through the bushes and knocked on Ms. Frances" door. She must have been waiting because she opened the door right away. "I heard about your kin," she said, shaking her head in sorrow. "She died in her own time though and that is how it"s supposed to work."

"Yes, ma"am." I wasn"t sure what else to say.

I noticed then she had a bundle in her hands. She held it up. "I have something for you."

I opened the cloth wrapper and found a mixture of leaves and roots. I looked up at her in question. "What do I do with this?"

"You"ll know at the time. Keep it with you. Tonya will show you how."

"Tonya"s gone," I told her, but she had already closed the door. I sighed and turned back down the steps toward Connor"s car.

"What"s that?" he asked when I got in the car. I shoved the bundle in my purse. "These crazy women. It"s just like Ruth. They have all this information but it comes out in cryptic terms. I can"t ever tell what"s important and what"s senile."

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"For a funeral in a cemetery?"

He laughed and started the car. My life was crazy, but at least I had someone who understood to share it with me.

I hadn"t been to many funerals. My grandmother, Bebe, had more energy than I did. My father"s parents lived across the country, golfing and gardening and living a generally active life. The idea of dealing with their deaths took on a different perspective now that I knew that when they died, they weren"t necessarily gone. Ruth pa.s.sed over though. I knew this. I felt it in my bones. Wherever she existed now, it wasn"t in the church or at the cemetery. She had her final words with me in the hospital. After that, she was ready to go.

"It"s not exactly creepy," I said to Connor as we walked from the car to the rows of chairs set out by the funeral home. The afternoon air felt sticky and hot, just like every other day this summer.

"No. I think you and I moved beyond creepy a while ago. It"s almost like cemeteries are a ticking time bomb. Like, how soon before someone will show up or something like that?"

"Pushing our luck."

"Right." I squeezed his hand. "Well, me at least. The drugs should work here, too."

Connor squeezed my hand back and led me over to my family. We walked over the stone paths between headstones. The graveside service only included my family and the minister from the church. I doubt he even knew Ruth, seeing as how she had been in the hospital for so many years. I sat next to my mother, who gave me a quick hug and Connor a tight smile. "Thanks for coming," she said.

He lifted our tangled hands off my lap. "Of course. I know Ruth was important to the family."

I ignored the look of concern on my mother"s face. Her worry was justified. Connor hurt me, but now that Charlotte had moved on, I felt confident we would get back on track.

"Good afternoon," the minister said. He mopped the sweat off his forehead with a white handkerchief. "I know Ruth had a special place in this family. She struggled for many years with her health and well-being. During our many talks, she always made it clear you each held a special place in her heart." He glanced up and smiled. "Especially you, Jeannie. You filled her with so much joy and she was so proud of your accomplishments."

Apparently, I was wrong about the minister knowing Ruth. No one in our family had much connection to religion as far as I knew, so hearing Ruth spent time with the minister proved surprising. My mother clasped Jeannie"s hand and they both blotted away tears. Fumbling in my purse, I pulled out a pack of tissues. They had barely left my hand for my mother"s when I saw her.

Charlotte.

Leaning against a statue across the cemetery. Her eyes narrowed in a hard stare, but her mouth quirked in the slightest of grins. She posed innocently under a large, stone angel. On instinct, my fingers tightened around Connor"s.

"What?" he whispered under the minister"s words. His eyes flicked in the direction of the angel, but registered nothing.

"Um..." I stumbled, looking back and seeing nothing. She had disappeared. "Just being weird, I guess."

I shivered and Connor wrapped an arm around me, rubbing my arm. Ruth tried to warn me. Charlotte had not pa.s.sed over. Solving the mystery of her death did not release her. She wanted something more.

There?

Hey I"m outside Where?

Outside, outside.

Here?

Either let me in or come down.

Hold on...

Connor continued to type as he opened the door. I sucked back a cough at his appearance. In the shadows, I noticed his threadbare T-shirt and plaid cotton pajama pants, hung just a little too low on his hips.

"You okay?" he asked, leaning one arm against the side of the door and yawning.

I nodded. "Yeah. I just needed to get out of the house. Too many relatives. Is this okay?" I glanced around the porch. The lights were off when I drove up, all but the one by the backdoor.

"Come on." He took my hand and led me through the dark kitchen, past the living room and up the stairs.

"Where are your parents?" I whispered.

"Out. A fundraiser or something. Don"t worry though. They won"t notice. Plus, Emma"s asleep." I followed him quietly through the house. When we got to his room, he shut the door to his behind us. "I"m glad you came over whatever the reason."

He wrapped one arm around my waist while his hand stayed on mine, fingers woven together. I peered over his shoulder at his room. The only light came from his stereo against the wall and the open window. It was completely trashed this time. My unannounced visit didn"t give him time to clean up. I looked up at Connor and saw the intensity in his eyes. The difference from my last visit and now vibrated between us, in the energy coming off our limbs and the flickered, fluttering of my heart. We weren"t the same people as we were two months ago. Things had changed us. Charlotte changed us.

His hands grasped my face and he kissed me. A little sloppy and rough. Breaking the tension of our time apart. I kissed him back, feeling the coa.r.s.e hair on his chin scratch against my mouth. This made me kiss him harder, wanting to feel something other than the nightmare I"d been floating in for the last several hours.

Charlotte did not pa.s.s over. I saw her in that cemetery and Ruth"s final words to me were correct. She wanted something from me. My body. She wanted to take possession of my body and continue on in this realm. I was replaceable.

Connor ran his hands down my arms eliciting a chill that traveled from my neck to my back. "Can I stay here tonight?" I asked. I just wanted to be near him in case tonight was our last chance.

"Sure," he said. I turned away from his questioning look and climbed into his bed. Forward, but what did I have to lose? This may be my last night alive as a human, I wanted to spend it with him.

He paused, but being a boy he didn"t hesitate long about the sudden appearance of a girl in his bed and climbed in right behind me, pulling me close. Tears filled my eyes when he sighed in my ear. Content.

Maybe he wouldn"t notice the change. Maybe he could have the best of both worlds, my body and Charlotte"s mind. I pushed that horrible thought aside and snuggled closer to the warmth of his chest.

"We"ve got to figure out how to balance all this, you know," he whispered. I nodded in agreement, not trusting myself to speak. "We can"t let someone divide us again. There has to be a way for us to remain true to ourselves and not crumble under their manipulation." His thumb swiped over my cheek and I felt a tear smear across my skin. In the shadowy dark of his room, I avoid his concerned eyes and kissed him again, sweeter this time.

"I"m being weird," I said after we broke apart.

"You"re allowed to be weird. Things have been a lot less than normal lately." He wrapped his arms around me tight, barely giving me room to breathe. "I"m here for you and I"m not going away again no matter what. From now on, we fight these demons together."

I fought a laugh. Demon was a better word in some cases. Demons tried to ruin your life and suck out your soul. "I trust you," I said, but trust in this situation was irrelevant because what I faced had nothing to do with Connor and his word. I was the liar. I hadn"t told him about Charlotte still being here or my plan. I rolled over, pressing my back into his chest and closed my eyes, faking my own drowsiness while I waited for his breathing to even.

"I love you, Jane Watts," he whispered in my ear. I froze, terrified if I responded I would break, revealing everything to him.

I fell asleep anyway. I woke with her voice in my head. A low whisper instructing me where to go and how to find her.

I moved quietly without disturbing the bed, but one glance across the mattress proved my sneakiness futile. I placed a hand on the sheets. The other side of the bed felt cool to the touch. Connor must have left a while ago.

I cursed him for abandoning me once again, even though my intentions had been the same. Connor Jacobs and I had issues. Too bad we wouldn"t get the chance to deal with them directly. Not if Charlotte succeeded.

I grabbed my shoes and opened his door, tiptoeing barefoot down the dark hallway. I was almost to the stairway when I heard a door open behind me. I froze.

"Jane?" Emma whispered. I turned and saw her long dark hair against the light in her room.

"Hey, Emma," I replied, feeling guilty and a little trashy sneaking out of her brother"s room in the middle of the night.

"He left already," she said. "I heard his car start up."

Not that I had time to chase Connor around, but I asked, "Did he take anything with him? Did he look..."

"Crazy?" she asked. "No. And I know he isn"t crazy. Neither are you."

"Thanks?"

"You"re welcome. I don"t know where he went."

"Okay," I said and turned to leave.

On the top step, Emma called my name. "One thing I do know," she said, "is he was talking to someone. Someone I couldn"t see."