The ride back to my parents was quiet, not that I could've talked if I wanted to, except for my mom's sobbing. My dad pulled up to the intersection in the center of town and looking drove into the intersection. Out of nowhere a semi blew through the intersection just as my dad stomped on the brake. I went flying forward, through the seat, through my dad, and landed on the road fifty feet free the car. I looked back at my dad and he was craning his head around as if he was searching for something. My first thought was that he was looking for the truck then I remembered I had to go through him to get to the road. He must have felt me as I did. After a few more seconds they sped off through the intersection and were gone before I could move. I stood in the middle of the road looking around when suddenly I spotted the truck coming back down the road through toward the intersection. just before it hit me I jumped backward onto the curb but tripped and fell. I hit my head on the ground hard and my eyes went black again.

I woke up in complete darkness. Looking around I realized I was at the intersection and the almost accident came rushing back. I started to sit up and froze. Without looking I sensed someone was coming near me, then I heard the footsteps. I looked to my left and saw a shadow walking down the sidewalk, just by the walk I could tell it was a guy. He stepped into a streetlight and froze.
"What's your name?" The guy called, stepping towards me. I jumped to my feet and involuntarily taking a step back and tripped over the curb. He held his hands up in a non-threatening gesture and kept walking toward me. "I won't hurt you, I just want to help." He was only five feet away from me now and I recognized him as Jared Rynell. We had gone to school together for a few years before we graduated, he was killed in a car accident a few months ago. He squinted while looking at me and suddenly his face filled with recognition. "You're Kaylyn Richardson rig ht? We went to school together our junior and senior years." I was shocked he knew me, I had always thought he never even knew I'd existed. I wasn't the most popular or friendliest person in high school. In fact I was a spoil self-centered know-it-all brat.
"Um yeah." I said finally. He smiled a little.
"I always wanted to get to know you back then but always thought you were way out of my league. You were always so friendly and nice to everyone." Jared said still smiling. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He must have been mistaking me for Katelyn Marcelo, the most popular girl in school. "You still have that same half frown and fearful yet carefully hidden light in your eyes." Jared said breaking through my thoughts and I knew he wasn't mistaking me for anyone.
"Thank you." I said, the statement came out more like a question since I wasn't sure if it was a compliment.
"How...how did you die?” He asked suddenly.
"My throat was, um, slit." I said after a minute. The next thing I knew his arms were around me in a tight hug.
"I am so sorry. That is a horrible way to die and nobody deserves to go through that pain, especially you." Jared said sadly. Suddenly he let go of me and held me by my shoulders. "Do you want to go back to my place?" He asked nodding towards the streets behind me. I hesitated and suddenly he laughed. "Come on." He said grabbing my hand and leading me down the street. We walked three blocks and then he stopped in front of a huge apartment building. Walking up the front steps he unlocked the first door and held it open for me. I walked inside I was thrown from semi light into complete and utter darkness.

I heard the door click softly behind me and then Jared was holding my hand again and leading me through the room. We stopped a minute later.
"Close your eyes, the light is very bright." Jared whispered from behind me. I jumped slightly when his hand brushed across my back as he went to turn on the light. Even with my eyes closed I could see the blinding light. Slowly I opened them and stared around the room with my mouth agape. I stood in a room that looked as though a king should live in it.
"Wow." I whispered as I walked through the room, my hand brushed the couch. It was as soft as a newborn puppy's fur. I heard Jared chuckle once behind me and spun around to face him. "What's so funny?" I asked suddenly defensive.
Jared held his hands up like he did earlier and making his face impassive said, "Nothing. I was just thinking that you looked like one of my other friends the first time I brought her here. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed." He collapsed into a chair beside him and threw his legs over the arm getting comfortable. "Make yourself at home." He added as he turned on the flat screen TV on the opposite wall.
I suddenly felt like a horrible guest and headed toward the door. "I'm sorry. I can't stay, I have a job to do." I said making something up as I opened the door.
"I know what the job is and I'm the only one who can help you Kaylyn. That's why I was sent to find you." Jared said as he suddenly appeared behind me, shutting the door while I hesitated.
I turned and looked at him, waiting for an explanation but he just let go of the door and walked back to his chair. "How do you know what my job is? And who sent you?" I asked finally even though I didn't know what my job was.
Jared laughed. "I know what your job is because I was sent to help you complete it. As for who sent me that should be obvious." He said staring at the TV. I wanted to go over and slap that horrid smile off of his face but instead I stood by the door with my hands clenched. "Oh and if you leave here you won't get far before you will be taken and will never be able to do your job. Not everyone here was...sent by my boss. There are ones here who are only in it for themselves and will take advantage of a beautiful girl like yourself. Please sit down and make yourself at home Kaylyn, I'm not going to hurt you." Jared added looking over the back of his chair at me. I stood there for a moment longer then, with a scowl on my face, went to sit on the couch across the room from him. We didn't talk for the rest of the night, instead we just sat and watched TV. Suddenly the lights flickered and all the power in the room went off. I heard Jared curse and then a candle was lit right in front of my face. "Take this and follow me." Jared said, his face was right in front of mine and I flinched away from him. He stood up quickly, shaking his head angrily, and walked away. I jumped up and followed him out of the room and into the hallway. He stood at the front door waiting for me then bounded up the stairs. He was out of sight before I could catch him.
"Jared wait." I whispered as I carefully ascended the stairs. He appeared at the top and waited for me to catch up with him then took my hand and led me down the hallway above. "Where are we going?" I asked as we started up the next set of stairs.
"The fuse box is at the top of the apartment. The only way to get the power back on in my apartment is to flip the breaker." Jared whispered back. I wasn't sure why he was trying to be so quiet until I tripped on one of the steps. I slammed my knee against the wooden stair, the noise echoed throughout the building and suddenly there were footsteps on the stairs below us and voices. "Hurry up." Jared hissed pulling me back to my feet. He ran down the next hall and then slipped into a room beside us just as the voices reached the top of the stairs.
"You two go down that way, the rest of you come with me." A voice said roughly. I opened the door slightly and peered out but before I could see anything I was being ripped backward.
"What the heck are you doing?" Jared hissed at me. "Are you trying to be sent below?" He sounded scared when he said the last sentence and I couldn't help but wonder why.
"I'm sorry but I am trying to figure out who the heck is coming after us and why." I said throwing his hand off my shirt. The footsteps were right outside the door now and Jared threw his hand over my mouth to stop my next words. As the footsteps moved farther away I bit down on Jared's hand as hard as I could. He pulled it away from my mouth quickly and uttered a yelp.
"What the heck was that for!" He practically screamed at me. "I'm trying to protect you and you bite me?" Suddenly the door flew open and arms were pulling me and Jared out into the hall. We tried to fight back but it was a worthless effort. I was thrown to the floor, my head slamming into the wall. Everything that I could see went fuzzy and then black. The voices started fading away as I lost consciousness for the second time today.

The first thing I heard when I became conscious again were voices. I tried to open my eyes but couldn't see anything. Suddenly I realized there was a blindfold over my eyes.
"Kaylyn are you awake?" A voice, I recognized as Jared's, asked. I felt his hands behind me and realized we were tied together.
"I guess so. Where are we?" I asked suddenly worried.
I felt Jared shake his head and then he whispered, "I have no idea. After they pulled us out of the closet they placed blindfolds over our eyes and dragged us away. Before we got to far though I knocked one out and crippled another. I tried to get us free Kaylyn I really did." He sounded ashamed of himself.
I sighed, "It's alright. If I wasn't so easily knocked out I would've been able to help too. As it was you were fighting at least four guys at once on your own." I said. My hand closed around his briefly and then I dropped it. There were footsteps coming from somewhere in front of me, I couldn't tell where though since everything echoed off the walls.
"Sir she's awake." A voice said as the owner of it ripped off my blindfold. I closed my eyes against thee bright light before I could see the guys face. When I opened them again three guys stood before me talking in whispers and I couldn't hear what they were saying. I reached for Jared's hand again but he was gone.
"Looking for your friend little girl?" One of the guys asked suddenly standing right in front of me. I pulled my face away from his and turned it to the side. Suddenly he grabbed my face and wrenched it back forward again. "Don't you turn away from me when I'm speaking to you." He hissed, his breathe smelled like rotten eggs and flesh and I fought thee urge to vomit. A hand fell on the man's shoulder and he pulled away from me.
This time a girl knelt down before me. "I'm Harper. What's your name?" She asked feigning sweetness. I stared back at her, my face impassive and my eyes blank. "Bring thee boy." She could to someone behind her. There were footsteps and then Jared was standing beside the woman. "If you answer my questions your friend won't be harmed but for every time you ignore me he will get pushed deeper into thee ground and a finger will be broken." She said, then she reached behind me and untied my hands. I rubbed my wrists and stared at her. "Stand up, you must be very uncomfortable sitting on the stone floor." I looked over at Jared and he nodded once. Slowly I got to my feet and rubbed my wrists.
"Where are we?" I asked looking around the room.
The woman held out her hand and waved it around the room. "This is my....house." She said smiling slightly. "Now I'm going to ask again what is your name?"
I almost looked at Jared again but knew he was going to tell me to answer the questions. "Kaylyn." I said finally. I heard Jared sigh and looked over to see his eyes close sadly. He didn't want me to answer the questions, he really was trying to protect me.
"Well Kaylyn you have caused us quite a problem." The woman said calmly. I looked at her with confusion. "You don't know what's happening?" she asked when she saw my confusion.
"No. I don't even know where I am or anything. The last thing I know that happened for sure was that my throat was slit." I answered slowly. The woman looked at everyone around her and then lashed out on the closest man to her.
"I thought you told me this was the girl that attacked HIM!" She screamed.
"I-I th-thought she w-was." The man stuttered fearfully. The woman closed her eyes and pushed the man away from her. He fell in to the guy holding Jared and then all h*ll broke lose. Jared attacked the other men around him and then tackled the woman. He grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the door that they brought him from. As we ran there was a lot of screaming and then we were being chased. We ran as hard and fast as we could but I wasn't coordinated enough and kept stumbling. Then my foot hit a large rock and I fell face first. The first thing I registered was shock at the fact that I could still breath then I registered pain. Everything got fuzzy again as I struggled to keep my eyes open but I wasn't strong enough. I could hear Jared yelling and fighting then I felt him pick me up and start running again. I was out again before he went more than twenty steps.

“Kaylyn come on, you have to wake up.” Jared's voice drifted to me through the fog clouding my brain. I tried to open my eyes but they were too heavy.
“Jared.” I mumbled. A wet cloth ran across my face and I pulled away sharply when it touch my nose.
“I'm here Kaylyn. Can you open your eyes?” Jared whispered in my ear, his breath was warm and smelled like spices as it drifted over me. I tried to open my eyes again and was able to blink once or twice before they fell shut again. “Come on Kaylyn, you have to open your eyes and stay awake.” Jared whispered into my ear again.
“I'm trying.” I tried to say but my throat was so dry and thick with mucus that my words came out more like a gurgle.
“Drink this.” Jared whispered. I felt the cold edge of a glass against my lips and opened my mouth slightly. The cold trickle of water running down my throat made me shiver as if I had just stepped out of a cold shower. The coldness made my eyes open again but instead of them falling shut they started flying all over the room, trying to figure out where I was.
I tried to sit up but Jared pushed my shoulder gently back onto the bed I was lying on. “Don't try to move. You're covered in bruises and bleeding from your nose still.” He said, his voice sounded lighter and more calmer.
I found his face in the near darkness and couldn't help but smile. “Where are we?” I asked looking around again.
“At a safe house I set aside for times like this. No one knows where it is so we're perfectly safe.” He added when he saw the alarm in my eyes.
I tried to sit up again and this time Jared didn't stop me. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and then stood up saying, “I need some time alone. This is all completely new to me and I need to think. I'm going for a walk.” I headed to the door on the opposite wall but Jared grabbed my arm.
“It's raining, you might want an umbrella.” Was all he said when I turned and glared at him. I nodded and left. Outside everything was soaked. I walked through the streets and for the first time noticed how different everything was. I still couldn't believe that I'd only been dead for two days and already I was under the “protection” of a boy, knocked out three times, kidnapped, and hurt in ways I'd never thought possible for ghosts. As I walked I heard voices coming from a bar down the road and walked to it. The door was open and I bunch of guys were hanging around out front. They couldn't see me but for some reason I felt apprehensive. I stood listening to the guys make jokes and laugh until suddenly I heard another voice. I pushed through the group outside until I was just inside the doors. Looking around I spotted the owner of the voice that drew me inside. My sixteen year old brother stood at a pool table across the room. He was surrounded by a bunch of people, mostly girls, but I would've recognized him immediately. Although he had shaved his head until he had a mohawk and it was dyed a dark brown maybe even black color. It was a huge contrast to the bright blonde hair he'd had all his life. As I watched a girl sauntered up to him and, wrapping her arms around him, pushed him back against the table. She was so close to him I couldn't tell who's arms and legs were who's. She kissed him for so long and so hard I thought he would pass out from lack of air. Without thinking I walked quickly across the room and slammed my hands into her side. My hands went straight through her and I fell to the floor. I slowly stood up and stared at my brother. This wasn't the kid I'd known my entire life. This was a total stranger to me now. I raced across the bar and out into the fresh air before I could do anything else. I started walking away from the bar, in the opposite direction I'd come, and found myself near the docks. As I stood there looking out over the ocean I saw a group of guys cluster around a car smoking. As soon as I saw them I knew who they were. Or at least who one of them was. The guy who killed me. I felt anger and hatred boiling up inside of me and took off running back towards the safe house. When I got there I threw myself into Jared's arms and sat there crying.
After awhile he whispered, “Kaylyn what happened?” his hands were soft as he ran them through my hair and down my back.
I sat up and looked at him. “I saw my brother in a bar tonight. He had this girl wrapped around him and he didn't look like my brother anymore. Then when I left there I went to the docks. That's when I saw him.” My voice caught on the last word. I took a steadying breath then continued. “He was standing around a car with a bunch of guys smoking. Even as far away from him as I was I still knew who he was. I would recognize his face and body anywhere.”
“Who was he?” Jared asked after a minute.
“My ex-boyfriend.” I answered then buried my head into his shirt as the tears started again. He sank down onto the bed and held me. Finally the tears stopped and I drifted off to sleep with his arms still around me.