"Megan?" Eli stared at her from across the table. "You're supposed to eat your meatloaf, not impale it continuously."

Megan sighed, letting the prongs of her fork stay stabbed into her square of meatloaf. "Sorry, Uncle Eli."

"You seem a little upset," he frowned, "something wrong? Did you not have a good time at Walter's?"

Megan pursed her lips. "I had a great time, actually."

"Oh..." He shook his head slightly, "then what's the matter?"

"It's just Noah," Megan exhaled, "he was a little off. And I told him to call when he got home but he hasn't. What if he doesn't call, Uncle Eli??"

Eli didn't have an answer for her but he took a quick sip of ice water and tried to give one. "He's probably just got something on his mind. Don't worry about it, Meg."

"No," she bit her lip, "you don't understand he was... I can't explain it. It all started when U -Uh- Mr. Walter gave Noah Dad's pen. And then-"

Eli banged his hand into the table. "He gave him Roland's pen?? I knew this would happen!" He tugged at the hair behind his ear, frustrated. "I knew that Walter would see the Roland and Noah and just assume he'd be like him! The last thing Chief wants is his son to be anything like my brother!!" Fire danced in his light green eyes.

All Megan could do was stare at her uncle as he caught his breath. When he seemed quiet enough she tried to speak. "U-uncle Eli?"

"I'm sorry, Meg," Eli swallowed, "I just... You know how I feel about Walter." She nodded slowly. "Anyway, what were you trying to say? I'm sorry I interrupted."

Megan frowned. "Uncle Eli? Besides Pranking and listening to Dad's theories, why do you hate him so much? What else did he do?"

"I didn't hate Walter because of the pranking; though it was extremely annoying. I don't hate anyone, let's be clear on that?" She blushed. "It's just that Walter and Roland annoyed the heck out of me."

"Because of the pranking?" She asked.

"Because of the pranking." He tugged on his hair again. "I guess you don't know what it's like to have a younger sibling." She looked down at her dinner plate. "Yeah," he sighed, "it's probably a good thing you don't know."

"I know you don't have a lot of stories, Uncle Eli," Megan pulled her fork out of her meatloaf. "But could you tell me one of their pranks? Please?"

"Megan?" He raised an eyebrow, "is that really something you want to hear about?"

She nodded, twirling the fork around in her hands. "If they annoyed you so much, I at least want to know why."

"Okay," he exhaled slowly, "I guess that you're right; I did keep this from you for several years."

"Exactly," her eyes twinkled. "So spill."

It took him a couple of seconds to think of one, but then he looked up at her. "Okay, if I have to say the best prank, it would be because it brought Chief and me together."

"Dad's prank brought you and Chief together?"

Eli nodded. "it's a good story I guess. But it was still an annoying prank. Roland was the mastermind of most of the pranks, and Walter was the one who helped execute them; his forging skills are almost scary. One time I got called to the principal's office because of a letter insulting the student body president. It didn't look good for me because I was the captain of the football team. But I didn't write that letter."

"Walter did?"

"Yep," Eli frowned, "it was an uncanny resemblance to my handwriting but I wouldn't insult the school President."

"What did it say?" She asked.

"It was straight to the point," Eli answered, "a complaint on how the president couldn't do his job, used school funds for useless projects, and was probably dating the math teacher."

"What??" Megan had to hold onto the table.

"Did I not mention your dad was trouble?" Eli rolled his eyes. "The rumors about the math teacher were very obviously false, but I had to constantly tell the principal that I didn't do it. Finally, she decided to let me off easy with an apology to the president. Which was Chief if you haven't caught that."

"I caught that," Megan smiled, "so what happened next?'

"I told Chief that it wasn't me that wrote those things about him; that being a leader myself I knew how hard it could be to have responsibilities. Unlike the principal he believed me -he'd heard about Roland and Walter before- and so we worked together to trick them to meet us under the bleachers. I wasn't very good at intimidating my brother, or Walter; they knew me too well. But they'd never met Chief before." He started to chuckle, "Let's just say they got the message quickly. And ever since then Chief and I have been good friends."

"Besides what happened with Kari," Megan pointed out.

Eli winced. "Yes. But now we're friends again."

Megan stretched her arms up to the dining room ceiling. "I'm glad one of their pranks gave you a good friend."

"But you agree it was annoying, don't you?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I think they were high school boys? Walter's not immature anymore."

"I guess that's true." He sighed. "So, what happened with N-"

The phone ringing made Megan spring up from her chair.

Because of her socks, she nearly slid past the bureau in the hallway but caught the edge of it just in time and pulled herself to the phone. Taking a deep breath, she picked it up and held it to her ear. "Hello?? Noah??"

All she could hear was low shuddering.

"Noah...?"

"...Meg..."

Megan bit her lip. He sounded terrible. "Noah, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No," he struggled to speak, "but c-could you come over for a little bit? I n-need someone to talk to."

"Of course," she pursed her lips, "I'll ask Uncle Eli-"

"Ask me what?" Eli frowned at the dining room doorway, "something wrong?"

"Yes, just a minute, Noah." Megan set the phone in her hand. "Uncle Eli, could I stay the night with Noah?"

"With Noah?" His eyebrows furrowed, "just the two of you? Megan, I don't think that's a good idea."

Megan sighed, lifting the phone to her lips. "I'll call you back, Noah."

"S-sure..."

Megan hung up the phone, looking up at her uncle. "Could I please spend the night, Uncle Eli? They have a guest room."

"Megan, if someone was there with you I wouldn't have a problem with it but..." He breathed out slowly, "This is different."

"I know it is." She didn't want to use the excuse, especially when Eli would be more than ready to accept it. But she had no choice; Noah couldn't be alone; she never should've left him after Walter's, and now she had a second chance.

"Noah..." She held a finger to her temple, tapping it slightly. "Doesn't sound well."

"Oh..." Eli raised an eyebrow. "Can I talk to him?"

Megan moved away from the landline, quickly giving Eli the number. Eli nodded and moved over to the phone. She couldn't hear her friend from the other line, but Eli's grim expression made it obvious that he answered.

He turned to her quickly. "Go upstairs and pack a bag. Harry will take you."

Megan nodded, rushing up the stairs to her bedroom...
...

"Noah?" Megan knocked on the door as Harry backed out of the small driveway. The sky was just turning from grey to black and a few stars could be seen faintly if she squinted her eyes hard enough. But her goal wasn't to see stars, it was to check on her best friend.

"Noah!" She tried the door again.

Finally, she heard a quiet, "Who's there?"

Megan rolled her eyes. "Maybe your best friend? The one you're expecting? Come open the door!"

"I...I can't."

She pursed her lips, trying not to be annoyed. "Just get up and open the door!"

"I said I can't, Megan!" Noah groaned, "Just use my bedroom window!"

Megan narrowed her eyes at the front door. "You mean that your latch is still broken??"

"Do you want in or not?!"

Megan rolled her eyes, walking off the porch and to the right side of the house. Looking up at Noah's window, sure enough, the metal latch was barely attached to the window. She grumbled, looking down at the full containers of meatloaf with gravy and two pieces of moist chocolate cake. Carefully balancing the containers in one hand, she picked up the window and stuck one of her legs in, then the other.

When she was in his room she nearly fell forward but held tightly to the containers in her hand. "Noah, where are you??"

"Dining room..." He shakily replied.

Pursing her lips in annoyance, she headed for the kitchen/dining room.

Noah's house wasn't small, but it wasn't big either. It was white vinyl with a porch swing, mostly the same as the other houses in that suburb. There were three bedrooms: Chief's, Noah's, and the guest room. And then there was one bathroom, one washroom, and a small office where Chief worked when he was there.

Megan walked down the hallway, hearing Noah shiver. "Why don't you turn the heat on?"

"I'm not cold!" He called back.

Megan stopped at the thermostat in the hallway wall and turned it up a little. "Better?"

"...Yeah!"

She rolled her eyes. I thought you weren't cold! She squinted as she started to enter the dining room. "Noah, why is it so dark-?" She froze in shock.

In the darkness, she found Noah sitting on the linoleum floor, hands on his knees and trembling. His hair looked like it had been struck by lightning, that or he'd just run his hands in it one too many times; it was almost defying gravity.

And he was paler than the white cabinets and refrigerator in the kitchen. His eyes were wide and when he put a smile on his face, he almost looked like a psycho. "Hey, Meg!"

"Um," Megan walked past him to set the containers of food on the kitchen counter, then turned back around and offered a hesitant wave. "Hi, Noah. What's up?"

"Nothing..." He pulled his knees in tighter. "It's kinda dark in here, can you please turn the light on?"

Megan scoffed at the request but walked over to the light switch anyway. When she flipped the switch up, Noah fell backward as if shocked by the light. Megan put a hand on her hip. "Noah Jacob, how long have you been sitting like this??"

He sighed, blinking and covering his eyes as he stood up. "I'm glad you came."

"Yeah," she frowned, "so am I. What's going on with you?"

Noah's hand was still shaking, but he ran it through his hair and walked up to the cabinets. "We should eat first. Why don't you open the cabinet, the bowls are in there."

Megan raised an eyebrow at him. "You're right there, why can't you?"

"You're exactly right," he laughed nervously, "I can just... Open the..." He reached his hand out, not even getting half an inch from the cabinet door, and pulled it behind his back. "Or you could open the cabinet and I could get the bowls out?"

Annoyed, Megan stomped over to the cabinet and threw it open. "I'll just get the bowls." She heard Noah exhale. "Okay," she grabbed two light blue bowls from the cabinet and slammed it shut. "What the heck is going on with you, Noah?"

"With me?" He gulped, running a hand through his hair again.

Megan ignored him, looking around the room. What she saw was the journal where he'd been sitting on the floor, and several papers spread around it. Leaning over them, Megan could see they were written in Noah's handwriting, but it was the same navy colored ink as her dad's journal. He must've used the pen, she thought to herself.

Megan slung her grey backpack off her shoulders, dropping it just next to the pile of journal and papers. "You'd better explain why you're acting like this."

Noah looked down at the shaky notes and started to stack them all together. "W-well, you know how we can see ghosts?" Megan nodded slowly. "Well," he repeated, "Okay, I think it all started when U.W. gave me this." He pulled the fountain pen out from his T-shirt.

Megan raised an eyebrow at it. "What started?"

Noah gulped again. "It's really hard to explain but I'll try. To put it simply, when I touched the pen, I could tell it was Roland's."

Yeah, Megan held onto her arm, you knew because U.W. told you!

"I know you're probably thinking that we were told it was Roland's before I touched it." Megan froze and Noah laughed nervously. "You were, weren't you?" She blushed as he went on. "What I had when I touched the pen was more like a confirmation. Because there were flashes in my head of him using it. And then the last time he wore it was..." He bit his lip, "It was kind of overwhelming, seeing all that stuff? So I had to run out for a little."

Megan had no words. Noah saw her dad using the pen. Her dad died before she was born. She almost felt frustrated by his imagination; it wasn't fair that he thought he could see her dad, even if it wasn't real.

Noah covered his eyes, groaning quietly. "But I shouldn't have left, because when I ran to the bathroom and touched the doorknob, I saw a realtor with your parents, and then even more memories!" He started to shake, "It was hard too, to pull my hand off of that knob? After that the whole time I just wanted to go home. I touched the sidewalk when I fell. And could see them coming to the house with little you! And then I heard that scream," he shivered, "Meg I don't think that's just a dream! And..." He sighed, "it's still happening here."

Megan gritted her teeth together, unsure how to go about this problem. She decided to pull off the container lids and divide the food into the bowls. "I see..."

"Meg no you DON'T!" His snap made her jump a little. "It's so exhausting to see the past. But it won't stop! The only time it hasn't bothered me is when I touch something that never belonged to anyone else." He pulled on his hair, "but the majority of this house; the walls, doors, furniture... It was all here before! Meg, I don't know why this is happening!"

Megan shut the microwave door on both bowls of food. "Something you are?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "That's not funny."

Megan shrugged, turning away from his to set the microwave for a minute and a half. How can I convince him he's not actually seeing anything? What's something he doesn't know anything about?... An idea came to her and she decided to test it. "Noah?"

"Yeah?" He asked nervously.

Megan watched the green numbers on the small microwave screen count down. "If you can see the past. Can you see who lived here before you and your dad?"

His breaths were still shaky, but to her disappointment, he answered. "Yeah, I do. When I touched the front door, that was the first time I saw them. It was a mom, a dad, and a little girl. They all seemed so happy I don't know why they left." He swallowed, "they never put it up for sale. Because it wasn't at the house, I don't know what happened to them."

Megan leaned against the stove, thinking out loud. "So a mom, dad, and a little girl? When did they leave?"

Noah tried to straighten his hair out by combing it with his fingers. He shook his head. "Meg, I don't know. The last thing I've seen recently was them leaving the house; they never came back."

Megan knew the family didn't exist, but she tried hard to figure out what family Noah would be able to think up that had a mother, father, and daughter. There was only one. "Sounds like Genevieve's family." Noah froze in place, eyes wide at her. "What did I say?" Megan frowned.

"Something I didn't think to realize!" He started to pace, hands ruining his hair again. "No, no, no!!"

"What is it?" He didn't respond, still tugging on his hair and walking in a fast circle. She had to walk in front of him and hold her hands on his shoulders to cut off the pacing. "Noah? What is it??"

"Megan," his facial expressions were full of disappointment, "I can't believe I didn't think of that. This is so bad..."

Megan pursed her lips together tightly. "Just because I said it doesn't mean-"

"No," he groaned, "I felt it when you said it. This means that Genevieve's family used to live here, which is why I never see them come back; because they never did. They went camping and never came back, Meg!" He sunk onto the floor, taking Megan with him. "I just don't understand it..." He whispered under his breath, "Why are we so connected?..."

"Okay, Noah," Megan took hold of his arm, pulling him off the floor. "Let's get some supper in you, you look exhausted."

"I am exhausted," he muttered as she dragged him towards the small round table. "But there's so much, and not enough time. I don't know why there's not enough time but feel it, don't you?"

Megan dropped him into a chair, resting her hands on the table; she was getting exhausted herself, having to take care of a fourteen-year-old imaginative child. "Enough time for what?"

He got up out of the chair, eyes sparkling slightly. "Come with me."

"Noah Jacob Seers!" Megan hesitated to walk into the office, knowing it was always off-limits. "Noah, you shouldn't be in there!"

"Just come in, he won't know."

She bit her lip, slowly putting one foot in front of the other. When she was at the doorway she peaked her head into the room and gasped, "You're on his computer?!"

"Yep," Noah shrugged his shoulders, "what Dad doesn't know won't kill him; I'll clear the history to make sure." He spun around in the swivel chair to see Megan's wide hazel eyes. He laughed, "Meg, there aren't any cameras here and I do this all the time! Come on!"

She held onto her hand, joining him at the desk. "What do you want to show me?"

"When you were sick I did some research. Research on just about everything I could but finding information about this stuff is hard." He sighed, "I started with Genevieve. What I found..." He closed his eyes, turning the screen towards her. "Just read it."

Megan had to squint her eyes to see the small newspaper article on a bright computer screen. There was a date at the top: October 16... "Fifteen years ago this Saturday."

Noah nodded with a grim expression. "Read the headline."

Megan rolled her eyes, looking over at the article again. "Little girl nearly drowned in the woods yesterday." She raised an eyebrow, reading the first few sentences out loud and resting her hand on the mouse to scroll down. "On the fifteenth of October little Genevieve was found running to the police station about losing her parents. She was soaked to the bone, claiming she almost drowned in the woods. While we don't know where she managed to find water in the woods, we do know her parents are-"

"Megan you can stop now." Noah took the mouse from her hand, scrolling back to the top. "You saw it, didn't you?"

"Saw?..." She now understood, "Oh, you mean how it was the fifteenth?"

Noah nodded, eyebrows furrowed. "I knew I always hated my birthday for a reason."

"Why?" Megan asked, "Because some little girl almost drowned in the pond?"

"No," his hand shook into a fist, "because we know what actually happened. Genevieve was taken by an evil soul! And..." He closed his eyes again. "After reading that article I tried to find more about her. Parano hid a lot of the information because of what she was like, but I saw this.

All that was on the screen were a few words in black bold lettering; there weren't even pictures.

GENEVIEVE SULLIN (MISSING)
21 YEARS OLD
BORN IN PARANO OCTOBER 15-

Megan pulled away.