From the ethereal space, I did the only thing I could do and watch as Joselyn assisted Rhea, holding the washcloth to her wounded temple. The white cloth quickly turned red as it became saturated with blood, and for a second, I thanked the powers that be for keeping her alive for as long as it had.

I closed my eyes and made a quick wish that we'd have enough time to get the help we needed.

Rhea's eyes remained closed, but I sensed her pain as we shared it. The intense pressure squeezed the circumference of my skull like a vice, and I wept for her. Out of curiosity, I placed my hand on my own temple, allowing my fingers to briefly examine and compare the wound.

"I'm dying." The words dribbled from Rhea's lips. "So tired."

I expected chaos and panic, but Jos just stared, pressing Rhea's hand to the washcloth to secure it against the wound. She refused to blink for several seconds as she took in the horrific sights around her. I, too, took in the contrast of bright red against stark white as the harsh spatters and smears painted the scene in utter terror. I knew the scene was enough to cause anyone to conquer some sort of shock.

How else would one describe the view? A crimson nightmare.

I crouched to get on their level, keeping my eyes locked onto Rhea's. "Tell Jos to call for help." When Rhea's bloodshot eyes landed on mine, I resorted to ghost Nolan's tactic and brought my fingers to my ear to mime answering a phone. "Tell her to call an ambulance or call someone, anyone to help." I emphasized help with my mouth.

Rhea's eyes narrowed in confusion. "My phone? Nolan has my phone."

I wondered if Rhea was communicating that info to me, thinking I didn't know, or to Jos to get her to act and find her phone or use her own. Either way, I glanced to Jos to see if she could snap out of it.

I couldn't determine what the look on Joselyn's face meant, what it conveyed. I wasn't sure if fright or shock was the only thing that seized her or what. It was hard to read, especially because I've never seen her out of her comfort zone. But as soon as she burst through that door, she was forced out of her element and thrust into a nightmare. She usually shimmied around with her bubbly attitude, lively, optimistic, and full of energy. She had always seemed willing to aid and assist, as that was part of her job title for years. It was as if aiding and assisting was not only part of her job or routine, but part of her DNA. But now I couldn't recognize her.

She followed Rhea's line of sight. "Who are you talking to?"

Rhea lifted a bloodstained finger to point to me. I looked back and forth from Rhea to Jos and stood, but Jos's eyes didn't follow as I had hoped.

"She..." Rhea started, moaning in pain. "She's helping me."

"Who's helping you?" Jos shook her head, looking straight through me. Her perfectly shaped eyebrows did somersaults as she searched the room with her eyes.

"My ghost." Rhea met my gaze. "Don't you see?"

Jos stood and with her eyes followed the trail of blood back to where Nolan's body lay. "Are you saying you killed Nolan and your ghost helped?"

I shook my head even though Jos couldn't see or hear me. "No, Joselyn. Listen to her."

"He tried to kill—" A coughing fit took the words right out of her mouth, so I tried to continue for her.

"Nolan did this to her, to us. He tried to kill me, Jos." I gestured to the wound, wishing she could see, hear, or somehow sense me. "Help her already! She's dying."

I hated seeing another version of me, my physical form, aware yet hunched over on the floor in pain and sitting in a mixture of Nolan's blood and her own, pressing a washcloth to an ugly, gaping gash on the side of her head.

Surreal couldn't even describe it.

But what had to be worse was standing around watching as my assistant and friend looked at her dying friend in shock and awe but not call for help.

"What is going on with you, Rhea?" Joselyn shook her head as a stream of tears streaked down her face, leaving streaks of dark brown eye makeup on her cheeks. "You killed him!"

"No, no." I shook my head and waved my hands around to protest.

"What happened, huh? You couldn't handle that he wanted to manage my career alongside yours?" She ran her hands over her face, wiping away the stream of tears. "I don't know why I even told you about that. I should've kept it to myself and just let him tell you when he was ready. Now you went and killed him."

"Jos, no." Rhea struggled with her words. "He...lashed out first."

"He texted me about a half hour ago," she went on. Her eyes changing shape from sad, nervous, and confused every second she talked. "It was as if he knew you were gonna attack him and wanted to name his killer."

"Wha—?" Rhea looked to me, begging, and pleading with her eyes. "No."

I had no idea what Jos was talking about but the look in Rhea's eyes told me I needed to do something, anything to help her. Had Nolan really texted her and made it look like Rhea tried to kill him unprovoked?

"I don't know what to do," Jos went on, this time pacing back in forth in front of Rhea. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Help," Rhea and I blurted out at the same time.

"But look at you." Jos shook her head. "You're insane, Rhea. You're seeing things. Ghosts that tell you to kill, and you want me to help you?"

While Joselyn went on, I rushed to the pile of items lying on the floor near the main door. Among the objects were lip gloss, a compact mirror, chewing gum and bottles of liquid foundation and nail polish that spilled from the small handbag. But what my eyes lingered on was Joselyn's cell phone.

It lay among the items screen down. The pink rhinestones on the protective case highlighted Joselyn's flashy personality and distinctly tied her to her property. I fell to my knees, getting as close to the phone as possible, extending my fingers to touch it. If she wasn't going to get it and call for help, maybe I'd do it myself.

Jos went on, her voice rising as her words tumbled from her lips. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I can't believe you killed Nolan. Did you beat him with that trophy? Is that what happened? I can only imagine what you would do to me."

"He hit me first," Rhea managed. She didn't even bother opening her eyes to speak.

"With your phone?" Jos went on, pacing back and forth, being careful to avoid the puddles of blood near her. "You already told me, but I thought you would have forgiven him by now. I didn't think once I leave you guys alone, you would go and bash his head in."

"No. You're ... not listening."

I wanted to scream to Jos again to listed to Rhea, but instead I ignored them and placed my sole focus on the phone just like I had the washcloth and the glass trophy before. This time the rigid plastic rhinestones were cold on my fingertips. The words, "You can do this," repeated over and over in my head as I pushed against the cold plastic to move the phone an inch.

"I knew you could do it," Rhea said, pointing to me. Had I been hearing her thoughts and words of encouragement that had somehow transported to my mind? "See? You, see?"

Jos didn't say a word she only stared at the phone. Had she seen it move? Maybe she was waiting to see what Rhea meant. Now was my chance to convince her. To show her that we were not crazy, and this was really happening.

Again, I placed my fingers against the phone and gave it a push that sent the phone sliding across the white tiles only to stop against Joselyn's foot.

She stared but refused to pick it up, taking a step back instead. "You got to be kidding me."

"See?" Rhea's breathing was labored. "Believe me... now?"

She placed her fingers to the thin blond hairs near her temple, closed her eyes and shook her head as if that action would cause her to wake up from a nightmare upon opening her eyes. When she opened them again, she stared directly at the phone. "No, this is ridiculous."

"The ghost is me," Rhea explained. "She was warning me. Nolan was dangerous."

I stood, getting Rhea's attention. "Is dangerous." Instinct told me to look around for any sign of his ghost as we mentioned him. I was afraid that even thinking his name would somehow conjure him. Wherever he was, he could stay there for all I cared.

Jos finally retrieved the cell phone and examined it cautiously. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Believe me," Rhea pleaded.

"Look at this and then tell me what you would believe." She tapped the screen of her phone before shoving it in Rhea's face. I approached to see the text message from Nolan. A cryptic message saying, "Rhea did it." Sent around thirty minutes ago. He must've sent it in the seconds before we ended him. "This doesn't sound like self-defense to me."

She had a point, but she had to give us the benefit of the doubt. She knew me. She should know I would never fatally hurt someone, especially the man I thought I loved, in cold blood.

When Rhea looked up at Jos, I knew exactly what was going through her mind. But she voiced it before I could. "You're gonna...let me die?"

"I—I don't know what to do." Jos threw her hands up.

"What kind of answer is that?" I shook my head, seeing the bullshit a mile away. "What's wrong with you, Jos? What have I ever done to you to deserve this?"

"Why?" Rhea panted, keeping eye contact. "Why, Jos?"

"All I ever wanted was to begin my acting career." She stared, and I no longer recognized the look in her eyes. Vacant. Distant. Empty. "He was my connection to the rest of my life, to my wish fulfillment, to my destiny. And you took that from me."

"You bitch!" I shouted, my voice echoing throughout the space but not strong enough to break through dimensions to affect her. The anger in me boiled and I channeled all my radiating pain and rushed to the scattered items on the floor. I kicked the bottles and the lip gloss in her direction. "You fake..." I kicked the compact, "selfish..." the mirror bounced from my shoe and soared through the air, "...bitch!" There went the pack of gum too.

I had always strived to be a good person, aware that my actions had reactions. And like the laws of karma required, I intended to express good so it would return to me. But even good girls had their breaking point.

Jos screamed as each item launched at her. She squirmed where she stood, dodging, and blocking most of the blows, but her wide, frightened eyes and screams were enough to satisfy my anger. "What's happening? What are you doing, Rhea?"

Rhea took in a deep breath. "She's pissed," she managed before collapsing to the tiles.

~~~

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