As Rhea collapsed to the floor, with the soaking red washcloth cushioning her head, I rushed to her side. Instead of touching her, my transparent hands were unable to shake her awake like I wanted them to do. At the realization of my limitations, my anger boiled into an intense rage that I had no control over.

I howled, releasing a fraction of my frustration. "What's wrong you?" I shouted at Jos, but she didn't react the way I anticipated. I wanted her to scream in fright upon hearing my voice and cry out upon seeing the heated anger in my phantom face, but unfortunately neither occurred. She only stared at Rhea's collapsed body, wide-eyed from shock. Her chest heaving from the seizing panic she seemed to suppress.

Even now, she refused to dial an ambulance or call for any help. And the thought of her phone resting in her palm, slowly draining its battery and becoming a useless hunk of glass and metal infuriated me.

"Rhea?" Joselyn's voice came out low and breathy. "I'm fucked, aren't I?" She pressed her hand to her heart and stared at her scattered possessions that littered the floor. "We all are. Am I right?" She looked around the room. Was she looking for me? Was she talking to me in my ghostly state?

"What's the point now?" she went on. "Why even try when you're dying and Nolan's dead? I'm now part of it. Your fans will hate me. No one will hire me. What's the point?"

"What are you talking about, Jos?" I shook my head at her, the words seeping out through clenched teeth. "I can still make it. I can live if you help me. It's not over. It doesn't have to be the end."

"What's the point anymore?" She glanced back toward the grisly path of blood that led to Nolan's lifeless body. "What's the goddamn point?"

I sneered, watching her give-a-care meter drop before my eyes. "You coward."

"What's the fucking point, Rhea?" Her voice grew as she repeated the question as if she needed an answer. "Huh, you gonna answer me or what?"

She had been talking to me, the conscious, present, spectral form of the Rhea she knew. What did she expect me to say? It's better to be a half-ass hero than a selfish monster? I knew it was too late to convince her to do the right thing. I wasn't sure she recognized what the right thing was anymore, or even cared. The vacancy in her eyes told me her compassion and empathy had vanished along with her dreams of being an A-list actress.

She yelled again. "Answer me? I know you're here. I know you can hear me."

I stood from Rhea's side as she continued to lay laterally on the tiled floor. I moved toward Jos, only stopping when we stood nose to nose. Of course, she didn't react, which further infuriated me.

"If you were able to throw my stuff, you're able to talk to me," she went on. "Come on. Answer me."

All the pain and isolation I had kept pushed down and buried within for so many years, boiled to the surface. I couldn't keep it down even if I tried. I opened my mouth and allowed all my frustration spill out. "What's wrong with you, Jos? Get it the fuck together and pick up the phone. You've been by my side for how long, and suddenly that means nothing? You're just gonna let me die because of your nonexistent acting career?

"Or is this your way of punishing me because Nolan's no longer able to advance your dreams of acting?" I sneered at the tiny freckles on her nose as she peered over her shoulder toward Nolan's body. "You never cared about me, am I right? Just like Nolan. Being at my side was only a means to an end."

Joselyn's knees buckled and she bent to sit on the floor next to Rhea bringing her knees to her chest, not caring about what her fitted dress would expose. A stream of tears flowed down her cheeks while she rocked slightly and hugged her knees.

"No." I pointed an angry finger at her. "You're not allowed to sit and cry, damn it. Get the hell up and face what you've done."

Her sobs violently shook her shoulders, and her sniffles were muffled by the cuff of her elbow as she buried her face in her arm. But there was no mistaking her cries, her pain, possibly even a hint of regret as she folded into herself.

But strangely, just as sudden as her cries began, they abruptly stopped. An eerie silence settled around the space like the false sense of security from the eye of the storm. She sighed and stood, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I just came to check on Nolan after receiving a strange text from him and this is what I found, officer. I didn't call for help immediately because, because... I thought I could revive her. Yea, I tried to help." She nodded, reciting her lines like a scene from a script. "Yea, I tried to stop the bleeding, but it was too late." She nodded again, content with the made-up narrative.

Intense rage bubbled within me like molten iron, and I released the fuming pressure with a guttural growl. "Arrgh!"

Joselyn's scream briefly startled me. And she back away from me, nearly falling to her ass on the floor. My intense gaze settled on her as my chest heaved from the release. Her eyes were now locked onto mine and it sent a satisfying warmth down my spine.

"How dare you?" The words tore from my throat so violently the pain in my head nearly incapacitated me, but I allowed it to fuel me instead.

"Rhea?" She took a few wobbly steps back.

"You're letting me die." The anger was like a drug, intoxicating me and influencing my next move.

"It's too late, Rhea." The fear in Jos's eyes satisfied something inside of me and I wanted more. "It's too late for all of us now. We're all screwed."

I growled again, and this time I felt my very foundation quake. Jos, too, looked around the room as if she felt the earth shudder before her gaze rested upon me again.

"Are you—you gonna hurt me?" she stuttered, her voice trembling with fear that exposed itself through her gawking eyes.

"As soon as I get my hands on you." I rushed forward, arms outstretched to sink my fingers into her flesh. I aimed for her shoulders, but my hands went straight through her, and momentum pulled the rest of through as well.

She gasped in shock which was quickly followed by a nervous chuckle upon realization. "You can't hurt me. I should've known." She cackled again. "You're probably nothing more than a figment of my imagination brought on by stress. Yes, I caught whatever Rhea had. That's all."

I tried to grip her shoulders again, but my translucent fingers passed right through her instead.

I let out an exhausted snarl before my worst nightmare appeared from beyond the brightly lit space of the studio. There, from the dark fog, emerged ghastly Nolan. Although he seemed to have the ability to change or manipulate his ethereal appearance, it seemed he preferred parading around as the grotesque beast he truly was. Valiantly flaunting his horrid state. The huge brow bone and hollow eyes sockets were the features that separated him from any recognizable human.

"Stay back," I demanded as he approached. But he ignored my request and continued to close the gap between us. Instead of backing away and cowering like he expected me to, I stood my ground. "Stay the fuck back, you psycho!" I pointed a threatening finger to send the message that I would fight forever if I had to.

As he continued toward me, his appearance grew softer, more handsome, and recognizable with each step. By the time inches separated us, his hair had fallen into the neat style I always admired, the light reflected the bright blue in his seductive eyes, and the thick dark liquid disappeared from his absent wounds.

Before I could question what was happening, he walked by without as much as a glance my way. His eyes and attention were fixed on something behind me. I turned to assess the scene realizing Jos had gone to Nolan's body to examine him, while ghost Nolan went directly to mine.

He kneeled next to my slumped form and gestured with his hand. As soon as he extended his palm, another red-headed phantom elevated from Rhea's body, sitting forward fully before languidly collapsing back to Rhea's exact position.

"No." My breath caught when I realized what he was trying to do. Out of instinct, I looked down over myself, lifting my arms to determine how time affected me. My breath caught in my throat as the tips of fingers were completed invisible. I felt them, sensed them, but no longer saw them.

"Come." Nolan coaxed the phantom again, extending his hand. She rose, taking on more color and density than me in my current form. "You can do it," he encouraged.

"Stop!" I kneeled to Rhea's side. "Nolan, please. Don't do this. Please, stop."

"Come to me," he insisted, disregarding my attempts, and speaking to the phantom who would soon replace me.

I waved my hand before Rhea's face, hoping she would open her eyes and see how urgent it was for her to remain conscious. "You have to get up, Rhea. You have to keep fighting."

Again, Nolan presented his hand, but this time the phantom struggled to rise. "Yes, you got it. You're almost here. Come to me, Rhea. Stop fighting it and give in. Let it take you. Let me take care of you."

"No!" I cried. "Rhea, wake up. You gotta get up. You may think it's easier to give up, but you have people who need you. Mom, I saw her. I saw the future and she's there with you. She has your back."

"Shut your filthy mouth." Nolan's attention had finally found me, and his growl startled me. "That woman is trash. She tried to ruin your life. She tried to ruin our happiness."

"That's not true. She tried to look out for me and warn me against the likes of you." I sneered.

He sneered back, his eyes quickly flickering between bright and blue to sunken and hollow. "If you continue this, you will regret it." His threat was enough to stop me in my tracks. I contemplated the possibilities, glancing to Jos who continued to mourn Nolan's body, unaware of the ethereal war that's been waged.

My attention went back to Rhea, her shallow breaths told me I had to practice what I preached and not give up on her either. We were one, and if she went down, it was up to me to get her back up.

"Rhea, listen to me. Mama loves you and will do anything to see you again. You have to get up. If not for anything else, do it for her."

The phantom at her back collapsed and disappeared just as Rhea opened her eyes to look directly at me. I waved my hand, signaling her to get up, but Nolan stood before she could even try. He towered above us both.

"Mom," Rhea mumbled. "Mama."

His hollowed eyes released a dark red liquid that dripped down his face. "The sooner you're gone, the faster I can have what I want. And I'm tired of playing games. Now it's time for you to say goodbye for good."

~~~

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