On Naomi's command, we ran. Ok, correction: We didn’t run. Instead, Courtney ran, pushing me along while I had a massive panic attack. Which might I add, was a perfectly logical response to what had just happened.

Man, how lucky was I that Naomi had shown up when she did. She saw me stab that man and then told me to run. Most people, cops or otherwise, would’ve thrown me directly in jail. Or worse, to the press.

Hell, even if I somehow convinced them it was self-defense, which, to be fair, this totally was, the last thing I wanted was to become some human-interest story on the five o'clock news.

This power mixed with fame went together like peanut butter and a peanut allergy. Come to think of it, that's probably why the ghost seeing market was so flooded with tricksters and frauds. Those of us with real powers, assuming there were any others out there, would have preferred to keep it to ourselves. Wow, I might be the only one out there with this ability. That was a depressing thought.

Either way, I was already going to be a Cottonhead when I went back to high school. Add potential murderer to the mix, and my reputation would have been completely ruined.

Luckily, at least for now, I wasn’t dead, I wasn’t going to prison, and I wasn't going to have to move states for school. And all that was possible because Naomi had such impeccable timing. She really was a super over powered ally. Hmm, now that I thought about it, how had she gotten here so fast?

Courtneys voice took my attention. “Someone’s coming,” she whispered.

Really? I tried my best to focus on the sounds up ahead. Oh crap, there they were, voices echoing down the hall. She was right, there was definitely a group of people headed this way, and it was clear they had no intentions to remain quiet. My question about Naomi would have to wait for now.

“We need to hide,” I whispered, already scanning for options.

Courtney didn’t waste any time. She grabbed the handles of my chair and spun us around so fast I nearly flipped onto the ground.

“Crap, this one’s locked,” she muttered, tugging at a door. The sounds were getting louder.

I felt my body tense up. This was our last shot. If this door didn't work, we were fucked.

She pulled down on the handle. The sweet sound of a click echoed through the hallway and the door gracefully slid open. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

Courtney shoved me inside what I could only assume was some sort of abandoned storage closet. It was also pitch-black except for the faint glow of Josiah’s ghost standing by the wall. With all three of us in the room, I felt my claustrophobia kicking in.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, reminding myself that I only had to hold out for a few minutes.

“You can do this”, I whispered, mostly to myself.

Courtney ignored me, pressing her ear to the door. Her warm breath tickled the back of my ear, awakening something inside of me. I felt the hair on my arms stand up while a sudden chill rushed down my spine, causing my body to shiver.

That was when I realized what had happened. I felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me.

I shuffled around in my chair, trying my best to hide the evidence of the new unintentional tent that had formed in my pants. My only saving grace was how dark it was in here. Maybe she hadn't noticed. Ugh, I had to stay focused. Come on, think of something else to distract yourself.

I opened my eyes, turning my focus on Josiah. Well that helped almost immediately. He had this goofy look on his face. He seemed so oddly happy to be in his new form. Completely un-phased about being stuck in between this world and the next for whatever reason. That, or he saw what was going on and found my shame hilarious.

Either way, my pulse slowed down. It was working. Except now, instead of excitement, there was only sadness. Tears started to flow down my face. My emotions were completely unhinged at this point.

I’d done this to him. Or, more accurately, I had failed to think fast enough to stop it. I tried to remember all of the people who's lives were saved the moment the doctor's lifeless body hit the ground, but surprisingly that didn’t help. If I couldn’t save them all, then what was the point?

I felt a sharp sting on my cheek and I quickly realized it came directly from Courtney's hand.

“You slapped me!” I hissed, more shocked than hurt.

Courtney’s face was inches from mine now. She was close enough that I caught the faint smell of mint on her breath. Her eyes narrowed in frustration.“You need to shut up, you’re talking out loud to yourself in some weird language,” she whispered.

“Was I really?” I asked, rubbing my cheek. That was new. Was this a side effect of my power?

Wait, I was certain that I didn't know any other languages. I mean, I took Spanish one, but I barely remembered more than hello and where is the library.

"I uhh," I started to reply before she cut me off.

“Listen,” she whispered, her voice dropping lower. “Did you hear that?”

I tilted my head. That’s when I caught it, the soft snuffling of dogs, just outside the door. My stomach dropped. They were here.

Before I could process what was happening, Courtney’s hands were on the back of my head, pulling me forward. Her lips met mine, and for a second, everything went still.

Holy crap, was this really my first kiss? There was no way, right? I must have died during that fight, or gotten knocked out when I hit that wall. I mean, this made absolutely no sense. I had to be dreaming.

But it felt so real! It was warm, unexpected, and objectively the worst timing ever. Wait, what was I doing? A girl was kissing me right now, and here I was questioning my reality instead of enjoying the moment.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I tried my best to turn my brain off, then slowly wrapped my arms around her back, pulling her closer.

Unfortunately, that was right when everything went to shit.

The door burst open, shattering the moment. Instinctively, I pulled back to survey the scene.

Three men and two dogs were standing outside of the room with guns focused on us.

“What the hell are you two doing in here?” the lead man barked, his face hidden behind a tactical mask.

“Hey, boss,” another guy snickered, lowering his weapon. “They’re just making out. Way to hit out of your league, mate.”

"Thank you?" I replied, slightly offended.

“Shut up Richards,” the first man said, already pulling out his walkie. “We found two of the missing patients. Two more to go. Bringing them out now, over.”

Courtney didn’t miss a beat. “We’re so sorry!” she said, her voice full of embarrassed sincerity. “We didn’t mean to cause trouble. We just saw our chance to sneak away.”

The man sighed, clearly too tired to care. “Just get out of here. There is an active bomb threat.”

Bomb threat? My mind reeled. So Dr. Klanderman wasn’t lying. I must have called it in from his phone. That wasn’t ideal.

Before I could unravel the mystery, Naomi’s voice came through the radio. “We’ve got two dead near the offices. A doctor and a patient. Send medical.”

Courtney played along beautifully, feigning concern. Tears slowly began to roll down her face, “Someone died? That’s awful!”

“I said go,” the man growled. “Rodgers, get them out of here.”

Courtney glanced at me as we were ushered out, a faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. It was an odd contrast to her teary eyes. The whole kiss had been a distraction, giving us a reason to be in that closet. Sort of like seven minutes in heaven. Damn, that was quick thinking. There was so much about this girl I didn’t know, and yet I found myself dying to learn it all.

As we were escorted out of the building, I couldn’t help but wonder if that kiss had been all for show, or if there was anything truly there. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure I’d ever know. To be honest, a relationship with this power seemed like a terrible idea.

I had seen nothing but a combination of death and violence since this all started. Could I really put her through this life, just to make me happy?

Unfortunately, I already knew the answer. Man this power sucked.

###

Once we finally got outside, the sun's rays bounced off the back of my neck. It felt like a warm hug from an old friend. I tilted my face toward it, soaking in the light, the heat, and the simple beauty of being outside.

They always showed scenes on television of actors imitating inmates' reactions once they finally left prison. The way they acted when they finally got out always looked so fake to me. They always had this dumb smirk on their faces as if being stuck inside was the worst thing in the world.

However, after only a few days locked in Cottonwood, I found myself with that same stupid smile.

I looked over at Courtney. Apparently that look was universal. We lingered in the Cottonwood parking lot near the other residents, their faces a strange mixture of relief and wariness. I tapped Courtney on the arm and nodded toward the group.

“Did you notice who’s missing?” I asked, trying to keep my tone casual.

“Oh, I noticed,” she replied, her expression darkening. “Where do you think that backstabbing bitch went?”

Before I could answer, a voice hissed from behind a parked car.

“Joe! Over here!”

Courtney and I both jumped, startled by the realization that someone was right behind us. I turned toward the voice, heart pounding.

My fear quickly turned to joy once I realized who it was. Speaking of hugs from an old friend, “Murph? What the hell are you doing here?” I whispered, glancing around.

Thankfully, the staff seemed too busy corralling residents to notice him crouched there like a kid playing hide-and-seek.

Murph inched forward, pulling the hood down from his jacket. “I got your goodbye message. I wasn’t about to let you do something monumentally stupid without me. I had to do something to get you out here.”

Courtney crossed her arms. “Wait, who is this?”

Murph turned, sizing Courtney up, “I'm his best friend, who the heck are you?” he asked, with a slightly offended tone.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling the start of a headache. “Murph, Courtney. Courtney, Murph. Now that introductions are out of the way…”

I paused. Murphs words had finally sunk in.

“Wait a second, you did this?” I asked, waving my arms in the direction of the firetrucks and police.

Murph shrugged. “Like I said, I didn’t have many options. I had to tell you something…”

“You’re insane,” I interrupted, equal parts exasperated and impressed.

“I wasn’t about to lose my best friend,” he replied.

Ok, so I hadn’t called in the bomb threat. That was a relief. But Murph? Of all people? That was very unlike him. He was never much of a risk taker. But then again, he had risked his life to save me only like a week ago. Maybe I misjudged him.

“That was really, really stupid of you,” I said.

Murph’s grin faded. “Are you serious? You sent me a message saying some psycho doctor was drugging you all, and you were going to ‘handle it.’ What was I supposed to do? Sit back and wait for you to die? I don’t think so.”

I raised a hand to stop him. “Let me finish. That was stupid of you, but thank you. You might have saved both of our lives today.”

He relaxed a little. “You’re welcome. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“We are. I can’t say the same thing about the doctor though.”

Murph’s expression hardened. “Listen, Joe, I did all of this to tell you something. I did some digging while you were locked up and there is a massive amount of big name donors giving to this place. I’m talking about Bill Gates type money. It’s well hidden too. You need to be careful.”

Courtney’s brow furrowed. “Who’s funding it?”

Murph hesitated, looking around like someone might overhear. “The Roche brothers for starters.”

“The aerospace guys?” Courtney asked.

“That’s them. They donated over ninety million just this year alone. There’s something big going on here.”

I looked over to see two body bags being carried out of the building, followed closely by Naomi.

“Thanks, but you might be a bit late with the news. That’s the doctor over there in that bag”

“Oh shit, what did you do?” Murph asked with a worried voice.

"Stirred the hornets nest, apparently," I replied.

"Did you... Kill that man?" he asked.

Before I could respond, a voice cut through the parking lot chaos. “Hey! What are you two doing over there?”

It was one of the nurses. Great, my time was up.

“Sorry!” I called back, trying to look as innocent as possible.

Murph ducked back behind the car. “I’ll keep digging, you need to lay low until we find out what the hell is going on. Promise me.”

“I promise,” I said, glancing over at my friend a final time before we headed back to the rest of the group.

Courtney and I joined the others, but my thoughts stayed with Murph’s warning. A cloud slowly snuck in front of the sun, blocking out its rays. My victory felt short lived. We had poked a hornets nest, one backed by millions, if not billions of dollars. One that was almost certain to strike back, and I still had no idea what terrible thing was happening in this town.

What the hell had I gotten us into?