"Did that boy hurt you, Lori?" said Mrs. Zaslow as they pulled out of the school parking lot. "Did he... you know..."

Lori glanced at her mom and shook her head. Her mother's seeming sobriety was unusual enough, but here she was actually showing *concern*! And all Lori had to do was nearly get raped in the school A-V room.

"You sure?"

"I think I'd know mom."

"The police said you were unconscious when the teacher found you."

"And so was Paul. And I had all my clothes on.... nothing happened."

"Except you braining that boy with a film projector." Rose chuckled. "Boy, I wish I'da been there ta see THAT."

"Gee, mom. You're so... mature."

"You callin' me old?"

"No. Forget it." Lori turned on the radio, and the latest hit from Hall and Oates serenaded them for the next few blocks.

When they arrived at home, Lori trudged up the stairs, threw herself on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. For perhaps the first time, she tried to replay what happened from the moment she left the classroom until she awoke in the nurse's office. She couldn't. She could see the A-V room, and Paul attacking her... hurting her... but after that was a barrier that she couldn't break through. She REMEMBERED the shadow-man hitting Paul, but she couldn't SEE it. Her mind wouldn't let her. Every time she reached that point in her memory, her mind suddenly skipped past it. It was like listening to a favorite song on a scratched record... she KNEW what came next, but she couldn't relive it... couldn't re-experience it. It was blocked out.

Lori concluded that this was a good thing.

The police showed up about mid-afternoon, but thankfully they were different officers than the ones at the school. Lori told them her story, laughed when they asked her to walk them through the event from beginning to end. The confused looks on their faces only made her laugh even more. They didn't ask about Frank Waid. Obviously her earlier comments hadn't made it into the report they'd received from the school.

Satisfied with her statement, the police left. They weren't even out of the parking lot before Lori's mother was into the liquor cabinet.

"Bout time," she mumbled. She poured herself a tall glass of brandy and retired to the couch.

Lori retired to her room and waited. It would still be a few hours before her friends got home from school, and with both the television and radio broken, there simply wasn't anything else to do except sleep. She took off her blouse and put on an oversized cotton T-Shirt. She was undoing her pants when she heard the voice.

"Are you okay, Lori?"

The words had a far-away sound to them, but were nevertheless crystal clear... as if they were being spoken directly into her mind. Lori looked around the room. There was nothing there except for a distinct chill that was causing her skin to rise up into goose bumps.

"F-Frank?"

"I'm here."

"God!" Lori backed herself into a corner and wrapped her arms around herself. "You... you're REAL! I could SEE you!"

"Yes, and I'm still hurting from the exertion."

"You hit PAUL!"

"He was hurting you."

"What were you DOING there? And what are you doing here?"

"I... wanted to talk to you. I went to the cemetery like you said, but she wasn't there. Then I came to look for you. When I found you, I saw that boy. I thought... I thought you were in trouble."

"I WAS... but you can't just FOLLOW me around!"

"You have to help me, Lori!"

"I don't know HOW to help you! Just LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Lori?" Rose Zaslow called from the living room. Lori heard her mother approach. She was on the verge of telling Frank to hide when she remembered that her savior was invisible. Rose opened the door and peeped in. "Who were you yellin at?"

"Frank Waid. He's a ghost."

"Uh-huh." Rose closed the door and went back into the living room.

"Why me..." Lori sighed.

"I think I know," replied Frank.

"Go away."

"I'm trying to help you... if I help you, then you will help me, right?"

"No. Go away."

"Before my accident, I was hearing about these people... People who could do things. They're called Sovereign."

"So? What does that have to do with me?"

"Your lights... your aura... it's different. You can hear my thoughts..."

"No."

"Yes. You can hear my thoughts, maybe you can hear other peoples' too..."

"You're dead, Frank. That disqualifies you as 'people'."

"But the fact remains that YOU can and everyone else around you CAN'T. You're special. I think you're a Sover-"

"NO!"

"Yes. "

"No! No! No!"

"What's wrong, Lori?"

"What's WRONG? I nearly got RAPED today, and now I'm talking to a ghost who's telling me that I'm some kind of Freak! YOU'RE the one that's DEAD."

"And you're the one that's talking to me."

Lori stood silently and digested Frank's statement.

Then the doorbell rang.

Lori heard her mother muttering something as she went to open it.

"Hello, Rose," said a voice that Lori recognized immediately. It was Beth Jenkins, Deborah's mother. Lori leaned out into the hall and saw both Beth and Deborah making themselves at home in the living room. Lori looked back into her room, and then walked out to join them.

"What are YOU doing here?" she said to Deborah. The look on her face told volumes... this visit wasn't going to be pleasant. Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying. There was even a mark on her face... was that a bruise?

"Lori," Beth got up and moved towards her. She was clasping her extra-large King James Bible tightly in her hands.

"I'm sorry, Lori," shouted Deborah. "She MADE me tell her!"

"W-what?" Lori backed away. "What's going on?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" echoed Rose Zaslow. She stepped between her daughter and Beth. "You said you had summin' important ta say."

"Our children have been toying with the devil's tools," said Beth. Her voice was low and serious... it sounded truly menacing even through the thick southern drawl. "At first I thought is was just my Deborah... but had my suspicions about Lori, too."

"What are you talking about?" said Rose.

"Tell 'em about the board, Lori." said Deborah. "Tell her before she..."

"Before she what?" replied Lori. "And what's that mark on your face?"

"We prayed over it... Deborah and I... and she finally confessed that I was right. Rose, you have to let me take these children to see Reverend Jericho... their souls could be in danger."

Rose Zaslow broke out in deep, roaring laughter.

"Rose, please! What happened at school today could just be the beginning. The devil's minions-"

"How do you know about that?" said Lori. "Debbie wasn't even IN school today."

"The Lord sees to it that all his servants know what needs to be known."

"The policeman! He TOLD you! MOM, she's been SPYING on me!"

"You see, Rose... look at her behavior, now! See!" Beth stepped around Lori's mother and reached out for Lori. It wasn't a friendly grab... it was a harsh snatch that Lori barely avoided. "The DEVIL is in her!"

"Leave me alone! Mom, DO something!"

"She nearly killed that boy, Rose!"

"What! HE attacked ME, you crazy bitch! I was defending myself!"

"Her fingerprints weren't on the film projector..."

"What?"

"... and it was much too heavy for a small child like her to lift. It would take a man... or a demon."

"NO!

"Thank the Lord that I caught Deborah in time to show her the error of her ways... but Lori. There is evil in her that must be-"

"No, it was just a GAME! I'm not evil, and I'm NOT a freak! You hear me!"

"Okay," said Rose. "Fun's over. Out ya go!" The slightly-tipsy Rose tried to shove Beth back towards the door, but Beth stepped aside and pushed her away. Rose stumbled and fell.

"MOM!"

Beth immediately tried to grab Lori's arm. This time she succeeded.

"HELP! Debbie DO something! Your mom's gone CRAZY!"

On the couch, Deborah just hid her face and began sobbing. From the angle of her head, a large bruise was clearly visible on her neck. It was almost as if she had been strangled.

"NO!"

"You get out!" Rose got up and began hitting Beth's arm, but a second shove returned her to the floor.

"I haveta subdue the demon inside her," said Beth in a crazed voice. "Our Father, who art in heavan..."

"Lemme GO!" Lori tried to pull away, but Beth slapped her on the face.

"This is for your OWN good, child! ...hallowed be thy name..."

Images of the earlier attack flooded into her mind.

"Oh, God-"

"...thy kingdom come... thy will be done..."

"STOPPIT!"

"...on earth as it is in heavan..."

"Please! Let me go!"

"Begging will to you no good, demon. Give us this day..."

Lori screamed and pulled away with all her strength. She managed to break free, but nearly dislocated her shoulder in the process. She backed away, intending to run for her room.

"Lori, this is for your own good!."

"No! HELP! FRANK HELP ME!"

"Don't worry, Rose." said Beth. "Jericho knows what do to. You'll have your daughter back-"

"FRANK!"

Something cold brushed past Lori. Beth suddenly stiffened and hissed, as if someone had dumped a tray of ice cubes down her back. She released Lori, but turned around and raised her bible as if to hit Lori.

"You STOP that!" she yelled. "I'm protected by my LORD JESUS CHRIST!"

"Get her, Frank!"

"...Lori, I can't..." replied a voice in Lori's mind. "... I can't touch her...see..."

Beth suddenly looked around, eyes wide with fear.

"Demons! I can feel them! " she cried. "I can feel their cold hands on me! Deborah, get behind me!"

"FRANK! Get her like you got Paul!"

"...I can't..."

But the threat alone was enough to make Beth back away. Shouting prayers at the top of her voice, Beth opened the door and ran down the steps, dragging her daughter behind her. A few seconds later, a pair of car doors slammed in the parking lot and someone lost several inches of rubber peeling out of the complex.

[To Be Continued]