Bubbles sighed when she threw her keys on the kitchen counter and kicked off her shoes. She was tired, that might have been it. She hadn't slept the night before. Or maybe she was sick, that could be it too, because she had a fairly low immune system when she was tired. Or maybe you're still grieving? Her mind tried to ask, but all she did was push that thought away. She couldn't afford grief, not right now.

She looked at the clock. Nine. Jeez, nine o'clock at night and she hadn't even noticed time flowing. She hadn't eaten. She wasn't hungry. She hadn't slept. She didn't feel tired. She hadn't talked to anyone in a long time, but they were probably afraid of her if they didn't know. She didn't think Ash or Misty knew about Tracy yet. Tracy...how did it happen?

She pulled her shirt over her head unzipped her jeans in a near faint, she felt so strange. She pulled on a nightdress quickly, and looked in the mirror. She looked official. She had her hair in a bun, make up on... She took it all off, she let her hair down.

Beep.

She turned, swearing she heard it.

Beep-beep-bum-bum-bum. Beep-beep-bum-bum-bum.

It was Tracy's cell phone ring. She opened the door to the apartment and took a step out. The door closed behind her.

She cursed herself when she remembered her keys on the counter, and the automatic lock. She heard it again: beep-beep-bum-bum-bum. She gasped and looked in the direction the music came from. She couldn't believe her eyes. She must have been insane! But there he was, wearing the same smile that she'd grown up with, the jeans with a hole in the knee, the long sleeved black shirt with a yellow smile on it.

"Tracy?" She stared hard. His voice, when he answered, was echoing and angelic.

"Come with me."

She wiped the tears that had weld up in her eyes, suddenly feeling compelled, and her eyes lost all color; the irises vanished completely, and she fell into what seemed like a trance.

She felt the wind blow her hair in front of her face. She felt the dress blowing rapidly in the wind; she felt her bare feet touch the pavement. She followed him, who she believed beyond a doubt was her brother, and felt compelled to stay with him forever.

.......................

Miguel had been walking out of the coffee shop when he noticed it- a girl in a nightgown walking near the edge of the cliff. He thought he should call the police, tell them she may commit suicide, but then he saw her face. He couldn't call the police; they would arrest her because of Tracy! He felt the Styrofoam cup fall out of his hand, and felt the coffee burn his foot, even with the shoe's protection. He ran to the bottom of the cliff and looked up. Bubbles, she looked like she was hypnotized, and he strained his ears to hear. He could her, mumbling Tracy's name, but also he heard something else. Beep-beep-bum-bum-bum. Tracy's cell phone ring?

He tried to focus on what she was looking at, what she was following, but he only saw a purple spot.

It took him a moment to register it in his brain. Ghastly! They could make themselves look like the dead!

"Bubbles!" He called, hoping to wake her. Nothing. Then it came to him. Her real name, would that wake her?

...................

Bubbles was chilled by the wind, but her body wouldn't will itself to shiver, to warm up. She felt her toes curve around the edge of the cliff. "There's no more land Tracy." She heard herself say.

"Would I ever put you in danger? Follow me, come with me." warmth ran through her, just hearing his voice, seeing his smile. She started to take the step. Something was nagging at the back of her brain. A voice, calling her. Tracy seemed aware of it too.

"Hurry, follow me, if you don't we may miss it!"

"I--"

"JENNA! GET DOWN, WAKE UP! JENNA ALABASTER, NOW!"

"Mi--"

"Come with me!" Tracy said, but it was too late. Bubbles felt her senses returning, the bright yellow irises returned to her eyes, and she saw the Ghastly for what it was.

She would have yelled at it, but she couldn't, she was too busy realizing there was no ground under her. She was falling. She heard the wind, someone shouting, but she was too scared to understand. She was going to land on her back, she was glad, because at her funeral she didn't want her face to be distorted.

She looked up at the cliff, that seemed to be slowly growing smaller, and it seemed the whole world was black besides that. She stared up, then smiled and closed her eyes. Tracy may not have been with her truly, it may have been a ghastly, but he let it happen. He didn't intervene, so her death must have been scheduled. She felt her body shutting off, like it knew it was going to die. She knew she would die.

...................

She landed in his arms with a thud, and he knew he was lucky. How in the world had God planned that, that he was there at the cafe, when she fell? He carried her in his arms for a few minutes, and then pulled over a cab.

Climbing up the stairs to her apartment he remembered the last time she fell, how scared he had been when she sliced her stomach open, how relieved he was she was alive. Now he was just relieved that no one had seen.

He fiddled with the key then opened the door. He was greeted by a couple barks from Eclipse, and Shadow eyeing him for a moment. Dusk apparently felt compelled to see what was happening- she followed him.

He laid her on the bed then looked around. She had nothing anymore. She didn't have her brother, her only family since her father died. He sighed and looked at her. She opened her eyes, bolted to the bathroom, and vomited.

When he went to check on her she was lying on the floor sobbing. He moved, flushed the toilet, picked her up, and sat her on the bed. She stared at him like he was insane.

"You're sick." he said. "You have a fever."

"I... guess."

"It was a Ghastly, you know."

"I know."

"What made you follow it?"

"It was... it looked like Tracy, and even had his voice and cell phone."

"You want some soup? I'll make it for you."

She looked down.

"Please?" He asked, "I don't like it when you're sick."

"I guess."

When he came back from the room he had a bowl of soup and a glass of water. She smiled at him. He set a tray on her lap and said, "You inherited a lot of money."

"I'm not keeping it." She said. "It's going into the bank for an emergency. I don't want it." She shook her head. "I can't believe he left it to me."

"Some one's trying to frame you." He said. "They killed him, informed the police about the will, and sent the Ghastly after you."

She stared down at the soup.

"Eat it." He said, "You need food in your system."

"Miguel," She said. "I love you."

He almost flinched. That wasn't something they said everyday, even if they both felt that way. "I love you too. But that doesn't mean you don't have to eat."

* * *

She gasped and tried to escape the man, chasing her into an ally. She cried out when she realized it was a dead end. The man followed her, and she shrieked when she saw the blade reflect the moonlight.

Bubbles woke up screaming. She hadn't had that nightmare since Forrest had been around. She tried to calm her heart. Miguel staggered in from the other room. Had he stayed the night? But, if he was sleeping on the couch, that was the most uncomfortable thing in the world!

"What happened, something happen?" He wasn't even awake. He was still half way in whatever dream he'd been having.

"Nothing happened." She said. "Are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Yes."

"No." She said, "You're sleeping on the bed, it's too lumpy to sleep on the couch, you'll get a wicked back ache."

"But..."

"No, sleep, now." She got up, stopped when she felt woozy, then sighed and snatched his blanket from the couch.

"Bubbles," He said, "Are you sure you're okay? You were screaming."

"Oh, so you're awake now? I'm fine."

When Miguel sat down he smirked. "I'll get skinned alive--" He covered his mouth and looked into her eyes. She stared at him with an unreadable look. Now he'd done it. He had completely forgotten about Tracy dying; only God knew why, and he slipped. But to his shock she smiled at him, her eyes sparkling with tears she wasn't going to let fall.

"Yeah, it'll be funny to see it too."

There was an awkward silence.

He took her hand, sat up, and kissed her forehead. She stared into his eyes, as if trying to find something.

"You two have the same color eyes." She whispered, and then fell asleep in his arms.