Haunting My Heart

"Hold the fence open!" Zacky and Johnny heard Jimmy's voice. Their eyes widened, and their hearts raced with excitement when they seen their friends headed their way with one extra body. They held the flaps of the fence open as one by one the five easily slipped through. "God damn it man, it's good to fucking see you again." Zack said wasting no time to give Matt a bro hug. "Fucking good to see you too." Matt sighed, returning his embrace, "Good to see all of you. I can't believe you pulled it off." he smiled looking around at his brothers, and two new friends. Hell no he was going to let them girls go, and from the looks of it neither were his two friends. Hopefully by the end of the night he'll have one more to join them. "We couldn't have without Mei." Tammy whispered. She was still kicking herself for not making sure that key worked in all the locks they needed it to work.

She felt a large hand engulf hers, and couldn't help the small smile that came out. The guy may be a stubborn bull about things, but he's been here every step of the way. She noticed how nice he smelled when she was being held against his chest. Good thing that guard just glanced around and left. Maybe if he makes it through the rest of the night, she'll give him a shot. The group started to head back, and Tammy couldn't help but smile at Kim. That Jimmy guy already had her wrapped around his finger, but come on there was just something about him that made you hang on to everything he said. He had such an open, excited, optimistic outlook on everything, his energy just bled over onto you. He was definitely going to open her friend's mind to all kinds of new things.

They reached the truck, and gave Matt some real clothes and shoes as everyone discarded their dark clothes. They climbed in, and Tammy started the truck just as a set of headlights turned down the access road they were on. "Oh shit." the one they called short-shit cursed. They never did tell them his real name. A set of flashing blue lights came on, and wicked grin came out on Tammy's face. "Oh I don't like that look." Kim said nervously, taking notice of her friends face. "Buckle up everyone." Tammy said, turning on the four-wheel drive, and taking off before anyone could question. Her brother was a redneck trapped in a surfers body. This truck was made for rough roads, and she was pretty sure that puny thing the campus rent-a-cops were driving didn't stand a chance.

Everyone hung tightly to whatever they could get their hands on as Tammy squealed tires, and sped off down the road. A generic siren came on, and she just grinned wider as she made a sharp left onto a dirt road. She knew what she was doing, and where she was going. Her and Kimmie have been out here several times, and she made sure to take as many different ways there as possible. Gotta know all your routes. Kimmie held tightly to Jimmy as the truck violently bounced down the road. If it was for his calming sent, she probably would have thrown up by now. All of this was still surreal, and she was still having a hard time believing all of this was happening. Jimmy told her she could still be a skeptic, and have an open mind about it. There's still so much about the universe we don't know about. Who knows what's possible? She sure didn't think that door unlocking by itself was possible, but it did. It left her wondering what else was in store for the tonight.

Tammy glanced in the rearview mirror when she saw bouncing lights behind them. She floored the gas, kicking mud up from the tires. The lights behind them started bounce more, and swerve before they spun out, and stopped completely. Cheers were heard from the backseat, and Kimmie eased her death grip on Jimmy once Tammy turned down a paved road, but stayed in his arms "Holy shit, did you see all that smoke coming from their hood?" Zack asked with a chuckle getting some nods from Matt and Johnny. Their eyes had been glued to the back window the moment she took off. Tammy chuckled a little, and glanced at Brian out of the corner of her eye. He still had a knuckle white grip on the arms of his seat. "Jesus Christ, I didn't think there was anyone crazier than Jimmy." he mumbled to really no one. "Hey! Nobody's crazier than me," Jimmy piped up, taking offense before a grin came, "maybe just as, but not er." he said, relaxing everyone as they laughed around him.

The ride back to the house was filled with light conversation, and before they knew it they were pulling up to the front of the house. "Who are they?" Brian noticed a man and woman get out of an unfamiliar car they parked behind. "The chick is a medium named Carol Ann, and I don't know who the Priest is." Tammy told him. Brian scrunched his brow together, and looked back out the windshield. He didn't even see the white band under his collar. "You guys are really going all out for this, aren't you?" he asked, looking back at the girl with a small smile on her face. "Whatever it takes to get our friend back." she said before finally opening her door, and getting out.

The group gathered on the side of the road, and the girls introduced Carol Ann to the rest of the group. She was the same medium Mei had talked to about the house, and they were going to need her. "Nice to meet you all," Carol said as she shook everyone's hands, "This is Father Gregory. He's a friend and associate of mine," she introduced the Priest, "He'll be blessing, and preforming the exorcism on the house. You will all need to be blessed as well for your own protection." she finished receiving nods from everyone. Well almost everyone.

Brian ran a hand down his face, and stepped away from the group a little. "I can't do this," he said throwing his hands up a little, "Psychics, exorcisms...It's just a little too out there. I-I can't." he told them. "Out there?" Tammy spoke up hiding a grin, "She didn't even get to the part about opening a doorway to another dimension." she said, finding it hard to hold in the laugh when his jaw dropped, and his eyes looked like they were going to pop out. "I'm out." he said once the shock wore off, and he turned to walk away. This was ridiculous, and he felt stupid enough as is just for playing along this far. "You can't go," that voice that's been pulling him along all night, stopped him, "We need you." Tammy said as Brian turned to face her.

Come on brown eyes, don't quit on me now, she thought to herself. "I'm sorry, but it just too much. Can't you see how insane this all sounds?" Brian asked like it should be obvious.

"Yes, I can, but what other option do we have? I want my friend back, and it's worth a shot. I don't know if it will work. If it doesn't then you can rub it in my face that it was all just a bunch of hocus pocus and fairy tales. But just give it a chance. You never know what you might see." Tammy pleaded with him.

Brian squeezed his eyes shut, and pinched the bridge of his nose, but let out a defeated sigh, "Fine," he said opening his eyes to met with a beautiful smile, "but you owe me." he told her letting his own slightly mischievous smile come out. "Fine," she agreed, her smile turning into a smirk, "If you live through the night, I'll owe you." she said, giggling when his smile faded before turning and walking back to the group. Brian stood there stunned for a moment before snapping back to reality, "Wait. What?" he called after her as he jogged back to the group. If he lived? What the hell was that suppose to mean?

Tammy didn't really respond, just giving him a shrug and a grin before turning her attention back to the task at hand. Father Gregory went around one by one, saying a prayer of protection, placing a Holy Water cross on their foreheads, and a rosary around their necks. The group made their way to the house, and Matt grabbed the spare key from the Hide-A-Key rock. With a deep breath to steady his nerves, he reached out to put the key in the lock, but didn't get the chance.

The light above the door turned on, and the door itself flew open to reveal a not so happy Mr. and Mrs. Sanders. "Jimmy, I thought you said they were going to be gone?" Kim looked up at him with panic in her eyes. "They were supposed to be." he told her, looking just as shocked as everyone else. They were supposed to be at a wedding. He thought for sure they would have still went. "Inside, now!" Mr. Sanders voice boomed. "Dad what are you doing here?" Matt asked as he followed his parents inside. "I could ask you the same thing." he said turning on the light in the living room, and motioning everyone in.

The tension was thick as the teens gathered in the living room. Carol Ann and Father Gregory stood off to the side, quickly realizing there was more going on here than they were informed of. "I can't believe you would escape from the hospital, Matthew," his mother scolded, "And now you drug your friends into this delusion-"

"It's not a delusion, mom!" Matt snapped. He wasn't fucking crazy. "Watch your tone with your mother." his father voice held warning. "Well whatever it is, it ends now. The hospital said there were people already on the way when they called." his mother finished. Matt's eye's flashed with anger, and he could stop himself from snapping again. "You can't send me back there! Damn it don't you see, this isn't a delusion? Meike is real. She has friends." he said quickly grabbing Tammy and Kim's arms, and dragging them over to his parents. He had to make them see somehow.

The girls shared a slightly uncomfortable glance before awkwardly saying hello. "And that's not all." he said taking off up the stairs before anyone could stop him. Matt ran back down with a bunch of papers in his hands. "Look," he pleaded shoving the papers in his dads hands, "Look at all this stuff I found out about the house." his eyes begged him. His father looked at him doubtful and a little confused. The realtor said nothing happened here, but he decided to give his son the benefit of the doubt, and looked at the papers.

Matt watched the expression on his fathers face go from confusion to anger the more he read. Shit, that's not what he wanted to see. It wasn't good when his dad was angry. "I can't believe this," he hissed, shifting papers to read more, "They're supposed to disclose all of this to us." he said looking up eyes flaring. Matt felt a little relieved. His dad wasn't angry with him. "That's not all," Matt said before shuffling the papers in his dads hand to the article on Mei disappearance, "That's her, dad. That's Mei." he said noticing his mother trying to look over her husbands shoulder. Maybe now they'll listen.

A brief silence fell, and soon Matt was met by his parents eyes. They looked sad, and he was pretty sure there was some guilt in there. The doubt was still very clear, but something told him they weren't doubting him. Matt was going to continue to try to plead his case, but a loud knock on the door made a few people jump. Panic set in when he realized who it was, "Please listen to me," he tried as his father went to answer the door. His father put his hand up, telling him to wait, and opened the door. "Mr. Sanders." Dr. Evans greeted, shaking his hand, and stepping in the house. Of course he wasn't alone. The were two orderlies with him as well. "I'm sorry about the inconvenience all this has caused," the doctor continued as his eyes shifted to Matt, "That was quite an impressive break out you, and your little friends pulled off."

Matt ignored the doctor, and looked desperately at his dad. "Please don't send me back. I'm telling you the truth. I'm not crazy, dad." Mr. Sanders heart broke a little at the sadness in his sons eyes. He did have to admit though, his son could be a handful at times, but he was never a liar. Unknown to everyone however, there were a pair of sad brown eyes watching the whole confrontation. Well unknown to almost everyone. A thought popped into Mei's head. Maybe she could help. She was strong enough. She could show herself to everyone. "No, you must do that."

Mei's eyes snapped to the sound of the voice, "You can see me?" she asked surprised. She wasn't showing herself to anyone. "Of course I can," Carol Ann said kind of sad, "I told you not to do this yourself. Why did you not listen?"

"Whose she talking to, dear?" Mrs. Sanders asked her husband at a whisper. He just shook his head. There wasn't anyone standing in the direction she was looking. "I didn't know what would happen. I didn't want to put them in danger." Mei told her sadly as she looked at her two friends. Carol Ann nodded in understanding, "You have used a lot of energy tonight, have you not?" she asked being able to feel Mei's aura. "Yes." she said with a nod. "You need to save what you have left. You're going to need it." Carol told her, receiving another nod before looking at the confused faces focused at her. Well not all of them. Some of them knew exactly who she was talking to.

"I realize there is a conflict of belief going on here, but I assure you what Matt is saying is true." Carol Ann told more his parents than anyone. "And just who are you?" his father asked. "My name is Carol Ann. I'm a medium, and have met this girl your son speaks of. Here in the realm of the living," she explained hearing a sarcastic chuckle from the doctor, but she ignored him.

"She was haunted by the evil in this house, and sought my help. However she did not follow all of my instructions, and now the darkness has her. I realize this can be hard to swallow, but we need to act now if we are going to release her from purgatory. The house's hold on her has weakened because of your son, but it won't last long." she tried to convince them. Time was running short.

Mr. and Mrs. Sanders shared a glance, but before they could say anything, Dr. Evans decided to put his two cents worth in. "You can't expect us to by into all of this. What is going on here is a simple fantasy made up by a seven-teen year old boy to deal with the stress of moving," he explained his logic, "And all of you feeding into his delusion is doing him more harm than good."

"I'm not fucking delusional!" Matt snapped wanting to lunge at the doctor, but his father stopped him. "What if we let them go through with this? Is there a chance maybe it would help?" Mr. Sanders asked. Dr. Evens thought for a moment. "Maybe once he see's that none of this is real then, yes there is a chance he could return to normal," he said, seeing the little punks eyes roll, "I find it fascinating that he has convinced all these people of his hallucination-"

"He didn't convince us of shit. We already knew he wasn't crazy," Jimmy interrupted with a smirk, "That's my job." he added, giving Matt a supportive wink, and hearing Kim giggle next to him.

Dr. Evens narrowed his eyes on the tall kid, but continued with what he was saying. "Maybe if we let him play out his little fantasy he'll see it was all in his mind." he was finally able to finish. "And maybe you'll see that it's not." a little redhead sassed him. All eyes turned to Mr. Sanders, but his never left his son's. He's been doubting their decision to send him to the hospital from day one. That one little truth about Matt always in the back of his mind. "Alright," he said, the wave of relief visibly flowing through the room, "Do what you need to do."

Notes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEI!!!! HOPE IT'S AWESOME!! :)
Here's another chapter. Looks like they're going to get the chance they need.
Hope everything works.....