Seconds

12:00 AM

As Abby races down the hallway after Seth, she sees a small light ahead. A flashlight.

Seth and Abby slow down, trying to stay concealed by the darkness as they try to see where the light is coming form. Up ahead, Abby can make out the small body as George.

He just stands there, back to them, screwdriver in hand and flashlight in the other. He looks over his shoulder, sencing them standing there. "Why, hello there."

"You, brat!" Abby screams out, walking towards him. Seth hisses for her to keep walking forward and be quiet, but she shrugs him off.

George laughs at his nickname, not caring. He turns back to the circuit breaker box in front of him embedded in the wall.

"Explain what's going on here!" Abby's shrill voice demands.

"I'm trying to get the lights back on. We tried to scare you with the lights and make Katie's death quicker with the lights off and flickering, but now I can't seem to turn them back on," George rambles on, keeping his back to her. When she doesn't reply, her anger rolling off in waves, he finally looks over his shoulder and grins. "Oh, that's not what you were wondering. Why, the humans just want a little revenge. Nothing too unusual."

"We don't want revenge," Abby counters.

"I wasn't talking about you," he glares. His body moves slightly, as if it's translucence. It makes Abby shiver.

"But you said human!" she snaps. "We are-"

"Spirits," George finishes her sentence, almost shining the flashlight in her face. "You basically stole their lives; you pretended to be human for so long that you actually thought you were one."

"I'm solid and real! I can die!" Abby protests loudly, as if she's throwing a tantrum. Seth angrily hushes her.

"You can die, yes," George states. "And they all wanted to have a little fun with that, but I think they forgot the part where if their spirits dies, then so do they."

"You're insane!" Abby screams.

George sighs, turning back to the box, his interest lost. "Maybe if I... Ah, there."

He flips a switch with the butt of his screwdriver, and suddenly the hallway floods with white fluorescent lights. Abby and Seth groan, trying to get their eyes to adjust to the light.

When they can finally see, they look up to see the box closed, the screwdriver on the floor, and George gone.

**

Parker finally slows to a walk when they don't hear anything else. They both heard another scream earlier, forcing them to sprint again, but now both him and Jessica are out of breath.
They don't talk as they walk down the dark hallway. They have their hand on the wall to guide themselves because they can't see a thing. The light from the foyer has faded long ago.

Jessica tries to hold back her sobs as tears streak down her face. Callie was only a teenager. The only thing going through Jessica's mind over and over is the image of Callie burning.

Parker must have heard her crying, for he stops walking. Jessica doesn't see him stop and runs into him. She quickly steps back as she whispers, "What's wrong?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," he whispers back. "Are you hurt-"

Suddenly, the lights blare back on around them. They both cover their eyes, not use to the sudden normal light.

"No," Jessica answers as she angrily wipes away her tears and starts to see clearly. "It's Callie. She shouldn't have died like that."

Parker sighs as he leans against the wall, glad and thankful they can finally see all of their surroundings. There's old food, extra wires and pipes, and other trash scattered around the floor. "No one deserves to die like that," he adds.