Standing at the door to Cayden's apartment, Devon James glanced around at the others with a smile on her face. "We're going to find out who killed Julia once and for all," she explained.

"What?" Kathryn questioned as she stood up from the couch. "What do you mean?"

"How are we going to do that?" Jesse inquired.

"Simple," Devon said as she moved her hands into view and showed them all that she was holding a ouija board. "We're going to have a séance, and we're going to ask Julia herself."

Silence fell across the room as they all glanced down at what Devon was holding. Cayden took a step forward. "We're going to what?" He inquired.

"We're going to have a séance," Devon repeated as she stepped forward and cleared everything off of the coffee table in front of the sofa and set the ouija board down.

"This is crazy," Kathryn said, "we can't have a séance."

"Why not?" Devon questioned as she glanced back at her. "Are you scared?"

Kathryn fell silent and glanced around the room for a moment, pleading with the others not to do this. Her eyes came to rest on Jesse and he glanced back at her, but his gaze shifted to Devon and the ouija board on the table.

"I'll do it," Jesse said as he took a step forward. "I want to talk to Julia."

"Jesse!" Kathryn gasped.

"If this can help then I don't see why not," Jesse explained. "The cops haven't been able to find her killer."

"But this is a child's game," Kathryn explained.

"If it doesn't work, then we haven't lost anything," Devon explained.

"It's going to work," Jesse said as he stooped down beside the table and peered into Devon's eyes. "It has to . . ."

Glancing back at Jesse, Devon nodded and reached over and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Who else wants to try?" She questioned as she glanced around the room.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Cayden began to respond, but Gage stepped forward and cut him off.

"What the hell," Gage said with a nod, "I'll do it."

"Gage!" Kathryn nearly yelled. "This is crazy, you can't do this. You guys don't even know what you're doing. You're messing with forces that you don't even know how to control," she explained.

"She's right," Cayden agreed.

"Thank you," Kathryn sighed. "At least someone here has a good head on his shoulders. You people don't understand what you're doing. I know because back home people would do this sort of thing all the time. Witchcraft, voodoo . . . I've seen it all. It's not just a game . . . it's going to end badly."

"If you don't want to do it Kathryn," Devon said, "then you can leave. Go back to your apartment, but we need to do this here," she added as she glanced over at Cayden.

"But why?" Cayden questioned. "Why do you need to talk to dead people in my apartment?"

"Because it was Julia's apartment," Devon reminded him. "This is the place where her spirit is strongest . . . the place where she died," she added softly as she glanced across the table at Jesse.

"Cayden . . . please . . ." Jesse begged, his eyes teary as he glanced up.

Staring back at him, Cayden fell silent for a moment before nodding his head. "Okay . . . fine, I'll do it," he said as he joined the others at the table and knelt down before the ouija board.

"Kathryn," Devon said as she glanced over at her. "Are you going to join us?"

Kathryn stared at the four of them for a moment. "If we're going to do this," Kathryn said, "then we need to do it right. Cayden, do you have any candles?" She questioned.

"I think so," Cayden responded as he stood up. "I might have some in my bedroom," he added as he started for the door.

"Right next to the handcuffs?" Gage questioned with a snicker.

"Shut up!" Cayden groaned.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," Gage said, "but before we do this, I think I'm going to need a shot."

"Me too," Devon and Jesse responded.

"Oh, what the hell," Kathryn sighed in agreement.

"Good, I've got a bottle of vodka at my place. Just let me run and grab it while you're setting up." Getting to his feet, Gage started for the door.

"I'll go check if Cayden needs help with those candles," Jesse said as he got up from the floor.

Kathryn allowed Jesse to leave the living room before crossing over to Devon. "You're crazy, you know that?" She questioned.

Glancing up at Kathryn, Devon slowly got to her feet. "What are you talking about?" She questioned.

"This séance, speaking to Julia, getting Jesse's hopes up, it's crazy. We can just forget all about it and convince the others not to go along with it," she pleaded.

"Look, if you want to change your mind about doing this, then just leave. In order for this to work,, we need everyone to believe that we can really contact Julia and if you're going to sit here and be skeptical, then maybe it's better that you do leave."

"I'm not skeptical," Kathryn explained. "I know that it could work, but that's exactly why I think it's a bad idea."

"Why? Don't you want to know who killed Julia? She was your friend too."

"Of course she was my friend," Kathryn replied, "and if this works, we could very well know who killed her, but what then? What do we do then? Are we going to go to the cops and hand them the ouija board as evidence?"

Devon glanced at her with a shocked expression. "I don't know," she responded.

"That's exactly your problem," Kathryn rejoined. "You don't know. You don't know what you're doing and you don't know what forces you're meddling with. You don't even know if you're going to be able to contact Julia or if you're going to invite some other crazed spirit into this room."

"You need to relax," Devon said with a sigh.

"I'll relax when this is over," Kathryn responded.

"Hey," Jesse said as he stepped into the bedroom, "you need some help?" He glanced over at Cayden in the corner of the room as he searched through a drawer.

"Yeah, check in the closet on the top shelf," Cayden said as he motioned to the corner. "I think there's a box with some candles in it."

Walking over to the closet, Jesse opened the door and peered inside. "I wanted to thank you for doing this," Jesse began. "You didn't have to agree to it, but you did."

"Yeah . . . well I could see that you and Devon really wanted this."

"Still," Jesse remarked, "you don't even really know us and you're going to let us have a séance in your living room. That's pretty cool."

"Not really," Cayden explained. "I have nothing better to do."

Jesse smiled slightly. "You're strange," he said as he retrieved a box from the top shelf of the closet and turned to set it down on the bed.

"Me? Strange? How so?" Cayden questioned as he shut the drawer.

"You come in here and move into this apartment and then you find out what happened here and you decide to stay. Then, someone tries to kill you and they fail and end up killing your cat instead and you still stay. Now you agree to go along with a séance."

Cayden fell silent for a moment. "Oh, that. I don't know . . . back home I didn't really get to do anything. I was Cayden King, son of Patrick and Victoria. I didn't really have any friends aside from Mason and my biggest social accomplishment was being student body president. But that wasn't me," Cayden explained.

"I couldn't be who I was. I couldn't tell anyone that I was gay, I couldn't go to the prom with a boy. I couldn't do anything. It' different here, I can be anyone I want to be here, and you guys are helping me realize that. So . . . if I can help you do something that you really want, then it's the least I could do."

Jesse nodded as he removed the top of the box and peered inside. "They're pink," he noted.

"What's pink?" Cayden questioned, slightly confused.

Reaching into the box, Jesse pulled out a candle. "Your candles are pink. You are gay."

With a smile on his face, Cayden began to laugh.

"Kathryn had pink candles," Jesse explained. "She loved pink. She loved a lot of things, especially children. Did you know that she wanted to have five kids? She had their names all picked out. She said she wanted four boys and one girl. She wanted to have a little princess," Jesse said with a smile. "I wanted to give her that . . ."

"That would have been great," Cayden smiled.

"What if we do speak to Julia?" Jesse questioned. "What would I say?"

"Whatever comes from your heart," Cayden responded.

"What if we find out who killed her?" Jesse questioned.

"Then at least you'll know. It's a whole lot better than walking around with all of these questions in your head."

"I guess you're right," Jesse said. "But how do I tell her that I failed? How do I tell her that I wasn't able to protect her when she really needed it?"

"I don't think that it was your fault, Jesse. You didn't know it was going to happen. You can't change what happened, but you can change what happens next."

"This stuff is rancid," Kathryn said as her face contorted into a grimace and she placed her shot glass down on the table.

"Hey, this stuff is expensive," Gage argued.

"Then you got ripped off," Kathryn said as she sat down on the couch.

"Okay," Devon said as she lit the last candle, "everybody gather around the table. We're ready."

Glancing at one another, they each knelt down and glanced at the ouija board on the table, unsure of what to do until Devon joined them.

"We each have to gently place one finger on the planchette," she said. Slowly, everyone reached forward and placed the tip of their finger on the indicator. "Not too hard," Devon said, "you don't want to move it, you just want to touch it softly. Let your finger hover slightly."

"My arm hurts," Gage commented.

"Shut up, asswipe," Devon spat. "Now concentrate. Clear your mind of any negative energy," she said, then glanced at Kathryn. "Just let the doubt flow out of you. Don't remove your finger from the planchette or the connection will be broken. Just relax . . . breathe deeply."

Glancing over at Jesse, Devon gave him a reassuring smile. "Think about Julia," she said to the others. "Keep her in your mind."

Cayden looked around the table at the faces of the other people as Devon spoke. He could see anticipation in Jesse's eyes and fear in Kathryn's.

"I'll begin by calling to her," Devon explained. "Julia . . . Julia we're here. We invite your into this circle. We want to speak with you. Julia, if you are there, please give us a sign. Let us know that you can hear us. Let us know that you're there."

On the table, the planchette moved slowly and Kathryn yelped slightly. "Don't break the connection," Devon whispered. "Julia. Is that you? Have you joined us?"

"It's working," Jesse said softly as he stared at the planchette. "It's working."

"Who's moving it?" Gage questioned.

"Quiet," Devon ordered. "Julia, is that you?"

Staring at the planchette, Cayden could feel every part of his body shuddering as it began to move slowly. He followed it with the tip of his finger as he moved on the board and slowly came to a rest above the word YES.

"Oh my God," Kathryn whimpered.

"It's her," Jesse declared. "It's really her."

"Who's moving it?" Gage questioned again.

"Julia's moving it," Devon explained. "Julia," she called out again. "We want to ask you some questions. We called you here to find out the truth. We want to know what happened the night of your murder."

A sudden gust of air entered through the window, blowing the curtains in and extinguishing one of the candles, causing Kathryn Hayes to gasp in shock.

"Don't break the connection," Devon whispered as she glanced at Kathryn. Nodding, Kathryn kept her finger on the planchette. Devon looked around the small circle. "Okay," she said, "let's continue."

Cayden watched at Devon glanced upward. "Julia," she said. "We want to know the truth about what happened. We need your help. Who killed you?" She inquired.

The planchette did not move. "Julia, who killed you?"

"It's not working," Gage commented.

"What happened?" Jesse asked desperately.

"Quiet," Devon begged. "Julia. We know that it's difficult for you, but we need your help. Who killed you?"

"Oh my God," Cayden gasped as the planchette jerked to the right. Kathryn suppressed a yelp as the planchette began to move and came to rest on the letter D.

All eyes moved to Devon and as she stared at the board and slowly stared up at the rest of them. "it wasn't me," Devon assured them as she planchette continued to move. "She's spelling out a word." Everyone glanced back at the ouija board as it stopped on the letter I, then continued to move.

"A . . . R . . . Y . . ."

"Diary?" Gage questioned.

"What diary?" Jesse questioned. "The cops have your diary." He glanced over at Cayden.

The planchette moved again, this time to the word NO, then continued to move.

"C . . . A . . . Y . . . D . . . E . . . N . . ."

"Cayden?" Jesse questioned. "Cayden gave your diary to the cops. You did give them Julia's diary, didn't you?" Jesse questioned as he stared at Cayden.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Cayden glanced away from Jesse and over at Devon. "I . . . I . . . yes, of course. I gave it to Szymon," he lied.

"Then why would she say that you have it?" Jesse questioned.

"Jesse, shut up. Let's ask Julia. Julia . . . is the key to finding your murderer in your diary?" She questioned.

All eyes were fixed on the planchette as it slowly began to move toward the word YES.

"I can't do this . . . I can't do this," Kathryn screamed as she jumped back from the table. The planchette stopped abruptly, just shy of the word as Kathryn retreated into a corner.

"No! Julia!" Jesse screamed.

"Kathryn! What did you do?" Devon yelled. "You broke the connection!"

Kathryn Hayes ran to the light switch on the wall and turned it on. "This is crazy!" She screamed. "What we're doing here is crazy."

"Kathryn, relax!" Devon snapped. "Just come back to the circle. We can still connect to Julia."

"No," Kathryn said as she shook her head. "I'm getting out of here." Heading for the front door, Kathryn grabbed the door knob and shrieked in horror as the lights in the apartment flickered and dimmed, and cast them all into darkness.

"What the hell?!" Gage shouted as he jumped back from the ouija board. Cayden scrambled to his feet and fell onto the couch as Jesse stared at the ouija board, never removing his finger from it.

"Julia?" He called out. "Julia?"

"What happened?" Cayden questioned.

"The lights," Devon sighed. "They went out again."

"Again?" Cayden questioned.

"It happens sometimes. This is an old building. Someone probably plugged in a hair dryer of something."

"What do we do?" Cayden questioned.

"We need to go down to the basement and flip it back on because the maintenance guy is probably drunk and passed out by now."

"What time is it?" Gage questioned.

"It's after ten," Devon responded.

"Yeah, he's passed out."

"Wait," Cayden said, "We have to go to the basement? In the dark?"

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, except to my apartment," Kathryn responded as she opened the front door and stepped into the dark hall.

"Me too," Gage responded as he reached for his bottle of vodka. "I'm going to finish this bad boy."

"Chicken shit," Devon muttered under her breath as Gage stepped out. "Who's going to come with me?" She inquired as she glanced at Cayden.

"Fine," Cayden said, "I think I have some flashlights. "Jesse?" He turned to glance at Jesse. In the flickering candlelight he saw Jesse sitting at the coffee table, his finger still on the planchette as he stared at it intently.

Turning back to Devon, Cayden shook his head. "I guess it's just you and me," he said softly.

As they descended the stairs, Cayden held his flashlight in front of him to guide the way. "I know it was you," he said.

"What was me?" Devon questioned.

"I know you were moving that thing," he clarified. "Why would you do that? Why would you tell them that I still have Julia's diary?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't move it, I thought it was you," she responded.

"You're kidding, right? I wouldn't do something like that."

"Well neither would I," Devon assured him. "If someone was moving the planchette, it wasn't me."

"And if it wasn't me, then who was it?"

"Julia," Devon responded.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Why don't you?" Devon questioned as she stopped at the foot of the staircase beside the door to the basement. "I mean, is it really that hard to believe?"

"No," Cayden admitted, "It's just hard to understand."

Opening the door, they stepped into the basement hallway. "Which way is the fuse box?"

"Hold on a second," Devon said. "It's confusing in the dark . . . I think it's this way," she said as she turned to her right. "No, wait, it's this way," she corrected as she turned left.

"Let's just find this thing and get the hell out of here," Cayden pleaded. "I hate this basement." As he took a step forward, his flashlight flickered and he paused. "Hold on, my flashlight is acting up," he said as it flickered again.

Giving it a whack, Cayden watched as the flashlight dimmed and finally went dark. "Dammit," he sighed as he glanced up and realized that he was in total darkness. "Devon . . ." he said softly as he tried to see through the darkness. "Devon . . ."

Realized that he had gone on without him, Cayden fell silent and froze in place. As the darkness settled in all around him, he freaked and turned back to the door they had just entered from and nearly screamed with horror.

Standing there with a flashlight pointed at her face, Kathryn Hayes stared at Cayden in silence.

"You scared the crap out of me," Cayden said as he caught his breath.

"You and me both," Kathryn responded.

"What happened?"

"Cayden . . . I am really frightened."

"Why? Because of the dark? Devon's going to fix that."

"No . . . not because of the dark. I think I know who killed Julia," she explained. "It was someone at that the table . . . someone at the séance."

"Are you serious?" Cayden questioned. "Who?"

"Don't tell anyone," Kathryn responded, "because I'm not entirely sure . . . but I think it was Devon . . ."

"Devon?" Cayden nearly screamed. "Why?"

"You saw it," Kathryn responded. "You saw what happened when she asked who killed Julia, it moved to the D."

"It spelled out diary," Cayden reminded her.

"Yes," Kathryn said with a nod, "it spelled out diary after it stopped on the D. I don't know how much Devon told you about the night Julia was killed, but I was home that night . . ."

"Did you see something?" Cayden questioned.

Kathryn nodded slightly.

"Well what did you see?" Cayden inquired.

"It happened just before I heard Jesse screaming . . . I remember it clearly because I was hanging a picture on the wall. I heard Julia's door open. I know it was her door because it has this squeak when it opens . . ."

"Okay, so you heard her door open . . . how do you know it was Devon?"

"Because they didn't go very far," Kathryn explained. "Julia's door opened and someone left her apartment and they went into one of the other apartments. I heard their door open and then it closed."

"I don't get it," Cayden responded.

"Don't you see," Kathryn explained. "Whoever killed Julia lives on our floor."

"Wait," Cayden responded. "What about Gage? He lives on our floor too."

"Gage is an idiot," Kathryn sighed. "Do you really think he'd be capable of killing someone, and with no reason?"

Cayden fell silent for a moment. "there are two other apartments on our floor. Maybe it was one of them. What about the guy who lives across from Gage?"

"James?" Kathryn questioned. "He was out of town on business. The police checked up on him. His alibi held up."

"Then what about the lady who lives across from you?" Cayden questioned.

"Mrs. Mulberry?" Kathryn stared at Cayden in shock. "She's like eighty years old, Cayden. She may be a bitch, but I doubt she's strong enough to kill someone. Besides, I heard someone entering an apartment somewhere down the hall. Jesse went into Julia's apartment a few minutes later and when he found her in the bathtub, he picked up the knife. That was the only reason that the police suspected him. When I heard him scream, I ran out and found him holding Julia's body. It was Devon," Kathryn explained, "it has to be."

Cayden stared at her in silence as the lights flashed back on. Glancing around with relief, he sighed. "Thank God," he whispered.

"Boo!" Devon shouted as she jumped out and laughed. "Scared little bitches," she said as she saw Cayden and Kathryn's reactions.

''Why are we stopping?" Cecilia Nakamura questioned as she realized that Szymon Skubisz was pulling over. Glancing out of the window, she saw the building and realized what was going on. Turning to Szymon, she shook her head.

Putting the car into park, Szymon turned off the engine and stared up at the eighth floor. "I don't know . . . I'm going to go up," Szymon responded.

"You like him," Cecilia explained. "Despite all of my warnings, you went and you fell for him."

"No," Szymon said softly.

"Don't lie to me Szymon," she said as she shook her head. "You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me. You like him."

"I feel bad for what happened," Szymon explained. "I had sex with him and he can't even remember."

"That's not your fault," Cecilia assured him. "You said you may have been drugged."

"Yeah, but I was lucid when we went to his place. You told me you would bring me home and I didn't let you," he explained.

"You've had one night stands before Szymon . . . why is Cayden different?"

"I don't know . . . he just is," Szymon explained. "There's something about him . . . something that I just can't explain. He has this thing . . . this energy. It's like nothing I've ever seen before."

"Oh my God," Cecilia said as she turned to Szymon. "This isn't just a fleeting infatuation, is it? You're falling for him."

"I'm not falling for him," Szymon responded.

"You are, you're falling for him. Oh my God," she said with a smile. "You do realize that if you decide to pursue this 'thing' then things are going to get even more complicated for you, right?" She questioned.

"I know," Szymon responded.

"Yes . . . you're my best friend, Szymon, so I understand you and the choices you've made in your life . . . but Cayden . . . he's eighteen years old, and not just that. He's one of those wide-eyed eighteen-year-olds. He thinks the world is this wonderful place. He probably still believes in fairy tales."

"He's perfect, I want to tell him that." Szymon explained.

"He wants the perfect love story," Cecilia informed him, "the happily ever after. Szymon . . . do you honestly think you can give that to him?"

"I can try," Szymon responded.

"Okay," Cecilia said as she nodded her head. "Then first try explaining to him that you have a wife."

"Thanks," Cayden said as he stood outside his apartment and glanced at Devon in the hall. "For turning the lights back on."

"Thank you for letting me hold the séance," she said to him as she unlocked her door. Turning to Kathryn, she nodded her head. "And thank you for ruining it," she said as she slipped into her apartment and shut the door.

Kathryn turned to Cayden. "Think about what I said," she told him before heading down the hall to her own apartment. Nodding, Cayden turned and entered his apartment. Shutting the door behind him, he walked into the living room and saw Jesse curled up on the couch sleeping. He smiled slightly and walked over to the candles, blowing them out gently.

Heading into his room, he returned with a blanket and covered Jesse. Staring down at the ouija board on the table, Cayden sighed and turned to Jesse, watching him sleep. Smiling again, he returned to his bedroom and slipped into the bathroom to wash the makeup from his face.

Removing his costume, he tossed it in a pile in the corner of his bedroom and went over to the window. Staring out at the city, he realized that there were thousands of people out there and yet he still felt so alone. On the street, he saw a car's headlights go on and he saw it pull off and head down the street.

Turning, he glanced at his bed and thought about the prospect of spending another night in it alone. He sighed and walked over to it, sitting down slowly. Glancing at his nightstand, he paused for a moment, then reached up and opened the top drawer.

Pulling out Julia's diary, he stared at it for a moment before opening it. Glancing down at the written words on the page, Cayden found himself enthralled in Julia's writing style.

She spoke directly from her heart and as he read the pages, he felt as if he had actually known her. As the entry took on a decidedly dark turn, Cayden flipped the page with undying curiosity until he came to the very last sentence.

Glancing up in shock, Cayden held the diary in his lap and paused. "Oh my God," he whispered, "Julia Taylor was pregnant . . ."