Chapter 4One Like to Pull the Plug

I sighed, turning my head with a profound sense of disappointment. It was Melody.

Colin's ghost leaped up, vibrating with sheer ecstasy. He rushed over to her, his phantom tears mixing with the spectral blood on his face.

[Melody! Oh my god, thank god you're here!]

[This crazy bitch just tried to kill me! Go get the doctors! Tell them to—]

But before Colin could finish his sentence, Melody raised her hand and delivered a vicious, stinging slap across my cheek. Her hand phased right through Colin’s incorporeal chest to hit me.

[Jocelyn, you calculating little whore,] she hissed, her voice dripping with venom.

[Did you honestly think that if this idiot died, you could just waltz in, take his money, and kick me to the curb? In your dreams!]

[I told you the very first day I moved into this house. I didn't come here to join your little family. I came here to destroy it. Did you forget?]

I hadn't forgotten.

But Colin had never known. The shock on his face was a masterpiece. He couldn't fathom that the truth I had screamed at him for years was real—that his sweet, innocent, fragile childhood friend was actually a venomous snake.

Seeing the utter devastation in Colin’s eyes, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Well?" I said, looking right through Melody to the ghost behind her. "Do you see how amazing your little golden girl is now? Do you finally realize if you were loving a woman or a monster?"

Melody followed my gaze, blinking at the empty air. She couldn't see a thing.

"Jocelyn, who the hell are you talking to?"

I kindly explained the situation. I told her Colin was floating right between us. But, predictably, Melody just assumed I had finally suffered a complete psychological break.

I didn't waste another breath on her. I simply reached out, intending to yank the cord out again.

But Melody lunged. She grabbed my wrists, her grip surprisingly strong, and began to scream at the top of her lungs. "Help! Somebody help!"

And then, just as the door handle clicked open, she violently slapped her own face, threw herself onto the cold hospital floor, and burst into hysterical, trembling sobs.

"Jocelyn, please! Whatever I did to make you hate me, I'm sorry!" she wailed, tears streaming down her perfectly contoured cheeks. "Take it out on me, but please don't hurt Colin! Please don't kill him!"