Fic: Ice Capades
Title: Ice Capades
Author: me (princess_schez)
Genre: Sam/Jess, pre-series Stanford era
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 4216
Summary: Sam reluctantly agrees to go with Jess to a figure skating competition, but things take a darker turn when when an unwanted ghost appears at the competition. Beta'd by sendintheklowns. Banner by me.
___________
Sam pulled his blanket closer, trying to block the chill from inside the ice rink. If his brother ever saw him here, he'd never hear the end of it. Not to mention his friend Brady. But as he looked around the small arena, he didn't see anyone else from Stanford present, so his present situation was at least secured.
But it still didn't mean he wanted to be here. Figure skating was not his cup of tea. Quickly stealing a look at his watch, he realized with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, that he still had a few more hours of this unique brand of torture.
Almost as if on cue, Jess pulled herself closer to Sam, melting his moodiness... if only slightly. He breathed deep, enjoying the sweet smell of cherry blossoms of her perfume.
"Thank you for taking me," she said, almost as if she knew what he had been thinking. "I know that this must be pretty boring for you."
"No, no, it's fine," Sam lied. He rubbed a hand up and down her back, thinking that maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be so bad after all.
An annoucement came over the loudspeaker bringing out the next group of skaters to the ice to warm up. He wished he could've had a beer at least, but somehow booze and figure skating seemed like two things that would never go together.
"Hey, do you want anything from the snack bar?" he asked. Jess's blonde head popped up.
"Sure! Some popcorn and sodas would be nice."
Pulling himself up from his seat, he excused himseld past the other spectators and headed up the stairs to the concourse.
Apparently others had the same idea, as the crowds began to disperse from the arena, making their way to the concession stands for some refreshments. Rushing over to one before the crowds hit, he placed his order with one of the girls working the registers.
"We're out of popcorn right now, but we'll have some more ready in a few minutes," the cashier said.
"No probs," Sam replied as he pulled out a few bucks and paid for his food.
Using the few minutes he had, he strolled around the concourse, where TVs has been set up showing the action that was taking place on the ice. Right now they were showing highlights from the last group of skaters that had taken the ice.
He stood, watching it for a few seconds when a chill came over him. He shuddered slightly as a group of female skaters came walking by with their coaches. Sam watched them, and smiled. This was the part of the sport he could get into. One of the girls, a pretty red-haired one, turned and faced him, winking at him coyishly as her arm brushed by his. Sam, feeling slightly embarrased, smiled back before turning away and coming face-to-face with another girl with dark brunette hair and porcelain skin. Startled, he didn't expect to see someone standing so close to him without noticing.
"Um," Sam was at a loss for words. The girl stared at him with such intensity that it was like she was staring straight through him, never once blinking. She was a solid entity, and he would've thought her to be a living, breathing person, had it not been for the streaks of red going down her face and dripping down her dirty and tattered skating club jacket.
No one else seemed to see this girl, or at least was paying any attention, and his breaths came out in little puffs of white mist.
The girl flickered out of sight, and Sam's heart dropped into his stomach. The relization hadn't quite dawned on him as someone kept calling to him, breaking his concentration.
"Sir! Sir, your order is ready!"
He turned and headed back to the concession stand, where the cashier was holding out a tray containing his food.
"Uh, thanks," he mumbled before hurrying back to his seat before Jess began to worry about what was taking so long.
A ghost.
He never thought he'd see such a thing here and now. As long as he didn't say anything, maybe he could forget what he had seen.
Making his way back to his seat, he handed Jess the cardboard tray and sat down without saying a word.
"Sam, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Jess quipped, smilling, noticing the slightly pale look on her boyfriend's face.
Sam quickly turned to face her, "W-what? No, no, I-I’m fine," he lied, silently thankful that the competition was resuming. Taking a deep breath, he took a long sip from his soda and grabbed a handful of popcorn which he shoved into his mouth as Jess laughed at the spectacle of her boyfriend and turned her attention back to the ice, and Sam was relieved the query was dropped.
But his relief was only short lived. Standing alongside the boards by herself, the image of the brunette ghost stood behind the blonde girl who had flirted with him. The girl breathed, little puffs of breath expelling from her mouth. She shivered slightly and quickly turned around, as though expecting someone to be there, but the dead girl was gone.
Sam knew the reaction well. It was the standard tingling on the back of your neck, goosebumps rising up and down your arm, the feeling like someone was watching you, but this feeling of being watched felt more personal than just by the few thousand spectators inside the arena. This felt like it was invading your very soul.
Hastily the girl rushed off, heading behind the curtains as the current skater exited the ice and took her seat next to her coach.
"Oh, c'mon," Jess moaned, watching the last skater's scores flash on the marque. "It wasn't that bad!" She turned and patted Sam on the arm affectionately. "Can you believe that?"
Sam had no idea what she was talking about, but feigning support, shook his head. It was as non-comittal an answer he felt comfortable giving.
The crowd booed in unison over the girl's scores as she left the kiss and cry area, waiving to the crowd before disappearing into the back. Sam kept his eyes peeled for the ghost girl, but she was no where to be seen. A few more skaters had gone up, yet nothing out of the ordinary happened... at least not until a spry red-haired girl took the ice, announced over the speakers as Deanna Adams.
An electrical charge filled the air, the overhead lights flickering. A couple of people in the audience looked up, but seemed otherwise ignorant of what was going on. Sam squinted up at the rafters, surprised to find the transparent brunette girl sitting on the beams. She looked down, focusing on the girl on the ice. A well of fear grew inside Sam knowing this was somehow not going to end well….
Jess cheered along with the audience as the music began for Deanna, nudging Sam in the process. "She's coming in as the favorite to win, but even if she doesn't, this must be so hard for her. Her friend Grace - another skater - was killed a few months ago in a tragic accident, and no one expected Deanna to be back competing so soon."
Sam looked at Jess, eyes wide. He wanted to ask more, but the faint squeaking of a massive lightbulb twisting in its socket pulled his attention away. A few others in the audience heard it too, and were looking up and pointing as the bulb spun around precariously until....
Deanna lay on the ice not moving as loud gasps echoed through the crowd of the now dimly-lit arena. Next to her lay the shattered bulb, some of the pieces dripping with Deanna's blood. Jess grabbed hold of Sam's arm, pulling him close. "Oh my God!"
The sounds of screams and gasps echoed through the crowd, as Deanna’s music came to an abrupt stop.
Sam's hunter instincts may have gone a bit flabby while at Stanford, but they never left... and now, they were starting to roar back to life. It didn't take a novice hunter to know what was going on; the whole thing smacked of vengeful spirit, and Sam needed to figure out why Grace was targeting her friend Deanna.
"What the hell just happened?" Jess asked.
Not quite knowing how to explain the whole vengeful spirit thing to Jess without going into a long-winded lecture that would've included how he knew about ghosts, and why exactly they turned vengeful in the first place, Sam opted for a safer alternative, one that seemed relatively safe and unassuming. And one that wouldn't lead to any questions about the type of childhood he had, which would've probably scared Jess a lot more than it should.
"Uh, freak accident," was the only thing Sam could muster in terms of an answer.
Finally after a moment, Deanna began to stir, slowly pulling herself into a kneeling position. She let out a blood-curdling scream when she noticed the blood-stained shards of glass surrounding her. Paramedics rushed onto the ice, picking up the petite skater and placing her on the stretcher as others tried to clear the path for them. The skater tried to give the audience a thumbs up, but the effect was lost as the paramedics kept her still, putting a neck brace on her and tending to her open wounds.
"Hey," Sam said suddenly standing up, an idea popping into his head, "nature calls."
Rushing from his seat, he made his way back to the concourse and walked the semi-circle arena toward the back, where the skaters hung out and waited for their turn on the ice.
Most of the security guards were too busy trying to keep the hounding TV and newspaper reporters at bay, and Sam used it to his advantage to slip behind the curtain unnoticed.
Like any sporting even, there was usually an area where injured athletes were taken for examinaton before being transported to a hospital, and Sam hoped he could find Deanna and she hadn’t suffered too traumatic a brain injury that she could answer a few questions for him there before she was carted off….
He was nearly stopped in his tracks when a hand reached out and grabbed him on the shoulder. Turning on his heels, he faced a middle-aged man whose face was set in a grimace.
"Who are you and what are you doing back here?" he demanded.
"I-I work for the arena. I need to speak with Ms. Adams about the accident," Sam lied.
"I’m her coach, whatever you need to ask her, you can ask me."
"I wish I could, but for insurance purposes, I have to speak to her directly... if possible."
"Can't it wait until she's treated at the hospital?"
Sam bit his lip. "I wish I could, but proceedure says I have to do it ASAP, so the insurance adjusters can do their thing."
The man eyed him warily, unsure of what to make of him. Sam felt his heartbeat quicken, and finally after a moment, the man sighed. "She’s in the back here, but she may not be up to answering any questions right now."
Sam followed the man to a separate room where paramedics tended to the injured girl. Her head was bandaged up, but she was awake, coherent and talking to the medics.
"Don’t worry," he heard one of them say, "the ambulance will be here shortly."
Sam needed to talk to Deanna privately and he only had a few moments to make it happen before the ambulance arrived.
Deanna saw Sam enter the room, and gave him a small smile. "I remember you," she said weakly. "I saw you up on the concourse earlier."
"Uh, yeah," he agreed.
"This man is here because he works for the arena and wants to ask you a few questions about the accident," her coach interjected.
Deanna nodded and waved off one of the medics still attending to her. "Can you give me a moment?" she asked.
The woman who was bandaging a cut on the skater's arm nodded and moved outside the room. Deanna nodded for Sam to get closer and, taking a deep breath, the young man moved forward. He could still feel the eyes of her coach boring into him with intensity.
Sam sighed, throwing caution to the wind. "Have you noticed anything odd lately?"
"Uh, no," Deanna replied.
"Any flickering lights or cold spots?"
"What? What does that have to do with my accident?"
"Trust me, more than you would realize."
Deanna thought about it for a moment. "Uh, yeah, I-I guess. I mean, I know I'm inside an ice rink, but it just feels colder, you know. H-how does this fit in again?"
"Have you felt like someone's been watching you?"
"What kind of questions are these?" her coach asked abruptly. "Look, you should leave now. The ambulance is coming and Deanna needs to go to the hospital."
Deanna motioned for her coach to be quiet, a look of confusion, but also understanding crossing her face.
"Y-yeah, now that you mentioned it. It's normal to feel like you're being watched during a competition, but this is like something is watching you, but you can't see it. Like whatever it is just out of eyesight."
"Like Grace?"
Deanna stared at Sam like he had suddenly sprouted two heads. "What? Grace is -"
"Dead? I know," Sam replied. "But I think she's been following you."
"You're not from the arena, are you? You're just some sick freak who is disturbed." Her coach made to grab Sam on the arm, preparing to make him leave, but Deanna waved her hand frantically.
"Stop!"
Deanna looked at Sam more determinedly, but the coach still held onto Sam with a tight grip. "What do you mean 'like Grace'?"
"I've seen her, your friend. She's hanging around you. In fact, I think she's the one who caused your accident," Sam said. The coach let go of Sam's arm. It was a draw who looked more surprised, Deanna or her coach.
"Why would Grace want to hurt me? We were friends," Deanna replied.
"I don't know why, but sometimes spirits hang around for whatever reason and sometimes they turn vengeful if they're pissed about no longer being alive, or if there's unfinished business," replied Sam. "How did your friend die?"
"She was killed in a car accident," Deanna began. Almost instantly, a look of realization dawned on her. Her coach looked worried.
"Deanna, no," he began.
Sam looked between Deanna and her coach, wondering what was going on.
"I have to. If she's still around, I need to appologize to her," Deanna answered solemly.
"What happened?" Sam asked.
"I - I was responsible for the car accident," she sighed. "I had been drinking that night. We both had been. Grace wanted to go to this new club that just opened up, and one evening when our coach got called away to go to a family emergency, we decided to sneak out...."
-0-
"Deanna, did you hear about that new spot opening tonight? We should totally go," Grace said, plowing to a stop right in front of her friend.
Ice sprayed up, landing on Deanna's hot pink leg warmers. "You know we can't," she laughed. "Coach Randall would be totally pissed if we bailed this close to the start of the season."
Grace scoffed. "Coach Randall won't know if we missed the last hour of practice. Trust me. We're young girls in our twenties, we should be allowed to go out every now and then and have fun!"
Deanna said nothing for a moment. "You're right, we are young women in our twenties, and that means we don't have many chances left to make it to the Olympics! We've already got a fifteen-year-old hotshot on our heels!"
Grace looked thoughtful for a moment. "Tell you what, we go out partying tonight, and we'll come back an hour earlier tomorrow and make up for ducking out tonight."
Deanna smiled. "As long as we're not too hung over."
"We won't be. Now let's go and have some fun before we lose our sanity!"
-0-
"I fooloshly let myself get talked into it," Deanna said inbetween sobs. "It felt amazing being able to just go out and have fun like other women our age, but we never thought about the consequences...."
-0-
The music was loud and contagious Deanna and Grace sat down at a corner table, drinks in hand as the DJ began playing a new track. They spent the time just watching the other patrons dance and have a good time.
Grace smiled as she downed her drink in one go.
"You might wanna pace yourself," Deanna laughed. "We got all night."
Her friend's face began to look flush, the alchohol already taking effect. "Is it hot in here or is it just me?"
Grace watched her friend take off her sweater and fan herself with her free hand as she twirled the sweater around in the air. Still in their skating apparel, Deanna couldn't help but chuckle as she watched her friend try and make her outfit as sexy as possible, but the effect wasn't conpletely lost. A couple of guys from across the room were pointing over at her and smirking. It wasn't long before a round of shots were being delivered to them, compliments of the male group.
"Sweet!" Grace said, accepting the drink and holding it up for the group to see.
-0-
The night passed in a blur of disco lights and music, dancing and drinks. And the occasional flirting with a cute guy or three. It was the most fun either one ha had in a long time.
"Oh my God!" Deanna said to herself, fanning herself and gigling uncontrollably, feeling utterly and strangely at peace with the world. Through blurred vision, she scanned the crowed of party-goers, looking for her friend, who was making out with a rather cut guy. He pulled back and whispered something into her ear, causing her to laugh.
-0-
"When we left, I -" Deanna stopped, tears starting to fall from the corners of her eyes, "I got behind the wheel. I know we should have called a taxi, but we stupidly thought we could make it home."
"Then what happened?" Sam asked.
"At first, nothing...."
-0-
Deanna grabbed the car keys from inside her purse and wobbily put them into the ignition. Grace slid into the passenger seat, smiling over something on her phone.
"What’s so funny?" Deanna asked.
Grace held up her phone, revealing an image of a man’s rather decent-sized privates. Deanna smiled. "Nice!"
"Greg was really nice," Grace said, ephasizing her words.
"I could see that," Deanna joked, as she sped out of the parking lot. "I could see the two of you getting quite friendly."
Her friend chuckled, the glow of the phone lighting up the car. Deanna knew what she was looking at. "This picture doesn’t do it justice. It was bigger in person."
Deanna looked at her friend, a look of shock and amazement crossing over. "Oh my God!"
Grace was going to say something back, but a look of fear crossed her face. "Deanna, there’s a car coming!"
Her friend quickly corrected the car, unaware that she had traveled into the oncoming lane. Taking a deep breath, Deanna sighed. "That was close!"
-0-
"We tried to stick with back roads only, but we had to cross past a section of woods. I got to this curve, I tried to slow down… I didn’t realize I was going so fast…. And before I knew it, an animal was in the road, I tried slowing down, but the car careended down a ditch. I don’t remember much else afterwards, but I do know that when I came to, Grace was slumped over in her seat."
"That was when she called me," her coach spoke up. "I got there as quick as I could. Deanna was banged up really bad and bleeding…."
-0-
Deanna saw a blurry pair of headlights reflect off her rearview mirror. A familiar voice spoke up and filled her with hope.
"Deanna! Grace!"
Her coach was at the driver’s side of the car, pounding on the window. With effort and a loud groat, he was able to get the door to open and helped Deanna out.
"I’m-I’m s-so sorry!" Deanna blurted in between sobs, holding onto him for support.
"Are you okay?" Coach Randall asked.
Deanna nodded, trying to sitfle the feeling of wanting to completely break down. Sliding into the driver’s side, he flipped Grace over and grimmaced, but checked for a pulse. There was none.
When he got out he held Deanna close. "I’m sorry."
The young skater broke down crying in her coach's arms. Her best friend since they were five was dead. And it was all her fault.
-0-
"I panicked," Coach Randall continued. "If news of this got out, Deanna would lose all her sponsorships, so I did something I wasn’t proud of and still haunts me to this day: I moved Grace’s body to the driver’s side and left her there. Deanna and I left before the ambulance arrived. I took her back to my house as my wife is a nurse, and we kept Deanna’s injuries underwraps, away from the press."
"Grace took the blame for the accident, and no one knew I was ever involved," Deanna finished.
"And now Grace is back and pissed," Sam added. "She probably feels like she was robbed."
"But what can I do to make things right with her?" Deanna pleaded.
The temperature suddenly dropped, and the image of the dead and angry brunette girl appeared in the room. Deanna and her coach gasped.
"Grace, I’m so sorry I left you to take the blame. I'm sorry for leaving you, and I'm sorry for everything!" Deanna sobbed, tears falling hard and fast now. "I never wanted it to be like that. Will you please forgive me?"
"And me?" her coach added. "I am deeply sorry for what I did."
Grace looked around the room, at her former coach, then at her friend, her face softening a bit.
Deanna continued. "If it will make it up to you, I’ll come out and tell the press it was me that caused the accident, not you."
Sam watched the reaction of Grace, expecting her to nod in agreement, but she fervently shook her head no. After a moment, the ghost skater finally spoke up, her voice sounding like a distant echo.
"No, don't. You'll lose everything you've worked for. I know why you both did what you did, and I'm the one who should be appologizing. It was because of my stupid actions that this happened. I was so blinded by rage, I was so jealous that you could finish your dream and I can't. I'm sorry I hurt you."
Deanna nodded fervently, tears falling faster and harder now. "But I shouldn't have been driving. I caused the accident."
Grace smiled. "No, we shouldn't have been stupid to think we could drive that night, but you swerved to avoid hitting that animal. I would've done the same thing."
In an instant, Grace appeared beside Deanna, her face no longer showing the hurt she once felt. "When you get to the Olympics and have that amazing free skate, just remember me. I'll be watching over you."
Grace flickered out of sight, and Deanna looked over at Sam. "Is she gone?"
"No, I think she's gonna stick around a bit," replied Sam.
"What do you mean 'stick around'?" Coach Randall asked.
"I guess Grace doesn't want to crossover anytime soon," Sam replied.
"How do you know about ghosts and such?" the petite girl asked.
Sam rubbed the back of his head nervously, unsure how to answer this. "It'it's kinda a hobby, I guess you could say."
-0-
Walking around the concourse and looking worried, Sam saw the familiar wavy-blond hair of Jessica bobbing through the crowd.
Sam looked at his watch and bit his lip. He told Jess he'd had to run to the bathroom, but that was forty-five minutes ago. How would he explain that long of an absence?
Jess looked up and saw Sam making his way through the crowd. "There you are!" she exlaimed, looking slightly relieved, running over to him and throwing her arms around him.
"Hey! I'm so sorry," he began slightly taken aback.
"I thought you got lost... or left."
"No, no, there was a line at the men's room, and well, I guess the popcorn wasn't agreeing with me."
"Well, I hope you're feeling better now," Jess said, looking up into Sam's hazel eyes and kissing him on the cheek. "If you want, we can leave. I'm sure figure skating really isn't your type of thing. You must be bored out of your mind."
"No, it's been... interesting, to say the least."
The end.
Author: me (princess_schez)
Genre: Sam/Jess, pre-series Stanford era
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 4216
Summary: Sam reluctantly agrees to go with Jess to a figure skating competition, but things take a darker turn when when an unwanted ghost appears at the competition. Beta'd by sendintheklowns. Banner by me.
___________
Sam pulled his blanket closer, trying to block the chill from inside the ice rink. If his brother ever saw him here, he'd never hear the end of it. Not to mention his friend Brady. But as he looked around the small arena, he didn't see anyone else from Stanford present, so his present situation was at least secured.
But it still didn't mean he wanted to be here. Figure skating was not his cup of tea. Quickly stealing a look at his watch, he realized with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, that he still had a few more hours of this unique brand of torture.
Almost as if on cue, Jess pulled herself closer to Sam, melting his moodiness... if only slightly. He breathed deep, enjoying the sweet smell of cherry blossoms of her perfume.
"Thank you for taking me," she said, almost as if she knew what he had been thinking. "I know that this must be pretty boring for you."
"No, no, it's fine," Sam lied. He rubbed a hand up and down her back, thinking that maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be so bad after all.
An annoucement came over the loudspeaker bringing out the next group of skaters to the ice to warm up. He wished he could've had a beer at least, but somehow booze and figure skating seemed like two things that would never go together.
"Hey, do you want anything from the snack bar?" he asked. Jess's blonde head popped up.
"Sure! Some popcorn and sodas would be nice."
Pulling himself up from his seat, he excused himseld past the other spectators and headed up the stairs to the concourse.
Apparently others had the same idea, as the crowds began to disperse from the arena, making their way to the concession stands for some refreshments. Rushing over to one before the crowds hit, he placed his order with one of the girls working the registers.
"We're out of popcorn right now, but we'll have some more ready in a few minutes," the cashier said.
"No probs," Sam replied as he pulled out a few bucks and paid for his food.
Using the few minutes he had, he strolled around the concourse, where TVs has been set up showing the action that was taking place on the ice. Right now they were showing highlights from the last group of skaters that had taken the ice.
He stood, watching it for a few seconds when a chill came over him. He shuddered slightly as a group of female skaters came walking by with their coaches. Sam watched them, and smiled. This was the part of the sport he could get into. One of the girls, a pretty red-haired one, turned and faced him, winking at him coyishly as her arm brushed by his. Sam, feeling slightly embarrased, smiled back before turning away and coming face-to-face with another girl with dark brunette hair and porcelain skin. Startled, he didn't expect to see someone standing so close to him without noticing.
"Um," Sam was at a loss for words. The girl stared at him with such intensity that it was like she was staring straight through him, never once blinking. She was a solid entity, and he would've thought her to be a living, breathing person, had it not been for the streaks of red going down her face and dripping down her dirty and tattered skating club jacket.
No one else seemed to see this girl, or at least was paying any attention, and his breaths came out in little puffs of white mist.
The girl flickered out of sight, and Sam's heart dropped into his stomach. The relization hadn't quite dawned on him as someone kept calling to him, breaking his concentration.
"Sir! Sir, your order is ready!"
He turned and headed back to the concession stand, where the cashier was holding out a tray containing his food.
"Uh, thanks," he mumbled before hurrying back to his seat before Jess began to worry about what was taking so long.
A ghost.
He never thought he'd see such a thing here and now. As long as he didn't say anything, maybe he could forget what he had seen.
Making his way back to his seat, he handed Jess the cardboard tray and sat down without saying a word.
"Sam, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Jess quipped, smilling, noticing the slightly pale look on her boyfriend's face.
Sam quickly turned to face her, "W-what? No, no, I-I’m fine," he lied, silently thankful that the competition was resuming. Taking a deep breath, he took a long sip from his soda and grabbed a handful of popcorn which he shoved into his mouth as Jess laughed at the spectacle of her boyfriend and turned her attention back to the ice, and Sam was relieved the query was dropped.
But his relief was only short lived. Standing alongside the boards by herself, the image of the brunette ghost stood behind the blonde girl who had flirted with him. The girl breathed, little puffs of breath expelling from her mouth. She shivered slightly and quickly turned around, as though expecting someone to be there, but the dead girl was gone.
Sam knew the reaction well. It was the standard tingling on the back of your neck, goosebumps rising up and down your arm, the feeling like someone was watching you, but this feeling of being watched felt more personal than just by the few thousand spectators inside the arena. This felt like it was invading your very soul.
Hastily the girl rushed off, heading behind the curtains as the current skater exited the ice and took her seat next to her coach.
"Oh, c'mon," Jess moaned, watching the last skater's scores flash on the marque. "It wasn't that bad!" She turned and patted Sam on the arm affectionately. "Can you believe that?"
Sam had no idea what she was talking about, but feigning support, shook his head. It was as non-comittal an answer he felt comfortable giving.
The crowd booed in unison over the girl's scores as she left the kiss and cry area, waiving to the crowd before disappearing into the back. Sam kept his eyes peeled for the ghost girl, but she was no where to be seen. A few more skaters had gone up, yet nothing out of the ordinary happened... at least not until a spry red-haired girl took the ice, announced over the speakers as Deanna Adams.
An electrical charge filled the air, the overhead lights flickering. A couple of people in the audience looked up, but seemed otherwise ignorant of what was going on. Sam squinted up at the rafters, surprised to find the transparent brunette girl sitting on the beams. She looked down, focusing on the girl on the ice. A well of fear grew inside Sam knowing this was somehow not going to end well….
Jess cheered along with the audience as the music began for Deanna, nudging Sam in the process. "She's coming in as the favorite to win, but even if she doesn't, this must be so hard for her. Her friend Grace - another skater - was killed a few months ago in a tragic accident, and no one expected Deanna to be back competing so soon."
Sam looked at Jess, eyes wide. He wanted to ask more, but the faint squeaking of a massive lightbulb twisting in its socket pulled his attention away. A few others in the audience heard it too, and were looking up and pointing as the bulb spun around precariously until....
Deanna lay on the ice not moving as loud gasps echoed through the crowd of the now dimly-lit arena. Next to her lay the shattered bulb, some of the pieces dripping with Deanna's blood. Jess grabbed hold of Sam's arm, pulling him close. "Oh my God!"
The sounds of screams and gasps echoed through the crowd, as Deanna’s music came to an abrupt stop.
Sam's hunter instincts may have gone a bit flabby while at Stanford, but they never left... and now, they were starting to roar back to life. It didn't take a novice hunter to know what was going on; the whole thing smacked of vengeful spirit, and Sam needed to figure out why Grace was targeting her friend Deanna.
"What the hell just happened?" Jess asked.
Not quite knowing how to explain the whole vengeful spirit thing to Jess without going into a long-winded lecture that would've included how he knew about ghosts, and why exactly they turned vengeful in the first place, Sam opted for a safer alternative, one that seemed relatively safe and unassuming. And one that wouldn't lead to any questions about the type of childhood he had, which would've probably scared Jess a lot more than it should.
"Uh, freak accident," was the only thing Sam could muster in terms of an answer.
Finally after a moment, Deanna began to stir, slowly pulling herself into a kneeling position. She let out a blood-curdling scream when she noticed the blood-stained shards of glass surrounding her. Paramedics rushed onto the ice, picking up the petite skater and placing her on the stretcher as others tried to clear the path for them. The skater tried to give the audience a thumbs up, but the effect was lost as the paramedics kept her still, putting a neck brace on her and tending to her open wounds.
"Hey," Sam said suddenly standing up, an idea popping into his head, "nature calls."
Rushing from his seat, he made his way back to the concourse and walked the semi-circle arena toward the back, where the skaters hung out and waited for their turn on the ice.
Most of the security guards were too busy trying to keep the hounding TV and newspaper reporters at bay, and Sam used it to his advantage to slip behind the curtain unnoticed.
Like any sporting even, there was usually an area where injured athletes were taken for examinaton before being transported to a hospital, and Sam hoped he could find Deanna and she hadn’t suffered too traumatic a brain injury that she could answer a few questions for him there before she was carted off….
He was nearly stopped in his tracks when a hand reached out and grabbed him on the shoulder. Turning on his heels, he faced a middle-aged man whose face was set in a grimace.
"Who are you and what are you doing back here?" he demanded.
"I-I work for the arena. I need to speak with Ms. Adams about the accident," Sam lied.
"I’m her coach, whatever you need to ask her, you can ask me."
"I wish I could, but for insurance purposes, I have to speak to her directly... if possible."
"Can't it wait until she's treated at the hospital?"
Sam bit his lip. "I wish I could, but proceedure says I have to do it ASAP, so the insurance adjusters can do their thing."
The man eyed him warily, unsure of what to make of him. Sam felt his heartbeat quicken, and finally after a moment, the man sighed. "She’s in the back here, but she may not be up to answering any questions right now."
Sam followed the man to a separate room where paramedics tended to the injured girl. Her head was bandaged up, but she was awake, coherent and talking to the medics.
"Don’t worry," he heard one of them say, "the ambulance will be here shortly."
Sam needed to talk to Deanna privately and he only had a few moments to make it happen before the ambulance arrived.
Deanna saw Sam enter the room, and gave him a small smile. "I remember you," she said weakly. "I saw you up on the concourse earlier."
"Uh, yeah," he agreed.
"This man is here because he works for the arena and wants to ask you a few questions about the accident," her coach interjected.
Deanna nodded and waved off one of the medics still attending to her. "Can you give me a moment?" she asked.
The woman who was bandaging a cut on the skater's arm nodded and moved outside the room. Deanna nodded for Sam to get closer and, taking a deep breath, the young man moved forward. He could still feel the eyes of her coach boring into him with intensity.
Sam sighed, throwing caution to the wind. "Have you noticed anything odd lately?"
"Uh, no," Deanna replied.
"Any flickering lights or cold spots?"
"What? What does that have to do with my accident?"
"Trust me, more than you would realize."
Deanna thought about it for a moment. "Uh, yeah, I-I guess. I mean, I know I'm inside an ice rink, but it just feels colder, you know. H-how does this fit in again?"
"Have you felt like someone's been watching you?"
"What kind of questions are these?" her coach asked abruptly. "Look, you should leave now. The ambulance is coming and Deanna needs to go to the hospital."
Deanna motioned for her coach to be quiet, a look of confusion, but also understanding crossing her face.
"Y-yeah, now that you mentioned it. It's normal to feel like you're being watched during a competition, but this is like something is watching you, but you can't see it. Like whatever it is just out of eyesight."
"Like Grace?"
Deanna stared at Sam like he had suddenly sprouted two heads. "What? Grace is -"
"Dead? I know," Sam replied. "But I think she's been following you."
"You're not from the arena, are you? You're just some sick freak who is disturbed." Her coach made to grab Sam on the arm, preparing to make him leave, but Deanna waved her hand frantically.
"Stop!"
Deanna looked at Sam more determinedly, but the coach still held onto Sam with a tight grip. "What do you mean 'like Grace'?"
"I've seen her, your friend. She's hanging around you. In fact, I think she's the one who caused your accident," Sam said. The coach let go of Sam's arm. It was a draw who looked more surprised, Deanna or her coach.
"Why would Grace want to hurt me? We were friends," Deanna replied.
"I don't know why, but sometimes spirits hang around for whatever reason and sometimes they turn vengeful if they're pissed about no longer being alive, or if there's unfinished business," replied Sam. "How did your friend die?"
"She was killed in a car accident," Deanna began. Almost instantly, a look of realization dawned on her. Her coach looked worried.
"Deanna, no," he began.
Sam looked between Deanna and her coach, wondering what was going on.
"I have to. If she's still around, I need to appologize to her," Deanna answered solemly.
"What happened?" Sam asked.
"I - I was responsible for the car accident," she sighed. "I had been drinking that night. We both had been. Grace wanted to go to this new club that just opened up, and one evening when our coach got called away to go to a family emergency, we decided to sneak out...."
-0-
"Deanna, did you hear about that new spot opening tonight? We should totally go," Grace said, plowing to a stop right in front of her friend.
Ice sprayed up, landing on Deanna's hot pink leg warmers. "You know we can't," she laughed. "Coach Randall would be totally pissed if we bailed this close to the start of the season."
Grace scoffed. "Coach Randall won't know if we missed the last hour of practice. Trust me. We're young girls in our twenties, we should be allowed to go out every now and then and have fun!"
Deanna said nothing for a moment. "You're right, we are young women in our twenties, and that means we don't have many chances left to make it to the Olympics! We've already got a fifteen-year-old hotshot on our heels!"
Grace looked thoughtful for a moment. "Tell you what, we go out partying tonight, and we'll come back an hour earlier tomorrow and make up for ducking out tonight."
Deanna smiled. "As long as we're not too hung over."
"We won't be. Now let's go and have some fun before we lose our sanity!"
-0-
"I fooloshly let myself get talked into it," Deanna said inbetween sobs. "It felt amazing being able to just go out and have fun like other women our age, but we never thought about the consequences...."
-0-
The music was loud and contagious Deanna and Grace sat down at a corner table, drinks in hand as the DJ began playing a new track. They spent the time just watching the other patrons dance and have a good time.
Grace smiled as she downed her drink in one go.
"You might wanna pace yourself," Deanna laughed. "We got all night."
Her friend's face began to look flush, the alchohol already taking effect. "Is it hot in here or is it just me?"
Grace watched her friend take off her sweater and fan herself with her free hand as she twirled the sweater around in the air. Still in their skating apparel, Deanna couldn't help but chuckle as she watched her friend try and make her outfit as sexy as possible, but the effect wasn't conpletely lost. A couple of guys from across the room were pointing over at her and smirking. It wasn't long before a round of shots were being delivered to them, compliments of the male group.
"Sweet!" Grace said, accepting the drink and holding it up for the group to see.
-0-
The night passed in a blur of disco lights and music, dancing and drinks. And the occasional flirting with a cute guy or three. It was the most fun either one ha had in a long time.
"Oh my God!" Deanna said to herself, fanning herself and gigling uncontrollably, feeling utterly and strangely at peace with the world. Through blurred vision, she scanned the crowed of party-goers, looking for her friend, who was making out with a rather cut guy. He pulled back and whispered something into her ear, causing her to laugh.
-0-
"When we left, I -" Deanna stopped, tears starting to fall from the corners of her eyes, "I got behind the wheel. I know we should have called a taxi, but we stupidly thought we could make it home."
"Then what happened?" Sam asked.
"At first, nothing...."
-0-
Deanna grabbed the car keys from inside her purse and wobbily put them into the ignition. Grace slid into the passenger seat, smiling over something on her phone.
"What’s so funny?" Deanna asked.
Grace held up her phone, revealing an image of a man’s rather decent-sized privates. Deanna smiled. "Nice!"
"Greg was really nice," Grace said, ephasizing her words.
"I could see that," Deanna joked, as she sped out of the parking lot. "I could see the two of you getting quite friendly."
Her friend chuckled, the glow of the phone lighting up the car. Deanna knew what she was looking at. "This picture doesn’t do it justice. It was bigger in person."
Deanna looked at her friend, a look of shock and amazement crossing over. "Oh my God!"
Grace was going to say something back, but a look of fear crossed her face. "Deanna, there’s a car coming!"
Her friend quickly corrected the car, unaware that she had traveled into the oncoming lane. Taking a deep breath, Deanna sighed. "That was close!"
-0-
"We tried to stick with back roads only, but we had to cross past a section of woods. I got to this curve, I tried to slow down… I didn’t realize I was going so fast…. And before I knew it, an animal was in the road, I tried slowing down, but the car careended down a ditch. I don’t remember much else afterwards, but I do know that when I came to, Grace was slumped over in her seat."
"That was when she called me," her coach spoke up. "I got there as quick as I could. Deanna was banged up really bad and bleeding…."
-0-
Deanna saw a blurry pair of headlights reflect off her rearview mirror. A familiar voice spoke up and filled her with hope.
"Deanna! Grace!"
Her coach was at the driver’s side of the car, pounding on the window. With effort and a loud groat, he was able to get the door to open and helped Deanna out.
"I’m-I’m s-so sorry!" Deanna blurted in between sobs, holding onto him for support.
"Are you okay?" Coach Randall asked.
Deanna nodded, trying to sitfle the feeling of wanting to completely break down. Sliding into the driver’s side, he flipped Grace over and grimmaced, but checked for a pulse. There was none.
When he got out he held Deanna close. "I’m sorry."
The young skater broke down crying in her coach's arms. Her best friend since they were five was dead. And it was all her fault.
-0-
"I panicked," Coach Randall continued. "If news of this got out, Deanna would lose all her sponsorships, so I did something I wasn’t proud of and still haunts me to this day: I moved Grace’s body to the driver’s side and left her there. Deanna and I left before the ambulance arrived. I took her back to my house as my wife is a nurse, and we kept Deanna’s injuries underwraps, away from the press."
"Grace took the blame for the accident, and no one knew I was ever involved," Deanna finished.
"And now Grace is back and pissed," Sam added. "She probably feels like she was robbed."
"But what can I do to make things right with her?" Deanna pleaded.
The temperature suddenly dropped, and the image of the dead and angry brunette girl appeared in the room. Deanna and her coach gasped.
"Grace, I’m so sorry I left you to take the blame. I'm sorry for leaving you, and I'm sorry for everything!" Deanna sobbed, tears falling hard and fast now. "I never wanted it to be like that. Will you please forgive me?"
"And me?" her coach added. "I am deeply sorry for what I did."
Grace looked around the room, at her former coach, then at her friend, her face softening a bit.
Deanna continued. "If it will make it up to you, I’ll come out and tell the press it was me that caused the accident, not you."
Sam watched the reaction of Grace, expecting her to nod in agreement, but she fervently shook her head no. After a moment, the ghost skater finally spoke up, her voice sounding like a distant echo.
"No, don't. You'll lose everything you've worked for. I know why you both did what you did, and I'm the one who should be appologizing. It was because of my stupid actions that this happened. I was so blinded by rage, I was so jealous that you could finish your dream and I can't. I'm sorry I hurt you."
Deanna nodded fervently, tears falling faster and harder now. "But I shouldn't have been driving. I caused the accident."
Grace smiled. "No, we shouldn't have been stupid to think we could drive that night, but you swerved to avoid hitting that animal. I would've done the same thing."
In an instant, Grace appeared beside Deanna, her face no longer showing the hurt she once felt. "When you get to the Olympics and have that amazing free skate, just remember me. I'll be watching over you."
Grace flickered out of sight, and Deanna looked over at Sam. "Is she gone?"
"No, I think she's gonna stick around a bit," replied Sam.
"What do you mean 'stick around'?" Coach Randall asked.
"I guess Grace doesn't want to crossover anytime soon," Sam replied.
"How do you know about ghosts and such?" the petite girl asked.
Sam rubbed the back of his head nervously, unsure how to answer this. "It'it's kinda a hobby, I guess you could say."
-0-
Walking around the concourse and looking worried, Sam saw the familiar wavy-blond hair of Jessica bobbing through the crowd.
Sam looked at his watch and bit his lip. He told Jess he'd had to run to the bathroom, but that was forty-five minutes ago. How would he explain that long of an absence?
Jess looked up and saw Sam making his way through the crowd. "There you are!" she exlaimed, looking slightly relieved, running over to him and throwing her arms around him.
"Hey! I'm so sorry," he began slightly taken aback.
"I thought you got lost... or left."
"No, no, there was a line at the men's room, and well, I guess the popcorn wasn't agreeing with me."
"Well, I hope you're feeling better now," Jess said, looking up into Sam's hazel eyes and kissing him on the cheek. "If you want, we can leave. I'm sure figure skating really isn't your type of thing. You must be bored out of your mind."
"No, it's been... interesting, to say the least."
The end.