I

t had been more than an hour, and the only thing the three had felt on the bridge was a damp sort of cold. Jinx shivered in her coat again, trying to avoid looking at Jackson and Haley while they held hands.

For the fifteenth time that night, she did an equipment check.

Nothing.

It was already 1:00 a.m., and Jinx started to think about calling it a night. She yawned, closed her eyes, and laid her head against a pillar, listening to the murmurs of Jackson and Haley. She could vaguely make out what they were saying as they leaned over the railing.

“...it’s what we should do, you know?”

“Yeah. I don’t think it will get any better, do you?”

“The water is so peaceful...”

“...just climb over...”

Jinx’s eyes snapped open. A cloud had settled around Jackson and Haley as they huddled together. Tears streamed down Haley’s face, and Jackson’s shoulders were slumped again. It was happening.

Jinx looked at the EMF monitor in her hand—the needle spiked all the way to the red. The hair on the back of her neck stood up.

“Hey!” she yelled at Haley and Jackson, though they were right in front of her. “Hey! Snap out of it!”

Their expressions were dull and lifeless.

“You shouldn’t have saved me, Jinx,” Jackson said. “But now we can go ahead and do it.” He looked at Haley and smiled grimly. “Come on.”

Jinx shook her head in impatience, stepped up to Jackson, and swung her hand. As she connected with his face, the fire came back into his eyes. “That stung, Jinx!” he sputtered.

Jinx lifted her hand to slap Haley, too, but Haley grabbed her wrist. “Don’t even think about it.”

The cloud began moving slowly away from them. “There!” Jinx pointed. “We need to do something about this. Now.”

Haley nodded. “Most definitely. No way is some stupid cloud going to make me feel this way again. Or any of my friends.”

Jinx called out to the cloud, “Hey, you jerk! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!”

The cloud stopped moving. Jinx watched in amazement as the mist seemed to draw together—forming into a human-sized teen boy. He was gray and slightly transparent. This was the real deal. This was a real ghost. She looked at Haley and Jackson and saw their mouths were open too.

Jinx swallowed. She couldn’t give up now. “Uh, yeah, stop bullying people!”

The figure walked toward them and laughed. The laugh seemed to echo all around them. “Me?” it said as it got closer. The boy was dressed in old-fashioned clothes from what looked like the fifties. He had on a shiny windbreaker coat, and his pants were high around his waist. His head seemed to lean to one side. “Me, bully? That’s a laugh! I’m the one who was bullied! I’m the one who got picked on.”

The ghost stepped within touching distance of Jinx. He had some major acne, and his hair stuck up all over the place. He wore big, thick glasses and talked with a nasal voice. But behind the glasses, the fury in his eyes made Jinx shake.

“I b-b-bet that was hard,” she stammered. “Being bullied.”

The ghost threw his hands up. “Yeah it was hard! So hard it killed me! Kids chased me to this bridge. Told me I was worthless. Told me I should jump.”

Jinx gasped.

The ghost continued. “Every day from seventh grade on, they’d beat me up, take my lunch money. All because I was different. I was a nerd. I got good grades and had bad skin and bad hair and didn’t have the right clothes. Just because I wasn’t some stupid follower, they picked on me every day!”

The ghost pushed his glasses up his nose. “All because of that, they chased me here. They made me climb over the railing and kept holding me over the water like they were going to let go.”

Jinx dreaded what was coming.

“And then they did let go. My windbreaker slipped out of the stupid jock’s hand. He never had trouble with a football, but I guess he couldn’t hold on to me!”

He turned and looked at Jackson and Haley. “People like you did this to me.” And then Jinx understood. He only targeted the popular people. Somehow he knew who they were. That’s why the fog hadn’t affected her. As they spoke, the fog began to rise once again, encircling Haley and Jackson. Jinx stepped closer to the ghost.

“No! You can’t have them! I know you were hurt...And I’m so sorry for what those jerks did to you. But these two didn’t do anything to you. Let them go.”

Haley and Jackson swayed and stared off into the distance. Jinx wondered if they understood at all what was going on.

The ghost laughed. “They’re all the same—they’ll hurt someone too, mark my words. They’ll do it to you! You’re not like them. You’ll be next.”

“Look, I’m not winning any popularity contests, and I wouldn’t hang with that crowd if I could,” Jinx said. “People—any type of people—can be stupid around each other, especially in groups. But these two are different. Really. They’re...good.”

The ghost pointed at Haley. “Even her?”

Jinx thought for a minute and said, “Yeah. Even her.” And she meant it. Haley had come to the bridge despite the danger to herself. She had wanted to help. And if Jackson liked her...well, that meant there was something to like. If they got out of this mess, maybe Jinx would even apologize to Jackson for being so stubborn.

Doubtful, but she’d decide for sure later.

The ghost looked enraged. “Fool!” he yelled. “They’ll only hurt you! You’ll never be a part of their world!” And then he dissipated like a strong wind had blown him apart. The fog was gone.

Haley and Jackson blinked. “What happened?” Jackson asked.

Haley was shaking. “Is that ghost thing still here? I can’t believe I almost jumped! Again!” Jackson put his arm around her.

Jinx felt alone. And very tired.

She remembered her camera and rewound the night’s footage. It had captured nothing.

Sighing, she said, “Jackson, I think now would be a good time to do the cleansing ritual. Let’s get rid of this thing once and for all.”

Jackson nodded and grabbed his backpack. He took out a stick of sage and lit it. Then he began walking the bridge, murmuring words he’d learned on the Internet, leaving Haley and Jinx alone.

Haley looked at Jinx. “Thank you,” she said. “I think you just saved my life.”

Jinx shrugged. “All in a day’s work.”

As they left the bridge, Jinx thought she saw a gray fog hovering over the water. She wondered if they had truly gotten rid of the ghost.