Jess watched her mobile light up and vibrate against Tabitha's kitchen table, but she ignored it. Daryl's name continued to flash on the screen for a few seconds before it went dark.

'Want to talk about it?' Ash asked, finishing her pasta.

'No.'

'The Deputy won't be here for another half an hour,' she pointed out.

Jess tucked her hair behind her ear and turned her phone over. It wasn't the first time that Daryl had called, nor the second, or the third. But she was finding it hard to pick up the phone and talk to him.

She'd left him a rushed message when she'd woken up, making up an excuse for why she'd left the party. She was afraid to speak to him in case he started asking more questions. Lying to him was something she hated, but there would be no other option. Better instead to avoid him, she reasoned to herself.

'You're staring a hole into that phone case,' Ash said.

Jess pushed it further out of her view and turned back to look at her half full plate. 'It's Daryl.'

'Your boyfriend?'

She grimaced, but nodded. 'I don't really know what to say to him.'

'Do you want to tell him?'

'Not really.'

Ash wandered to the sink and started filling the bowl. 'So you're not worried about telling him? So what are you worried about?'

'I'm not worried.'

'But you are nervous about something.'

Jess was glad Ash had her back to her. It was hard to argue with a psychic. There was a lump in her stomach at the thought of speaking to Daryl.

'He's a nice guy,' she said.

'A lot of guys are.'

'Things used to be less complicated. And now I don't know what's happened. I don't really know why we're together.'

Ash wiped her hands and leaned against the counter. 'Because it was an easy option?'

'No. Maybe. I don't know.' Jess sighed. 'It used to just be about sex now and then, and then he wanted to come over more. We double dated with people, and pretty soon everyone just said we were a couple.'

'It became a habit.'

'It was easy because although we were together, we never really talk. We go to parties, he trains a lot, I'm studying most of the time. We don't see each other all that often.'

'And he helps you fit in?'

'What does that mean?' Jess asked.

'Jesse, are you telling me that you'd be going to parties all the time if someone wasn't dragging you?'

'I guess not,' she admitted.

'Being with Daryl, the normal college guy, makes you feel normal.'

'But I'm not normal.'

'No one is,' said Ash. 'Normality is an illusion. If everyone was normal, then everyone would be the same and we're not.'

'I just feel like the girl that was with him at the party isn't me anymore. I don't feel the same.'

'But you are the same.'

'How can you say that?' whispered Jess.

Ash came and sat next to her. 'Because you are the same person. You still love history. You still want to work in the smithsonian. You still dip your french fries in your milkshake.'

'And I see ghosts.' Jess rolled her eyes.

'You've just gained an extra skill.'

'My life's not going to be the same.'

Ash hesitated, wanting to make her words as truthfully as possible without scaring her sister. 'Your life will be different.'

Jess threw up her hands. 'See.'

'But it's still your life, your choices,' reasoned Ash.

'So, what are my options here?'

Looking away, Ash twisted the towel around in her hands.

'You haven't said you love him?' she finally asked, deciding that maybe her sister needed a push to confront her feelings.

'Haven't I?'

'Not once.'

'Well, I do.'

The lie fell flat, and Jess couldn't look at her sister. The words tasted bitter on her tongue and it wasn't the first time. It was with dawning realisation that neither she nor Daryl had ever said those three little words to each other.

'You're talking about being with him, but is that actually what you really want? Maybe the reason you're ignoring him is that you can't deal with the emotions of someone you're detached from?' Ash hedged.

'We've been together for six months. Shouldn't I feel something more?' Jess said in a small voice.

Ash shrugged, took her sister's plate and returned to the sink. 'You tell me.'

'I know I should-'

'Forget about should. What do you feel about him? Be honest with yourself.'

'And what do you want me to stay?' commanded Jess.

'Whatever is in your heart.'

Jess rolled her eyes. 'Now you sound like a carnival gypsy.'

'If the shoe fits.' Ash laughed.

Silence fell between them as Ash focused on the dishes and Jess thought about her feelings. If she were being truthful, she was uncomfortable dusting off her emotions and putting them under a microscope.

Her life had been focused on surviving and getting out of her situation. Pushing her emotions away had been the way she focused on the future. They became her motivation.

But she hadn't realised how tightly she'd held onto them after she achieved her goal. University should have been a blank slate. She'd made it. She'd done what she'd always wanted to do. So why did Ash's words bother her?

Sure, she didn't tell her friends everything, but did that mean she was pretending to be someone she wasn't?

It was jarring to realise that when it came to Daryl; she had revealed very little about herself. If she were to set him a quiz on who Jessenia Hawthorne is, she doubted he'd be able to scrap half marks. And the worst part was it wasn't Daryl's fault. The blame lay with her.

'I-I don't love him,' she admitted both to herself and Ash. 'We're together because it was expected. Everyone thought we looked together...but I prefer women.'

She played with her necklace, unable to look at her sister's reaction.

'I thought it was something like that,' Ash said with a soft smile.

'You knew,' accused Jess.

'Did you forget that I practically raised you? I saw you checking out both men and women.'

'You never said anything,' Jess whispered.

'Wasn't my place. You had to figure out what worked for you.'

'I've never told anyone that before.'

'And now you have. That wasn't so difficult now, was it?' teased Ash.

'Only because you're so open-minded,' Jess said. She frowned, thinking of Laura.

'Your friends will understand,' Ash said, guessing correctly where her sister's mind had wandered.

Tabitha hobbled into the kitchen, saving Jess from answering.

'The dishy Deputy has been sitting in his car for the last ten minutes,' she announced.

'And you've been watching him?' Ash said.

'Naturally. A fine piece of brown sugar like that. Reminds me of Rory.' Tabitha's voice softened, as it often did, when she spoke of her late husband.

'He's probably contemplating his recent life choices,' reasoned Ash.

'After meeting us, I'm not surprised,' Jess muttered.

'A bit of adventure is good for young hearts,' Tabitha said. 'I'll be upstairs if you need me. My dancing program is starting soon.' She sliced off a big slab of cake before Ash could admonish her, and exited the kitchen with her usual flourish.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

'Time to get this show on the road.' Ash grimaced. This was the moment she'd been dreading.

She left Jess in the kitchen to let in a grim set Deputy. He wore casual clothing, a plaid t-shirt tucked into a pair of washout jeans that looked like they'd seen better days. He didn't look like the Deputy she'd originally met.

'Come on through to the kitchen.' She shut the door behind him and followed, subtly checking out his butt. It was fine in his officer's trousers, but it was no less delectable in his civilian clothes.

'Did you get the object?' Jess asked.

'I must be out of my mind,' he muttered, but pulled out a brown envelope. 'We've dusted for fingerprints, but found nothing.' He upturned the envelope and a small silver ring slid out.

'And no one's going to miss this?' Ash pointed to the simple thing. It had three small cut glass crystals embedded in the silver. And would have been pretty if it wasn't for the slight greenish tinge on the inside.

'Given the rest of the contents in the box you found, this is the least of our concerns right now. Let's just say it was lost in transit between CSI and police lock up.'

Ash didn't pick it up. She'd never been more nervous about touching an object in her life.

'So how does this work?' Jess asked.

Ash rolled her tongue against her teeth before pulling a chair out. She placed her hands on either side of the ring, making sure that no part of it touched her.

'It meant a lot to Charity,' she said. 'Her essence is all over this. It's warm. Loved. Almost reverent.'

'You can tell all that without touching it?' Jess asked with wide eyes.

Ash kept her head low, not wanting to watch her sister's reaction.

She counted to ten, but still hesitated.

Come on Ash, just get it over with, she thought to herself.

As she touched the ring, she felt the usual jolt of adrenaline. The rush of something she could never quite explain flowed from the ring to her and back again.

Flashes of memories. Fragmented moments. All of them assaulted her, causing her to wince.

'Ash, are you okay?'

She felt Jess put a hand on her shoulder, but it was difficult for Ash to understand the gesture when her mind was pulled in too many directions.

'I'm in a room. There's a mattress on the floor and empty bookcases. Old desks. All of them broken.'

'Like the one from Charity's photos?' the Deputy asked.

But Ash didn't answer. Charity's emotions were dragging her in. She was nervous, but excited. Ash could feel the lacy feel of lingerie against the top of her legs, though she knew in the real world she was wearing jeans.

'There's someone else here.' She could hear a phone ringing and the muted tone of someone speaking.

'Male or female?' the Deputy demanded.

'Unsure.'

'Can you see them?'

'No. They must be in the other room.'

'Can't you go there?' Jess wondered.

'Not how this works. This is the strongest memory attached to the ring. And it's all about Charity waiting in lingerie for whoever's in the next room.'

'Do you know where the room is? Any clues?' The Deputy ran a hand over his bald head.

'I...' Ash pulled back her finger as the ring flashed hot. She expected the visions to fade, but her headache intensified. The visions came thick and fast, a jumble of information that moved too quickly for her to understand.

'Ash!'

She could hear Jess calling her, but it was like she was miles away.

Strong hands wrapped around her shoulders and she felt the Deputy shake her, but the visions pushed through her defences. She felt sick and dizzy, but she couldn't stop them.

A sharp slap against her cheek broke the connection, and she slammed her hands on the table. Her shoulders hunched over and she gasped, trying to stop her racing heart.

'What the hell was that?' Jess demanded.

'I went too far down the rabbit hole. Something else pulled me in.' She shifted her hands away from the ring. 'Can you please take that away?'

The Deputy wiped it clean before putting it back in the envelope and hiding it in his pocket.

'Here.' He held out a hankey and Ash took it uncertainly. 'For your nose,' he explained.

She touched her nose and saw the blood on her fingertips. Folding the hankey, she stemmed the flow of blood and grimaced at the flare of pain.

'Does that happen often?' Jess worried.

'No.' Ash's forehead creased. 'There's something very wrong with that building.'

'Did you see where it is?'

'I'm not Google maps,' muttered Ash, throwing the Deputy a glare.

'I know that. But this is important.'

'You think I don't know that?' she snapped. 'I can't always control what I see. That building isn't right. It dragged me in. It was more powerful than Charity's memories.'

'How can a building do that?' Jess sat back in her chair. The hairs on her arms were still raised after seeing her sister's eyes turn white.

She'd expected it to be all gentle and mystic. But it was harsher and more painful than she imagined.

'Like objects, buildings can take in essences. They're rigid and solid. They have their own vibe, aura, whatever you want to call it.'

'And this building feels bad?' Jess guessed.

'To put it mildly.'

'Bad enough that someone could have been murdered there?' the Deputy asked her with a grim expression.

Ash dabbed the hankey against her nose before placing it on the table. She sniffed a few times. Her nose was sore, but not too painful.

'Hard to say. But there's definitely death there. It's what sucked me in,' she admitted. She stood and pulled out three beers from the fridge to give her a chance to escape the questions.

Her hands shook as she popped the tops and passed them out. The reading was more intense than she was used to. It had left her rattled. And scared.

'There was no plaque on the door. But there was something chiselled into the stone.' Ash scribbled the words on the pad attached to the wall by the landline before ripping it off and placing it in the centre of the table.

SCIENTIA IPSA POTENTIAL EST

'Mean anything to you?'

The Deputy shook his head, but Jess pulled it closer.

'I've seen this. It's on a plaque outside the science building. It's the school's motto. But that building is made of steel and glass. It's definitely not chiselled into stone.'

'You're sure it's the science school motto?'

The Deputy watched her, and she shifted under his gaze.

'I've seen it when I've waited for my boyfriend.' She grimaced, thinking of Daryl, and pushed on before she could get caught in her own world. 'It's on a brass plaque attached to a statue.'

'But there is the old science building. It was set for demolition after a fire broke out, but the locals got it designated as a culturally important building,' he explained.

'Let me guess, people died in the fire?' Ash's shoulders tensed.

'A couple of teenagers broke in, got drunk and accidentally set a fire. Three people died.'

'Only three?' she asked, surprised.

The Deputy nodded.

Ash kept her mouth shut, but inside her stomach flipped over. The overwhelming feeling of death she'd felt from the place didn't tally up with three accidental deaths.

'We need to go check it out,' Jess said.

'Absolutely not. You're staying here,' Ash said immediately.

'Ash, I can see Charity's ghost. What if she can lead us to her body?'

'I don't like the idea of you two being there, but your gifts could help.' The Deputy looked between the two sisters.

Ash ignored him, focusing on her sister. 'Jesse, last night you got overwhelmed-'

'But this time I know what to expect. Ash, I can do this. I want to find Charity's body. Her family need answers.'

'I don't like this,' muttered Ash, but the other two acted like she hadn't spoken.

'Tonight will be the best time to check it out. There're no classes until tomorrow, so the edge of campus will be quiet.'

'I still think this is a bad idea,' Ash reiterated, but they ignored her.

'I agree,' Jess said.

The two stood with more energy than Ash felt. She dragged herself behind them, the feeling in her stomach intensifying. Why did it feel like they were walking into the belly of the beast?