Young Writers Society

Susan Danvers. That was even more fitting than Susie was.

I nodded.

"Good," I said. "If my body's bleeding out back in my world, I'd like to get back to it as soon as possible."

And then I'd possess Nathaniel because it was easier than dealing with my own pain, but that was besides the point. I'd be able to watch over my body. I couldn't do that right now.

"Perfect, I will send out a message," said Kaitlyn, tapping the communicator on her wrist. It crackled a couple of times and connected instantly.

"Undead Router Internal Comms Z, to whom would you like to be connected?" came a voice over the communicator. Susan vaguely recognized it. It was probably Martin. He was the one supposed to be on duty at this hour.

"URIC - Z, this is Supervisor Kaitlyn, could I get a connect to the Palace Office please," said Kaitlyn.

"Kaitlyn, it's your lucky day. All three of them are in today, which one do you want to talk to?"

"Ohh...well...this is a bit delicate, so maybe not boss man. Could you get one of the Princesses?"

"Sure can," said Martin. There was a slight break in the line and then another voice was speaking, this one very clearly recognizable as Jennifer."

"Kait, heyy, don't tell me Michael is bothering you again. I told that moron to..." began Jennifer.

"No, no Your HIghness..I.."

"Kait..come on"

"Jennifer," continued the demon, "I umm...well this person...needs some help. Su.."

"Oh I see it. That is definitely interesting. I will be right there. Give me like ten seconds." There was a vague cry that sounded something like Kate and the line went dead.

"Well I guess she's coming here," said Kaitlyn, turning to Skull.

We were dealing with a princess? I already had forced myself to accept that I was going to deal with an authority figure, but I hated royalty. I hadn't really met any royalty before, but that was besides the point.

Well, all I could do was wait right now. I crossed my arms again and waited for this princess to inevitably appear without warning.

Susan tapped her foot on the ground slowly as she waited. They didn't have to wait very long. Not twenty seconds from the initial announcement, there was a slight shimmer in the air and a figure stepped out. Instantly she recognized it as Jennifer.

"Heyy Susie," said Jennifer with a wave. "What seems to be the problem?"

So this was the princess.

For the first few moments after she appeared, all I did was study her. She wasn't really what I had expected from royalty. I still didn't like people in positions of power like that, but it did make me a little less wary. She didn't seem like she was showing off the wealth she probably had.

"Hi," I said, keeping my arms crossed and my lips not in a smirk.

"Heyy Jen, it is soo good to see you," said Susan doing her best not to swoon randomly. "I..umm..well if its best if I let Skull over here explain."

"Skull you say," said Jennifer looking at the one who'd just said a very noncommittal sounding hi. "Well you clearly aren't from around here, nor are you dead, so what seems to be your problem? Perhaps you can start with what brought you here?"

I raised an eyebrow when I saw Susan's reactions to her princess. It reminded me of Nikko's reactions to Bakugou sometimes, or Lucy's to Lockwood. The thought of anyone thinking that way about me disgusted me, but I was downright amused at the thought of knowing someone was crushing without them having realized I knew it.

"I am dead, actually," I clarified. I kept my arms crossed, but I was less tense than before. "I died twice. Once as a living person, and once passing on as a ghost. I got a third chance at life on another world with a brand new body, too, but got stabbed by a knife and found myself like this-"

I uncrossed my arms and gestured down at myself.

"-here. We've figured out my body's back on my world, but we don't know how to get me back to it."

"You're not," said Jennifer, simply, "at least by the definitions we have in this reality. As for getting you back hmm...I suppose just stabbing you again is out of the question. The paperwork is not something I have time to fill out right now. We may need to figure out what brought you here and probably replicate that. Or throw you in the garbage...as a last resort."

"The..." said Susan, looking horrified.

"Oh Susie," said Jennifer walking up to her and putting a comforting arm on her shoulders. "Its nothing like when you got caught up in it. It won't....flush him."

"Promise you won't resort to that," said Susan. "I can...I can.."

Jennifer gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Okay, if you say so, the I promise we'll find a proper way. You have my word."

Jennifer turned back to Skull as she wrapped an arm around Susan who was still looking quite shaken.

"So...I think you might have to meet my brother..or at least my sister."

I furrowed my brow.

A moment later, it hit me.

"The garbage is the place Susan got stuck," I guessed, "isn't it?"

Why else would she get so afraid when the princess suggested it? I looked between the two. The princess seemed to be aware of Susan's reaction, so there wasn't a need to step in just yet.

Jennifer frowned. Her wings extended, one of them gently wrapping itself around Susan as she pulled the girl in closer.

"That's information I don't believe you need for your current predicament," said Jennifer. She kept her voice neutral for the moment.

Susan was a bit too busy internally panicking to fully realize what the conversation was turning towards.

Well, that was suspicious.

I didn't like how the princess had suddenly gotten protective of Susan. Maybe she genuinely cared for her, or maybe she was worried about Susan saying more than she was supposed to. I shouldn't have cared as much as I did.

Yet Susan, when I thought about it, hadn't exactly named the friends that had gotten her into this mess. She seemed pretty close to the princess, and the princess obviously had some connections to the place that had made Susan the way she was.

Until I knew more about her, I couldn't trust that she had mine or Susan's best interests at heart.

"I think it is," I said, keeping my voice just as cool. I had no idea how old or powerful this princess was, but I had been a Type Three ghost. Even with my powers limited, I still wasn't someone to scoff at. "You were throwing it around as an option for me to get back home earlier."

"I was..." said Jennifer, "but...emphasis on the was. It won't be considered anymore."

That managed to shake Susan out of her temporary stupor.

"Thank you," she managed in a small voice.

"Of course," said Jennifer, giving her a gentle smile. It vanished as soon as it turned to Skull, looking at him expectantly, almost daring him to ask more questions without saying it out loud.

I looked between the two, daring either one of them to challenge the assumptions that I was making. The look was mostly reserved for the princess, but I also wanted to make sure nothing seemed off with Susan's reaction. She seemed genuinely relieved that it wasn't being considered as an option anymore. The princess also seemed genuinely apologetic that she had even casually made it a suggestion in the first place.

"You didn't need to avoid saying it earlier," I said. "I already know a little about how this place works. I can do the math."

Not that well, since I didn't know anything besides practical math, but that was besides the point.

I shrugged. "But I'm not interested in it anymore, so I'm ready to do whatever we need to do to get me out of here."

"Excellent. I think we should start with calling my sister," said Jennifer. "This calls for her expertise. If anyone loves to mess about with jumping between realities without too many horrifying consequences, its her."

"Great," I said, "then let's call her."

I knew a thing or two about jumping between realities, but it was probably different going from a world that was already between them to another one than it was going from this place back to my world.