THE GHOST IN YOU - IT [2]

chapter two

"What are we working on until then?"

Jaime grabs her laptop from her laptop bag and puts it on the table. She opens a program and clicks play, and a rough demo of the band's latest song blares. Corey bobs his head along, dark brows knitted together.

"Okay. Needs work."

"Definitely."

With that, Jaime begins mixing the track while Corey observes and makes the occasional suggestion. He was still studying audio engineering, so Jaime didn't always take his suggestions too seriously. She remembers how she had been in college, determined to prove her worth and produce the best music she could. Egotistical, young.

When Jaime's phone rings, she doesn't take her eyes off the board. "Can you see who that is?"

Shuffling as Corey retrieves her phone from her purse. "Not saved. Area code 207."

She halts, the song still playing. The color drains from her face and she dizzies from the bloodrush. Swallowing thickly, Jaime takes her phone from Corey with a convincing smile and makes an offhand comment about hoping this could be more work. As she slipped into the hallway to answer the still ringing phone, she wondered if she was having a low blood sugar attack.

Down the hallway, a band argued loudly in their studio, the door wide open. The floor underneath Jaime's feet seemed to began swaying, as if she were on a rickety boat sailing the ocean. Had she not been so curious, she wouldn't have even pressed that accept button.

"Hello?" She spoke softly into the device.

"Jaime Criss?" A deep, male voice questions.

"Yes?" Her voice had dropped to a frightful whisper, like a child under blanket covers, trying to will away the monsters.

"It's Mike Hanlon. Does that sound familiar?"

"Ahh..." The dull pain in her head burst into hundreds of tiny knives pressing into her brain. She presses a hand to the cream-colored wall next to her. "I think so. I'm not sure."

"From Derry." When Jaime didn't respond, he continued. "Do you think you could fly out here? I know you're across the country, but I... wouldn't ask unless it was necessary."

"What is this about?" She asks when she finds the courage to speak. "What do you want?"

"Jaime, please. I need you here by tonight. I just Googled it, you can get a flight to Bangor in the next few hours."

The bile rising in her throat was bitter, acidic. The florescent lights above seemed to beat down on her, heating her hairline and slicking the sides of her face in sweat. She didn't realize how much she was shaking until she felt the phone against her ear bouncing with each shiver. I haven't felt this way in years. Well over twenty years, that's for sure.

Again, she swallows harshly. "Uh, yes. Yes, I'll be there."

"Thank you. I'll send the address of where we'll be." We?!

Jaime hung up the phone the moment Mike ended his sentence. She stood there in the hallway for a moment, distantly registering that this was the calm before the storm. Once again, her life had changed in the blink of an eye, just in a matter of seconds. That was all it took, wasn't it? Just a minute or two for everything to be different.

Like a magician snapping their fingers.

-

Persuading Corey into taking over for a few days proved to be no challenge at all. He appeared to be ecstatic of his new authoritative position, and barely even asked Jaime why she was so hurried. She sent a group text to the band, assuring them that this was temporary and she'd be back soon. In a flurry, she was home and lugging an old travel bag from the depths of her and Parker's shared closet.