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When Marshall says he wants to go check out the remains of the old haunted mill, Melanie automatically rolls her eyes and starts to object. Devon starts to step in. He’s not sure when he became the peacemaker in their...whatever this is, but Marshall and Melanie have been bickering all the time since she got her new heart. And somehow, Devon’s recent near-fatal encounter with a milk truck and subsequent recovery period of enforced inactivity--most of which was spent sprawled out on the couch reading comics and watching TV with the other two--seems to have mellowed him just a little. At least as far as dealing with them is concerned.
He’s going to tell her to let Mars have this one, and she can pick the next thing they do. (Though, he’s beginning to learn, there is a certain danger inherent in letting Melanie choose their activities. What she suggests is usually pretty cool, but the last time that had wound up being in the literal sense, since the day had ended in them hiding from the cops in the walk-in freezer of the Dragon of the Black Pool Chinese restaurant.)
The thing is, Marshall’s been feeling guilty about his late friend Simon again. Devon’s tried pointing out that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to spend time with kids your own age, or to skip a dumb town festival. Besides, it’s not like any of the trio really believes their decision to hang out in Devon’s basement playing video games instead of going to Tornado Day had actually brought the wrath of Old Bob down on Eerie. And even if for the sake of argument it had, it’s still not as though Marshall had told his young neighbor to go walk outside in the middle of a tornado for some reason.
If Devon and Melanie can distract Mars from his latest guilt spiral by joining him on another quest for the paranormal, Devon’s all for it. That day in the basement was the day Devon kissed both of them for the very first time after all, and he’s worried that if Marshall keeps associating that moment with guilt, the whole weird-but-wonderful three of them kissing thing is suddenly going to be over.
Devon’s not ready for it to be over.
Besides, exploring the remains of a building that exploded under mysterious circumstances does sound like a certain amount of fun.
It turns out he doesn’t have to say anything. Marshall points out to Melanie that the old mill explosion occurred the exact same day Melanie’s parents got the call telling her a donor heart had been found, and asks if she’s sure that's just a coincidence. The timing is something Devon himself never realized, and it’s a winning argument. Melanie’s been on a quest of her own since she recovered, trying to find out more information about the mystery donor, and that’s all she needs to hear to change her mind completely.
She takes off on her bike in the direction of the mill so fast that the other two--Marshall on his own bike and Devon on his skateboard--can barely keep up. Devon has to dismount as they approach due to the sheer amount of debris they encounter once they reach the blast radius.
There’s nothing but a mess of boards and splinters surrounding where the mill once stood, black scorch marks on the earth radiating outward from ground zero. Whatever happened here, it was very bad and very final. Devon’s starting to doubt that anybody could have found enough of a person left to get a whole heart for Melanie. He hears a raven caw.
And that’s when he spots one, and then another, flickering humanoid figure moving in and out of and through the rubble.
“Holy corn!” he says. He can’t believe it. Marshall’s right. The place is actually haunted.
Marshall’s got his camera out, trying to take pictures. Devon decides to let Marshall be Marshall and refrains from pointing out that all he’s likely to capture on film is the blurry outline of something that looks vaguely like a person, which isn’t going to serve as proof of much of anything. Instead, he keeps watching the ghostly figures as one of them approaches where Devon thinks the front door of the mill used to be and slowly begins to resolve itself into the faint, see-through image of a distinct human being.
A human being sporting the same haircut, wearing the same coat, and otherwise looking exactly like Marshall Teller.
The real Marshall drops the camera.
“Mars?” Melanie asks. Mars looks at her, then back at the ghost Marshall, then back at Melanie. He mutely shakes his head to indicate he doesn’t know what’s going on either.
Devon watches as the second flickering outline moves closer to the nearly transparent Marshall figure, and resolves itself into Marshall’s former sidekick Simon. Devon has no idea what he’s seeing anymore. Are these ghosts, or psychic projections of some kind, or they looking into some parallel bizarro-verse?
Devon finds himself growing cold as he watches the ghost Marshall and ghost Simon. They seem to be engaged in some sort of discussion. He can’t hear what they’re saying, but ghost Marshall seems to be growing more and more impatient, until he finally breaks off talking with ghost Simon to point a finger and say something in the direction of what used to be the inside of the mill.
Devon still can’t hear him or tell what he’s pointing and talking at, but he’s familiar enough with Marshall’s facial expressions that he can tell ghost Marshall is probably upset at it. The ghost is wearing the same look the real Marshall Teller gets when you question him about the scientific validity of cryptozoology.
Devon, who personally considers himself one of the bravest people he knows, is suddenly overcome with an inexplicable and near unbearable sense of dread. “Um, guys, maybe we should get out of--" he begins.
They’re not paying attention. Instead they’re watching as a third ghostly figure emerges from the direction ghost Marshall is pointing. Devon stares at it as it resolves itself into a kid with grey hair wearing a long black coat. It’s not someone Devon’s ever seen before. The new ghost appears to be arguing with whatever ghost Marshall has said.
And that’s when Melanie gasps and falls off her bike.
She clutches her hands to her chest as she crumples to the ground, in a gesture Devon hasn’t seen since her recovery. Her breath is coming in shallow gasps.
“Melanie!” Marshall shouts, as he drops to one knee to help her.
Devon starts to move toward them, but the sick feeling of dread intensifies. He looks up to find all three ghostly figures have stopped whatever conversation they were having and are staring right at him, Mars, and Melanie with unreadable expressions.
Suddenly he can’t help himself any longer. “Let’s go!” he yells at the other two.
He doesn’t stop to make sure they’re behind him as he runs away.