Diana held her breath, wondering who the ghost was. The Phantom was right behind her bedroom door. She thought about opening it herself; she wasn't feeling any bad vibes from this one. She hoped it was Derek, and thankfully she was right. He had let himself in by opening the door.

Most ghosts would simply have drifted through the door, as they are intangible creatures whose atoms can disperse and push themselves through most materials. Derek, however, never liked doing things the easy way. He had to manipulate the air around the doorknob so it would forcibly turn it enough so as to crach open the door. Derek then slipped through the crack and greeted his childhood friend.

"So, what are you cooking for dinner?" Derek asked, quite seriously.

"Steaks," she said, "With my secret homemade super seasoning."

"Smells delicious."

"You can't smell."

"Oh yeah. I bet it smells great, though."

"I didn't even start it yet," Diana sighed, "How about you come with me down to the kitchen? We can talk while I'm cooking."

Derek followed Diana down the stairs of her modest two floor duplex. He stopped for a second and looked over at Diana's little sister Miranda, who was peeking through her partially opened bedroom door. Because her face was totally blank, Derek had no idea whether or not she could see him.

It would make sense, he thought. If one sister has a sixth sense then the other--

"Derek!" Diana called up the stairs, "Get your transparent ass down here!"

Derek complied, floating to the kitchen where he could see steam rising from a skillet on the stovetop. He bet that it smelled awesome, and tasted even better.

"So, what have you been up to?" Diana asked wile flipping steaks. "I haven't seen you haunting the school with the other guys lately."

The other guys were members of the same gang as Derek. They had all died the same day. Some in denial, some just bored until they could cross over, they roamed the school and neighborhood that they had ran in their natural lives.

"I've been busy," Derek lied, "I'll go to school tomorrow, I promise."

He looked at her. She was a sweet girl, but she wasn't naive. He felt really guilty and couldn't look her in the eye when he asked her if she had spoken with the Reaper yet.

"Yes," Diana sighed, "But Roxanne says that your paperwork has been lost. She promises progress in a few days."

"Lost my paperwork? Stupid Roxanne the Reaper."

"Did you just call me stupid?" Roxanne snickered from behind Derek.

A startled Derek spun around, shrieked like a little girl, then got hit in the head by Roxanne with her Painful Supernatural Clipboard of Doom.

"OWW!"

"Hello to you, too. Diana, I do believe your food is burning on the stove."

Diana suddenly caught a whiff of the black smoke filling the kitchen. While she ran off to tend to this, Roxanne took the opportunity to speak with Derek in private.

"Idiotic punk, I was just talking to your boss. He says that you know what has to be done in order for all of you boys to pass on."

"I know."

"He also says that he has worked out a plan to take care of this...roadblock."

"I know."

"Does Diana know?" Roxanne gestured towards the girl, who was currently ripping the batteries out of a frenzied fire detector.

"Not yet. I was going to tell her today, but I can't."

"Why not?"

Derek didn't have a response to this. Instead, he made a quick escape through the nearest window. Roxanne sighed. She knew how hard this was going to be for him. She left, too, and by the time Diana had handled her little issue, she was shocked to find that they were gone.