If I told you where I am right now, you wouldn't believe me. Trust me, I barely believe it myself.

I am sitting in a dressing room in the studio where Good Morning, Madison is filmed. The four of us are going to be interviewed on the morning show in less than twenty minutes.

Georgia accepted for the group without asking us first. If I was in my right mind, I'd probably strangle the girl. But what would I say to Tina May and Norman Smith when they ask where Georgia is? Ah yes, I murdered her because she doesn't understand boundaries.

The stylist finished with me over half an hour ago, but I haven't gotten the courage to leave the dressing room yet. I've been sitting here and staring at my overly makeover-ed self, waiting to be told to leave. So, the moment the door opens, I expect to see the producer's assistant telling me it's time to go. But instead, I watch in the mirror as Seth sneaks into the room.

"Seth?" I say a little startled, my gaze fixed on his figure in the mirror. He approaches me and looks at me through the reflection. I immediately notice that something is off. He looks even more unruly than usual and the bags under his eyes heavier than the last time I saw him. "Are you okay?"

He shakes his head and grips the back of my chair. "Danny said I should talk to you. He said you guys talked about...strange things."

I open my mouth but don't know what to say. The only thing that seems right is, "You too?"

Seth nods. "It's my tech. I can't explain it, but it's...fighting back."

"Fighting...back?" My eyes shift and in his reflection, I see his bruised hand. It's purple and blue, but not like he was in a fight. "Seth... What happened to your hand?"

He looks down and raises his hands. I gasp when I see them more clearly. His hands shake as I look over his palms. There are burn marks that are blue in the middle and fade into a dark purple. All of them are enclosed in a black ring. Much of the skin on his hands is red or a deep imperial purple. I shake my head. "What in the..."

As he lifts his gaze to meet mine in the mirror, I see the tears in his eyes. "I can't use my computers. They either don't work, or they short-circuit. My keyboard did this." He holds up his left palm. "The TV remote did this," he shows me his right palm which is a burn that extends to his wrist. "I don't know what's happening, and I don't know if I can say it's something unnatural, but something is wrong."

I turn at the waist to look at him. His hands look worse up close. Much, much worse. "Do they hurt?" I glance up at his face. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

He shakes his head. "No. No, I'm fine. I'll be okay." As he moves, I notice that just under the collar of his shirt is another dark purple burn.

Before I can say anything, the door to the room opens. The assistant steps inside with her clipboard tucked under her arm. "We're ready for you," she says, and then her eyes fall onto Seth. "Oh, there you are. I'll take you both to the stage."

I exhale and look at Seth, who seems much more nervous than I feel. I slide off the chair and put my hand on his arm. He winces, and I pull away quickly. "Sorry." After a second, I add, "This will all be over before we know it."

He nods stiffly, but I don't think he fully believes me.

We follow the producer to the stage where Danny and Georgia are waiting. Danny's face softens when he sees me, but concern washes over him when he looks at Seth. The pit in my stomach grows from his reaction. It can't be that bad, right?

"I can't believe we're gonna be on TV!" Georgia says excitedly. Her makeup is even bolder than mine, but I can see hints of exhaustion underneath the highlight.

"Yeah," I say dryly. "Same here."

Her mouth forms into a tight line. "You would've said no."

I scoff. "Yeah! You bet I would've!"

"Hey," Danny steps between us. "Let's calm down."

My eyes snap to his. "I know you're just as upset about this as me."

He nods. "I am. But it's too late. They have a seated audience."

I glance over to the rows of seats for an audience. God. I forgot they film with a live audience. I look back at Georgia, feeling my resentment growing. She notices.

"Alright," the producer says as she approaches us. "Danny, Georgia, and Claire can sit on the couch. Seth, sit in the chair to the left." She smiles. "Tina and Norman will be out shortly."

Thankfully, Danny sits between Georgia and me. It's also probably a good thing Seth is sitting on his own. My left leg is just about pressed against Danny's right leg, and my arm has bumped into his twice already.

It's not long before Tina May and Norman Smith walk onto the set. They smile at us and shake our hands. I'll admit, I feel a little starstruck sitting so close to them after watching them from my TV for so long. But they seem nice!

The man behind one of the cameras counts down, and then Tina greets the audience.

"Welcome back!" She says brightly. "You may have heard of this trio of ghost hunters who blew up the Internet after their livestream went viral. Well, they're with us today to talk about that eventful night!" She turns toward us. "Welcome!"

I smile my forced, fake smile. Closest to the anchors' chairs, Georgia pipes up. "Thanks, Tina!" She says lightly. "We're so happy to be here!"

Debatable.

"Tell us what it was like that night," she says. I can see the excitement in her eyes, and it sends a pang in my chest. If only she knew. "Was it scary?"

"Oh, it was terrifying," Georgia says in a low, dramatic voice. "We've had our fair share of run-ins with ghosts, but this was so...real."

Tina locks eyes with her. "Georgia, you were the one who was attacked in the video, correct?" When she nods, Tina continues. "Were you hurt?"

"I was okay, but it was so scary. I didn't know what happened or why, but when Danny realized what was going on, he knew we had to get out of there."

Norman nods. "So, that's why the stream was ended early?"

"Yes," Georgia replies. "When it comes to our safety, nothing else comes first."

"Of course!" Tina exclaims. She turns to the audience, and I let out a sigh. Thankfully, Georgia did most of the talking, like usual. "If you all don't mind, we'd like to take some questions from the audience. I know they have some burning questions."

I glance at my friends, who look equally surprised. Even though she reads the slight panic in my eyes, Georgia turns to Tina and nods. "Sure!"

She grins. "Lovely!" I look over at the seated audience as the assistant from earlier walks along the rows with a microphone. She stops at a young boy who had his hand raised.

The assistant hands him the microphone. "When did you know you wanted to be ghost hunters?" He asks.

Georgia smiles. "Well, for me, I have always loved this kind of thing, and I knew I had to work in it somehow. I was very fortunate to find the right people to work with."

A few rows back, a girl who must be around fifteen stands. When she gets the microphone, she asks, "I want to get into streaming. Is it hard?"

"It takes hard work," Georgia says kindly. "Once you have a consistent schedule and put in the work, it will pay off. Just keep at it!"

Tina and Norman smile in response.

"I have a question!" Someone calls out from the audience. A young woman stands up.

"Uh, well, we usually pick —" Tina starts to say, but the woman interrupts her.

"Sorry, but it expands on what she asked," she says. I tilt my head to get a better look at her. There's something about her voice that feels familiar.

Tina nods. "Okay. What's the question?"

The assistant hands her the microphone, and her voice is clearer. "Who's idea was it to start your channel?"

"Great question!" Tina says excitedly, looking over at us.

My heart is pounding in my chest as I glance at Georgia, who is unfazed. "It was me, of course!" My gaze snaps back to the woman in the audience, and it hits me.

Oh my God. It's Jenna.

Jenna moves away from the assistant, and her face is more visible, including her twisted smile. "Oh really? I heard there was someone else, actually. Someone else who had the idea."

"Ma'am," I hear the assistant's voice slightly reach the microphone. "Please hand that back."

Jenna leans away from her. "I have another question, actually."

I don't move, and I feel Danny's eyes on the side of my face. Everyone else is quiet, so she keeps going.

"What is your favorite trick to use on stream? You know, when you pretend that you're real ghost hunters?"

My body goes cold, and I can't feel my heart beating anymore. White noise rings in my ears as I wait for someone else to say something, but no one does. The audience begins to whisper amongst themselves.

"Come on," Jenna urges, her smile broad. "What's your favorite way to fake a haunting?"

The assistant finally rips the microphone away from Jenna, but it's too late. "I'm done anyway," she says smugly before she walks out of her row. My eyes shift over the many many people in the audience before my eyes fall onto the camera pointed in our faces.

The reminder smacks me in the face.

We've been outed on live television.

"I'm going to kill her!" Georgia practically screams once they let us off the set. As soon as the cameras stopped rolling, she had ripped off her tiny microphone and tried to storm offset. Now, she paces back and forth in front of us outside the studio. "I'm going to fucking kill her."

"Who is she?" Danny asks for like the tenth time. I haven't felt confident enough to speak without throwing up, and Georgia is too angry. But I feel a little better now. Barely, but a little.

I turn to him. "She was our third for the group, before we picked you," I tell him. "Before Georgia kicked her out."

Georgia spins on me. "Ah yes, keep blaming me for everything!" She takes a breath before saying, "I did not kick her out!"

"Still a liar, I see," a voice says behind me. I spin and see Jenna approaching. She stands back, which is wise. Georgia would lunge at her without a second thought. "Miss me?"

"Not even a little," Georgia says through clenched teeth.

Jenna turns to Danny. She tries to pull an innocent, pleading face. "I was the one with the idea to start the channel, not either of those two. It was my idea, and I was going to take the lead." Her eyes shift to Georgia. "Poor Georgie didn't like the idea of not being the star, so she took her precious Claire and they made their own show before I could do anything about it."

I can feel Danny's eyes on me, but I can't look back. If I see his disappointment, it will break me. So, I focus on Jenna.

"Why are you here?" I ask her. "Why now? Why do this?"

She takes a breath and then she starts speaking in a low, southern accent. "Great stream, guys! Check my message about Grimwood, would you?"

My heart drops. Georgia gasps. "You're Tex?" I ask in disbelief. When she nods proudly, I feel a mixture of humiliation and confusion. "How?"

She shrugs. "Call it the magic of Internet anonymity. I guess you should have listened to your mothers about trusting strangers on the Internet. They can stab you in the back."

"You knew about Grimwood," Danny says in realization. "You knew about the ghosts, and you sent us there to get back at Georgia and Claire."

She nods. Her pride burns so brightly in her eyes, they could catch on fire at any moment. It makes me sick. "Absolutely."

Georgia sucks in a breath. "I'm gonna call the cops on your ass."

Jenna laughs. "And say what? 'Oh, officer, this lady sent ghosts to haunt me! Please arrest her!'" Her laugh echoes painfully in my ears. "You can't do shit, Georgia."

"I don't understand," Danny says quietly. "Why wait over a year to do this?"

Her laughter dies and she frowns deeply. "They understand," she says, gesturing to us with her chin. "This was my passion. I wanted to do this so badly, to do it for real, and they stole it from me. Only to fake it all." She grinds her jaw. "I want them to hurt."

I shake my head. "I am so sorry, Jenna. I had no idea —"

"Stop," she takes a step toward me. "I don't want your apologies. It's too late."

"Please," I say exhaustedly, at the point of tears. "How do we stop it? We learned our lesson, I swear."

She shakes her head. "That's not what this is. I got to rub it in your faces. I'm done."

"Really, Jenna?" Georgia snaps. "You're gonna let us suffer? You know what's happening, and you're going to let it happen?"

Jenna smiles. "Yep. Good luck! You deserve everything that's coming to you." She chuckles. "I'll be watching social media with popcorn, that's for sure."

She turns and starts to walk away. "Wait!" I call out, but she doesn't look back. She keeps going. And then she's gone.

Georgia lets out a frustrated scream and she slams her palm against the wall. I look over at Danny, who meets my eyes. He's judging me. I can feel it seep into my skin. I don't blame him either. He can sympathize with her — he loves the paranormal just as much as she did, and he wanted to do it for real too. Maybe he's thinking he could've easily been her in this scenario.

"Danny," I take a step toward him, but he shakes his head.

He looks at Seth, who is standing uncomfortably beside him. "Come on, Seth," he says. "Let's get you to a doctor."

They leave me alone with Georgia, who is facing the wall still. I take a breath and move toward her.

"What are we going to do?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "Nothing."

"Georgia, things are getting worse. Those texts you've sent me —"

She spins and faces me. "I told you I'm fine, Claire!" She shouts two feet from my face. "Will you let me breathe for two fucking minutes?" She inhales and then screams again. "Fuck!"

"Georgia —"

She pushes past me and heads for the parking lot. "Leave me alone, Claire."

What a freaking disaster.

Current word count: 19,061