The Ghost in the Hallway

Jess barely registered the ride back to the apartment. She couldn't remember if she’d buckled her seatbelt. Or if she'd spoken at all. Her body moved, but her mind hadn’t followed. Her hands trembled in her lap, her fingers curled tightly around the hem of her jacket. Leanna kept glancing over as she drove, her face tense with worry, but she didn’t say anything. Maybe she was giving Jess space, or maybe she just didn’t know what to say.

By the time they reached the apartment, Jess felt like she was running on fumes. Her legs felt weak as she stepped inside, and she barely made it to the couch before collapsing onto it.

Leanna sat next to her. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly.

Jess shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to think about it. The whole night had felt like a nightmare, and all she wanted was for it to be over.

Leanna sighed and leaned back against the couch. “I’m sorry, Jess,” she said. “I should’ve never let you go out there alone.”

Jess let out a bitter laugh. “Not your fault,” Jess muttered. Then, quieter: “It’s mine. I really thought I could fake my way through this.”

Leanna hesitated before reaching over and placing a gentle hand on Jess’s arm. “It’s not fine, though. None of this is. And I know I’ve been avoiding this, but… we need to figure out if this can be undone.”

Jess looked up at her, exhaustion etched into her face. “You mean the potion?”

Leanna nodded. “I got it from some graduate student in the genetics department. I barely remember his name. He said it was an ‘experiment’—something to alter DNA on a fundamental level. I didn’t believe him at first, but then I saw what happened to you. And now…” She exhaled. “Now I think we need to find him.”

Jess sat up a little straighter. “If we find him, do you think he can change me back?”

Leanna hesitated, and that pause made Jess’s stomach drop.

“I don’t know,” Leanna admitted. “But if anyone would know, it’s him.”

Jess swallowed hard. She had spent so much time trying to adapt, trying to figure out how to survive in this new life. The idea of going back—of being Jason again—sent a jolt through her. It wasn’t just hope. It was guilt. Fear. Relief and regret tangled into something she couldn’t name.

“What’s his name?” Jess asked.

Leanna shook her head. “That’s the problem. I don’t remember. I never got a full name, just ‘Eric’ or ‘Ethan’—something with an E. I only met him once, and he wasn’t a regular in the genetics department.”

Jess flinched like she'd been slapped. That one thread of hope frayed in her hands before she’d even begun to pull it. “So we’re looking for a ghost.”

Leanna’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Not exactly. I went by the department earlier today before picking you up. I asked around, trying to see if anyone recognized the description I gave them.”

Jess leaned in. “And?”

“No one knew him,” Leanna said. “Not a single person. But… there was something weird. One of the older professors—a real buttoned-up guy—looked like he’d seen a ghost himself. He didn’t say much. Just asked if I’d seen ‘the ghost.’ Like it was a name everyone knew but no one said out loud.”

Jess blinked. “The ghost?”

Leanna nodded. “Apparently, there’s this rumor in the genetics department. A story about some graduate student from forty years ago who still ‘walks the halls.’ No one’s ever seen him, but sometimes experiments go missing. Sometimes people hear things at night. And whenever a student thinks they’ve spoken to someone new—a student that no one else seems to know—well… they start whispering about the ghost.”

Jess stared at her, trying to process what she was saying.

“So let me get this straight—we’re not just chasing a name anymore. We’re chasing a ghost story?”

“I don’t know,” Leanna admitted. “But if he’s not in the system, if no one knows him, and if he’s been seen before by others—”

“Then we’re chasing a rumor,” Jess finished.

Leanna nodded grimly.

Jess ran a hand down her face. She had been hoping for something simple, something easy, but of course, nothing in her life was simple anymore.

“So what do we do?” she asked.

Leanna gave her a determined look. “We find the ghost.”

Jess didn’t know if she was chasing salvation or madness. But she nodded anyway. “Yeah. Let’s go find him.”