“We have an agreement,” I said, my tongue and lips forming the words with difficulty because they, like my heart, had gone ice cold with dread.

“I promised I wouldn’t kill him,” Paul said. “I didn’t say anything about keeping him from dying in the first place.”

I blinked up at him, uncomprehending.

“What…what are you talking about?” I stammered.

“You figure it out,” he said. He leaned down and kissed me lightly on my frozen lips. “Good night, Suze.”

And then he stood up and vanished into the fog.

It took me a minute to realize I was free. Cool air rushed in to all the places where his body had been touching mine. I finally managed to roll over, feeling as if I’d just suffered a head-on collision with a brick wall. Still, I had enough strength left to call out, “Paul! Wait!”

That’s when someone inside the Gutierrez household flicked on the lights. The backyard lit up bright as an airport runway. I heard a window open and someone shout, “Hey, you! What are you doing there?”

I didn’t stick around to ask whether or not they planned on calling the cops. I peeled myself up from the ground and ran for the wall I’d scaled a half hour ago. I found my mom’s car right where I’d left it. I hopped into it and started my long journey home, cursing a certain fellow mediator—and the grass stains on my new jeans—the whole way.

I had no idea that night how bad things were going to get between Paul and me.

But I was about to find out.

Read all the Mediator books:

THE MEDIATOR 1:

Shadowland

THE MEDIATOR 2:

Ninth Key

THE MEDIATOR 3:

Reunion

THE MEDIATOR 4:

Darkest Hour

THE MEDIATOR 5:

Haunted

THE MEDIATOR 6:

Twilight

About the Author

Meg Cabot is also the author of the Princess Diaries series, upon which the Disney movies are based. In the books, though, Princess Mia has yield-sign-shaped hair, lives in New York, and Fat Louie is orange. And those are the least of the differences. The following is a complete list of the Princess Diaries books:

THE PRINCESS DIARIES

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME II:

PRINCESS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME III:

PRINCESS IN LOVE

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME IV:

PRINCESS IN WAITING

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME IV AND A HALF:

PROJECT PRINCESS

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME V:

PRINCESS IN PINK

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VI:

PRINCESS IN TRAINING

THE PRINCESS PRESENT:

A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK

PRINCESS LESSONS:

A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK

PERFECT PRINCESS:

A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK

Visit AuthorTracker for exclusive information on your favorite  author.

By Meg Cabot

Aside from the Mediator books and the Princess Diaries books, Meg has written several more books:

ALL-AMERICAN GIRL

Samantha Madison saves the president’s life…only to have his son fall in love with her. Which would be fine, except for all the Secret Service agents following them around.

TEEN IDOL

Jenny Greenley gives everyone advice, so why can’t she follow her own and find love? Further complicating matters is the presence of hot Hollywood star Luke Striker in Jenny’s homeroom, of all places.

Nicola and the Viscount

It’s 1810, and Nicola Sparks is ready to dive headlong into her first London Season. Good thing there’s a handsome viscount there to catch her!

Victoria and the Rogue

Lady Victoria Arbuthnot is accustomed to being right. She isn’t always, though, especially when her own heart is concerned.

But wait!

There’s more by Meg:

THE BOY NEXT DOOR

BOY MEETS GIRL

EVERY BOY’S GOT ONE

THE 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU BOOKS:

WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES

CODE NAME CASSANDRA

SAFE HOUSE

SANCTUARY

For more about Meg and to read her diary, visit:

megcabot

Join her online book club at:

megcabotbookclub

Credits

Cover art © 2005 by Paul Oakley

Cover design by Sasha Illingworth

Cover © 2005 by  Publishers, Inc.

Originally published by  Publishers as Haunted: A Tale of the Mediator

THE MEDIATOR #5: Haunted.  © 2003 by Meggin Cabot. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American  Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of  e-books.

EPub © Edition DECEMBER 2004 : 9780061985607

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004093416

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