"My name is Melinda Gordon." "I just got married, just moved to a small town, just opened up an antique shop." "I might be just like you." "Except from the time that I was a little girl," "I knew that I could talk to the dead." "It's all right, honey." "Earthbound spirits, my grandmother called them, the ones who have not crossed over because they have unfinished business with the living." "And they come to me for help." "To tell you my story, I have to tell you theirs." "Come on, it'll be a great chance for us to break out, meet new people, make new customers." "You do not have to be the one standing up in front of, like, a jillion strangers." "You are gonna be great." "Besides, I set up, like, 50 auctions in the city." "They're fun." "Where's the light?" "Hello." "Does all this junk have to come up?" "Yeah." "Everything." "Look, I could get a pro to do the auction, but it's gonna cost us so much." "And you're beautiful, and everyone's gonna listen to you." "Well, then how come you don't listen to me when I tell you no?" "Oh, I'm listening to you." "I'm just not paying any attention." " There's a difference." " You're funny." "Well, I guess "auctioneer" could be kind of a cool thing to have on my resume." "Thank you." "You're gonna love it." "Cool." "Creepy." "Do you smell smoke?" "Yeah, it's probably the old furnace." "What was that?" "Do you feel that?" "Oh, God." "What is that?" "Rats." "Oh, I hate rats." "Okay." "This will be me calmly going back upstairs." "I know you're there." "This is our stuff." "Leave it be." "This is our stuff." "Leave it be." "Yeah." "Who do you think you are?" "Now, get out of here before we do something you don't like." "Can you see us?" "Was it rats?" "No." "Little boys." "Ghost little boys?" "Only two that I saw, and a dog." "A dog?" "A ghost pet?" "Yeah." "They want us out of here." " Works for me." " No, I'm serious." "And it looks like they've been here for a long time." "My grandma used to always say that if a child ghost gets attached to a place, it's really hard to cross him over." "What do you do if they won't leave?" "Well, it makes my job harder, but I can't just leave them here." "You know?" "They have to have somebody waiting for them on the other side." "They're only children." "Morning, ladies." "How's it going?" "Oh, you know, we're getting there." "It's a lot of stuff." "I don't believe we've met." "No." "No, I'm Andrea Moreno." "I'm Melinda's partner." "Oh, Dirk Abrams, the last occupant of Kensington Arms." "Mr Abrams is also the owner." "Former owner, sorry to say." "Oh, where did you find this?" "Oh, down in the basement." "So, was it a hotel back then as well, or..." "An orphanage." "The inn was an orphanage?" "St. Michael's Home for Boys." "Built in the '20s." "Wow." "This place has not changed a bit." "Oh, it has." "There was a bad fire in 1956." "Destroyed half the place." "Was anyone killed in the fire?" "Oh, several young boys." "Very sad." "It was a big story around here for a long time." "You know, Andrea, why don't you show Mr Abrams everything that we've brought up so far, and I'll be right there." "Okay." "Let's go take a look." "All right." "Oh, here you go." "Okay." "Okay." "Rat wants to talk to you." "And who's Rat?" "You'll find out." "Follow me." "You, come here." "Excuse me?" "We got ourselves a problem here, lady." "Let's try names." "I'm Melinda." "He's Rat." "I'm Marty." "And Vic is hiding somewhere." "That's what he does." " Who dialled your number?" " Sorry, Rat." "How come you could see us?" "It's a gift I have." "I was born with it." "Some gift." "And what makes you think you could just walk out of here with our stuff?" "Well, it's not really your stuff." "It belongs to Mr Abrams, and he hired us to auction it off for him." "Now, do you boys understand why?" "Do you know..." "We know we're dead, lady." "We ain't stupid." " We are?" " Shut up!" "Look, we don't want no action." " Auction." " Whatever." "This is our house." "This is where we live, and that's our furniture, and we want it back." "Now, run along." "Okay, you know what?" "Let me explain something to you..." "Do I really need to call him Rat?" "Okay." "Man, I wish I was there for that." "Now, wait." "How is it they can make things explode again?" "They build up so much energy over the years that they can get really powerful," " and then they break things." " Great." "Another fun fact from Melinda." "All right, I'm gonna go back to the shop with these guys and unload." " See you later." " Meet you down there." "Wait for me." "Excuse me, young lady." "May I ask what you're doing?" "And you are?" " This is my property." " Oh, I'm sorry." "I'm Melinda Gordon." "We're getting ready to have an auction." "Tobias Northrop." "Hello." "Mr Abrams has told me a lot about you." "He said that you saw this place on the Internet and bought it over the phone." "I wanted to check with Mr Abrams and make sure he'll have everything out by Sunday." "We're right on schedule." "What are you gonna do with it?" "Bed and breakfast?" "I'm going to tear it down." "But why would you..." "Good day, Ms Gordon." "Nice to meet you." "Marty says you told him we were dead." "You didn't know?" "Yeah." "I knew." "I mean, we never get hungry." "We never sleep." "Really?" "And nobody can see us." "Except you." "That's gotta be dead." "Wow." "You are very smart." "Yeah." "But I'm afraid of the dark." "Me, too." "Will you spend the night with us?" "What?" "Oh, sweetie, I don't think I can." "I have to go home." "Do you ever leave the inn?" "No." "Rat says our feet will catch fire." "Why would he say that?" "He's real smart about that kind of stuff." "What did you say your name was again?" "Vic." "I wish I could help you." "Nobody stays no more." "They always just leave." " No." " What?" "Lew Peterson?" "He's the only friend I have who actually knows how to put a furnace in." "But is he reliable?" "You haven't seen him in months." "Yeah, since our wedding." "I know he's not exactly a póster boy for good manners, but..." " He's your friend." " Yeah." "And I respect that, and I wouldn't come between the two of you, but let's face it." "He's rude and he's crude." "He's an eighth-grader with a car." " He speaks well of you." " He doesn't like me." "He thinks I'm the Yoko Ono of your friendship." "You know, that I stole you away from the bars and the nightlife." "All right, all right, all right, look." "I'll ask him to stay somewhere else while we work on the house." "You asked him to stay here?" "Look, now we're gonna have to host him tonight and for the rest of..." "Actually, I was kind of hoping that you would host him tonight." "I got paged for the midnight to 8:00 shift, and I've really..." "Well, in that case, there is something that I have to do tonight that I forgot to tell you." "Well, that's..." "It's a little extreme." "Three little boys need my help." "Dead boys?" "So, what, you're gonna spend the night in a haunted house alone..." "The bush." "Yeah, your plant." "A haunted house alone?" "I feel like I'm in a John Carpenter film." "You know what?" "I will probably sleep better there than here with Party Boy, okay?" "And if the inn is destroyed with them in it, they'll be earthbound forever." "And I'm not gonna be alone." "Mr Abrams still has a room there." "Oh, old Mr Abrams has a room there." "That makes me feel better." "The guy could be a serial killer." "It's safe, I promise." " You promise?" " I promise." "Okay." "Well, just keep thinking about how much money we're saving with Lew helping me put in the furnace." "Whatever it is, is not worth it." "He's changed." "You'll see." "It's okay." "He just grazed it." " Hey, Mel!" " Hey, Lew." "You look great." "You're too kind." "Don't burn the house down." "She's still pissed at me." "Well, you did pass out before the wedding even started." "And now you just ran over her favourite plant." "My bad." "Hello?" "Mr Abrams?" "It's Melinda Gordon." "Hello?" "Working late?" "Hi." "Mr Abrams, I hope I didn't scare you." "Just thought I'd spend the night and get an early start on tomorrow." "You only live a mile up the road." "Yeah, well, it is our first auction." "You know, lot to prove." "Well, whatever." "Well, I met Mr Northrop before." "Strange sort of man, isn't he?" "Did you tell him that this used to be an orphanage?" "Nope." "He never asked." "And did you know that he's planning to tear it down?" "He's got the demolition scheduled for Monday." "He does?" "I could really use that extra time." "You could?" "Well, yeah, you know." "The extra time to convince him to not tear down this great old place." "Thank you." "Do you believe in ghosts, Miss Gordon?" "Yes." "I do." "I think they're here now." "They're all around." "Yeah." "I thought you boys wanted company." "You guys have been practising this stuff for a long time now, huh?" "Ain't much else to do." "What are you doing here?" "I thought you asked..." "I mean," "I know that you boys are as tough as nails, especially you, and I thought maybe I could help." "You wanna help us?" "Then come downstairs." "Okay." "Right there." "That's the book." "Could you read it to us, please?" "Peter Pan." "That's our favourite." "Can you read?" "No." "None of us can." "Ernie could read." "He knew all of the words." "Who's Ernie?" "He's a pal of ours." "Is he here with you?" "No." "Not for a long time." "So, why don't you tell me about Rat and why he's so mad at everybody?" "He says you can't trust anybody." "Well, he trusts you, doesn't he?" "Yeah, he does." "And he trusted his brother." " He had a brother?" " Mikey." "It was his little brother." "How come no one ever adopted them?" "Somebody adopted Mikey." "But they left Rat here." "There was a lot of crying when that happened." "So he has a brother out there." "He got drowned." "Big wave hit him at the beach." "That's when Rat said we can only trust each other." "So tell us the story about Peter Pan." "That would be easier if there was some light." "You are very talented." "Okay." ""There was only one boy who never grew up," ""and his name was Peter Pan." ""See him there, floating over their beds?" ""He came in through the open window" ""while Wendy, Michael, and John were sound asleep." ""He taught them to think happy thoughts" ""and sprinkled them with pixie dust so they could..."" " Fly." " I know what you're trying to do." "Trying to get us out of here." "I ain't letting that happen." "Melinda, you slept at the inn?" "Those kids needed me." "They're under the influence of this older kid, Rat." "There's a ghost named Rat?" "Yeah." "If I don't get them to cross over before that building is torn down..." "Torn down?" "But that's such a great old place." "That's why the new owner is gonna hear from the Grandview Historical Society." "I didn't know there was a Grandview Historical Society." "Ah, there isn't yet." "Hey, you should be vice-president." "I got a "no." Anybody got a "no"?" "I got a "no" in the back." "I got a "no way." I got a big fat "no."" "Sold." "Grandview Historical Society?" " Never heard of it." " Well, it's a small group." "We wanna present you with some options so that you can still make a profit." "Ms Gordon, what's wrong with providing luxury housing for hundreds, as opposed to an old hotel that nobody stays at anymore?" "Can you just postpone the demolition?" " Give us some time to..." " To what?" "To look for a way to preserve a crumbling structure that once housed hapless orphans." "Ms Gordon, I appreciate the good work you're trying to do, but new construction it will be." "Jim?" "Baby?" "Sorry, Mel." "I didn't hear you." "That's okay, Lew." "I'm used to it." "This stuff really works." "I can feel my skin tightening." "It tingles." "Where's Jim?" "Don't know." "Look, I'm exhausted." "Can you just get him out of here for the night?" "You know, take him to the movies or something." "You don't like him at all, do you?" "No, it's not that." "It's just..." "I don't get you two." "I've known the guy since we were 14, you know?" "He's..." "He's the kind of guy you could always call, 3:00 in the morning, if your car wouldn't start or you were lost or worse." "He's always been there for me, no questions asked, and that counts for a lot." "Okay." "I get it." "I'll find something for us to do tonight." "But it isn't gonna be the movies." "Why not?" "No margaritas." "Just..." "Hi, Mel." "Did you guys have fun?" "I kept him out of trouble." "Honey, you remember Terry and Ralph." "Hello." "Guys, get a beer." "Get a beer." "Look, I'm real..." "I'm sorry about the intrusión." "I'm sorry." "I just..." "Oh, it's fine." "I should get back to the inn anyway." "Wait a minute." "What, now?" "Yeah." "It'll be quieter there." "I need to talk to Mr Abrams, so..." "I won't be long." "No..." "Hey." "I'll keep them quiet." "I'll put them in the back yard." "No, it's okay." "You guys have your fun." "I just figured it out." "It's not about me not liking Lew." "It's about me not liking who you are around Lew." "I'm sorry that it's so late." "Oh, nonsense." "I'm happy for the company." "I've been doing a lot of reading on the fire, and it said that four boys were killed." "I thought there were only three." "No, four." "Rat, Vic," "Marty, Ernie." "Ernie." "Ernie Sutter." "Yeah." "He and Rat were the best of friends." "They were inseparable." "When they found their bodies, you would have expected to find Ernie lying right next to Rat." "But that's not what happened." "They never found Ernie's body." "The two little ones were..." "Were holding hands." "The dog was right there with them." "Tell him to shut up." "He doesn't know what he's talking about." "Later." "I'm sorry?" "Late." "It's getting late." "Right you are." "He's always shooting his damn mouth off!" "Well, like I said," "it gets spooky around here." "Okay." "That's normal." "You see how Wendy takes care of Peter after he returns home, hurt from his battles?" "Like a mom would do." "But she was so much more than a mom to Peter." "She was his friend, and they had lots of adventures together, and that is what made Tinker Bell very jealous." "Sorry." "Oh, boys, come back." "Hey, did I scare them off?" "It is so good to see you." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "When you didn't come home, I got worried." "What's wrong?" "It's the boys." "They break my heart." "Maybe we should stay here tonight." "It's a small bed." "I think we'll manage." "Okay." "Oh, it's nothing." "It's something." "Oh, I can't believe it." "They're getting ready for Monday." "If Northrop tears this place down, it's like cutting the string on a balloon." "These kids will have nothing to hold on to." "Yeah, Lew." "I was just hooking the power up to the fuse box, and the whole thing just sort of shorted out on me." "Sparks were flying." "Scared the hell out of me." "Uh, there's no fire." "There"s no fire, though." "We"re just gonna have to do some rewiring." "I'll be right there." "Little emergency." "Oh, what, the house?" "Lew's there." "I know." "It's nothing we can't handle, okay?" "I can do it." "It's..." "You gonna be all right?" " Yeah." " All right." " Bye." " Bye." "I heard what you said last night." "Whoa." "What are you talking about?" "Old man Abrams." "Tells the fire story all the time." "He don't know the most important part." "What's the most important part?" "Well, I knew the way, all right." "wake up!" "wake up!" "I always knew what to do." "Get up, everyone!" "Get up!" "Wake up!" "Wake up!" "I gotta get something." "That's why they followed me." "With all the smoke and everything, we got separated and Ernie went back upstairs." "I heard him yelling." "Except this one time..." "Ernie, you're going the wrong way!" "Ernie!" "...this one night..." "Over here." "Follow me." "...the doors were locked." "Who Knows why?" "New janitor, new rule." "I never knew." "I looked down at the guys." "I could see they were scared." "Don't sit down, you guys." "We gotta find our way out." "Come on." "I never saw Ernie again." "I'm really scared." "It was my fault." "I got them all killed." " It wasn't your fault." " Yes, it was." "You were trying to help them get out." "How could you know that those doors would be locked?" "They trusted me." "I let them down." "That is not true." "They still love you, don't they?" "Most of the time they do." "That's because you're a family, Rat." "You're Peter and they're the Lost Boys, and they need you." "That's why I keep them together, make sure nothing happens to them." "You can come in, boys." "It's time for you to move on." "You can't stay here forever." "But we don't know anything but here." "Did you see the bulldozer out front?" "They're gonna tear this place down." "And you just have to trust me that there's a better place." "There's nothing, nothing to be afraid of." "You think they want us at the place she's talking about?" "Nobody wants us." "This is the only place we know we're safe." "That's why we stay together." "Look, I tell you what." "Just come outside with me for one day." "Let me prove to you that you can be safe, you know, somewhere other than here." "Sounds okay." "Don't you think, Rat?" "If you want your feet to burn, go ahead." "No matter what she says, I ain't going nowhere." "No fire." "He lied." "Maybe not." "Maybe he really thinks they do go on fire." "Come on, boys." "Why can't we just stay with you?" "Well, because..." "We both love you and everything." "You could be our mother." "I would be proud to have you two as my sons." "Any mother would." "Then why can't we?" "Because you don't belong here anymore." "There's somewhere better." "Can you go swimming there?" "Eat ice cream?" "I don't know for sure." "But what I do know is..." "Is that you'll be wanted there." "And no one will ever abandon you again." "But you won't be there, will you?" "Someday." "Someday I will." "And for you, it'll feel like no time at all." "If Rat don't go, we don't go." "All right, we're moving on to our next item, ladies and gentlemen," "Lot number 85, which is a beautiful late '40s-era cradle." "We're gonna start the bidding at $20..." "Thirty!" "$50!" " $ 150!" " $200!" "$2,000!" " Wonderful. $20." " Shh!" "$25." "Okay, wonderful." "$25." "$3 million!" " $5 trillion!" "...$25." "Can I get $30?" " $ 1 trillion!" " Shh!" "Oh, my God, you're out of control." "So that's how it works, huh?" "Take our stuff, sell it, keep the dough." "You see that store over there?" "Go." "Now!" "Oh, you guys are out..." "Whoa!" "Hey!" "It's not me that's on sale." "But..." "All right, we're gonna move on to Lot, um, 86." "This isn't about old, beat-up furniture, is it, Rat?" "There's something I gotta ask you." "What is it?" "And you can't lie to me, either." "I gotta know the truth." "Grown-ups always lie." "I promise." "Am I gonna see my brother, Mikey, again?" "Will he be there?" "Yes, Rat." "Your brother will be right there waiting for you." "They said I'd see him again." "A family took him, not me." "They lied." "It's the truth this time, I promise." "And Marty and Vic, they'll come?" "They're your family." "You'll all be together." " Thank you." " Sure." "Well, he can fix it." "I knew it." "I didn't think it was that bad." "Look, Lew, look, I can't do this, all right?" " Do what?" " Play along." "Make believe that this does not piss me off." " Take it easy." " No, "take it easy."" "You come into my house, you act like a fool, huh?" "You disrespect my wife..." " Hey, no, come on." "I did not..." " Lew, wake up, Lew, okay?" "You're my friend, but we're not 18 anymore." "Look, just pack your stuff." "I'll see you later, huh?" "Fine." "We're at $25." "This lovely lady in the front, $25." "Do I hear... $30?" "$30." "Anybody with $35?" "$30..." "I'm sorry." "We're still at $30. $35, sir." "$30?" "You sure?" "I..." "You look like you have $35 to me." "Is there anybody for $40?" "Anybody?" "$40?" "Okay..." "I think I might just bid on this piece." "Should've made it part of the deal with Abrams." "You're Ernie, aren't you?" "No." "You're the boy that got away." "That's how you knew that the Kensington was an orphanage." "You were there." "You don't have to pay me." "It belongs to you." "You have me confused with somebody else." "Ernest Sutter." "That was your name, wasn't it?" "No idea what you're talking about." "Best of luck with the rest of the auction." "Don't go, please." "I cannot tell you how important this is to me." "And the boys who died there." "You were there, weren't you?" "I wanna level that horrible place." "I wanna turn it into a grave." "I've spent 50 years trying to outrun those memories." "In every child I pass on the sidewalk, every photo in a magazine, I see them." "They died and I lived." "Why?" "You were only a child." "They were my family." "I can help you." "How?" "Come on!" "I used to hide in the basement." "My alone place." "No one ever looked for me down there." "Sometimes I'd just sleep or daydream." "Sometimes I'd read." "I Kept my little secrets down there." "Matches, candle." "That night, though..." "That night I heard Homer barking." "I thought he was in trouble." "I went to find him." "I meant to come back." "I meant to blow out the candle and hide it again." "But one thing led to another." "They called bedtime." "I forgot all about it." "Wake up!" "I didn't even remember it until later." "When the fire started, I was just trying to get out like everyone else." " No, Rat, no!" "Wait!" " Where are we going?" "Where's Ernie?" "Ernie, it"s the wrong way!" "Come on!" "Up here!" "Ernie!" "Come here!" "Come on!" "Ernie!" "And when I saw it burning and I didn't see the boys get out," "I ran." "I just kept running." "Somehow I knew that no matter what," "I was not coming back here." "Next day I saw the front page of the newspaper." "I saw the pictures of the fire and the boys," "and one of them was me." "Twelve-year-old orphan Ernest Sutter was dead." "I remember climbing into a trash bin and crying till my throat hurt." "This was my friend Rat's hideout." "Ronald Aikins Tracy." "R.A.T." "He hated his name." "Loved his nickname." "He was one tough customer." "Nobody messed with you if you were okay with Rat." "You gotta tell him." "What if I told you that Rat was still here?" "What?" "The boys are still here." "I don't understand." "They're not dead?" "They are dead." "But their spirits..." "Well, they were afraid to move on." "That can't be." "I don't believe in that kind of stuff." "Yeah." "Most people don't." "Tell him it's still there where he hid it." "He says that it's still there where you hid it." "This must be a dream." "Rat, is that you?" "Tell him to use his indoor voice." "We ain't deaf." "He says for you to use your indoor voice." ""We ain't deaf."" "Son of a..." "It is Rat." "Tell him Homer's here!" " You got your teeth fixed." " You're really getting old, Ernie." "Hey, one at a time." "Okay." "Vic wants you to know that Homer's here," "Marty thinks you're getting old, and Rat says your teeth are fixed?" "No cavities." "They're all false." "Mine fell out." "They're laughing." "Where's Rat?" "Right in front of you." "You were the brave one, Rat." "You were trying to save us." "You always knew the right thing to do." "I can't tell you how many times when I was out on the road and I'd think back on all the things you taught me." "And not book things." "Like how to survive and laugh at yourself." "And I'm still always thinking," ""What would Rat do if he was here?"" "You're so full of it, Ernie, it's coming out of your ears." "He wants to know if you really think that." "Yes, I do." "Rat," "I would give all the money I have in the world to see you one more time." "All of you." "You ain't gonna make me cry, Ernie." "He's crying." "Don't tell him that!" "Tell him he could tear down the inn if he wants." "We're going." "Rat says they're leaving." "Where are they going?" "On a new adventure." "Goodbye, pal." "Do you see it?" "Yeah." "A light." "Handsome." "I'm telling everybody that you're my mom." "I ain't scared, Rat." "Me neither." "Mikey." "I can see my brother." "He's laughing at me." "Where have I been, he wants to know." "Goodbye, Wendy." "Goodbye, Peter." "Are they gone?" "Yes." "I never felt like this before." "Like I'm free." "Thank you." "I hate to admit it, but now I kind of feel sorry for Lew." "Me, too." "He changed, I guess." "I don't know." "I don't think he changed." "You did." "All I know is that I'm glad I have you." "Do you wanna explain that?" "Tomorrow." "Let's just go back to bed." "Yeah." "Stop."