Jess closed her laptop and grabbed an already used tissue next to her. She rested her forehead on her wooden desk, blowing her nose and trying to dry her eyes. It was almost eight p.m., and she had spent her day watching videos of one of her favourite bands: The Rolling Stones. She watched their early concerts, documentaries, random videos she could find on YouTube and looked at pictures on one of her favourite websites, Tumblr. She was what people called a fangirl. Spending her time crying over dead or old musicians, dying to buy concert tickets she could never afford, listening to loud music, wearing band shirts almost all the time, complaining she was born in the wrong era... Welcome to the Classic Rock Fandom. Nobody understood her in real life, and the only people she could talk with about those bands usually were teachers, who could only mention The Beatles. All of her friends lived in their generation, were modern and listened to new musics. She was always like the black sheep of the group. But that started to end when she randomly met a friend at the college restaurant, Chloe. She was wearing a vintage outfit, had 1950s glasses and she was eating with a friend at the same table as Jess, as the other tables were full. Jess was telling her new friends about Paul McCartney, when Chloe bent in her direction and said “Hey, er... What do you think of Old Paul?” That was the beginning of a friendship that was still not over. Concerning old bands and old fashion, they were like partners in crime, trying to find everything about it, and rummaging through old clothes at the local second-hand clothes shop. Jess felt like Chloe was the only person in this world who could understand her and share this passion.

But this time, Chloe was not online, and Jess knew she went to a diner in Germany. For them, Germany was close. They both lived in a French city, near the borderline. Jess did not like going there, for it reminded her of all the terrible hours she spent learning German at school. Finally, she could not even remember a word. At this moment, she felt the urge to hug someone. She was in tears, as she watched touching videos about the founding member of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones. He was her favourite member, for he was a gorgeous and funny man. Moreover, never had she seen such a talented musician. On his Wikipedia page, she counted all the instruments he could play, and it went to fourty-five. He died prematurely at the age of twenty-seven, in July 1969. Even though she never knew him, she felt linked to him in a special way. She loved him dearly and she could not even explain why. But isn't that what love was all about?

She went out of her bedroom, switching off the light, taking her laptop with her downstairs. Her dog ran to her and jumped on her, happy to see someone. She put her laptop aside and hugged the dog, who felt that something was wrong. Jess called the dog and opened the back door so he could run freely in the garden. It was time for Jess to cook dinner, as her parents were out for the evening. She sighed, wiping some tears away, but just thinking about Brian Jones made her break down into tears again. Weeping, she opened the doors of a wardrobe and took out a packet of pastas. She filled a pot with water, in which she added salt, and put it on the fire, waiting for it to boil. Still thinking about the videos she watched, she crossed her arms against her chest and sat in the corner of the kitchen, burying her face into her hands. She sat there, without controlling her crying, until she heard the boiling water; she stood up and put the pastas in the pot before lowering the fire. She sat back where she was and kept on weeping, unable to stop.

“Brian Jones, Brian Jones, Brian Jones...”

She kicked a drawer of one of the furnitures and hurt her fingers. She gasped and shook it in the air. She thought about how she was and laughed sarcastically. How pathetic she was! Crying over someone she never met, just because of videos. But at the same time, she really felt terrible because of his death. It was something she could not get over and she knew it. Her dog began to bark outside, though he was not at the door. She opened the door and sneaked outside.

“Ringo? Ringo? What are you barking at? I never heard you bark once in my life!”

The dog started to whine, and Jess had no idea why. There was nobody in the garden, there was not even a cat. But usually, Ringo – her dog – never ran after cats, as she also had one and there had never been any problem with them. She went back inside, but the dog did not want to follow. She shrugged and closed the door behind her. She checked if her pastas were ready, and indeed, they were. She emptied the hot water in the sink and shook the pastas in the colander before putting them all in a plate she had taken out of the wardrobe. She opened the fridge and put some cheese on her pastas and took out the bottle of ketchup. She walked up to the dining room and sat on one of the heavy chairs that surrounded the big wooden table. She started to eat her pastas when suddenly, the back door slammed against the radiator. She jumped and spun round quickly. Nobody was there, and she could not hear a noise. She stood up and slowly went to the back door, looking out if Ringo was alright. The dog was staring at the window, growling, showing his teeth. Usually, Ringo was a very sweet dog who loved everybody, and he had never barked or growled. Jess was confused: what was going on? She took Ringo in and closed the door, making sure it was well closed. She petted Ringo, when suddenly he growled again. Behind her, she heard someone talking.

“Only pastas? Aren't you going to starve?”

She jumped on her feet, grabbed a butcher knife and spun round, holding it firmly with her arm outstretched. She could not see the man, though she was sure that somebody was there. She dried her eyes and felt that her knees began to shake. She lowered her arm, sighing when she felt someone breathing in her ear.

“Hey.”

She screamed in terror and threw the knife right to the man. Curiously, the knife went through him and stabbed the wall instead. Her eyes widened and they slowly layed on the man that was standing there, smiling. She gasped when she recognised him. He had blond hair, cut in a sort of bowl cut, he was wearing a black turtleneck, red jeans and black leather Chelsea boots. She swallowed her saliva. She could see his deep green eyes looking at her. Yet, something was unusual. She could see all the colours on him, but he looked... transparent. She put a hand over her own mouth.

“Why are you scared, Jess? Am I right? You're Jess?” he said. “You summoned me, so I came to you.”

“Are you Brian Jones?”

“I guess I am” he sighed, “I'm not Mick, that's for sure.”

Jess had stopped crying. She was obviously dreaming, wasn't she? She cleared her throat and frowned.

“What do you mean I summoned you?”

“Well, you said my name three times in a row, that means you summoned me!”

“Like Beetlejuice?”

“Wha– why are you mentioning John, Paul, George, and Ringo's semen? I didn't want to know!”

Jess could not refrain from laughing. She bursted out laughing in front of Brian, who was completely confused.

“Why are you laughing? Did I say something funny?”

“Beetlejuice is the character of a film. He's like a monster, but we don't really know what he is. And if you say his name three times, no matter what day or what hour, he appears and sows discord everywhere.”

“Well I'm not like this... Beetlejuice. I can only appear in the evening or during the night. Then, when the first sunrays shine, I disappear, waiting for someone to summon me!”

“I guess you never stopped being summoned, huh?”

“Actually it's the first time. And I have a special power. I can bring myself back to life for an hour and only once before disappearing forever. As you can see, I never used it.”

Jess had to sit down. She ran up to the big table in the middle of the dining room and sat on it, sighing. Brian walked up to her, looking all around him.

“Everything's ultra modern here! What year is it?”

“2014.”

“Gee, it's been a long time!”

She slightly smiled. Brian Jones was there, right in front of her, and she just could not believe it. Brian Jones! He who died almost fourty-five years before was standing right there, in front of her, as a ghost. It was almost frightening. Jess smiled and wanted to put a hand on his shoulder, but her hand fell through his body, feeling suddenly cold. Her smile faded and her jaw dropped. Brian's eyes looked down and a joyless smile appeared on his face.

“I–I can't touch you!”

“I know...”

“Did many people try to touch you? Did you talk to other people? Like Mick, Keith... People like them?”

“No, I never went to see them. They never summoned me.”

“So where were you all this time?”

“I have no idea. It's the first time that I'm summoned. If only I could, I would travel with you and see Moonie again, this good old friend of mine!”

His happy smile broke her heart. She swallowed her saliva and nervously twisted her hands. Brian noticed it and frowned.

“Why are you nervous? Is there something wrong?”

“Well, it's just that... Keith – I mean Moonie – is...”

“What?”

“He's... gone.”

Suddenly, Brian let himself fall on the floor, completely shocked. Jess expected to hear the sound of his bones hitting the floor, but no, there was not any noise when it happened. She shook her head as she remembered that he did not have any bones anymore. She knelt down before him, clearing her throat, twisting her hands again. Brian's mouth was slightly open, as if he was panting; but of course, breathing was useless now for him. His eyes slowly looked up to her, and they were almost shining.

“Are there... Are there other ones who left?”

“Too many...”

The look upon his face suddenly filled with such intensity that she immediately understood that she had to make a list of those that he probably knew back at the time.

“There are... John Lennon, George Harrison, John Entwistle, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Cass Elliot, Ravi Shankar more recently... As for other people, Nico and your former girlfriend Suki.”

Brian put a hand where his heart used to beat. A sparkling tear rolled on his cheek before it vanished completely. Jess frowned, trying to figure out how it could be possible. Brian's jaw trembled.

“And... as for the Rolling Stones? Anybody else?”

“No, you were the only one.”