The Ungrateful Dead

by Rose Cooper

  Instead of saying anything, she spun on her heel and headed to the Manor’s library and called Eden to vent. Even over the phone, Eden was able to calm her down.

  After mentioning the Ouija board to Eden, she suggested they use it as attempt number two to contact Uncle Maxwell.

  “We should do it in the cemetery. By his grave,” Eden said.

  “At midnight during a full moon, right?” Anna was done with the stereotypical approaches. The séance was proof of how well that stuff didn’t work.

  “Funny. Let’s do it tomorrow night.”

  “Okay.” Anna sighed. Hopefully, they’d have better luck this time.

  Anna looked for the Ouija board on the library shelves and under the chair where she had left it when Tabitha came in, but it was gone. Of course Tabitha hadn’t put it back where it was supposed to go.

  In fact, it didn’t seem she’d put it back anywhere in that room. Had Tabitha hidden it?

  Anna texted Eden.

  Ouija board gone. Don’t know where Tabitha put it.

  And you don’t want to ask, right?

  Right.

  OK, I’ll come over in the morning and do a locator spell.

  Thanks

  Anna showered, then sat down on her bed and looked at her phone. It beeped continuously. A handful of texts from new deadies and two from Mary. The girl looking for her body.

  I think it might be buried already.

  It can’t be buried!!!

  Anna texted back.

  I’ll help you figure this out, it will be OK.

  OMG thank you! You’re the best!

  “Why can’t they all be like that?” Anna muttered.

  The last text was from Spencer. He was at the clubhouse.

  Yo, Tabitha and Harper are here too.

  A sudden idea hit Anna. She sent a text back to Spencer.

  Keep an eye on Tabitha for me and let me know when she leaves. Important!

  Anna tossed the phone on her bed and ran downstairs to Tabitha’s room. She was in such a rush she didn’t hear Spencer text her back only seconds later.

  Tabitha left a while ago.

  There was nothing wrong with searching someone’s room if you were only there to look for something they took from you, right? Anna assured herself she had every right to search through Tabitha’s stuff. She just wished the room were smaller. She wasn’t sure where to even begin.

  If I were Tabitha, where would I hide a Ouija board? Anna wondered.

  Anna checked under Tabitha’s bed. No luck.

  She checked under her mattress. Nope. And in the massive oak dresser, in the bathroom (which had a sitting area), and around the bookshelf, but no Ouija board.

  Finally she decided to check the walk-in closet. How can one girl wear SO many clothes? Anna made her way through the cashmere sweater jungle and past the shelves stocked with shoes from floor to ceiling. When she stopped in front of the revolving accessory compartments, she heard voices. Anna froze as she strained to hear.

  It was Tabitha and Harper.

  Anna’s heart pounded frantically as she reached in her back pocket for her phone. It wasn’t there. She patted down her other pockets, afraid she’d dropped it somewhere in Tabitha’s room. Wait. She remembered—she’d left it in her own room.

  She mentally smacked herself for pulling such a stupid move. Of course she needed her phone if Spencer was going to keep tabs on Tabitha for her.

  The voices became louder until they were right outside the bedroom. There was no time to escape. They would see her for sure. Panic seized Anna. How did she get herself into situations like this? She surveyed the clothing prison, searching for somewhere to hide.

  Just past the revolving accessory compartments were a full-size vanity and a dressing area. Anna shook her head. No, still too exposed. To her right was a luggage set, ranging in size from super tiny to large enough to fit an entire apartment’s worth of stuff.

  Anna opted for a midsize piece and unzipped it. The inside wasn’t empty like she had been hoping. Several rolled-up blankets were stashed in there, taking up all the space. Anna pushed that suitcase to the side as she heard Tabitha talking right outside the closet door now. Grabbing the largest suitcase, which was thankfully empty, she climbed inside and rolled her body into the space. She didn’t bother zipping herself in but held the top down instead. As she did, she noticed something on the floor across from her. Under the vanity.

  The Ouija board.

  I knew it! It wasn’t in the box, though, and the planchette was lying on it and two candles were sitting beside it. It looked as if it had been…used?

  Anna didn’t have time to think any more about it as the closet door opened and footsteps walked toward her before finally coming to an abrupt halt in front of the luggage where Anna hid.

  “Where is it?” Harper yelled.

  “By the shoes!” Tabitha’s voice rang out from a distance.

  “It’s not by the shoes!” Harper yelled back.

  Anna peeked through a small gap. Harper was searching the closet for something. But what?

  “Try by the luggage!”

  Anna sucked in a gasp and closed her eyes. Because maybe if she didn’t see Harper, then Harper wouldn’t notice her. It was reasonable enough. If only she had her phone, she could have Eden cause a distraction that would free her from this mess.

  If only she had her phone, she wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.

  Her thoughts distracted her from Harper, who must’ve left at some point, because the only sound Anna heard now was her heart pounding. She could feel sweat beading on her forehead, her leg was cramping, and she was beginning to feel slightly claustrophobic.

  Making small, quiet movements, Anna slowly pushed the top up.

  “See! I told you it was here!” Tabitha shouted.

  Anna froze. Tabitha was in front of her.

  “You said by the shoes. That is not by the shoes.”

  “I said vanity! Get your ears checked.”

  The vanity? Were they talking about the Ouija board?

  “It’s not like I’m the one who freaked out and almost lit the carpet on fire!” Harper said.

  “Well, it’s not like I’m the one who invited evil dead things into my room.”

  “You can’t seriously believe that.”

  “Are you kidding? You’ve seen the stuff that’s been happening. The noises late at night. The footsteps and creaky doors.”

  Harper sighed loudly. “Well, it was your idea to play with the stupid thing.”

  “I just wanted to see what the big deal was. Anna is so immature. Just put this in her room and maybe the ghosts or whatever will leave me alone and haunt her instead.”

  “Why do I have to do it?”

  “Because I don’t want to.”

  “I don’t want to either.”

  “Look, I don’t need her hanging something over my head. She likes you a lot better than me. So just do it and quit complaining.”

  Anna heard the closet door close and the padding of footsteps walking away. She stayed crouched where she was until she saw the sliver of light under the door turn dark.

  Harper wasn’t sure why, but lately her cravings were changing. She found it impossible to get full and her stomach was always rumbling. She wrote down her frustrations in her journal.

  I better not gain a ton of weight from all this eating. Is that even possible?

  Not only that, but she was beyond tired. She fell asleep in class and was clumsy. Even more so than Anna.

  If I trip over my own feet one more time, I swear I’ll scream.

  With that last sentence, Harper’s pen slipped from her grip and fell to the floor. She grunted as she picked it up, then slammed her notebook shut. Her brain was also foggy, and it seemed to be getting worse with each passing day.

  When Eden came over the following morning to do the locator spell, Harper cornered her and Anna. “So why is this happening?” Harper looked back and forth betw
een them, searching their faces for answers.

  “Not sure what you mean.” Eden pushed past Harper as she followed Anna outside. They entered the cemetery. “But we have things to do and—”

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Anna interrupted. “I found it. So we don’t really have things to do anymore.”

  Harper followed close behind. “I’m serious. I want answers!”

  “What are we talking about?” Eden sounded annoyed.

  “Don’t act like you don’t know,” Harper said. “You were supposed to find out why all this is happening to me.”

  “I’m not exactly a ghost doctor,” Eden said, “but it sounds like you’re falling apart.”

  “Falling to pieces, actually,” Anna added.

  “That still doesn’t tell me anything. What’s. Going. On?” Harper drew out the sentence very slowly.

  “You know how you died before?” Anna said. “Well, when you reentered your body, you had control over it, but physically your body was still…dead.”

  “So what?” Harper said, feeling panicky. “I was fine at first. This falling-apart stuff only started happening recently.”

  “My guess is the solutions that were put in your body before you were buried helped to preserve your body for a little while,” Anna said. “But with constant exposure to the outside world and regaining use, it started the decaying process.”

  “Yeah, the preservatives only helped to delay the inevitable. It was only a matter of time before your body started falling apart,” Eden said.

  “But Lucy said I would be alive!” Harper protested.

  “Well, you are,” Anna said. She scraped at some moss that had formed on a large tombstone. “You just weren’t meant to stay that way.” She shot Harper a look. “I warned you about Lucy too. You dug your own grave. Now you need to lie in it.”

  “Very funny.” Harper stumbled. Her right foot had spun around and was now pointing in the wrong direction: backwards.

  “Oh!” Harper reached down to grab her foot. “What do I need to do to stop this?” She twisted her ankle around so that her foot was facing in the right direction.

  “You need to leave your body,” Anna said, shrugging.

  “So I have to look for another body again?”

  “What do you mean, again?” Eden asked.

  Harper waved the question away. “You know, I got into this body once, I don’t want to have to do that again.”

  “You can’t do it again, Harper,” Anna said softly. “You have to leave your body and then—”

  “And then what?” Harper demanded. “I just sit here all bored and invisible until some ghostly Prince Charming whisks me away into the cemetery, like Lucy?”

  “You’ll go wherever you’re supposed to go,” Anna said. “Follow the natural order of things.”

  “Gee, thanks for so much useful information. Now I know exactly what to do.”

  “I never said I have all the answers,” Anna said quietly. “I’m just a girl with a cell phone and an iPad. And it’s not for me to know where spirits go when they leave this world. For all I know, you could be headed to a very hot location.”

  Eden let out a giggle, which only infuriated Harper more.

  “Why can’t you cast some spell, witchy girl? Solve all our problems.”

  “I don’t use dark magic,” Eden said firmly. “Doing any kind of spell to interfere with a spirit and a body is prohibited.”

  “I promise not to tell your witchy coven or whatever. Just do it.”

  Eden shook her head. “Once I let the darkness in, it could take over. I can’t take that chance. It could cost other people their lives too.”

  “So you’re saying I’m not important enough to risk that?” Harper asked, her voice rising to a high-pitched squeak.

  “Exactly. Wait, no. Not just you, but anybody.”

  “So if Anna had this problem, you wouldn’t help her either?”

  “No,” Eden whispered. She gave Anna an apologetic look.

  Anna shrugged. “Not like I would ever make the kind of choices you did and end up in a position like this anyway.”

  “Have you figured out who pushed me off that balcony yet?” Harper asked.

  Anna shook her head. “Not yet.”

  “You suck at this investigating stuff.” Harper grabbed Eden’s Spell Phone out of her hand. “Let me check and make sure there isn’t anything else that you can do to help me.”

  “Give that back.” Eden reached for it but Harper held it away from her.

  “Oh, look at this….” Harper stepped back with a smug look. “It says here that a body can remain intact as long as the deteriorating brain is supplemented.”

  Eden and Anna froze.

  “Wait, so my brain is deteriorating? That’s why I can’t think or…or…you know, find missing words?”

  “Yes, but that’s not all of it—”

  “So all I have to do is use another brain and I can stay alive.”

  “No!” Anna and Eden shouted at the same time.

  Harper’s lips curved into a smile. “You just don’t want me to stay alive. That’s the real reason. Isn’t it?”

  “Even with another brain, your body will still fall apart.”

  “But that would buy me more time. To find a way out of this. I can just visit your stepfather at the funeral home tonight. I’m sure I won’t have any problem finding a brain there.”

  “But any brain you find there will be dead,” Anna told her. “It won’t work.”

  “Anna!” Eden elbowed Anna in her side. “Why’d you have to tell her that?”

  “Ohhhh, so it has to be from someone still alive?” Harper looked up toward the sky as she thought about this.

  “So if I actually get a brain, what do I do with it? Won’t it mess up my hair if I try to put a brain inside my head?” She eyed Anna very carefully.

  Anna bit her bottom lip, swaying back and forth. She was holding back.

  Harper searched Eden’s face. She was trying very carefully to keep her expression blank.

  “I have to eat it, is that it? Eat brains like in those zombie movies?”

  Harper watched both Anna’s and Eden’s eyes practically pop out of their heads.

  Harper smiled. “That’s it. I figured it out and didn’t even have to use my entire brain to do that.” Her insides churned at the very thought of ingesting brain food. “You guys suck at keeping secrets too.”

  “Something really strange is going on,” Tabitha said later that day as she picked at the grass. It was a warm afternoon, and she and Harper were soaking up the sun’s rays at the village park. But Tabitha couldn’t suppress a shiver.

  “Strange?” Harper wondered if her friend knew the secret of her undead life. Or that Anna communicated with ghosts. Or that Eden was a witch. Or—

  “It’s like I know things that I shouldn’t.”

  Or something like that.

  “What do you mean?” Harper asked.

  “I thought I was just having weird dreams, but they are so real. And I can remember every detail of every dream. Actually, I can’t forget them. So it’s like a memory but there’s no way I would know this stuff.”

  “Hmmm.” Harper wondered if Eden wasn’t the only witch in town.

  “Is that a good ‘hmmm’ or a bad ‘hmmm’?”

  “Neither.” Harper wondered if a certain someone had cast a spell over her friend. “What kind of things are you remembering?”

  Tabitha picked a dandelion. “Stuff about Anna. And Johnny.”

  Harper sat up. “What kind of stuff?”

  “Well, like the accident with Johnny is different than what everyone says happened.”

  Eden definitely hadn’t cast a spell on her then.

  “How do you think it happened?”

  “I’m not exactly sure, since it doesn’t all make sense, but one of the twins was there. And they swung at Anna but missed and clocked Johnny instead. Johnny crashed through the glass table. Then lots of screa
ming and then one of the Ashbury twins went hysterical and Anna kept yelling ‘Lucy!’ ”

  “That’s really weird.”

  “Do you know a Lucy?” Tabitha asked.

  Harper thought for a second before speaking. “Yeah. There was a girl named Lucy who used to go to the Academy.”

  “What happened to her? She moved?”

  Harper didn’t want to give away too much info, since she was supposedly just as new to the area as Tabitha.

  “I’m not exactly sure, but gossip around the school is that she had an accident.”

  “An accident?”

  Harper shrugged. “I guess.”

  “So it happened at the same time as Johnny?”

  “No, this was before. She hit her head. In the cemetery.”

  Tabitha gasped. “Is she okay?”

  Harper shook her head.

  Tabitha opened her hand and looked down at the dandelion she’d crushed in her palm. The fluffy bits wafted away on the slight breeze. “Wanna head up to the Corner Café and get a burger and fries?”

  “Sure. Sounds great.” Harper forced a tiny smile. What was wrong with her? A burger and fries sounded absolutely disgusting. She wanted something juicy, like a steak. But rare. Like, really, really rare. Or even uncooked. Kind of like…a brain?

  Harper couldn’t help salivating at the very thought. She shook her head furiously, trying to get the images out of her head.

  “Harper? You ready?”

  “What? Oh yeah. Sure.”

  Harper walked close to Tabitha, noticing a new, unfamiliar scent. “New shampoo?”

  “Nope. Same as always.”

  Hmmm. Harper wondered what this new scent coming from the tip-top of Tabitha’s head could be, even though deep down inside, she already knew the answer.

  “So she knows?” Anna asked Harper later that day. Tabitha was at a dentist appointment with Anna’s mom, and Anna, Eden, and Harper were at the kitchen table. “How does Tabitha know anything about that night? You must have told her something.”