The Ungrateful Dead Read online

“Did she do that after the wedding?”

  “Yeah. Like practically the next day.”

  Anna’s mom had had what some might call a whirlwind romance with Winston Doombrowski, the mortician at the funeral home. Anna thought it was ridiculous. Sure, all she had ever wanted was for her mom to be happy. But Anna had shoes that she had had longer than her mom had known Winston. It was like they met, got engaged, and married practically on the first date.

  “I read that people who fall in love fast stay together longer than people who date forever,” Eden said. “You never know.”

  “It’s just weird,” Anna said. “One day he’s just Mr. Doom, our neighbor and the town’s funeral director, and the next day he and his fuzzy black mustache are living in the Manor with us and recruiting Mom as a corpse cosmetologist.”

  Eden wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I can see how that would feel strange. But isn’t it kind of nice to have a stepdad? I mean, you and your mom were alone in Maddsen Manor for a while…isn’t it nice to have somebody else there with you?”

  Anna’s real father had passed away when she was little, so it had always been just her and her mom. She’d never thought too much about having a stepfather. But now that she had one, it wasn’t exactly a dream come true. It kind of felt like her mom and Winston were a team and she was just a third wheel.

  “Eh. It’s not so great.” Anna shrugged. “He pretty much acts like he’s in charge now, even though he’s only lived there for a second.”

  “I think that’s normal.”

  “Maybe. But now I have a schedule I have to follow. Like, what does it matter if I want to do my homework before dinner or after, you know?”

  Eden patted her on the arm. “Weird. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with any of that.”

  “Thanks for the support.”

  “You know I’m here if you need me.”

  “Can you whip up a vanishing spell?”

  “For you? Or Winston?”

  As Lucy had instructed, Harper had knelt at her grave and envisioned her body just below the surface. Well, six feet below. She closed her eyes and lay on her grave faceup, her feet planted firmly against her headstone.

  It felt like walking through walls. She felt herself sinking down. Farther and farther, as if she were sinking into one of those super-comfortable mattresses they had at that store at the mall. Except it went on forever. She concentrated and imagined herself in her body.

  Then blackness.

  A soft glow shone through her closed lids. Her eyes launched open. She felt something solid. Reflexively she parted her lips to scream before realizing that it had happened.

  She was back in her body.

  Her body! She was doing it! Except…something was off. Her body was backward! Her hands were down by her feet. Who had buried her backward? How could they do this to her?

  “Okay, just concentrate, Harpie,” she said, talking herself down, turning herself to face the other way until she felt her hands actually moving. Her hands! She wiggled her fingers. She had actual fingers! And feet. And…Oomph! She hit her head on the lid of the coffin as she tried to sit up.

  Pain. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like to feel pain.

  Panic seized Harper. Now that she was back in her body, she had a new problem: she was buried alive! Her worst fear. Actually, it was her second-worst fear. Her first was a recurring nightmare she had: her credit card being cut in front of the whole store of shoppers while she was trying to purchase the latest must-have purse. The most embarrassing moment ever.

  “Okay, think,” Harper whispered to herself. “What did Lucy say next? To focus, right?” Her strength would be gone in just a few minutes. She had to act fast. Now or never. And she never settled for never.

  She summoned all her strength. Placing both hands palm side up on the top while kicking with both legs, she gave it everything she had. “Oomph!”

  And then she did it again. The flimsy coffin lid opened and dirt fell on top of her. “I guess my family didn’t pay for the deluxe coffin,” she mumbled. But who cared, really? She was doing this!

  She clawed her way through the dirt, pulling herself up into the open air and onto the ground.

  She was free! And she was alive again! She examined her arms and legs as if she were just feeling her body for the first time. Harper looked around. Where was Lucy? There was no sign of her. She’d promised she would be there in case Harper needed her.

  But off in the distance, someone was there. Someone who shouldn’t have been. Had that person seen everything?

  Harper squinted. Maybe her eyes were just playing tricks on her. Or was someone really there watching her?

  The cemetery was bathed in shadows. Harper decided she was just a little rattled. Her eyes probably were still adjusting to, well, being eyes again. She blinked rapidly. She’d have to pick up some eyedrops at the pharmacy.

  Harper walked as fast as she could toward what she hoped was the exit. But for her, fast was a relative term. Her body felt stiff and robotic, and she moved with a slight limp.

  If someone was really there watching her, it would be a big problem. Because if anyone saw her and told her secret, her second chance at life would be very short-lived. And Harper couldn’t let that happen.

  Anna rubbed her eyes. She saw a lot of things most people couldn’t see. And in this case, it was the dead girl, Harper. Standing at her front door. Wearing the black belted dress and cropped jacket.

  And boy, she looked a mess. Her dress was covered with mud, her jacket had a large tear in the arm, and her bare feet were a dingy brown.

  Weirdly, Anna didn’t smell the wet-sock odor she’d smelled when she’d first met Harper. Each spirit she had known had a different, distinct smell.

  The only thing Anna smelled right now was dirt.

  “Um, hey.” Anna didn’t know where to start.

  “Hi,” Eden said from behind her.

  Anna spun around. Eden was looking right at Harper. “You can see her?”

  Eden nodded. “Yep!”

  Anna elbowed Eden in the side and whispered, “That is Harper.”

  “Harper?” Eden’s eyes widened. “As in dead Harper?”

  Anna nodded, staring at Harper. As if she might just disappear if she took her eyes off her for a moment.

  “Wait a minute…” Eden trailed off, turning to Anna. “If I can see her, then…I see dead people?”

  “Would you stop?” Harper threw her hands in the air. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am not dead.”

  “I think this one is in denial too,” Eden whispered to Anna.

  “I’m not in denial, because I’m not dead!” Harper said, her voice rising.

  “I thought you understood all this,” Anna said with a sigh. “And since you’re here, I’m guessing that trying to deal with everything on your own didn’t work out so well, and that you came to my house to ask for my help.”

  Harper stood with her hands on her hips, annoyed. “Look, I don’t need anything from you.” Then she hesitated. “Well, that’s not entirely true. I do need something from you. I just don’t need your lectures.”

  “Come in,” Anna said, waving her through the entryway. She, Eden, and Harper went into the living room. Anna and Eden sat on the couch. Harper sat on a chair, facing them.

  If Anna hadn’t been so curious about Harper’s new living status, she would’ve thrown her butt out.

  “Okay, so tell us everything,” Anna said. “How did this happen?”

  “I met your friend Lucy.”

  Anna shook her head. “No. No, that’s not possible.”

  “For a girl who can see ghosts, you really think a lot of things are impossible,” Harper said.

  Anna sighed. “What I mean is that Lucy—who really wasn’t my friend—is dead, and her spirit moved on. So whoever you met, it couldn’t have been Lucy.”

  “Really? Because this girl was dead. Is dead. And I’m guessing you’re not friends because you tried to steal her boyfrie
nd,” Harper said. “At least, that’s what she told me.”

  “Oooh, that does sound like Lucy,” Eden said.

  “I did not steal her boyfriend!” Anna said, exasperated. She took a deep breath. “How, exactly, did she help you? How did you come back to life and start breathing again?”

  Harper pursed her lips, as if she was thinking about how to best say this. “Technically, my body is dead.”

  Anna and Eden shared a look

  “My body was already buried but my spirit simply took over again,” Harper went on, giving a small shrug. “At least, that’s what I think happened.”

  “So how does Lucy fit into all this?” Anna asked. “I mean, assuming that you had contact with the real Lucy.”

  “She made me realize my powers and how to use them,” Harper said. “That’s all.”

  “Let me get this straight.” Anna let out a huge sigh she hadn’t realized she was holding in. “Lucy is back. As in here? In town?”

  Harper nodded. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

  “This is so not good,” Anna mumbled to herself. She turned to Eden. “But I don’t get it. Lucy moved on. Or at least I thought she did. She said she was.”

  “And you believed her?” Eden asked.

  “I guess I just wanted her gone so bad I took her word for it,” Anna said morosely. “But why would she be back?”

  “Didn’t you say you thought she might come back someday?”

  “Yeah, someday. Not this soon. She must be up to something.”

  Anna looked out the window, letting this news sink in. When she’d first moved to town and found a phone in the woods, she’d never imagined that it would lead to texts from dead people…or actual dead people turning up at her house. She watched a car drive slowly past the gate to her house.

  Was there a ghost driving it?

  Or a zombie?

  Was she doomed to a life where nothing would ever be normal again?

  “Anna!” Eden snapped her fingers in front of Anna’s face, startling her. “Are you there? You’ve been staring out that window forever.”

  “Yeah, hello? Can we focus on me and my problem?” Harper snapped.

  Anna nodded. “Sorry. It just—all this”—she waved her hand in Harper’s direction—“it got to me.”

  Eden shrugged. “I don’t get what the big deal is. Harper’s being, uh, back won’t affect anybody.”

  Anna gaped at her. “Are you kidding? What about her family? Her friends? You don’t think they’ll freak when they see her walking around again?” Clearly Eden hadn’t thought this whole thing through.

  Anna’s mind was spinning at the horror of it all.

  “I’ll stay here,” Harper blurted out. “In the village. And I’ll change schools. It’s not likely anyone I know will ever see me.”

  “Of course it’s likely,” Anna pointed out, trying not to roll her eyes. “You didn’t live that far from here when you were, um, alive.”

  Harper stared blankly at her.

  “You know, that apartment I found you at,” Anna prompted. “It’s pretty close to my house.”

  “That run-down dump?” Harper snorted. “I didn’t live there. I was…visiting.”

  “Visiting? Visiting who?” Anna asked.

  “That doesn’t matter,” Harper said quickly. “More important is this: have you figured out who pushed me off that balcony?”

  Anna shook her head. “But to be honest, I haven’t actually been trying to solve that mystery.” She looked over at Eden and then met Harper’s gaze directly. “And how do we know you were really pushed? I’m beginning to think you just somehow randomly tripped over your own feet and fell.”

  Harper crossed her arms. “You know I was pushed because I’m telling you that’s what happened and I’m not a liar. Besides, I know what a push feels like. And look at me. Once I take a shower and put on some clean clothes, I won’t be any different from anyone else. No one around here will know me, so guess what? Problem solved.”

  “She has a point, Anna,” Eden said.

  A wave of uneasiness fell over Anna. “I don’t like this,” she said finally. “It’s not safe. I just know something bad will happen.”

  “Aw, lighten up, Anna,” Eden said, picking up her phone and checking her texts. “You’re being kind of paranoid. If Harper’s back, she’s back, and it’s not really up to you to judge, is it?” She tilted her head up toward the fireplace mantel, where the wedding picture of Anna’s mom and Winston sat in a big shiny frame. “You’re kind of sounding like your mom, you know?”

  Harper laughed. “Yeah. Don’t get all nervous. It’s not like I could die again.”

  Anna picked up one of the new embroidered pillows her mom had received as a wedding gift and hugged it to her chest. This was so not how she wanted to spend her day.

  “I hate to state the obvious, guys, but here it is,” Harper said. “I need a place to stay.”

  “I guess you do,” Anna said slowly, wondering where this was going to go. Nowhere good, a little voice told her.

  “I can’t go back to my house, for obvious reasons,” Harper said, raising an eyebrow. She spread her arms out wide. “This is certainly a big house you have here.”

  Anna shook her head. A boulder rested in the pit of her stomach.

  “No. Way.”

  Harper gave her a strained smile. “Okay, guess I’m going back home, then. I’ll be sure to mention your name to the media. See ya, girls.” She swiveled on her muddy heel and walked toward the front door.

  “You can’t let her go back,” Eden said. “People can’t find out about stuff like this. The whole town will freak. Other secrets will eventually be exposed.”

  Like Eden’s secret, Anna thought.

  “Well, what am I supposed to do?” Anna asked, feeling a wave of panic. “I can’t exactly let her live here at Maddsen Manor! My mom would never allow it.”

  “Your mom doesn’t have to know.”

  Anna’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me? My mom always finds stuff out.”

  “Does she know you’re a Guided?”

  Anna shrugged. “I’m sure she will….It’s only a matter of time. Plus, Winston is living here now too.”

  “Your house is huge, though. And Winston is hardly ever home. There’s really not a big chance he or your mom will run into Harper if you guys are careful about it. Harper could just be your friend hanging out after school, and then at night you could sneak her into one of the rooms that your mom doesn’t use.”

  Anna bit her lip. It was true—the house was huge. There were rooms that they had never even gone into since they’d moved here from their cramped one-bedroom apartment.

  “It’s so big!” Anna had said when they’d walked down the long hallways.

  “So much to take care of,” her mom had said. Ultimately her mom had decided to use only certain rooms as actual living space, closing the doors to the other rooms and halls. “Keep the doors closed,” she’d said to Anna. “Otherwise our heating bill is going to be insane.”

  “But if she moves in here, there’s no way I’m going to hang around with her every day,” Anna said now, feeling miserable about the whole thing.

  Eden shrugged. “Then don’t. Just find a way she can sneak in. This is a super-old house. Are there any hidden entrances?”

  Anna thought for a moment. “Not that I know of.”

  “In a mansion built in the eighteen hundreds, my guess is that there are some secrets you still haven’t discovered. If we can find a secret entrance, we find the answer to your problem.”

  Anna wasn’t so sure. “But what if Harper’s secret does get out?”

  “You aren’t going to say anything. I’m not going to say anything. I’m pretty sure she isn’t either,” Eden said.

  “Okay.” Anna sighed. “I guess I better go after Harper and hope I can find her in time.”

  “No need, I’m right here!” Harper poked her head around the doorway and smiled. “I kne
w you’d come to your senses.”

  “So, great news!” her mom said brightly, taking a left onto Brightwood Avenue. Anna and her mom were on their way to the grocery store. Her mom wanted to make something special for Winston for dinner that night.

  “I hate when you say that, Mom,” Anna said dully. “Last time you gave me great news, we moved…here.”

  Her mom chuckled. “I’ll pretend you didn’t just say that. I’m glad you’re sitting down.”

  “Me too. I mean, since we’re in a car and everything,” Anna said, waiting for her mom to share whatever this great news was. Experience had taught her that she and her mom didn’t have the same criteria for “great.”

  “You have a stepsister!” her mom blurted out.

  Anna’s mouth dropped open. She squeezed the armrest tight. “How is that possible? Winston doesn’t have any kids.” She thought back to the wedding. Nope, no kids. She’d been the youngest person there by about thirty years.

  “Actually, he does,” her mom said, shooting a glance over at Anna.

  Anna let out a loud groan. “Did you know he had kids, Mom?”

  “Well, not exactly. I mean, I knew he was married before but…” Her voice trailed off.

  “Don’t you think that’s kind of weird, though?” Anna asked, her eyes narrowing. “That he never told you?”

  Her mom came to a stop at a light. “I’m sure he has reasons for it.”

  “She didn’t even come to the wedding!”

  “I know, but she was having problems accepting her parents’ divorce,” her mom said in the patient voice she always used when dealing with an unpleasant situation. “She’s acted out a lot. What she needs now is a family. Our family.”

  Anna rolled her eyes. Her lovesick mom would forever be making excuses whenever it came to Winston. In her eyes, he was perfect.

  “So, where is his daughter?” Anna had always wanted a sister. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.

  “She’s been bouncing back and forth between her parents. Winston sent her to live with her mom in Manhattan right before we moved here, actually. But now she’s moving back.”