Undeadly

by Michele Vail

  I wasn’t sure how to take that. I’d already been challenged—in the way I viewed myself, in the new destiny I was determined to embrace, and in the way I perceived my life. Not to mention I’d had a big reality check.

  “I can see you’re tired,” said Ms. Chiles. She gave me another quick pat. “I’ll let you rest.” She stood and crossed to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Molly. We’ll talk some more.”

  “About what?”

  “Tomorrow,” she said. Then she gave me a little wave and left.

  Exhaustion poured through me. I headed toward the massive bed, ready to crawl into the comfy-looking covers and pass out.

  Then I heard a knock.

  Had Ms. Chiles returned?

  I switched directions and opened the door.

  Rick Widdenstock stood on the other side.

  Chapter 10

  “Death is only the end for the corporeal form, not for the soul. No, the soul moves on to the next world, and it is there you will be rewarded...or penalized...for the acts you do on the Earth.”

  ~Anput

  “Rick!” My heart, which had felt so heavy, and my thoughts, which I’d kept away from him—the boy I wanted to fall in love with—exploded with sudden joy. I moved toward him, and then freaked, because, hello, I was without decent clothes or makeup.

  Now I felt self-conscious.

  Rick grinned at me, and his eyes drank me in like I was somehow water in the desert he’d been crawling around in.

  “Hi, Molly.”

  “What are you doing here?” I asked. I let him come to me because my knees were shaking so bad, I couldn’t move. “Are you okay?”

  “Me?” He knuckled his skull and grinned. “Fine. It’s you I’m worried about. I missed you.” He reached me and grabbed my hand.

  His skin felt cold and he seemed...well, I didn’t know. Maybe I was looking at him with reaper eyes, (if that’s possible). I could see he was fully alive, and I’d made sure his soul was sorta intact. I wasn’t sorry that I’d saved him. But there was a doubt or two that I might have done something irreparable to him.

  “Mr. Bartolucci told me you were going to Nekyia, so I came to see you.”

  “By yourself? You’re kidding!” My happiness zoomed upward like a shooting star. “That’s so awesome!”

  He stared at me and nodded. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, Molly. I’m glad you’re okay. And that we’re here together.” He took my hand and pressed my palm against his chest where his heart beat. “I need to be near you.”

  I’d never heard such romantic words before. My heart trilled in my chest. OMG. Rick Widdenstock totally wanted me. We were this close to being boyfriend/girlfriend. “How long can you stay? Don’t you have school back in Vegas to worry about?”

  He shrugged. “It’s no big deal.” He leaned forward and kissed me briefly.

  I hadn’t realized he’d been so affected by me. I mean, we’d kinda planned to start dating, but we hadn’t even gone on one date. “I’m not going anywhere,” I promised. “Where are you staying?”

  “I have a place.” He stared at me for a really long moment, and then slowly blinked. His grin appeared, and the tension strumming my belly disappeared. “Look, I know it’s late. Probably not cool for me to be in your room.” He waggled his eyebrows, and made me laugh. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Lunch?”

  “In the cafeteria?” I asked. “Do you have a room in the school? It’s just...I don’t know how things work around here. I didn’t know we were allowed visitors.”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “Yeah. And I’m glad.”

  Still, it was kinda weird that he’d showed up on the same day I had. I mean, it was also romantic. Like Romeo and Juliet, only with a better ending.

  He kissed me again and turned. He paused by the door. “Good night, Molly.”

  “Good night, Rick.”

  He shut the door quietly behind him, and I locked it. Then I crawled into the comfortable bed, feeling a little less like my life sucked. Rick was here at Nekyia! And I hadn’t seen him at all since my birthday fail. I wondered why he hadn’t answered my texts. That reminded me... I checked my cell and saw that the phone had digitally imploded with text messages from Gena and Becks. I was too tired to read them all and respond, so I shut it off and plugged it in to charge.

  I went to turn off the bedside lamp, but then I felt the cold swish, saw the flash of black.

  Rath appeared.

  Damn it. Really? Really?

  I sat up. “What do you want?”

  “Nice to see you, too, brown eyes.”

  “Shut up.”

  Rath stared at me, one eyebrow quirked. “Aw. Does someone have a crush on me?”

  “Not even.”

  He grinned. And my stomach did that tingly squeezy thing. Rick, I thought, feeling weirdly desperate. Rick is my almost-boyfriend.

  Rath was...annoying.

  “It’s cute when you scrunch your nose like that.”

  I looked up at Rath. “You think I’m cute?”

  “Not really,” he said. “I think you’re immature, irresponsible and ditzy. But the nose thing, that’s okay.”

  I wanted to lash out, to tell him that he wasn’t exactly a prize human being—or reaper, whatever—himself. But I was tired. I didn’t want to fight. So I shut it all down and stared at him mutely. Actually I was stealing this technique from Ally. It was effective because it made people uncomfortable and they usually walked away. My problem was that I’d much rather spout off. Cold anger was harder to express.

  “No searing comeback?” he asked. He pressed a knee on the bed and leaned down. “What? You’re not even gonna stick out your tongue?”

  My stomach squeezed and my breath caught. I was unnerved by him being on my bed, and he knew it, too. He was trying to make me uncomfortable. “If you’re through insulting me,” I said, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice, “you can leave.”

  “Oh, I’m not through, brown eyes.” He offered another wicked grin that made my insides squirm again. Yikes. “Not by a long shot.”

  These inappropriate feelings for Rath were really gigging up my ju-ju. I didn’t even like him. Okay, he had the hotness factor, but he was also a jerk.

  “Seriously, Rath, what do you want?”

  “I’ll let you know.” He pulled back from the bed, crossed his arms and looked at me with an expression I couldn’t quite figure out. “See you tomorrow.”

  “What? Why?”

  The grinned turned evil. “Oh, we’re going to see a lot of each other, brown eyes.” He leaned down, way down, until he was mere inches away. “I know Rick is here. He shouldn’t be.”

  “None of your business,” I said.

  “And by here, I mean on the earthly plane.” His expression turned serious. “You get that, right?”

  “Whatevs.”

  He had the nerve to flash me a look of disappointment, and then he shook his head. “You have a lot to learn, Molly. I just hope you’re up to it.”

  Then he disappeared.

  I slammed back into the bed and muffled my scream of frustration. What was that guy’s problem? And what did he mean about seeing me tomorrow? And seeing me a lot? As if!

  I was exhausted. Despite all the nightly visitors, and the strangeness of my first evening at Nekyia, I was too brain-dead to think about much.

  I quickly fell asleep.

  * * *

  I was in a very large stone hallway. Nekyia entrance hall, I thought dazedly. I had no form. I merely floated around, feeling wispy and vague. On the left wall was a portrait of Anubis, his silver scythe held high above his canine head, his human legs crushing skulls beneath his feet.

  He was the father of death.

  And he had called me daughter.

  Daughter of death.

  To the right was a huge, impossibly wide staircase with a polished wood railing and big stone steps.

  In the middle of the hallway was an overweight, bl
ond-haired girl whose pale face was riddled with acne. She was dressed in a dark blue nightgown covered with a matching robe that wasn’t belted. Her feet were bare, and her toenails painted metallic purple. “Hello?” she called out in a timid voice. “I’m here. You said to meet by the Anubis portrait, right?”

  She turned, as though she’d heard a response, but I couldn’t hear anyone. Or see anyone.

  But the girl apparently could. She put a hand to her chest and whispered, “What is that? What are you doing?”

  I watched as she was somehow driven to her knees, her mouth opened in a soundless scream, and then her soul—that wondrous blue orb pulsing with terrible beauty—was ripped out of her chest.

  She turned gray, as gray as stone, her features frozen in horror, her arms forever outstretched in supplication. Then she fell forward, and her body clunked against the floor...

  ...and shattered.

  I looked around, everywhere, to see who had done such an awful thing. But the hallway was empty.

  Except for me.

  I hovered above the dead girl, as helpless as a ghost, and I wept.

  Chapter 11

  “And Set turned Anubis’s most loyal reaper against him, and together, they recruited other reapers to their cause. Set believed Death was a commodity, one to be traded or bought. Humans were cattle, built to serve the whims of the gods. Death ravaged the human population as Set’s fallen and Anubis’s warriors fought and shook the foundations of the earth.”

  ~The Secret History of Reapers, Author Unknown

  I awoke to bright sunshine slanting across my face. I threw my arm over my eyes. “Gah!” I said. “The light! It burns!”

  “I’m quite sure you are not on fire, Miss Briarstock,” Henry’s rasping voice assured me. “Come now, miss. You must prepare for classes.”

  “Whaaa?” I muttered as I rolled across the bed to get away from the relentless sunshine. It was everywhere, though, so I was forced to sit up and swing my legs off the bed. “What time is it?”

  “It’s 6:00 a.m.”

  “Ugh. What time do classes start?”

  “Nine-fifteen,” he said.

  “Are you kidding me?” I asked, horrified at losing so much sleep time.

  Henry did his slow blink. “I’m afraid I do not have a sense of humor, miss.”

  I looked at him and laughed. “Seriously?”

  “Quite.”

  He did look serious, but maybe, just maybe, there was a twinkle in his odd gaze. “Hoo-kay.” I rubbed my eyes and yawned. “Why do I need three hours to prepare for classes?”

  “I estimated three hours for you to eat breakfast, take a shower, do your hair and makeup, get dressed—with time for you to change your mind on at least two shirts, present yourself to the registrar to receive your schedule, meet with Headmistress Chiles and arrive at your first class five minutes before the bell rings.”

  I stared at him. “Wow. You are an organizational genius.”

  He inclined his head. Then he gestured toward the private table he’d set up once again. “Breakfast is served, miss. Please enjoy scones with jam and clotted cream, chamomile tea, orange juice and fresh fruit.”

  “Cool.” I got up, rounded the bed and patted Henry’s shoulder. “Thanks. You’re awesome.”

  His odd eyes widened a fraction. Then his lips seemed to almost smile. “Thank you, miss.”

  * * *

  Ol’ Henry had been right about the amount of time I needed to get all my crap together. Uniforms were black pants and girls had the additional option of black skirts, with a choice of white, light blue or pearl-gray shirts. Same color choices for socks, and though there weren’t massive restrictions on types of shoes, the only acceptable color was black. So, I wore a gray Oxford shirt, a black pleated skirt, and a pair of knee-high socks with Converse Hi-Tops I’d managed to pack from my own wardrobe despite all the black Mary Jane loafers my grandmother had bought for me to wear. I’d curled my hair and done light makeup knowing that, at some point, I’d see Rick again.

  My heart skipped a beat.

  With everything going down with Anubis, my grandparents, Nekyia and my necro magic, contemplating having a boyfriend seemed almost normal in a wonderful way. Having a little bit of wonderful wasn’t a bad thing, right?

  I’d forgotten my cell phone in my room, and I felt a little bereft without it, as if I was missing an arm. Oh, well. I’d survive the disconnection until I could retrieve it.

  Henry had given me a map of the school, which was freaking huge—the school, not the map. I got to the registrar’s just fine, and the little old blue-haired lady behind the counter gave me a printed schedule and the advice to “smile more.”

  Even with Henry’s neatly penned directions, I got lost trying to find Medusa Chiles’s private office. I had to maneuver through all the kids clustered in the hallways gabbing and the waves of students hurrying down the stairs. I caught a few curious looks as I wove my way through. On the second floor there were fewer kids to battle. By the time I reached the third floor, I didn’t see anyone, which was okay by me. The third floor landing was huge, and it bridged the main entrance hall. I’d never thought I was afraid of heights, but looking over the edge of the wall sent my stomach into the spins.

  I turned and looked around. Stone, stone, and more stone...and more portraits of Anubis, various other gods and people I didn’t recognize. There were no signs in this place, which I thought was soooo not right, especially in the supposed administration part of this monstrosity.

  I debated which direction to try first, as I couldn’t figure out the map (was I holding it upside down?). I chewed on my bottom lip and finally decided to go left. I wandered into a narrow passage that was lit by—get this—torches. I realized after a couple of minutes they were really electric lights designed to look like torch flames.

  Maybe this really was Dracula’s castle. It kinda had that vibe.

  I rounded a corner and wham! I smacked into someone.

  “Watch it, bitch!” The redheaded girl reared back, nearly colliding into the three girls who followed her. She made a big show of dusting off her light blue short-sleeved shirt while shooting me a look of evilly hate.

  I rolled my eyes. Wow. Really? Wiping off invisible new-girl cooties? And a death stare? This was the Mina Hamilton of Nekyia Academy, no doubt. Mean girls all had the same look, the same vibe and the same minions. Well, I wasn’t gonna be intimidated by this latest entrant into the Asshole Olympics. If I’d stood up to Mina, maybe she wouldn’t have thrown punch on me at my own birthday party. I was New Molly, or at least I was trying to be. And New Molly refused to be pushed around. I figured I’d just ignore her stupidness and move on with my day.

  I made a move to go around her, but I’d made her look foolish—probably by forgetting to cower before her awesomeness, and she stepped in front of me. “Where do you think you’re going? These are the senior dorms.” She gave me a scathing look. “You’re not a senior.”

  I looked her over, wondering who she was trying to fool. “Are you?”

  Her lips mashed shut. “Why do you care?”

  “Good point. I don’t.” I turned around and started walking away. Then I heard a swishing sound, and something hot and sharp wrapped around my ankles. I went down on my knees, banging them hard on the flat stones, but rolled over before I went face first into the floor. I saw black ropes of magic dissipating. What the—? How was it possible to use magic like that? What kind of necro was she?

  Miss Thang and her Posse of Evil sauntered by.

  “Walk much?” she asked, smirking. She laughed. “Wow, Molly. You’re such a klutz. Better watch those monster feet of yours.”

  She and her friends giggled and swished off across the bridge, looking back at me then returning to whisper to each other.

  I stared at the redhead, but not because I was trying to make her skull explode or anything. I didn’t know her. Had never seen her before today, either.

  But she’d known my na
me.

  Why did a complete stranger know who I was? And why was she so pissed at me?

  “Oh, my great gracious! Are you all right?” A girl with big green eyes and two blond ponytails knelt next to me. Her accent was as thick as maple syrup. “That Clarissa Jacobs is so impolite.”

  “Not the word I would use,” I said as she helped me to stand.

  I got a good look at her. She wasn’t wearing makeup, but she had one of those enviable complexions that were all creamy and smooth, with just a hint of blushing red in her cheeks. She wore black pants with a white shirt and black high heels.

  “How do you climb stairs in those?” I asked in awe.

  “Pshaw! I’m used to it.” She waved a hand in dismissal. Then she offered me the same hand. “I’m Autumn Star Lebowski.”

  I stared at her for too long. A grin split her face. “I know. My mother’s a Southern Belle turned vegan hippie—my grandmother’s definition, I’m afraid—and my daddy immigrated from Poland.”

  “Um, wow.” I took her hand and shook. “I’m Molly Bartolucci.”

  “De-lighted,” said Autumn. “What are you doing up here?”

  “Looking for Ms. Chiles’s office.”

  “Oh, sure!” She turned around and pointed across the bridge. “You go down there and follow the hallway around a little ways. Just past the portrait of Eudora Helmnot...” She paused and looked at me. “Is something wrong?”

  Not wrong per se. There was a line of ghosts behind Autumn. Six or seven, maybe more, because a few were flickering and it was difficult to actually count. I’d seen ghosts before, because SEERs were popular and lots of places had them—restaurants, clothing stores, ice cream shops. But it kinda creeped me out to see ghosts all loose and floating around, mostly because I shouldn’t be able to see earthbound spirits that weren’t attached to SEERs. This was a totally different heka power, one I’d never had.