Im a fairly private person.
Thats just a pretty way of saying youre antisocial.
I grinned as my sister laughed. That, too. I liked this girl. I really hoped she wasnt playing me.
I like this girl, Wren commented. I really hope she isnt playing us.
That thing they say about twins being on the same wavelength, feeling the same thing, thinking the same thing? It was true, and the whole dead-vs-living thing just cranked it up to eleven. The only reason I was alive was because Wren had felt something was wrong and had come looking for me the night Id partied with a bottle of vodka and a razor blade. Good times. And I felt her anguish the entire time I was locked up and she couldnt do anything to help me.
Shed done more than anyone else. More than our parents or any sanctimonious doctor. And I had been so pissed that shed played a part in saving me, because I had thought death would finally put us in the same world.
It wasnt my time to die, shed saidas if she had any way of knowing.
We walked in silence for a bit, my grandmothers house coming steadily closer. Id only lived there a few dayssince Dad had dropped me off with a guilty look and my own credit cardbut it already felt more like home than my old house had in a long time. Wed lived in this town since I was three, but after my...accident, my parents had moved to Natick up in Mass. Mom needed to run away, while they decided I needed to endure daily torture at the hands of my peers. Whatever. I wasnt bitter. Much. And at least here I didnt have to see the look on her face when my mother looked at me. Not that she looked at me very often.
So, Roxi began, ending my pity party, want to hang out later?
My inner alarm went off, screeching abort! over and over. Uh...
Im going over to Nother Cup at eight. Its open-mike night. Kevin McCraes playing. You know him, dont you?
Oh, yeah. I knew him.
Yes! Wren screeched in my ear. Say yes! Say yes or Ill bring Mr. Havers over to visit.
Mr. Havers was the old dude who liked to haunt for the hell of it. He had few teeth and was as bat-shit crazy as a dead guy could be. And he smelled like a horse. Yes, I said through clenched teeth. I know him. That sounds great. Ill meet you there?
Sure. Roxi grinned. It will be fun.
Yeah. Big fun. Could I sound any less sincere? An evening spent around more staring people with my sister rhapsodizing about Kevin McCraethe one person other than me who could hear her. And the one person I wanted to see less than Mace. Woot. And I was such a fan of coffeehouses with blatantly unclever names.
But when was the last time Id been out? When was the last time Id spent time with people my own age who werent dead or mentally unstable? Or the last time I had to worry about curfew? Did I even have a curfew?
We stopped at the foot of my grandmothers driveway. The smooth pavement led to a large slate-gray Victorian with eggplant trim. Large maple trees grew along both sides of the drive, forming a canopy that was just starting to show a hint of color.
Your grandmother drives a Volkswagen Beetle?
There was no missing the little carit was purple. Yes.
Roxi squinted. Are the taillights shaped like flowers?
They are. I didnt mention that the interior was green. Chartreuse. Nan had it custom done.
The dark-haired girl nodded. Pretty. She glanced down at her feet. Listen, I know you dont want to talk about it, but Im really glad Mace found you.
She forgot to add lying in a pool of your own blood with your wrists sliced open.
Thanks.
Roxi nodded as she lifted her head. Okay, so Ill see you at eight.
Sure.
She grinned. Great. See you then. She turned to walk away, then stopped. She glanced over her shoulder with a lingering smile and looked somewhere over my right shoulder. Bye, Wren.
My sister stood at my left, but the effect was the same. Wrens eyes widened, and I wondered if Roxi would ever know how much those two words meant to her. How much the thought meant. Wren lifted her hand and waved, even though Roxi had already set off down the street.
We walked up the lane, finally alone.
What did you do to Andrew? I asked.
Wren shrugged. Her blouse slid down on her shoulder. Scared him a little, thats all. I told you, nothing permanent.
Then why wasnt he in class?
He had to go home.
Why? And please dont say he was bleeding from the eyes.
She shot me an indignant glance. He peed his pants. Yes, the scariest person I knew said peed.
Thats it?
Isnt that enough? she shot back.
I held up my hands. Just making sure.
My sleeves had fallen down my arms when I raised them, and Wren grabbed my left forearm before I could lower both. Her thumb was like velvet against the satin of the scar that ran down the throat of my wrist. Tears filled her bright blue eyes.
Its all right, I told her.
Did it hurt? she asked. Wren didnt have much of a concept of physical pain, having never experienced it. She had no scars and she never wouldnot unless there was something in the afterlife that neither of us knew about. Shed never asked me about them before.
Not as much as I thought they would.
Id take them if I could.
But you cant. I gently pulled my arm away. Theyre mine. And the only thing other than our hair that set us apart as two separate people instead of two halves of one.
WREN
Sometimes I watched Lark sleep, just to make certain nothing happened to her. She didnt know that I did it or she wouldnt have closed her eyes. She said I creeped her out when I did things like that. What else was I supposed to do? I didnt sleepI didnt need to. I had tried to once, but I got bored. As a child Id figured outwith Larks helphow to pass through books so that I could actually read them. Thankfully our grandmother had a fabulous librarynot as good as the one in the Shadow Lands, but it was more than adequate.
When we were little, Lark asked me if I lived in Heaven. I told her I didnt know. I still didnt. It was an untruth that the dead had all the answers. We just had different questions.
The truth of where I lived was that it was big and peaceful and muted. No bright colorsexcept for my hairno loud noises, no strong smells. Certainly nothing like the wave of deliciousness that greeted me when I phased through the door of our grandmothers kitchen. My sense of smell wasnt that developed, but spending time in this world had helped strengthen it, and what I smelled was good.
Oh, I said. What is that?
Peanut butter cookies, Lark told me. Best smell in the world.
Can I have one? I sounded so pathetic, and I was. We both knew the only way Id ever taste that delicious scent was if Lark let me in, and Id already violated her space once today.
My sister smiled, indulging me like she always did. She had such a big heart, especially where I was concerned. Sure. I forgave her for asking what Id done to that boy in her class. It wasnt as though she didnt have reason to ask, especially after what Id done to that orderly in the hospital our parents had put Lark in. I scared him so bad they took him away sobbing. He never came back, but I visited him from time to time.
I didnt hurt him, I insisted, needing her to know the truth. I didnt have to tell her who or what I was talking about. She knew. Lark just nodded. She didnt like to talk to me in front of other people anymore. I understood why, but it still hurt sometimes. Other times it made me angry. People got hurt when I got angry, so I tried to stay calm.
Hello, girls, Nan greeted us. Hug.
She was five feet tall and slim with a head of thick hair dyed a color almost as bright as mine. According to Lark she didnt look like a grandmother, but Charlotte Noble felt like one.
Lark hesitatedshe always did. It was my fault, this distrust she had of people, even those who should have her complete faith. Just by being, Id made her life so much harder than it should have been. She didnt like to hug, and I wished I could hug everyone I met. When we first came here, Lark let me in so I could feel our grandmothers arms around me. Today, I simply moved through the tiny woman, letting her sweet warmth sift through me.
To my delight, Nan smiled. Wren, youre like walking through a patch of sunshine, dear. Lark, just come hug me and get it over with, girl. I wont bite you.
I watched, anxious as the two most important women in my existence embraced. Was it my imagination, or did Lark relax a little? True to her word, Nan didnt bite. Id been nervous for a moment.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flicker of something in the next roomjust a passing shadow flickering in the afternoon sunlight. Was there someone else in the house? I moved slowly into the room, hoping to catch our visitor, but there was nothing, not even a trace of spectral energy. That was disappointing. It would have been nice to meet another ghosta friendly one.
In the Shadow Lands I had form and substance, but in the living world I was nothing more than a projection. It was annoying. In the Shadow Lands I could eat a cookieif they existed there. The dead didnt need to eat. We didnt get our strength from food.
We got it from the living. Humans left a trail of life energy like slugs left slime. Maybe not the best analogy, but it was almost like they exhaled a little bit with every breath. We drifted along sucking that up. Sometimes a ghost would get greedy and siphon from a person. Heightened emotion meant more life force. Ghosts particularly liked the taste of fear. That was why so many hauntings were terrible things.
Fear tasted like my grandmothers cookies smelled.
I looked around one more time, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe I had spent too much time in this world and my eyes had started to play tricks on me, or maybe I was becoming as suspicious as Lark.
I wished she had talked to Mace earlier. WeIowed him so much for saving her life. When I saw her lying on the floor, and what she had done, I panicked. I couldnt help her except to hold her wrists and try to stop the bleeding. I needed help, and I cried out to anyone who could hear me.
Kevin McCrae had heard me. Some people were more attuned to the frequency of the dead than others. In the human world they were called mediums. Where I came from, they were called doors. Kevin was a door I could open, and I didnt even knock first. He hadnt even known who I was when I tore into his mind like a madwoman, begging for his help. He didnt live close to us, but his friend Mace did. Kevin called Mace and asked him to check on Lark, then Mace called 911.
Kevin and I kept in contact after that night. Not a lot, but some. He was the only person other than my sister to have ever known I was in the same room, and he was the person Id run to when Lark wasnt there.
He was the reason I wanted to go to the coffee shop that night. Lark knew it, of course. But my sister didnt know all of it.
Oh, and I wanted to know what Roxi was hiding. There had been sincerity in her invitation, but there had been something else, as well. It was easy enough to assume that the secret was something she thought might convince Lark not to go if she revealed it straightaway. That made me suspicious.
Anything exciting happen today? Nan asked as she used a spatula to move the warm cookies from baking sheet to plate.
Lark and I exchanged glances. She knew.
That lovely Principal Grant called today. I didnt believe lovely was the word she really wanted to use. Told me youd gotten called to the office because youd scared a young man badly enough that he wet his pants and had to go home.
Lark glared at me. I shrugged. Im not sorry I did it.
I didnt do a thing to him, Lark said.
I didnt think you did. Suddenly, our grandmother looked right at me. You owe your sister an apology, young lady.
My jaw dropped. I knew she couldnt see me, but this thing of ours seemed to come from her side of the family, because she was definitely sensitive to the Shadow Lands.
She does? Lark asked, speaking for both of us.
Nan nodded. I know you didnt hurt that boy, and that your sisters intentions were good, but you got the trouble for it. Youll always get the trouble for it. Wrenleigh, you need to think of these things before you act. I know you want to protect Lark, but now youve made things difficult for her, so you need to apologize for that.
There was no way shed have known if I apologized or not. I could have broken every window in this house. I could have made her sorry shed tried bossing me around. Neither of those things were going to happen. I was chastised. She was right.
Im sorry, I said to Lark. I didnt think. He hurt you and I just wanted to hurt him back.
My sister nodded. I know. Its okay.
But it wasnt, was it? I knew Lark had forgiven meshe always didbut her life would have been easier if I hadnt always been doing things she needed to forgive me for.
Nan smiled. Thats a good girl. She held the plate of cookies out to Lark. Take one for your sister, too.
Lark plucked two cookies off the cooling plate, gathered up her school books and announced that she was going to do some studying before dinner.
Liar, I accused.
Lark ignored me. Nan, is it okay if I go out later? Roxi Taylor invited me to open-mike night at Nother Cup.
There was no denying how much this pleased Nanher face lit up. Of course its all right! Do you want to take the car?
Horror filled me. No!
But my sister smiled. That would be great, thanks. Because a white-haired girl driving a purple car wouldnt stand out at all. God, it was a good thing I was invisible to most humans because Id wish I was if I had to drive in that car. Fortunately, I didnt have to depend on human modes of transportation.
As we climbed the stairs to our room, I thought I saw something againa flash of black in my peripheral vision. I whipped my head around, but there was nothing.
You okay? Lark asked. Youre not mad at Nan?