Almost Dead (Dead, #1) (9 page)

The book falls onto the table with a
thwack
.

“No! What happened?” I stare at it like
it’ll magically sprout wings and flutter to my hand.

“You lost your concentration for whatever reason.” Sara eyes me like she
knows
what I was thinking. “Once you break the spell, there’s no keeping it. You have to start over.”

My mind doesn’t comprehend what I just experienced, that spikes of electricity were at my fingertips.
It’s all one big jumble of confusion and elation in my head.

Somewhat speechless
, I say the first thing that pops into my mind: “That was weird.”

Laney rolls her eyes and adds, “
Anything
involving you is weird.”

Before I can
award her with a smartass reply, Sara harnesses her energy and picks up the book, acting like she’s handing it to me.

“What are you doing?” I ask, knowing that I can’t just take it from her.

She smiles warmly. “I want you to knock the book out of my hand.”

“What?”

“Use your anger.”

Everything clicks. I
should’ve seen this all along—it’s Laney’s face, she’s running her mouth about something stupid, and I smack the piss out of it. A dream finally comes true.

Here goes nothing. I rear my arm back and swing…directly through the book.
Sara gives me a reassuring nod, and I mentally prepare myself for a second round.
You can do this, Flora
. The same thing happens—I miss. But on the third attempt, the hardcover soars across the gray, grassy zone and lands nearby.

“Good. Keep trying,” Sara says, pushing me to the limit.

All of this work has left me exhausted. Do the dead have some form of nourishment that gives them extra drive? Like, phantom mojo or something? Too bad I can’t lean on the table for support.

“Why do I feel sick?”

“The longer you’re away from your body, the more fragile you become. When you use excess energy that’s been controlled, it deteriorates your corpse, because you’re still linked.”

“So the more I use, the worse it is for
me
? As in, the actual me?”

Conveying her oh-so-important opinion on the matter, Laney says,
“That’s stupid.”

But f
or once, I actually agree with her. If practicing is only going to kill us, then what’s the point? When we arrive in this Shadowlands place, we won’t have enough energy to apply what we’ve learned here. Sara might as well send us to the Elders.

“You have to learn how to control it, only moving objects out of necessity rather than pleasure,” Sara
informs us.

“So, you can’t annoy the crap out of people you hate?” Laney asks, looking confused as ever. I don’t think she’d understand
what’s going on even if Sara drew a picture.

“Not unless you’re expecting a death wish,” I say. My answer may not be as nice as
Sara’s, but at least it’s honest.

“I
don’t remember asking you,” Laney retorts.

“Fine, then. You think you can do what I just did? Let’s see.”

Laney’s so confident she can win at everything, but she needs to wake up. This isn’t one of her shallow beauty pageants. She needs to realize that this is a life or death situation. Once we’re done, we’re D-O-N-E. There is no turning back. We can’t magically return to our bodies, which are whoknowswhere at this point. I mean, it’s not like I have a map of the afterlife.

Laney
tilts her nose upward, breezing past me on her way to Sara. “Get the damn book,” she orders. “I’m tired of waiting around.”

Sara retrieves the
tattered item from the grass and holds it in front of Laney, who, in turn, takes her first swipe.

W
hy can’t I hit this stupid thing? I’ve tried and tried, and nothing happens. Sara probably put some sort of ghostly spell on it so she could laugh internally at my pathetic effort. 

“What are you staring at?” I growl at Flora. She’s refraining from bursting into a fit of giggles; her bottom lip is being held down by her top, and they’re both turning white.

“Oh, nothing,” she airily replies. She’s rolling around in a pool of conceitedness—drowning, even. Meanwhile, I’m pouring the sprinkles and topping it off with a cherry.

“Laney, it’s been much longer than I anticipated,” our creepy spirit wrangler reminds me. “I’m afraid if you can’t accomplish this soon, I’m going to have to move on to the next phase.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask. She better not be traveling through more portals and leaving me behind.

“I can’t keep you here forever,” she answers.

Like I didn’t already know that…

T
hen she adds, “What comes shortly is essential to your survival. The next person who dies in your hometown guarantees a ticket to the Shadowlands.”

“Wait…
what?” Flora opens her big-ass mouth before I can open mine. “Someone dies and we get to go home?”

“It’s not that easy
, and it’s not the home you’re used to. You’re stuck here until someone can take your place in Lichburn. Think of it as an exchange. Unfortunately, I have to choose who leaves and who stays.”

“And what’s the verdict?” I ask, hoping she’ll choose me.

Sara pauses, then her features soften. “Flora adapted well to the world out here, which is identical to the Shadowlands. Laney, you mastered indoor abilities, which are also used in the Shadowlands. This is a tough decision, but I must opt for Flora, as she is knowledgeable of how the outdoors works up there.” She points toward the sky. “The outdoor abilities will be more useful than the indoor abilities.”

Annnnd there’s the
effing bomb. How did I not see that one coming? Since I’m the one who’s not learning fast enough with this brainless, make-the-book-fly-across-the-yard lesson, I’ll be the one who waits until someone else dies. But how long will that be?

“I’m sorry. T
hat’s just how it works,” Sara says, observing my reaction.

“It’s not
fair that I have to stay behind! My family loves me. Flora’s doesn’t give a shit. Her body could wither up and die in her backyard, and nobody would ever know.” I bolt through the front door without waiting for Sara’s reaction. Like, literally
through
it.

I don’t know where I’m going. There’s really nowhere to go, exce Ce t

With the bedroom door now closed behind me, I rummage through what few items are in here. Old books are piled in the corner, and dust is piled on top of them. Seriously, does Sara even clean? There are no knickknacks inside the sole, one-drawer nightstand. This is simplified…uh…living at its finest.

I plunk my small
tush down on the edge of the bed, since there’s no reading material on how to become a poltergeist in three easy steps. Apparently, Sara’s way is the only way. It sucks that the effect isn’t reversed, that I can’t learn inside. But if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s sneaking out. The more practice I can get in before someone in Briarhaven dies, the better chance I have of earning Flora’s ticket to the Shadowlands.

I mean,
I’ve already made up my mind. Flora’s parents care too much about Derek to notice that she’s missing. If there’s a way I can convince Sara to let me go instead, then I won’t hesitate. Obviously Flora’s her favorite, but the dead shouldn’t pick sides. Like,
ever
.

So
, I’ll wait it out. Tonight, while they’re resting up for a big day tomorrow, I’ll learn how to control my ghostly powers. And if I’m still alive by tomorrow, I’ll show Sara what I’m capable of.

A light knock disturbs my game plan.

“Laney?” Sara’s nauseatingly-sweet voice hacks through the silence I’ve been sitting in.

“What do you want?”

“Just checking on you.” She sits down beside me on the bed. I scoot closer toward the headboard, away from her. “I know this must be hard to grasp, but you and Flora are adjusting so well. I can’t account for how many times I’ve had to fetch a spirit and teach them the same lessons you two are learning, and they either don’t want to learn because they’ve given up hope or they’re too afraid of me to try.”

Is she actually having a heart to heart with me right now? I just glare at her. Maybe she’ll get the message.

She doesn’t, of course, and continues talking. “The time I’m allotted to educate a wandering spirit is very short, I’m afraid. If one doesn’t learn by a certain point, then I have to move on to the next. You make your own choice, whether you want to be taught or not.”

“Well, I’ve been trying, so I don’t know how
you can come in here and say I haven’t been,” I snap.

“That’s not what I’m saying—”

“Whatever. I owned the first and second lessons. So what if I can’t slap a book across your front yard? I still beat Flora on the other two.
I
should be the one who leaves, not her.”

“She has quickly caught on to what you must learn in order to survive up there,” she says, pointing toward the ceiling. you Ceilder to If you can’t move objects around to warn your family, or even write a note, how will they know?”

Writing never occurred to me. Can ghosts do that?

“Wait a second
… I can scribble notes?”

Sara nods and says, “Though your family may believe it’s not you, you have to prove it is. Tell them something only they know.”

“Yeah. That’ll freak them out. I’m missing, and then weird messages appear on the refrigerator.”

“This isn’t a joke, Laney.” Sara’s serious tone catches me off-guard.

I shake my head. “I don’t mean for it to be, but put yourself in their place. Wouldn’t you be a little creeped out?”

“You can decide later whether you want to use messages to communicate, or whether you will attempt to move objects. It’s your choice
, but I have to get back to Flora.” Sara gives me an
I’m-sorry
look. “I hope you understand.”

Oh, I understand all right. I understand that she’s not bothering to waste her time on someone who sucks at manipulating items
. Instead, she’s centering her attention on someone who’s actually good at it. Never mind that I can breeze through walls, which is ten times more awesome. Whatever. I don’t have time for this.

I crawl under the covers and play invisible until
I no longer hear Sara and Flora’s whispered conversations. But then an idea hits me as hard as the time I stepped outside during one of Chase’s backyard football games to let him know dinner was ready and the football struck my head: I’ll grab a random object and, as soon as I open the front door, I’ll throw it outside. It’s going to drop from my hand, anyway, but at least it’s something I can practice with. And I definitely need to practice. Maybe if I can show Sara I’m just as good as Flora, she’ll let me go to the Shadowlands first. I was, after all, the first to own walking through walls and moving my hand through a table.

Sliding out from underneath the covers and s
natching a book from the stack in my room, I blow off the dust, because Sara’s obviously too busy to clean. Half expecting my door to creak open, like in scary movies, I squint, preparing for the worst-case scenario. Nothing happens.

I
slink across the wooden floorboards of Sara’s cabin and…no creaks, no groans, just smooth gliding. Apparently, ghosts don’t create sounds when they’re trying to be sneaky. Hopefully, my idea will work; I’ve had all afternoon to devise a plan. But the weaker I become, the harder it is for me to concentrate.