Raising the Dead (5 page)

“Tell me about ghouls,” I said to Dad.

He didn’t look up from his computer. “You know about ghouls. You’ve been to my lectures.”

I sat down in a chair across from him. “Pretend that I haven’t been hanging on your every word. Pretend I need a refresher course.”

Dad sighed and swiveled his chair to face me. “Are you saying that you haven’t listened to a word I’ve said all these years?”

“I’ve listened! I just can’t remember every single detail about every single lecture.”

“Right.” Dad shook his head. “Why do you need to know about ghouls?”

“Because of what happened yesterday.”

After William was loaded onto a stretcher, Noah and I had followed the ambulance. While doctors were examining William, Noah and I went to the hospital cafeteria for a quick lunch of lukewarm hamburgers and green gelatin. Shane and Trisha met us there. We tried to get updates from the nurses, but we weren’t family, and all they would tell us was that William was stable. A few hours later, we went back to my house. I felt defeated and confused. What had happened in the cemetery? And why had William repeatedly whispered the word
ghoul
?

Dad folded his hands. “I know that what happened yesterday was difficult for you. I’m proud of the way you handled it.”

I told the police about the guy and how I thought I’d seen him in a news segment. They were going to the TV station to review the footage.

“Have you heard from Mom yet?” She had gone to the hospital earlier that morning to check on William. The museum team had arrived at the morgue the day before, and for the moment, they weren’t allowing access to my parents.

“Not yet, but she’ll call as soon as there’s news.” He turned back to the computer. “I can pull up a lecture here,” he murmured. “Do you want the entire history of the term, or more recent stories?”

“I’ll take anything you’ve got.”

I soon regretted my words. What Dad had was extensive notes on the history of ghouls, beginning with the first mention of them in Arabic texts. He discussed translations and stories and stuff I could barely follow. My head was spinning.

“So, we’re basically talking about a monster that hangs out in cemeteries and eats flesh, right?”

Dad looked disappointed. “That’s a simplistic way of looking at it.”

But that’s the way I liked things: simple. I didn’t really believe that the guy who attacked William was a real, mythological ghoul, but William had used the term and I needed to know why.

I read through more of Dad’s notes while he made lunch. There were stories going back hundreds of years, all claiming that a ghoul had been spotted in graveyards where bodies had been disturbed. Witnesses claimed that these zombielike monsters were fast and ugly and could be scared off with a crucifix. Dad’s notes also mentioned a logical explanation for the discovery of ripped flesh: wild animals dug up bodies that had not been properly buried.

Dad came back into the room munching on a sandwich. “These things sound like a combination of zombie, werewolf and vampire,” I said. “People thought they could turn into huge hyenas, that they drank blood and that they were undead. It’s like a crazy combination of horror movies.”

“Not quite as romantic, though.” Dad sat back down in front of the computer. “The one common thread with most monster lore is the desecration of cemeteries. It’s an occurrence throughout history, and people needed to find a nonhuman cause for it.”

“Why?”

“Because no one wanted to believe that a fellow human could do such a thing.”

The kitchen phone rang and I got up to answer it. It was Mom.

“They’re keeping William for one more day, just for observation,” she said. I could hear the noise of the hospital in the background, people talking and machines beeping.

“Is he conscious?” I asked. “Has he said what happened?”

“Yes and no. He’s awake, but he can’t remember what happened. He has a concussion and they’re still running tests. Right now, the doctors think he suffered a mild stroke and fell.”

“So the doctors are talking to you?”

Mom chuckled and lowered her voice. “They think they’re talking to his niece.” She cleared her throat. “I’m trying to locate his family members, but I don’t think he has any. None that he can remember at the moment. Tell Dad I’ll be home in a couple hours.”

“Sure. Give William my best, okay?”

I updated Dad, then called Noah to fill him in. He sounded relieved.

“Are you going over to William’s house tomorrow?”

“Yes. Mom thinks he’ll need help, you know, with dinner and stuff.”

“Right. Well, count me in.” He paused. “Tomorrow’s Halloween.”

I had forgotten. And with our street still covered with several inches of water, I felt relieved—no curious fans would be stopping by. We usually went out on Halloween night and kept the house dark.

“Halloween brings out the crazies, doesn’t it?” Noah continued.

“Sure.” I wasn’t sure where he was heading with this.

“What if this guy comes back tomorrow night? To William’s, I mean.”

“I’m sure the police will check it out.”

“Not all night. They have other problems to deal with.”

He was right. And if this guy was hiding out in the woods—which the police had checked but hadn’t been able to cover completely—and knew William had returned home, then what? Would he break in? “I’ll talk to my dad,” I said. “He’ll probably stay the night.”

“Good. That makes me feel better.”

I was touched by Noah’s concern for a man he barely knew. “Can I ask why this matters so much to you?”

“I don’t know.” Noah cleared his throat. “He reminds me of my grandpa, I guess. And he’s alone, and I can’t stand the idea that someone preyed on a nice old guy like that.”

“Yeah.” I hated seeing William on the stretcher. He had looked so frail.

After I hung up with Noah, I called Avery. She knew about the attack and was happy to get the update. She was also happy about something else.

“Jared and I won our movie trivia game and it’s thanks to you.”

“Me?”

“Guess what movie was our final question?
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
. And I nailed it.”

I laughed. “Congratulations. What’d you win?”

“Bragging rights. And a certificate that I printed out. And, you know, time with Jared.”

“So things are getting intense with you two?”

I could practically feel her blush through the phone line. “Not exactly. I’m not looking for a romantic relationship, but Jared and I have a bond. I want us to be close.”

“How close?”

“That’s what I’m not sure about yet. I need more time.”

We talked about our Halloween plans. Or lack of them. Avery wasn’t planning on doing anything. The storm had pretty much ruined any potential parties.

When I hung up, Dad was still at his computer, staring intently at a digital photo of a sword.

“Research?” I asked.

“Not quite.”

I sat down and looked more closely at the image. It had a long, silver blade and a brass handle. “Looks like something from the Civil War.”

“I agree. I think this is a cavalry sword from 1864.”

“Cool. Why are you looking at it, though?”

“Because this is what they pulled out of the first coffin.”

I spent Halloween morning planning a funeral with Avery.

“What do you think about white lilies?” she asked me.

“Reminds me of Easter,” I decided. “Let’s get something seasonal.”

She frowned at the florist’s website. “Our options are limited. Unless you want to go with carnations.”

I sighed. “No. You’re right. Lilies would be appropriate.”

Although really, how was I supposed to know what was appropriate for this kind of thing? We were arranging a funeral ceremony for people who had been dead for over a century.

While Avery perused the flower selections, I pushed back the living room curtain to look outside. It was gray and windy, which somehow made sense. Halloween weather should be slightly creepy. Mom had already left for the hospital to pick up William and Dad was at the funeral home to collect the cremated ashes of William’s ancestors so we could bury them.

It had been Trisha’s idea to hold a small ceremony at the cemetery, so I wasn’t sure how most of the planning had been thrown at me. But William had liked the idea, so we were doing it.

“What day do we need these by?” Avery asked.

“The ceremony is next Saturday morning. So maybe they should be delivered Friday?”

Mom didn’t think William would be well enough before then. He was still weak and couldn’t remember what had happened to him. I was surprised that he was being released from the hospital so soon, but Mom said it was an insurance thing. She wasn’t happy about it, and had decided to hire a nurse to check in on William for a few hours every day.

“Okay.” Avery typed at the computer. “I think this should do it. Do you have the credit card?”

I looked at the arrangements Avery had selected. Simple white lilies and a few cream-colored roses would adorn the gravestones. “Looks good. Thanks for your help.”

“No problem. What else needs to get done?”

I plugged in Dad’s credit card info and completed the order. “We’re supposed to order some food.”

Avery nodded. “This might sound bad, but this reminds me of planning a dance. The food, the flowers. We don’t need to find a DJ, do we?”

“Sort of.”

She looked surprised. “Seriously?”

“My dad wants to track down a Civil War group, see if they can send some people to play music.”

“This could get expensive.”

I shrugged. “Mom says they have a special account for stuff like this.”

“A funeral account?” Avery wrinkled her nose.

“Not exactly. They keep their book money separate from their DVD money. We use the book money for travel expenses, but since we’re not planning a big trip this year, my parents are using those funds for William.”

“But they hardly know him,” she pointed out.

“True. But we can use the footage from his property for a future DVD, so we owe him, really.”

The items being retrieved from the lead coffins were all from the Civil War, a fact Dad wasn’t really supposed to know. The museum group was carefully guarding their newfound treasures, but Dad’s friend at the morgue was sneaking in after everyone left to take pictures. So
far, half a dozen swords, a few guns and a bugle had been discovered. There were still three remaining coffins to examine, including a tiny one. I guessed it belonged to the gravestone Noah had pointed out to me, the one that simply read
Daughter.

I didn’t understand why the rare items had been hidden inside the coffins to begin with. Neither did my parents. Shane and Trisha were investigating the names on the gravestones at the local historical society. Now that we had been kicked out of the morgue and off the project, we had a new plan: uncover vital information before the museum team did. They might have the artifacts, but we could at least understand what they meant.

Avery and I ordered deli trays and fruit platters from a local caterer. Before we could move on to finding the Civil War band my dad wanted, he called. He was going to be at the funeral home for longer than he had anticipated and wanted to know if Avery could drive me to William’s house. “Your mom could use some help, I think.”

I told him it wouldn’t be a problem. I was eager to see William. I wanted to erase the image of him lying on a stretcher from my mind. I also wanted to find out if he remembered anything else about the attack.

“Noah thinks the guy who hurt William might come back tonight,” I told Avery as she drove us out of town.

“I thought about that, too. The police will be busy with Halloween.” She turned down the country road that led to William’s house. “And this place is in the middle of nowhere.”

“I wonder what he wants.”

“The attacker? Who knows.”

It all came back to the coffins. It had to. “This guy showed up after the storm, right? So maybe he knew what was hidden in the caskets. Maybe he’s been waiting for the right time to steal everything.”

“Makes sense.” Avery slowed down as we approached a dip in the road. “But how did this guy know anything was inside those coffins? Besides bodies, I mean? No one knew.”

That was true. I cringed at the thought that it was the actual bodies he was after. A modern-day ghoul roaming around town was a disgusting thought. A ghoul on Halloween was worse. Dad had thoroughly questioned me the night before about my belief in the creatures, concerned that I was taking them too seriously. I assured him I wasn’t, which led to a speech about how I shouldn’t dwell on the events in Charleston.

“I’ll figure this out and you’ll see,” he promised. “There’s a natural explanation.”

“Sure,” I said. But I knew Dad’s theories would never be strong enough to change my mind. I had glimpsed the paranormal.

We arrived at William’s house. Mom led us inside to the kitchen, where I was surprised to see Noah. “Hi,” I sputtered, suddenly overcome by a flutter of happy nervousness.

“William’s napping right now,” Mom explained. “We’re making him lunch.”

“Grilled cheese and tomato soup,” Noah said. He smiled at Avery. “You here to help?”

Avery walked over to the stove and picked up a spatula. “Grilled cheese is my specialty.”

“I know how to stir soup,” I offered. Seeing Noah making lunch was oddly unsettling. I hadn’t expected him to already be here.

“We’ve got it covered. Maybe you could find some plates and bowls?”

I dug through the cabinets until I located the plates and bowls. They looked dusty, so I took them to the sink for a quick wash. Avery and Noah chatted about school and Mom went outside. As I washed the dishes, I looked out the little window over the sink. I could see the hill and a few gravestones. I also saw people.

“Who’s out there?”

Noah came up behind me. “Oh yeah. The museum people. They’ve been here for hours.”

“Really?” I craned my neck to get a better look, but the hill blocked most of the action. “How long have you been here?”

“Mom and Shane dropped me off an hour ago. William was asking for you.”

I turned around. “He was?”

“Yeah. He really wanted to see you.”

“Huh.” I wondered if he had remembered something about the attack. I looked out the window again. This time, I saw Mom walking away from the cemetery. A minute later, she walked in through the kitchen door, her cell phone pressed against her ear.

“I can meet you in twenty minutes,” she said. “Right. Sounds good. See you then.” She shut her phone. “Good news and bad.”

The good news was that the museum team was open to allowing our family into the morgue, but only for a few hours. The bad news was that she had to go now. Dad, Shane and Trisha would meet her there.

“I hate to leave like this,” she said.

“We’ll be fine,” I assured her. “We can sit with William and give him lunch and everything.” Noah and Avery agreed.

“Okay, well, I’ll try to be back before dinner. And Shane said he’d spend the night tonight.”

I was glad to hear it. Mom left, and I saw a few more cars follow. Avery and Noah finished making lunch just as William woke up.

“Why don’t you take it to him?” Noah said. “It’ll give you a chance to talk.”

Avery ladled the soup into a bowl and arranged triangles of grilled cheese on a plate. “And Noah said he’d go out to the cemetery with me.” She carefully handed me the tray. “I want to see the place that’s causing such a commotion around here.”

William’s room looked like how I might have imagined it would. Brown plaid wallpaper covered the walls. A double bed sat in the middle of the room, and a tall wooden dresser was pushed against the wall. William was sitting up in his bed, dressed in pale blue pajamas.

“Charlotte.” His voice was soft.

“I brought you some lunch.” I felt awkward holding the tray. “Are you hungry?”

“Not at the moment. I could use some water, though.”

I set the tray on his nightstand and handed him the glass of water I’d brought with me. His hands shook slightly as he sipped from the cup. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” I waited until he finished his drink. “Noah said you wanted to see me.”

He set the glass back on the tray. “Yes. I wanted to thank you for helping me.”

“You’re welcome.” I looked around for a place to sit. There was a wicker chair near the closet, so I pulled it over to the side of the bed. “Do you remember anything about the attack?”

William sighed. “I remember seeing someone in the cemetery. I remember walking up the hill to talk to him.”

“And then?” I wasn’t trying to push him too hard, but I did want some answers.

“And then I was on the ground.” He furrowed his brow. “And the young man said something to me. Something strange.”

His eyes seemed to be looking at something else, something in the past. “He apologized. He said he couldn’t help what he was.”

I waited, not wanting to say the wrong thing. William coughed. “He said he was sorry. And then he told me that he was a monster. He said he was a ghoul.”

“What do you think he meant by that?”

“I don’t know.” William closed his eyes. “It scared me, though. My grandfather used to tell me stories about the strange people who would visit our cemetery. He called them ghouls. He said it was our job to guard the land.”

Even though he had just taken a nap, William seemed drained. His breathing slowed and he kept his eyes closed. I wanted to leave him alone so he could get some rest, but I didn’t know when I would have another chance to talk with him about what had happened.

“This guy said he was a ghoul after he attacked you?” I tried to keep my voice soft and calm so it wouldn’t feel like I was interrogating him.

“I can’t remember.” William opened his eyes. “He was standing over me, apologizing. And then you and your friend were there. And then I woke up in the hospital.”

“Oh.” I could tell William was tired of talking, so I promised to check on him in a little while and left him to rest. I didn’t understand why a self-proclaimed ghoul was hanging around William’s property, but neither did William.

Noah and Avery were sitting in the living room when I emerged from William’s room. “Look what’s on!” Avery pointed to the TV. My mother’s face appeared on the screen. I’d forgotten that one of the cable channels was airing a
Silver Spirits
marathon all day in honor of Halloween.

“I hope I’m not in any of these episodes,” I groaned. I flopped down on the sofa next to Noah. On the TV, my father appeared holding an EMF reader. He looked younger. “It’s an old one,” I said, feeling relieved. I knew I wouldn’t be in it.

“This is so cool,” Avery said. “I’ve never watched a show and known everyone on it.” She looked at Noah. “Isn’t this cool?”

He just nodded in response, and I wished I could tell if that was good or bad. “So how’s William doing?” he asked me.

“Okay, I guess. He seems tired.”

“Do you think it would be okay if I invited Jared over?” Avery asked. “He would love this.”

“I think so,” I said.

She stopped with her hand on the phone. “I’m being insensitive, aren’t I? But hey, if we’re going to be here for a while, let’s have fun.”

“Tell him to bring snacks,” Noah said. While Avery called Jared, he leaned in toward me.

“I checked out the kitchen. Unless you want to eat dried prunes and saltines, we’re going to need reinforcements.”

I laughed. “Fine. But we’re here for William first, and having fun second.”

“Agreed.” Noah got up. “I want to keep an eye on the cemetery. Jared and I can make rounds once an hour.”

We both went over to the kitchen window. “I hope he doesn’t come back,” I murmured. What kind of person calls themselves a ghoul? He had to be mentally unstable.

Noah stared out at the hill. “If he does come back, he’s in trouble.” He touched my shoulder. “I’m ready for him.”