Authors: Nikki Jefford
Gray pushed the drawers shut and began grabbing things off the desk. She held Mom’s glass cubed paperweight. She’d seen her holding it often enough while working on translations, but the only reading Gray picked up was a faraway, foreign chattering. The weight clunked on the desk as Gray abandoned it for Mom’s nightstand. When she yanked open the top drawer she inhaled sharply. The drawer was just as disorganized as the ones in the desk, but instead of recipes and receipts, this one was filled with photographs of Gray.
Gray reached in and wrapped her fingers around a pile of photos. She began flipping through, letting the images drop one by one on top of her mom’s bed. It was a mix of toddler and grade school pictures. Charlene was in a couple of them. From the looks of it, Mom had cherry-picked the ones where she and Charlene were holding hands or smiling at the same time.
There were more photos in the nightstand and a piece of newspaper folded in half. Gray unfolded it. There she was in black and white. They’d printed her sophomore yearbook picture. It appeared just below the article’s headline:
Teenager, 17, found dead at family home
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Graylee Perez, 17, was found dead at her family home, in Kent, Wash., on February 9.
Her body was discovered in her bed by her identical twin sister when she failed to wake on Wednesday morning. It is not yet known how she died.
Paramedics were called to the scene at 6:45 a.m., but they could not save her.
The article fluttered to the ground.
Gray grabbed the remaining photos and scraps from the drawer and dumped them onto her mom’s bed. She sifted through the pile, but there weren’t any more news articles.
It is not yet known how she died.
Well, Gray wanted to know, damn it!
She clicked her laptop open inside her room and jabbed the power key with her thumb. Before she began a search of her mysterious death, Gray went to her Facebook page out of habit. Her eyes scanned her wall.
RIP Gray.
You’ll be missed.
I can’t believe we won’t be sitting together in English anymore. Graylee Perez was one of the nicest girls I ever knew.
Gone too soon.
A beautiful girl and a tremendous loss for all of Kent and McKinley High.
Gray flexed her fingers. She had to resist the urge to type: I’M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!
Enough of that. She opened a new window and began a search. “Graylee Perez found dead” should do the trick. Typing the words was uncanny. She stopped and stared at each letter on the screen then hit enter.
There was a follow-up article dated Saturday, February 12.
McKinley High student Graylee Perez dies suddenly
A TEENAGE STUDENT from McKinley High died mysteriously in her sleep Wednesday morning.
The body of Graylee Perez, 17, was discovered by her family early Wednesday morning, February 9.
Time and cause of death have not yet been determined.
Gray opened more articles, all of which were regurgitated versions of the first stating “unexpectedly,” “unknown,” and “mysterious,” but these with a sprinkling of quotes from teachers and students praising Gray as a “wonderful person we were privileged to know.”
The closest Gray could get to an explanation, which wasn’t an explanation at all, was a line from their local daily saying: An inquest has not yet been opened into Perez’s death.
What kind of reporting was that? People didn’t just die in their sleep. At least not healthy teenagers. Maybe if Gray had ODed or drank a gallon of tequila.
Gray’s tummy rumbled.
The last thing Gray should be thinking about right now was her stomach, but so sue her, she had to eat. It wasn’t like she was a corpse anymore.
She snatched up the nearest phone and dialed the number of her favorite pizza parlor. Forty-three minutes later a large Bella Luna was delivered to the front door. Gray set it on the table and began eating directly out of the box.
Half the pie had been gobbled up when Gray heard a car pull up in the driveway. She lowered the piece she’d picked up and walked into the living room. Her eyes focused on the front door. Her heart did a drumroll inside her chest.
A key was shoved inside the lock and jiggled before the deadbolt began to turn, which meant it wasn’t her mom or sister. They used magic, not keys, to open doors.
Gray looked around for the nearest heavy object. She lifted their family portrait off the wall. She could always smash it over the person’s head. The pane of glass over the front should do at least a little damage.
Gray lifted it as the door opened.
There was a question on Mom’s face when she stepped inside the house. Her eyes met Gray’s as though she’d expected to see her standing there all along.
Gray set the picture against the wall with a clunk and gaped at her mom. She meant to demand answers—and while she was at it, why was her mother using a key to get inside the house? But without warning, Gray looked into her mother’s eyes and burst into tears.
In her mind she’d seen her mom just yesterday, but she could sense their separation in her soul. Her life had been taken from her.
Gray’s mom pulled her into a hug. Gray buried her face into her mother’s shoulder. Her mom’s body began to shake as she sobbed. Gray cried harder.
When the crying finally subsided, Gray pulled her face away and took a step back. “Mom, did I die?”
Tears were still streaming down her mother’s face as she nodded.
“And you brought me back?”
Mom nodded again slowly. She stroked her hair. “I’ve missed you so much, baby girl.”
“How’d you do it? How’d you bring me back to life?” It was extraordinary, really. Only a handful of witches were capable of reanimation, and that was only in theory. Gray couldn’t recall a single story of a person being brought back to life.
“It wasn’t me exactly. I hired someone.”
“Someone? Who?”
“I swore I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“Yeah, I get that, but it’s me—reanimated girl—your daughter!”
Mom swallowed. “I swore on your life. That was the deal.”
“Oh.” Gray’s face dropped. “Can you tell me where you were?”
“I went to the mountains.”
“What? Like the Cascades?”
“Yeah,” Mom said slowly. “What about you? I can’t believe I missed your reentry. Did you ‘poof’ appear?”
“No, actually, I woke up in Charlene’s bed this morning.”
Her mom’s eyes went all squinty when she frowned. Then she asked the million-dollar question. “Where is Charlene?”
Gray and her mother stared at one another. “I don’t know,” Gray said.
“You didn’t see her today?”
“She wasn’t here when I woke up and I never saw her at school. Then again, I didn’t stick around McKinley very long once it became apparent that everyone thought I was CRAZY!”
Mom bowed her head. “I should have been here for your reentry, sweetie. I came home as fast as I could.”
They walked into the kitchen together. Gray glanced at the note her mom had written Charlene. “When did you leave?”
“Early Monday after Charlene left for school.” Mom glanced around the kitchen. Her face lit up suddenly. “She must be with Blake.”
Gray’s jaw dropped. “Charlene and Blake are back together?”
Mom nodded.
“When did that happen?”
“I don’t know when exactly. Last month?”
“Well, it’s good to know everyone moved on without me.” So she grumbled a little. Who wouldn’t? Gray felt guilty an instant later when she saw her mom’s face.
“My life could never go on without you.” Mom’s lower lip quivered.
Gray felt tears gathering in her eyes.
Mom beat a fist to her chest. “A part of me died when you did.”
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Gray said softly. She cleared her throat a moment later. “How about trying her cell?”
Mom shook her head a moment later. “It just goes to answering. I’ll try Blake’s house,” she said as she dialed the number. “Hi, Mr. Foster. This is Charlene’s mom. Is Charlene there by any chance? All right, thanks. If you see her could you have her call? Thanks.” Her mom placed the phone very gently on the counter then looked at Gray. “Oh, god, what have I done?”
“You don’t know that she’s gone,” Gray said for the tenth time in the past hour.
They’d retreated to Charlene’s room, where Mom was inspecting what she called The Point of Reentry. Gray’d already gone over every minute detail from the time she’d woken that morning. Sharing the detail about waking in the silk slip had only increased her mother’s distress.
“I killed her. In exchange for one daughter’s life I obliterated the other. How could I be so foolish? Our coven has warned us time and again that to engage in the black arts is to invite grave consequences.”
Gray flopped back onto Charlene’s bed. None of this felt real. “Now what? Do you have to take it back? Am I doomed to return to the hereafter once more? By the way, there’s no heaven. There’s nothing. Do I have to go back to the nothing?”
“No!” her mother all but screamed. “I can’t lose you again!” Mom took a deep breath. “I was very specific about keeping both my daughters.” She straightened up. “Excuse me a moment.”
Once Gray realized Mom was headed to her own room she called out, “Sorry about the mess.”
No reason for her to stick around Charlene’s room any longer, either.
Gray finished reading her Facebook wall page, polished off the rest of her pizza, and began watching
Glee
in the living room. During one of the musical numbers, Gray felt a presence behind her. She turned suddenly and caught her mom watching her.
“Learn anything?” Gray asked.
“I left my contact a message.”
“What now?”
“There’s not much we can do at this point. I think it’d be best if you got a good night’s rest and were refreshed for tomorrow. At least it’s the weekend.”
Gray turned off the TV. “Mom? How’d I die?”
Her mom pressed her lips together and took a seat in the chair across from Gray. She folded her hands in her lap, breathed in and out. Her lashes fluttered and for a moment Gray thought she might cry, but her mom’s voice was steady. “The doctors think it was sudden unexpected death syndrome.”
“Which is what exactly? I mean besides sudden and unexpected.”
“Not much is known about SUDS.”
“SUDS, huh?” Gray forced a chuckle. “Sounds like a warm bubble bath—not unexpected DEATH!”
“I had Mr. Holloway look into it personally. He ruled out any kind of magical foul play.”
“I can’t imagine anyone wanting me dead.”
“Neither could I,” Mom said. “But I had to be sure.”
Gray pushed herself off the couch. “So that’s it? I died suddenly and unexpectedly in my sleep. That’s the grand finale for Graylee Perez?”
Mom took a step forward. “No, it’s not.” She reached out and put a hand on each of Gray’s shoulders. She pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tight. “You came back and I’m never letting you go.”
Gray extended her arms around her mom. She breathed in her scent. She’d never considered that she might not see her mom again. Maybe she was back, but for how long? Who was to say she wouldn’t die all over again? If there was one thing Gray remembered from lectures it was this: You can’t cheat death.
Gray woke up with a start. She lifted her head a couple inches off the pillow and saw the two bedposts on either side of her—Charlene’s bed. Gray threw back the covers. She was wearing a red and black silk, lace babydoll.
Not again.
Oh, god. What if her life was turning into the Bill Murray movie
Groundhog Day
? At least in Bill Murray’s version he got to be himself every day.
Gray snapped into her cotton pajama pants and a tank top. She peeked inside her mother’s room. It was empty. Gray sniffed the air. It smelled like cinnamon raisin bread. Her heart surged with happiness when she heard noises below. Gray flew down the stairs.
Mom turned from where she stood in front of the stove and smiled. “Morning, hon. Would you like some oatmeal and raisin bread?”
“Yes, please.”
“Did you sleep well?” Mom asked as she dished Gray up. “Do you want all the toppings on your oatmeal?”
“Um, yeah.” Gray buttered her toast while Mom sprinkled berries, walnuts, and brown sugar on top of her oatmeal. Gray glanced at her mom. “I woke up in Charlene’s bed again.”