Living Dead Girl

Trey woke up in the dirt. He rolled over and blinked against the strange lighting, trying to assess his whereabouts. He sat up, rubbing the knot on his head where Gisele had knocked him out. A lake stood before him, calm and dark, the moon reflecting off its surface as if it were a giant, watery mirror. Jutting into the water from the shore was a long dock and, at the end of it stood Gisele, cradling her open book in one hand and gripping the knife with the other. At her feet, another figure was slouched; Adeline.

He moved carefully and as quietly as he could, getting to his feet slowly, his head still pounding, his legs weak. Trey squinted through the darkness, peering along the shoreline. A small boat was tied to a post near the dock where Gisele stood over Adeline. Small sounds drifted toward him across the water; Lark's voice with Gisele's accent mumbling words he did not understand; Adeline sobbing quietly, sniffling, repeating the words please and don't.

Trey's mind was spinning. He crouched and darted quietly along the beach, toward the boat, looking for anything that would help him. He hid behind the boat and peered into it, but there was nothing inside except the anchor tied to a thick rope. He sighed and closed his eyes, making a silent wish that he could do something, anything, to help Lark.

From the dock, Gisele's voice grew louder. Trey looked and she had set the book down somewhere and was now holding the knife over her head with both hands, ready to slam it downward toward Adeline.

"Hey!" Trey shouted. Then he hid.

Gisele's arms went slack and she looked toward the beach where Trey had woken up, but he wasn't there anymore. He was ducked behind the small boat where she could not see him. He slipped silently into the dark water and began to inch toward the dock.

"Dammit," he heard her mutter. She stood still, her eyes grazing the perimeter, looking for some movement or a misplaced shadow. When she did not spot Trey, she turned back to Adeline. "Let's just get this over with."

Let me out. Please, Gisele, this isn't what we planned.

"Shut up, Lark." She was growing frustrated, but so was I. I pounded and scratched at the thin veil between us, trying like hell to push my way out, but she was stronger than me and would not let it happen. I pushed at her as she mumbled strange words over Adeline's shivering body. I screamed as loud as I could inside of our head as she lifted the knife. Trey yelled from somewhere in the distance, distracting her for a moment, and that was all I needed.

Gisele was preoccupied long enough to drop her defenses against me for a split second. I held that window open like sticking my toe out to hold a pair of elevator doors from closing.

"Dammit," we said. She could feel me slipping through, and she knew there was no use in fighting it.

Stick to the plan, I said from inside. Remember? Let's stick to the plan.

Frustrated, she finally gave in, and muttered, "Let's just get this over with."

* * *

Finally, I stepped into the driver's seat of my own body once again. Gisele held on just a little, leaving that door between us cracked open. I had to be careful.

I knelt down next to Adeline and lifted her chin gently so she would look at me. Her tear-stained face was red and splotchy, and I almost felt sorry for her.

"What do you know of Gisele?" I asked. "Explain yourself."

Adeline sniffled, frowned, then realized. "You're not Gisele?"

"No."

The girl shook her head. "I don't understand why this is happening."

"How do you know Gisele?" I asked. "Why does she want you dead?"

You could have asked me that, Gisele's voice came into my mind. You never asked about my past, though. You never asked about me.

I ignored her.

Adeline mumbled something I couldn't hear.

"What was that?" I said.

"You're crazy!" said Adeline.

I could feel Gisele pulling at me, fighting to take back control. But I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't go back inside. This was my body, my face, my life, and I was not going to let her mess it up anymore. I slid the brass ring off of my finger.

No! Let me do it, I want to do it!

I reached toward the girl, and she blinked at me for a moment before slowly taking my hand. I gripped her fingers tightly and said, "I'm so sorry."

She frowned at me, confused.

I slid the ring onto her finger and she began to cry. "What are you doing?"

"I have to," I said. My throat felt tight and tears burned behind my eyes. My hands shook like caffeine jitters as I picked up the knife. "If I want my life back, I have to do this. You couldn't possibly understand."

Adeline's voice came out in shattered whispers. "Don't hurt me, please." She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face. "You don't have to do anything. Just let me go, I won't tell anyone about this, I swear."

I stared back at her, not knowing how to feel.

"I can't let you go. I'm sorry. This is the only way."

Do it. Gisele's voice was smaller than it had ever been. I felt a small tug at my heart and closed my eyes, just for a moment.

I remembered what life was like before Gisele, before I lived with her voice in my mind. Before I'd let her burn my house down after my father abused me again. Before our time in the hospital, when she was all I had to hold onto. I remembered what it was like to just be me, without her, when Trey was comfortable near me.

Goodbye, Lark Fontaine. And thank-you.

"Goodbye." I let go of the love I had for Gisele. I remembered, one last time, the relief I had felt at the smell of my burning house, and how grateful I was to Gisele for giving me the power to stand up to him, finally. She had given me the strength to stop him from hurting me again. I cherished the memory of those feelings, and then I let them go. I let Gisele go.

Again, I looked at Adeline and whispered, "I'm so sorry." Then, I lifted the knife, and brought it down hard into the side of her neck. My hand went warm with the spray of blood and I pulled back, her body falling forward onto the dock. Blood continued to pour from her neck as she twitched for a few moments, then went still. I could hear the blood dripping through the dock into the water. Then, a voice came from behind me.

"Lark?"

I spun to see Trey's head popping up out of the water.

"It's me," I said. "What are you doing?"

He lifted his hand from the water. He was holding the looped end of a rope that disappeared under the black shimmering surface.

"The other end is tied to an anchor in that boat." He jerked his head toward the shore and I saw the little fishing boat sitting there. I blinked as I understood what he meant.

"Gisele?" I said aloud, then waited. But she was gone. I couldn't feel her there anymore. I was struck with a pang of loneliness, of hollowed-out emptiness.

After a moment, I turned to look at Adeline's body in a crumpled pile before me. I took a few deep breaths to steady my racing heart.

I turned back to Trey and said, "She's gone."

Trey sat at the back of the boat, controlling the engine and steering us through the dark, open water. He went slow, to keep the noise and the wake at a minimum. It was almost three o'clock in the morning, and we really could not get caught now.

"What was your original plan?" he asked.

I chuckled weakly. "Her plan was this all along, I'm sure. But she was supposed to be driving. She was supposed to be the one to kill the book keeper."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "I think it was a trick. I'm almost positive, actually. She was upset when I put the ring on Adeline's finger. Gisele had wanted me to kill her, but she wasn't going to leave me. I don't think she ever planned on leaving me."

"How did you know this whole thing would work?" Trey asked.

I squinted through the cool night air as the boat came to a stop, peering around us to see nothing but water and sky all around. I looked down into the black water and wondered how deep it was.

"I didn't," I said. "I just hoped that it would."

I reached down to the floor of the boat and picked up the heavy anchor.

"Let me help," said Trey. He carefully leaned closer to me as the boat rocked gently back and forth.

I rested the anchor on the edge of the small vessel, leaning back to balance the weight as Trey scooped up Adeline's limp body from the aluminum floor of the boat and sat her up. Wet blood stains covered her neck and shoulder. I glanced at her hand to admire the antique brass and onyx ring one last time.

Trey leaned the girl's body against him as he triple-checked the knot in the rope that twined around her ankles. He looked at me inquiringly and I opened my mouth to say something, but I was stopped when Adeline's body suddenly became animated.

She jerked upright and twitched severely, flailing in Trey's arms. He was caught off guard and let go of her. She screamed and looked around frantically.

I remained still and silent as I watched her stop moving, then slowly turn to face me. My heart almost stopped in my chest when I looked at her. It was Adeline's face, yes, but there was something eerily familiar about her eyes.

"Gisele," I whispered.

She tried to speak, but choked and coughed instead, blood spattering her lips. I watched as she wearily assessed her situation, eyed the ropes at her feet and the anchor teetering on the edge of the small vessel.

The girl turned to look at me, her eyes wide and wild. She croaked, "No."

I released my grip on the cold, heavy steel and let the anchor fall into the water.

She screamed as the rope unraveled into the water, clawing at her ankles until all the rope was gone, and Trey shoved her overboard. I leaned over and watched her disappear into the darkness.

***

SIX MONTHS LATER.

I smiled as I shook the hand of the man who purchased Fontaine Manor. He paid me seventy-five thousand for the place, which was kind of a lot considering most of the main house had to be demolished and rebuilt completely, on top of the fact that the grounds hadn't been touched in almost two years.

"Should we celebrate?" Trey asked. He threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in to kiss my temple. "I'm thinking Waffle House."

"Sure," I said. "But there's this little flea market downtown I want to hit first."

He stopped and gave me a strange look. "Flea market?"

I laughed. "I know. I just want to see if I can find some cool things for the new house."

"Alright," he replied, and we continued toward the car and climbed in. "But don't buy anything haunted or possessed this time, yeah?"

"Funny."

I drove away from the house I grew up in without even being tempted to look in the rearview mirror. That wasn't my home anymore. Trey and I found a townhouse downtown and, now that the manor was sold, I would never have to go back to my childhood torture chamber ever again.

The flea market was huge this time, covering the entirety of the supermarket parking lot. Trey and I wandered through the rows of offerings and poked through bins full of old collectibles. I looked at old books and Trey occupied himself talking to a man who was selling model airplanes.

I continued to weave through the rows until I found someone selling old costume jewelry. I cursed myself for still being interested in the stuff after what I'd been through, but as I combed through a tray of beautiful vintage rings, I nearly forgot the calamities of my recent past.

Until a woman stood next to me, much too closely. Each piece I picked up to admire, she would pick up after I'd set it down. Each time I stepped to the left, she stepped to the left. I felt an uneasy prickling in the back of my neck. Then, I heard something. I wasn't sure if it had come from my mind, a far-off memory replaying itself, or if the woman had been speaking to me. Still, I heard it nonetheless;

A clear English accent saying, "Hello, Love."