Chapter 51: The Dead Alive
I can’t tell which one is more shocking, seeing Princess pissed for the second time or the dead rising. Is that even a thing? Someone who is supposed to be dead is in the basketball court practicing for the upcoming championship game.
"Are you sure he doesn’t have a twin brother?" I muttered to Malo. We were in the court watching the team practice.
"He doesn’t, unless there is a distant cousin that no one knows about that took his place. But that’s him, the height, the body, face, everything. That’s him." His voice was low and full of worries.
I am also shocked. Him being alive would have made sense if he was hit by an iron rod hard, maybe accepting poison gone wrong. But we all saw it. His heart was ripped out. We saw his heart, so how the fuck is he alive?
We kept staring like we were watching a match, but we were busy trying to figure out what was really happening. Maybe this was a prank or something illusional.
The ball echoed across the court.
Thump. Thump.
Players shouted to each other. Sneakers squeaked on the floor. Someone laughed on the bench.
But none of that mattered. Because Peamah Frost was alive. Right there. Running drills like nothing happened.
While bouncing the ball, it bounced out and came to me. I quickly caught the ball, holding it. Peamah jogged toward me. I kept staring at him with my mouth wide open, like this is for real, this dude is alive.
He stopped right in front of me. For a second I thought he would say something.
My fingers tightened around the ball.
But he didn’t. He simply reached forward. Collected the ball from me. His hand brushed mine for half a second. Warm. Solid. Not cold. Not ghostly. Alive.
Then he turned and went back to the boys to play.
My stomach dropped.
"Malo, do you think he recognizes us?" I muttered, turning my head to Malo, who looked like someone who was scared. Like he had just seen a ghost.
Malo wasn’t blinking. His eyes followed Peamah as he ran across the court.
"I don’t know," he whispered. His voice cracked a little.
ime. Since the nurse lady was around the building, Malo and I had lunch together in the cafeteria. We were still frozen, thinking about what we just witnessed.
The cafeteria was loud. Trays clattered. Students talked over each other. Someone complained about the food.
But our table was quiet. Malo kept poking at his rice. Not eating. Just poking.
"What if he is here for unfinished business? I heard that when people die without finishing what they came for, they don’t die until they finish..." Malo said.
He didn’t look at me when he said it.
"What if he knows, pretending not to know so he can torment us until we confess..." I muttered. So many thoughts ran through my mind.
I rubbed my face with both hands. I just can’t put this together. How is he alive? Because this is impossible.
"To make it worse, he is a vengeful ghost, killing people around..."
That was another voice. Malo and I turned to see Sasha beside me with her lunch.
When did this bitch get here?
She slid into the seat like she owned the place. She is likely the root of our problems right now.
"So you have seen him huh? I hope he comes at you and not us, because we are the innocent ones," I said.
I pushed my tray slightly away. Suddenly I wasn’t hungry anymore.
"I saw him this morning, heading to school. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It felt like Hades returned to kill his tormentors and this time with OP." Sasha said as she turned to look me in the eye. "We are fucked up, Faye. He is going to kill all three of us for what we did to him." She cried.
Her voice trembled. But I wasn’t feeling sorry for her. Not even a little.
I looked at her, then I drifted away from her. This bitch has gotten me in trouble and now she is back to the word we.
"Sasha, stop saying that word we. It’s annoying. We didn’t kill him, you did. You ripped his heart, so if he wants revenge it’s you, not us," I reminded her.
"Yes purple hair, we did not do anything, so don’t drag us. And you can’t rip our hearts here, people are around," Malo said.
Malo pointed around the cafeteria. Students everywhere. Teachers walking around.
But Sasha ignored him and focused on me.
"Yes, you are right, I killed him. You know that, MG knows that, but Peamah doesn’t because you were the last person he saw before he died."
The words hit me like a brick.
Bitch, I hate to admit it, but she was right. He was looking at me when he took his last breath.
Oh no.
He must think I was the one who killed him.
This is bad. Really bad.
But earlier he did not say anything. Or was it because he was training?
My fingers tapped nervously on the table.
"He hasn’t done anything so...." I said.
"For now he won’t. His main focus is on the championship game. After that he is going to be on our neck wanting his revenge," Sasha said.
"So what do you want us to do? You want to kill him again huh?" I asked, but I did not mean what I said.
"Yes. We kill him again before he kills us."
I stared at her. Did she even hear herself?
"Bitch... stop. I am no killer. I may punch people because I intend to strike first but I have never taken a life and I will never do it for nobody. I rather report to the GPF than take a life."
I was done. I grabbed my tray. Malo stood up too.
But somehow we sat back when she said he has murdered three people, two at the cemetery and one at the fuel station. The words froze me mid step.
"What?" Malo whispered.
We did not believe her but she showed us the picture of them. It was the same wounds, just the same way a Hedge-wolf leaves their victims.
She slid her phone across the table. I looked.
Immediately I regretted it. One body lay beside a broken headstone. The chest torn open. Another body near a fuel pump. Blood everywhere.The wounds were identical.
Claw marks. Deep. Savage. My stomach twisted.
It was upsetting to look.
He died and came back stronger than he was.
And now his father was using his status in the GPF to cover his crimes instead of putting him behind bars.
I didn’t like where this was going but the fear of him knowing me as his killer was not settling well in my mind.
My leg started bouncing under the table.
I might be one of his victims. I don’t want to die. I still have dreams.
My throat felt tight. But if he thinks I killed him, why has he not come for me?
