Her ethereal arms wrapped around me, and I felt an unexpected warmth despite her ghostly chill. It was a touch of forgiveness, of understanding, that transcended our complicated past. I leaned into her embrace, feeling the weight of our shared history and unspoken regrets.

As we pulled back from the embrace, Heather’s eyes met mine, a silent agreement passing between us. The road ahead was uncertain, but for the first time in a long while, we were facing it together. The past had left its scars, but perhaps, in the process of uncovering the truth and finding closure, we could mend what was broken between us.

The house, once a place of isolation and regret, now felt like a starting point. A place where, despite the pain and the ghosts of our past, we could begin anew. And with that thought, a small, hopeful smile crossed my face. The journey ahead would be challenging, but at least I wouldn’t have to face it alone.

The day's journey had left me completely exhausted, and it was getting pretty late, so naturally, I headed to bed. My bedroom felt like a sanctuary, and my bed was my escape from the insanity consuming my life. I didn’t bother to change; I just took off my shirt and laid down, my mattress taking away my sorrows.

But I was unable to sleep due to Heather sitting on the foot of my bed. Her presence was a constant reminder of the absurdity my life had fallen into. Also, it was just kinda creepy. “Yo, what are you doing?”

“Waiting for tomorrow,” Heather stated with a shrug.

“Why don't you just go to sleep?”

“Ghosts don't need to sleep,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Well, you might not need to, but could you?”

“I mean, I guess I could try.”

“Then please go the fuck to bed. You're creeping me out.”

“Where would you like me to sleep, dumbass?” Upon hearing her question, I scooted over to one side of my bed and turned away from her.

“There's room on that side,” I said, the sleepiness infecting my voice.

Heather crossed her arms before speaking, “Eww, perv.”

“Okay, girl who cried pervert,” I said jokingly but still tired of her attitude. “You know if you keep throwing that out, no one will believe you.”

“You know if you keep being a big fat creep, you'll go to jail.”

“ZZZ-zZ-ZzZz-hngGGggh-mimimimi- zZzZZ,” I attempted to silence her with my fake snoring to no avail.

“Ugh, you better not actually be a snorer, or I swear to God I’ll possess you,” Heather added as she fell beside me on the bed with her usual over-the-top dramatics.

“Wait, could you really possess me?” I said with more fear than tiredness in my tone.

“I guess we’ll find out if you keep being an annoying little pussy,” Heather added before finally facing away from me, ready to sleep.

Despite the absurdity of the situation, a strange sense of peace washed over me. Heather’s presence, though eerie, was a reminder that I wasn’t alone. It was funny how we could go from a somber moment of weakness to playful bickering in an instant.

I drifted off into a deep sleep. But as morning came, I was plucked out of my zen state and re-awakened. The first thing I saw was Heather rifling through my closet. “You’re up early,” I said in a disheveled voice while rubbing my tired eyes.

“Oh my God, Al, you're finally awake. Look at this!” Heather shouted eagerly. She was focusing intensely on her movements, everything she did was slow and methodical. To my astonishment, she managed to move one of the shirts hanging up in my closet. She stared at me, mouth agape, with a proud smile.

I clapped my hands gently, still trying to fully wake up. “That’s sick.”

“Oh yeah, and I picked out your outfit. Come here,” she quickly signaled with her hand for me to come over. She was very happy this morning, so I picked myself up out of bed and shuffled over to her in my groggy state. “That, that, and that,” she pointed at three separate pieces of clothing she had meticulously picked out. I grabbed the items from inside my closet: a white knitted polo, black joggers, and a burgundy leather jacket.

“Make sure you don't zip up the jacket. You’ll need to be able to see the polo.”

“Seriously, this is what you went for?”

“I've seen what you think looks good. Don't question me, just go put it on.” I sighed before doing as she said. I put on the outfit, and Heather was over the moon with excitement.

“You finally look good.” She clapped her hands like a golfer, ecstatic. “I knew red would look good on you,” she said, placing a finger on her chin while biting her lower lip.

“Stop it,” I said, smirking at her comment. “What's with the flattery?”

“Al, I mean it when I say this. I've never seen such a night-and-day difference. You went from looking like a sewer dweller to a respectable man. I'm shocked I could pull something like this off.”

Her enthusiasm was infectious, and despite my initial skepticism, I had to admit that I felt more confident in the outfit she had chosen. Heather floated around me, adjusting the collar of the polo and smoothing out the jacket with a look of satisfaction.

“See? Told you I had an eye for this stuff,” she said, finally stepping back to admire her handiwork.

“Well, thank you, Heather,” I said sincerely, feeling a strange but welcome warmth from her approval.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied with a playful wink. “Now, let’s get going. We have a lot to do today.”

So then I threw on my Jordans, grabbed my backpack, and ran down the stairs. I got in my car, and just like that, Heather and I were off to Westerburg High. It was your average winter Monday. The air was thick, and the trees were leafless. Heather sat straight up, not out of propriety but to contain her emotions. She seemed to be excited to revisit the school after being gone for so long. She was like a kid on Christmas Eve.

I looked over at her, amused by her elation. “What’s up with you?”

“I can’t wait to see what happened without me,” she said with a huge grin. “I have a couple of theories.”

“Like what?” I asked, happily intrigued.

“Well, for one, I imagine they buried McNamara and Duke with me… you know, like how pharaohs were buried with their wives.” We both chuckled at this joke before I spoke.

“If only they buried you,” I said, still laughing.

“What?” she asked with a smile, but there was an underlying sound of concern.

“Yeah, before they could bury you, your body disappeared. Someone broke into the autopsy place, the umm… shit, what do they call it… the—Coroner’s office, that’s the name of the place. Basically, someone took your body before they could give it an autopsy. It was pretty crazy.”

I looked over at her, and my joyous mood dropped as I saw her unbridled fear. “My body was fucking stolen and no one ever found it?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, confirming the unsettling truth. The mood was completely off until the school came into sight. Heather’s happiness returned as she saw the building.

“There it is,” she said, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “Westerburg High.”

We pulled into the parking lot, and the familiar sight of the school brought back a flood of memories. Heather floated out of the car and through the doors, her anticipation palpable.

Heather led the way, her presence a mix of curiosity and nostalgia. She glanced at the familiar lockers, the classrooms, and the students who had no idea she was there, her excitement evident in every movement.

“Look at them,” she said, her voice a mix of amusement and longing. “So clueless, so… alive.”

“Yeah,” I replied, trying to keep up with her pace. “Life goes on, I guess. You good, Heather? You’re acting strange.”

“I just miss being alive, I guess,” she added with a knowing, pain-filled smirk.

“Oh, yeah, I get that.”

“Who are you talking to, handsome?” My conversation was cut short by Izaya, who was attempting to joke around. I turned to look at him, saying nothing, just narrowing my eyes as I stared him down.

“Love the outfit, bro, you look good,” he said nervously, raising his hand for a dap up. I didn’t move, continuing to eye him up, trying to understand why he would act like nothing was wrong. That didn’t last long as someone else butted in.

“Hey babe,” my heart sank as Veronica wrapped her arms around Izaya and planted a kiss on his cheek. With all the chaos going on, I had neglected the fact that Izaya and Veronica were a couple. I never had a problem with Veronica. Before what I knew now, I thought she was nice; I even felt bad for her. As far as I knew, her friend had died and her boyfriend had gone missing. Then out of the blue, the new starting defensive linebacker came in and swept her off her feet. I thought they were cute together, but now all I could feel was fear for my friend. But then I had to wonder, how unwitting was my best friend?

“Hey Al, how’s it going?” Veronica questioned. “Izaya told me you guys were hanging out yesterday.” I finally broke my intense gaze on Izaya to turn on my charm to try and sweet talk Veronica.

“Yep, we were just hanging at his place, you know, guy stuff… But then he did leave out of no where.” I nudged Veronica with my elbow. “Better hope he’s not cheating,” I said in my fake joking tone, similar to how you would speak at the water cooler at the office. “I’m messing with you; he’d never do that. He is a good guy.” I emphasized that last sentence, staring right at Izaya as I spoke.

“Oops, sorry, that was me. I called him because I needed him to check on a raccoon problem for me. Speaking of which—” Veronica took off her backpack, going through it slowly. If her presence didn’t already scare me, the flashlight she pulled out of the bag petrified me. I had dropped my flashlight at the Chandler house and forgotten all about it. “Last I checked, Izaya, raccoons don’t use flashlights.”

Veronica had no way of knowing it was my flashlight, but flaunting it in front of me felt like a threat. Now, many pieces were falling into place. Whatever was happening in that house, Veronica had something to do with it. I looked over at Izaya, who was terrified. He was caught in a lie, and knowing what Veronica had done in the past, his fear must be valid.

I tried to keep my composure, but the fear and suspicion gnawed at me. Veronica’s smile was sweet, but her eyes were cold and calculating. Izaya’s nervousness only confirmed my suspicions.

“I'm gonna go to class now… you want to meet up for lunch Izaya?”

“Sorry, Al, we already have plans.” Usually, I would hear that sentence and think nothing more of it, but Veronica's words were tainted in my eyes. That became the most disingenuous sorry that was ever told to me and it caused my mind to run wild, thinking about what she had planned for my best friend.

“I'll see you fourth period, Al.” Regret surrounded Izaya's words and clouded his thoughts. He was terrible at lying, and he needed a damn good one to get himself out of this.

“Yeah, I'll see you fourth,” I replied, my voice hollow. With that final statement, I walked away.

“Ok, Al, what the fuck was that?” Heather yelled, her voice filled with urgency as I hung my head low and sauntered away from Veronica and Izaya.

“Not now,” I whispered, not wanting to draw attention to myself. Once I made it to the end of the hall, out of Veronica's vision, I ran into the bathroom. I checked around nonchalantly, fearing someone would see, but the bathroom was empty. I leaned on the sink and placed my hand over my heart, trying to process what was going on.

“So, were you ever gonna say your buddy was dating Veronica, or did you just want to give me a fun surprise?”

“I don't know if you noticed, Heather, but my life has been completely fucking insane for the past 24 hours. That wasn't really on the top of my mind.” I had to let out a large exhale after I spoke. This bullshit was taking a toll on me.

“Why didn't you confront her? She was right there.” Heather leaned forward, resting her hands on her hips.

“Confront her? We have zero evidence.” I emphasized the word zero, even forming the shape with my hand as I uttered it. “On top of that, what if she decides to kill me next after she finds out I'm onto her? We have no idea what she's capable of.” I reeled back, sitting on the sink as I chewed on my nails, deep in thought.

“What's your plan for getting evidence then? Because last I checked, my death was a pretty open-and-shut case as far as the police were concerned.”

I didn't respond. I just sat there, formulating a way to bring Veronica down. As I pondered I played with the zipper of my leather jacket… Leather… Jacket. It finally hit me, and I blurted out, “J.D. He just went missing. No suicide note, just poof, gone.”

“Your point being?” Heather questioned, crossing her arms.

“I bet you his disappearance had something to do with Veronica, and no suicide note to cover her tracks means something went wrong. And if something went wrong…” I left the sentence open for Heather to finish. A smile formed on our lips as the plan came together.

“She got sloppy…”

“And if she got sloppy…” I added one more time, hoping she would complete the sentence.

“She might have left evidence.” Heather and I stared at each other proudly. We were on the same wavelength and we finally figured out what to do, and it felt euphoric.

“Well have to find out where J.D. was last seen, Then we can work from there” But as I elaborated my Ideas Heather killed the mood.

“Al, do you think whatever she did to J.D., she did to your friends too?” I hadn't thought about Ruby in a while, and now it was starting to seem like I wouldn't be able to save her, but if I was lucky, I could avenge her.