Chapter 5

"We can't stay here."This time, I grab Kellan's shoulder before he has a chance to shake me off again.

The world dissolves around us, colors draining into gray, and a second later, we are standing in one of the empty classrooms inside the school. It's dark beyond the windows.

"What the hell? Where did Eli go?"

"Calm down. Please, Kellan. It's okay."

"How did you do that? Take me back."

I shrug. "It's something I learned to do over time."

"I need to get back to Eli." He walks toward the door.

"No, you don't." I'm in front of him in three steps, and bar his way.

"Zoey—"

"You"re dead." I remind him. "He can't see you. You need to stop and listen to me. You don't know how any of this works."

He rolls his eyes. "I get it! I'm dead. I"m a fucking ghost."

"It's like spectator mode on one of your games."

"Fuck that shit. I want to interact."

"Well, you can't."

"Then why are we here? Isn't there some kind of heaven or hell we're supposed to be in?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I haven't seen a bright light."

"A bright light?"

"Yeah, you know like people talk about." I wiggle my fingers and put on a ghostly voice. "Go toward the light!"

Kellan's expression darkens. "Well fuck. Does that mean Churchill Bradley Academy is where we get to spend our afterlife?"

"God, I hope not." I shudder. "I'm sick of this place."

"But at least we're not alone now." It's selfish, but I'm glad I finally have someone to talk to. Someone I can touch. One of my best friends in the entire world.

An irritable sigh leaves him. "Fine. Give me the rules of the game."

"It's not a game."

"You know what I mean."

"Time moves differently for us." I wave a hand to the window. "When you died, it was early morning. Now it's dark outside."

His eyes widen when he looks outside. "What the fuck?"

"We aren't conscious of it changing."

"So, I've lost time? How long? Hours? Days?"

"I think it's sometime after sunset. You get used to it."

A long wail silences us both. It sends an icy shiver right through me. Stepping closer to my friend, I wrap my fingers around his hand. It's solid, and the first physical touch I've had in over a year. The sensation makes me want to cry.

His fingers tighten around mine. "What was that?"

"Churchill Bradley."

"The actual Churchill Bradley?"

"Yeah," I whisper. "But you don't want to hang around to meet him."

My thoughts focus on a safe place, and the room fades away. When my eyes focus again, we're in the graveyard. I sink to the ground to lay flat on my back.

Kellan sprawls out beside me. "Are you okay?"

"Moving myself is easy, moving us both is more exhausting than I expected." My voice is shaky.

The branches of the trees sway above us in the wind.

"Why did you bring us here?"

"We're at our strongest in the place where we took our last breath. We will always return to it. Any time you feel weak, or you're pulled away, you will end up back where you died."

My final thoughts are seared into my mind. The fear I'd felt. The sadness that I would never be with Kellan and Eli again. Everything had been ripped away from me the same way it was stolen from him today.

I've spent so much time alone here, it feels almost unreal to have Kellan beside me.

His hand finds mine.

"Can you teach me how to do that? Moving to different places."

"Sure." I squeeze his fingers. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

"It"s not your fault."