Dead, Sweet Boy (Book One - Dead, Sweet Series) Read online

  “That’s why we need a plan,” Claudia exclaimed, trying to get us to focus.

  “How do you plan? What in the world can we do? Call the Vatican?” Rick was really animated now. I’m sure he wanted to protect us but didn’t know how. I was also sure he was furious with Mack.

  “Look, like you said, you’re just tired.”

  “Yes, I’m tired Claudia. I’m sick and tired of the hole that son of a bitch blasted through our lives. Mine and Sunny’s. Our childhood and then… we were all supposed to finish school together and… look what happened to Sunny.”

  “Don’t.” I tried not to raise my voice. He was so on edge, and well, to tell the truth, I was too.

  “Don’t Sunny? I think we can talk about him now. I think we have the right to say how we feel about all of this. I think I have some big reasons to be angry. Do you really want to defend him?”

  Claudia waved her hands in the air to get our attention. “Guys, stay focused. Do you want to go through another night like last night? Please stay focused. I have a plan.”

  It was hard to imagine there could be a plan, but Claudia sounded so sure. She had our attention, even though it came with a bunch of bad attitude.

  “Remember I told you we should find someone who would know what to do about that monster thing you guys saw? Well I got up early this morning and did a little research. I found these guys that go into situations like ours and figure out what’s going on. I emailed them and guess what? They want to meet with us tonight. Isn’t that great? They thought our case was so off the wall and can’t wait to check it out.”

  “What guys? What are you talking about? Do you know what she’s talking about Sunny?”

  “What guys?” I asked, answering his question.

  “Look, come with me and I’ll show you.” Claudia scurried over to the computer at the desk in the kitchen. She seemed almost excited to show us as she brought up a website to some local ghost hunters.

  “They have a lot of experience, and it says here that on this one case, they made the ghost leave this family alone. It went away. When I told them about Mack and how he’s haunting the town and what he did last night, they were really excited. Isn’t that cool?”

  Rick gave me a cautionary look before he turned his attention to the computer. He was interested right away. Together the two of them combed through the site until Rick was on Claudia’s line of thought and planning. I couldn’t get comfortable. The plan was to meet them in the graveyard. At Mack’s grave.

  “I can’t do it,” I said. “No way. I can’t.” The panic I felt made it hard to breathe. “Go to his grave? Never.”

  “We’ll be there with you,” Claudia tried to comfort me.

  “Rick, I can’t. You guys go ahead.” My body backed away while Claudia tried to convince me that I had to go, and that I was the one who Mack wanted contact with. Her experts told her so.

  “Oh wait. You haven’t gone to his grave yet. Have you? That’s right.”

  “Claudia, don’t,” Rick said.

  “It’s true, isn’t it? You’ve never gone to the grave. You told me that. Didn’t you?”

  “Why would she?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because it's HEALTHY?”

  I turned my back on her as my hands started shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly the room felt too small. “I can’t.”

  “It’s okay Sunny,” she said, “I understand. I really do, but I think it’s time for you to visit his grave. We can take him some flowers today in the daylight. That way you’ll know that you can do this.”

  “You don’t have to do this Sunny,” Rick offered. I knew he was trying to protect me, but it rubbed me the wrong way. The last thing I needed was another relationship like I had with Mack.

  “Let’s do it. The flowers thing. I can’t guarantee that I’ll meet with your ghost hunting guys tonight, but you’re right. It’s time to visit his grave. After last night though, he doesn’t get any flowers. Not from me. You guys can bring him some if you want.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)

  So long Captain Dan

  I fail to see what motivates your hands

  Goodbye restless night

  You know I loved Dan Dare, but I couldn’t make his flight

  So long, so long

  (Elton John’s, Rock of the Westies)

  The tears started the minute we pulled into the cemetery. Not the sobbing, or hysterical kind of tears that keep you from functioning, but my eyes were like waterfalls. I still had Rick’s sunglasses. He noticed when I put them on, and it made me wonder if he was worried about me or getting his sunglasses back.

  My heart was able to imagine the funeral, and the path that Mack’s coffin took that day, when he was laid to rest with the other dead that filled the grounds. Rick knew exactly where the grave was, because like the rest of the band, he was there for the funeral. The stone was nothing special. Really, it was just a big marker with a name and dates. There wasn’t a loving quote or any loving words spared for the son who did what he did. Who could blame his parents? The grave stone looked really empty. It was big enough to put one of his songs on it, but it was so plain and empty.

  I was torn. I missed him so much. My heart ached every day to see him. But now I was also angry. So much about me and Mack seemed whack. Sick.

  “This is it,” Rick said, pointing to the stone.

  There was a tree close by and I couldn’t help but wonder if the roots from the tree would eventually work their way through his coffin. “I can see that,” I said. My whole body was shaking. Rick reached to comfort me, but I stepped away. This was Mack they wanted me to face.

  Claudia walked around the stone, almost like she was looking for a way that Mack might have escaped. Then she turned her attention to me. It felt like she was waiting for me to break down and fall apart completely. But I guess what she was waiting for, was for me to say something to our haunter.

  “Don’t you have anything to say to Mack?”

  “This is a Rock Claud. It’s not Mack.”

  “He’s in there isn’t he?”

  “What’s in there is his body. That’s all.”

  “Oh yeah? If that’s true, then why wouldn’t you come here before? You need to talk to him. Tell him how he made you feel.”

  If she were closer to me, I would have given her a shove right then. “What are you? A psychiatrist now? You talk to him.”

  “He doesn’t know me.”

  “Well I’m pretty sure that the rock doesn’t know me either.”

  “Get serious Sunny. You can’t brush this off.”

  “Mack,” Rick started, “I don’t know why you didn’t tell us that you needed help. You called me that night and we came and got you out. What for? So you could do something like that? I guess if I got it, I might have been able to help you, but man, you really hurt everyone. Nothing’s the same. I love you bro and I miss you.”

  My throat tightened as Rick spoke. Even though Mack had lied to us, Rick still loved his friend. I couldn’t ruin what was left of that love by telling him my secrets. I felt like it was my responsibility not to crush him anymore than he already was.

  “I miss you man,” he said again.

  Claudia motioned with one of her hands that it was my turn. I shook my head to let her know that I couldn’t but she persisted. Rick put one of his hands on the small of my back. I let him because it helped.

  “I thought I was going to die too. When you died, I didn’t think I could make it. I did something awful. You weren’t here. I have nightmares, and now I’m learning who you really were. I’m so angry at you Mack. You lied to me. I never lied to you. Why are you tormenting me?”

  “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Claudia asked. It was like she was enjoying this.

  “I should have brought him flowers.”

  Rick had to work. On top of that, it was his mother’s birthday, so he was worried about getting away in time to meet us at the graveya
rd. He said he would keep in touch when he dropped me and Claudia back at my house. Throughout the day, he texted me little messages.

  “I can’t believe you. Don’t you know how to text Sunny? Let me see that. You aren’t supposed to write everything out like a theme paper or something. Abbreviate.”

  “I can do it.”

  Claudia snatched my phone from me and started reading off the messages from Rick. “Oh isn’t that cute. He’s thinking about you. Tell me what you want to say and I’ll show you how to write in abbreviations.”

  “Give it back Claud! I’ll write my messages the way I want to.”

  “Let’s see,” she thought. “U R HOT.” She pressed send.

  “Did you really say that? Claudia, don’t,” I panicked. I reached for the phone, but she was just enough taller than me that I couldn’t reach.

  “Please tell me that you didn’t send him that.” My phone signaled that he sent a reply.

  “He says that U R HOT 2.”

  “Give me my phone back, or you’re going to the graveyard by yourself tonight. I mean it!”

  Claudia tossed the phone over onto the couch, where it bounced off and hit the coffee table and then hit the floor really hard. When I flipped the cover open, the phone was dead. No screen, no nothing. “Great you broke it.”

  “Oh my God no. Let me see it.” When she opened it, the screen flashed like it was going to work and then died again. “Oh Sunny, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to break it, I swear. Your mother is going to hate me. Please don’t tell her.” I thought she was going to have an anxiety attack right there, and all because of what my mother would think. “She’s going to hate me.”

  “She’s not going to hate you. Hey, it’s my phone. You should worry about what I think, not what my mom’s going to say.”

  “Yeah, I know, I’m so sorry.”

  My phone was the least of my worries. I shoved it into my front pocket of my jeans and turned to confront her on a different topic. “Why would you send Rick that message? I would never send him a message like that.”

  “Maybe we should take the battery out and put it back. That might work.”

  “Forget about the phone. You just sent Rick a message from me that…”

  “He liked it Sunny. What’s the problem? A hot guy likes you and thinks you’re hot. Now he knows that you think he’s hot too. I swear you guys won’t get anywhere without some help.”

  “I don’t need that kind of help. I don’t know how I feel about him yet.” It was true. Not only that, but I was feeling like I was on the verge of rejection with Rick. Clearly he was on the verge of running. My heart sank to think about it.

  “Let’s see. You get tangled up in a boat with him and plant a kiss on him. I think it’s safe to say you like him. It doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of your life with him. He’s a great guy. If you don’t want him then move over and I’ll take him.”

  And she would. The message she sent was hers not mine. How was I supposed to feel? Yes, I kissed him on my own, and yes, I thought about him all the time. More and more I would watch the way he walked and talked, and when he touched me, well that feeling was almost too much. It just wasn’t the right time to be in a romance with my dead friend’s friend. Not only that, I just didn’t feel good enough. What kind of girl does all the stuff I did, and gets to hook up with a guy like Rick. When he figured out how dark I really was, he would run for the hills. I felt pretty sure of that.

  “I’m just kidding Sunny. I think the two of you make the perfect couple. You almost look alike in a lot of ways, you like the same music and well, he’s crazy about you. I can tell.”

  “I’m not ready.”

  “Not ready? Why?”

  “Oh I don’t know Claud. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we have something or someone stalking us, and just tonight we’re hooking up with some ghost hunter dudes, who we don’t know, in order to talk to my friend who I know nothing about and who killed himself. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I don’t know who the hell I am. What kind of girl burns down a house and kills a dog?” What kind of girl let’s a guy beat on her, and molest her while she’s supposed to be sleeping? I shivered. That truth was getting brighter by the hour.

  “So you’re complicated. Guys like complicated. They don’t think they do, but they thrive on the bad girl drama queen types. I get that about you. You’re so deep,” she said, sarcastically.

  “Don’t you think if I was ready I would be all over getting into a relationship with Rick? I’m not ready. Something is blocking me.” Not only that. He just didn’t seem interested in the right way. He hadn’t made a move when he’d had plenty of opportunities. If I pursued my feelings, he was sure to reject me. Rick was so loyal. He was just taking care of me for Mack, I was sure.

  Claudia shook her head and ran her fingers through her black spikes on her head. “Not something. Someone. Mack is what’s blocking you. Living is what will unblock you, and your man Rick is alive and ready.”

  This was that girly thing again, that she had going for her. Part of me wanted to agree and get into that conversation, about how hot Rick really was, but the part I listened to, wanted to be careful. “Let’s just change the subject please. Do you want to go for a swim?”

  A swim sounded so relaxing. Just what I needed. My nerves were jumbled up in a knot and if I didn’t know about our plans for that night, or that I agreed to them, I wouldn’t have believed that I would partake in such a creep fest. Maybe I was crazy and did need to be on medication. Maybe I wasn’t any better than Mack. After all, I wasn’t taking my meds either.

  “Sunny? What are you going to wear tonight?”

  What does one wear to a ghost hunt, when they need to confront a ghost who was their best friend? Claudia thought we needed to go out and pick out something special to wear for the occasion. I showed her my huge walk in closet, even though I knew that nothing in it would satisfy her.

  “It’ll help pass the time. We can go get a late lunch and look around for something right to wear.”

  “Right? What’s right to wear Claud? What do people normally wear to these events? Your ghost hunting dudes look like they wear jeans and a t-shirt. Why can’t we just do that? I mean if you want to get all spooky, I think you’re close to that already.” There was one picture of the guys on the website. They were supposedly investigating a haunted house. The picture was dark and it was hard to make out their features, but they weren’t dressed special.

  “Oh so funny. No, this is important. It’s sort of spiritual. And I am so not spooky.”

  “Spiritual. Great, let’s get Catholic uniforms.”

  “Come on Sunny, please? Can’t you just get into this? Can’t you see that the clothes make the girl? I think it’ll make us feel more comfortable if we put some thought into it. We’ll feel more in control.”

  I didn’t get it, but I was going to go along with it. Mostly because I didn’t want to sit around the house all day thinking about what might happen at the cemetery. It was also getting a little annoying being Claudia’s psyche patient.

  This time I wanted to shop somewhere different. About a year ago I discovered these really cool resale shops near the university. I’m not talking Salvation Army, or the church basement type stuff, I’m talking some really awesome retro stuff. It only took Mack one visit to hate the stores and the clothes. He said it gave him the creeps to wear stuff his dad might have worn on a hot date. Let’s just say he was really against me buying anything from those stores.

  Claudia got it, and we had so much fun looking through all of the treasures. She found a really ‘groovy’ jean jumpsuit that snapped all the way down to the crotch, and a tube top to wear under it. I found an Italian t-shirt with three quarter length sleeves and a neckline that connected front and back at the edge of my shoulders. It was a very dark pink, with really classic roses printed on it in different shades of pink that were very close to the original color. With a pair of low cut jean
s? It would show a portion of my belly and back. A fashion statement I had never made before.

  “Look at this jewelry and the scarves,” Claudia squealed. She was in heaven, going through all the pins and buttons, and scooped up all sorts of ornaments for her outfit. The silk scarf around her neck was, well it’s hard to describe. Claudia could pull it all off. She was the seventies all ramped up and full of death.

  Next we agreed on shoes. The outfits we wanted to wear were dying to be matched with platform shoes. There wasn’t time to go far from home, so I agreed to go to our local mall. Claudia was set on getting back to the house in time to soak in the tub, redo our nails and relax while we got ready. I was going with the flow, as long as it felt right.

  Right went really wrong when we ran into Linda and her girls. They were walking on the opposite side of the mall and spotted me right away. Thankfully, we had already made our purchases and all that was left was to get to the car, which was all the way at the other end of the mall.

  I grabbed Claudia’s arm and pulled her close to me, so I wouldn’t have to speak so loud over the mall noise. “Linda and her friends are coming our way. Please don’t …”

  “Where?” she interrupted, as she jerked her body around to get a look.

  “Don’t Claud. I don’t need any trouble from her.”

  “Well she wants trouble. She’s shaking her ass to catch up to us.”

  “Frick!”

  “Don’t worry. Just stay calm.”

  Claudia wasn’t kidding. I think Linda lost a couple of pounds to catch up. First they barked like dogs behind us, and then Linda walked up next to me and linked her arm in mine, so she could keep up with me.

  “Back off Linda!” I snapped, yanking my arm out of her grip.

  “What have we got here?” she asked. With one hard yank, she had my bag with my new shoes and was dumping them out on the floor. Before I could react, Claudia was between me and Linda, ready to take or give the blows. I tried to move her but she was set in stone and determined to handle this one.