Grave Danger Read Free

But I don’t remember what it was
called.” As Clarissa spoke those words, an image of herself and two
blurred shaped people sitting in a local restaurant flashed in her
brain.
    It was a memory of her living self, but still fuzzy
from death. For the death of her, she couldn’t remember the names
of those two people, but she knew somehow that they were friends of
hers. Those same friends were likely now aware of her untimely
demise.
    Henry became aware of her sudden sadness and
confusion. Clarissa was only recently dead and it would take time
to acclimate herself with her living past and her deathly future.
It was something they all had to go through. Death was nothing new
to this world and yet it still mystified much of the living.
    “ It will take some time to adjust to this
existence,” Henry spoke, looking at a couple as they held hands in
the streets, walking quickly by them. “Who you were and who you are
now, it’s a struggle for supremacy. In your head your mind knows
that life no longer exists for you, but in your heart you still
feel the need to be connected. The significant memories of life are
imprinted on the soul and we can retain some of what we were in
this form. But it takes time to remember the rest and even then we
are not the same.”
    “ That’s speaking mildly.” She answered with a
sarcastic bite. “I know I’m not the same. I’m dead.” She shook her
head as another image of her herself and a man popped into her
brain. They were arguing over some issue. She knew it was not
unusual for her and this man to fight as they fought viciously and
often. Suddenly the picture was gone from her brain, disappearing
back into the shadows.
    Clarissa looked earnestly up at Henry’s sympathetic
face. “I don’t know who I am,” she spoke the terrible truth. “I’m
not sure I even exist anymore. I know it’s somehow wrong that I
should still be attached to this world. But at the same time I know
that I should.” Still looking up at her ghostly companion she
searched his face for answers. “Am I making any sense to you? I
know I must be the worst ghost ever to exist. I don’t think I
believe in the paranormal world or ghosts.” She turned away from
him, wiping at her cheek to make certain that she wasn’t crying.
That would make him feel uncomfortable, she was sure. Clarissa
continued.
    “ I have to be honest and confess that being
dead really sucks right now. It was my birthday a few days ago.
That’s when I died, on my birthday.” She wiped at a stray glowing,
shimmering tear. “How convenient,” she said. “At least I’ll never
forget the day of my death. I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”
However that wasn’t entirely true. She knew she had died on her
birthday, but not how she had died or even why. That was something
her brain would not – could not think about yet.
    Henry knew exactly how she felt. In fact, they all
did. None of them had ever thought to find they were dead, at least
not so soon. Being dead was not as easy as many of the living
believed. It brought with it a whole new set of complications. A
ghostly existence was full of the same pit falls of the human
condition. The lack of a pulse or a fleshy body didn’t make those
issues less or non-existent.
    “ You’re behaving exactly how anyone in your
situation would.” He grinned at her statement about being a
terrible ghost. “I think you are going to be a wonderful ghost,
Clarissa.” He sobered a little. “Sometimes, it does suck to be us,
but then again it could be worse.” There were some who had a worse
existence than the Eidolon. “Don’t people always say that life
sucks too? I think that if people can make the statement that ‘life
is what you make of it’ then we can say ‘death is what you make of
it’. Would you agree with that?”
    “ Yes,” she answered. Clarissa knew that she
could never go back to the world of the living. Henry was more than
correct with his assessment. By the very nature