Little Miss Molly

There she was again... the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. We took the same bus to and from school, and walk the same road home. I had never had the nerve to talk to her but, right then, I had to. The next day was graduation so it may have been my last shot. I raced up to her on the walk home, we were the only two that got off the bus here.

"Hey!" I shouted, running towards her. She looked behind her and looked back at me with the funniest look and continued walking. Stunned, I stood there a moment before getting enough nerve to run up to her one more time.

I jumped in front of her and said, "Hey, I don't mean to come off like a creep but I was wondering if—"

She interrupted me and said, "Wait, you can see me?"

So confused, I replied, "Well, yeah. You're standing right in front of me."

Just then a car came and she didn't bother to explain why she said that. Instead, she just jumped in front of the car. Right in front of me! I didn't know what terrified me more, the fact that this girl just tried to kill herself in front of me, or that the car went straight through her—and no one stopped. It was like she wasn't even there. After a few minutes of wondering what the lunch lady had put in my food that day, or every day for the past four years, I decided to take a seat by the road.

"Are you okay?" she asked me.

"Are you okay? You're the one that jumped in front of a moving vehicle!" I stuttered.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little confused," she said.

"You're confused? Well I guess that makes two of us," I told her.

"What are you?" I added.

"Excuse me?" she snapped at me.

"I feel like that should be kind of an obvious question," I explained.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I really don't know. I have been like this for a long time now," she said.

"Well, what happened?" I asked.

"I wasn't always like this. I had a family... One night, a man broke in. I remember my mother screaming at me to get in the closet and hide, and to not come out until she came for me. Moments later, I heard gunshots. I was too scared to come out, even when I heard the police there. I just waited until they left and I slept in the closet where she hid me." She started to cry. "I knew what happened. I couldn't bring myself to leave, though. When the food ran out, I just stayed in my parents bed and waited. One day I woke up like this," she finished.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry. How old were you?" I asked her.

"Thirteen."

She wiped her tears and laid her head on my shoulder. The girl I've had a crush on this entire time is finally talking to me, and what? She's dead? I really didn't know what to say. Why am I the only one that can see her?

"Are you the only one like this?" I asked.

"I haven't seen anyone else like me. Everyone I have tried to talk to hasn't been able to see me until you. I tried doing things over exactly the same as that day, but that hasn't worked, so now I'm trying to do things like I normally would have if this hadn't happen. It's like I am stuck in this little split between life and death, and I don't know how to get out. I keep hoping one of these days I'll wake up, and it will have all just been a bad dream," she confessed.

"Do you know who killed them?" I asked her.

"No," she said.

"Well maybe if you find out who did it then it will be over," I said.

"How do I do that? People can't even see me," she replied.

"I will help you," I offered.

"Really? You would do that?" she exclaimed.

"Sure!" I answered her.

Not exactly the date I had in mind, but alright.

We walked back to her house to try and get some answers. The place looked condemned. Granted, I wouldn't want to spend all that money on a double homicide house either. I won't lie, I was terrified of trying to catch a killer. I had no idea what I was doing so, what? I just run around town with a zombie, looking for clues as to who killed her parents four years ago? I thought the hardest thing I would have to do today is talk to her, and now I'm offering to help play detective with her? I feel like my math homework would have been easier. And that says a lot coming from me.

Back at her house we started searching through things that were torn up that night. Nothing really seemed to stick out.

"Was anything taken?" I asked her, hoping to find some clue.

"Not that I know of," she said.

"What did your mom and dad do for work?" I questioned.

"My mom stayed at home. My dad was a cop."

Great. Good luck getting any information with that, I thought.

"What about your parents?" she asked.

"Uh, my mom is a receptionist at the hospital," I answered.

"And your dad?" she pushed.

"He left awhile back," I said.

I pulled out my phone and started looking up news in our town around that time.

"What is that?" she leaned in and asked me.

"My phone?" I answered.

"What's a phone?" she inquired.

"They had phones four years ago..." I reminded her.

"I was kidding! You seem so serious." She nudged me. Zombies have jokes? Alright.

"Hey, this seems interesting..." I started to tell her. I saw her sitting among the mess her parents killer has left for her while staring at a family photo.

"What is it?" she asked me.

"Your dad was investigating a fellow officer?" BINGO! I had him now.

"I don't remember anything about it, but he rarely spoke of work," she told me.

"We can go check him out if you want. It says your dad thought he was stealing from the evidence lockers."

A dirty cop. Go figure. Just when I thought this story was interesting, right? She grabbed my phone and said there was an address for him. Road trip!

"Well nobody's home. I guess we will just have to come back," I said, looking over to see that she had already started breaking into his window.

"Hey! What are you doing?! You really think breaking into a cops house is the best idea?" This day just gets better.

"Who are they gonna arrest? A dead girl?" she chuckled and climbed in.

The girl had a fair point. It started to get dark and a car pulled up. I was terrified.

"Sorry mom, I can't go to graduation... I'm in jail," I started rehearsing in my head.

"Molly! Molly!” I whispered through the window. No answer. Now the dead girl doesn't wanna talk? I climbed through the window, when I suddenly felt a tug on my arm, pulling me into his pantry. "Jeez, Molly. Could you have maybe come out before he got home?" I whispered to her.

"Sorry, I couldn't find anything, but I have a feeling..."

Oh, okay. Now we are going on a dead girls gut feeling. Shortly after, Officer Morris came in the house. He set his gun on the table, along with his badge, wallet and phone. He threw the bag he had over by the wall. He popped off the wainscoting, unloaded the whole bag of cash in the wall and put it back.

"That is what my parents died over? Some damn money?" she murmured.

"Maybe it's his life savings?" I tried to convince her.

"Right," she sarcastically answered me. The shower started and Molly got out of the closet and said we should go. I was so grateful. The last thing I wanna do is try and stop a fight between a cop and a dead girl.

Just then, she turned around and raced to the shower with the gun.

"Molly, stop!" I yelled. Officer Morris raced out in a towel and saw nothing but a gun in the air.

Terrified, he looked at me and said, "What in the world is going on, Mr. Andrews?" he called me.

"Uh... I can explain!" I said with my hands in the air.

"What kind of witchcraft bullshit is this?!" He yelled at me while staring at the gun.

"Ask him if he killed my parents, Owen! Ask!!" Molly shouted.

"Okay, okay... Mr. Morris, did you have anything to do with the Tuckers deaths four years ago?" I really didn't know what I wanted his answer to be at the moment.

"What? Me? No! Son, that was your father... Didn't your mother tell you why he went to jail?" he asked me confused. Shocked, I could barely stand. I didn't have to though.

Next thing I knew, I was on the floor, covered in my own blood. I never saw Molly again. I guess she found her peace.

And that is the time I had an undead girlfriend.