Living Dead Girl

The motel blankets were rough against Trey's skin as he lay on his side, staring at the quiet figure in the other bed. She sat against a pile of pillows, her knees up around a heaping bowl of chocolate ice cream that sat in her lap. Her eyes were glued to the television screen as some horrible reality show played on mute with French subtitles.

"I can feel your eyes on me," she said in her strange accent. "If you wanted some ice cream, you should have asked."

Trey sighed. "It's not ice cream I want."

Gisele turned with a playful look on her face. "Oh? Then tell me, Trey, what is it that you want?"

"I want my best friend back."

"She's asleep now, sorry."

The silence that followed made his ears ache. He gazed into the familiar eyes of Lark Fontaine but could not find a shred of her in them anywhere.

Finally, Gisele dropped her spoon into her bowl and shook her head. "I'm trying to give you your friend back, don't you see? We want the same things, you and me. You want me out of Lark's body just as much I want out of it myself. Trust me."

Trey chuckled. "How can I possibly trust you?"

"Honestly." She rolled her eyes. "The word demon has such a negative connotation, but I promise you I'm not a bad person. I don't do bad things."

"You burnt Lark's house down with her father inside." Trey couldn't hold back the malice in his voice anymore. Gisele had destroyed Lark's entire life since she showed up uninvited and Trey had to sit around and watch his best friend deteriorate. He couldn't do it anymore.

"Well, I'm not allowed to explain that one to you."

"You got her thrown into a mental institution. She lost an entire year of her life. And who knows how much more she'll lose dealing with the trauma of what's happened to her after you're gone."

Gisele's mouth was twisted into an uncomfortable half smile. "I see. So, you must really hate me then, huh?"

Trey sighed. "No, I don't hate you. I just don't want to hang out with you."

She pouted for a moment. "Well, if you want to get rid of me so badly, let's not waste time in this disgusting hotel. Let's get out there and get my book."

"I don't know," said Trey, shaking his head. "I'm not sure I can trust you."

She was across the room changing her clothes already and Trey looked away out the window.

"Oh, boo," Gisele said. "Just try to trust me this once. Let me find my way out of this poor girl's body so I can inhabit someone else. Someone with better fashion sense who isn't so sad all the time."

"Have you ever thought that maybe it's you who's making her sad?"

Gisele stopped and frowned at him. "Poppycock."

* * *

The book store was closed, but Gisele didn't seem phased by it. She continued to knock, pound, and tap annoyingly on the front door. It was near midnight by then and, according to the shop's hours posted on the door, they'd been closed since nine.

"No one's here," said Trey. "Come on, let's just come back in the morning."

"Oh, there's someone in there alright." Gisele took a few steps back from the entrance and narrowed her eyes. Trey stood stiffly next to the car, idling quietly in the parking lot.

Blue and purple neon lights shone from the shop's dark windows. As Trey glanced around the empty parking lot and the dark streets beyond, he felt a chill run up his spine. He was truly alone with her out here, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. No one knew where he was. Trey suddenly realized that he had put himself directly in harm's way with no backup plan.

"Let's go," he called again. "You can't just stare at the door and will it to open."

Gisele tossed him a stern glare. "My book is in there." She turned back toward the building and said, quieter, "I can feel it."

Trey assessed his surroundings, then a noise caught his attention. The front door of the book store was edged open and a slight figure stood in the doorway.

"We're closed," said a woman's voice. "Come back tomorrow."

Trey was almost relieved, until Gisele spoke.

"Hello, love." She sounded pleased in a sinister way.

The girl in the doorway moved her head farther out of the shop and squinted through the dim neon lighting. She focused on Lark's face and shook her head.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

Gisele laughed. "You know not of this face, but you have seen my wrath, girl. You have something of mine and I want it back. Or you will feel the wrath of Gisele again."

The girl's eyes popped. She was suddenly visibly afraid, her hands trembling at her sides. "Gisele?"

"The one and only." Without a moment's hesitation, she strode forward toward the girl and pushed her aside to enter the book store. As she did, she glanced over her shoulder at Trey and said, "Come now, darling, we're almost finished."

"I'll wait outside," he said.

Gisele stopped and turned, glaring at him. "Come in. Now."

Try cleared his throat. "Okay."

Inside, the girl introduced herself as Adeline. She wrung her hands and hovered behind them a few feet back as Gisele dragged Trey through the store, browsing shelves in search of some particular book.

"Tell me where it is," said Gisele.

Adeline swallowed hard. "I'm not sure I know what you're looking for."

"You know exactly what I'm looking for." Gisele had more pomp and arrogance in her voice than Trey had ever heard. "Now, give it to me."

Adeline stared, her mouth hanging open. "I—If you would—"

Gisele clapped her hands. "Get me the fucking book!"

The girl jumped slightly then scurried toward the counter and began thumbing through volumes on a shelf. She crouched to pull a thin leather-bound tome from a low shelf and, trembling, turned to hand it to Gisele.

"This is what you're looking for," said the girl. "Isn't it?"

"Aah," Gisele cooed. "My baby!" She reached out and took the book from the girl's hand and hugged it tightly to her chest.

"Alright, can we go now?" Trey said.

Gisele ignored him. She stared down at the tome in her hands as if it were her long-lost child, stroking the cover and running a gentle finger down the spine. She opened the book and flipped gingerly through the pages, grinning down at them as she went. Then, she stopped, and a maniacal grin spread out across her face.

"Right here it is," she said. She spun around to face Trey. "Oh, Trey, don't you see? We're so, so close. I have the spell right here. We can do this, get it over with right here and now."

Trey blinked at her. "What do you mean?"

Gisele slowly pulled something from her pocket. It was the knife Trey had found in Lark's glovebox. She presented it proudly in her left hand, holding the book in her right. She looked like the Statue of Liberty, or some perverted version of it anyway.

"No," said Trey. He looked behind her at Adeline, who had now flattened herself into the far corner of the shop, eyes wide and knowing. "Absolutely not, Gisele. We came here for a book. You got it, now we're leaving."

Gisele laughed. "You are insufferable! This is what you want, Trey. This is what you've wanted for over a year now. You can have your Lark back."

Suddenly, she dropped the knife and gasped in pain, reaching up to put her hand to her head.

That's enough, G. You need a time out.

"You filthy bitch," Gisele growled. "Don't you dare take this from me." Then she cried out in pain again, dropping to her knees.

We opened our eyes and stood slowly. Trey hovered a few feet away, looking on in uncomfortable horror. We glanced around and saw the shop owner cowering in the corner.

Bitch.

"Calm down," we said aloud. "This wasn't the plan, and you know it. You're getting trigger happy."

Fuck you. You just don't want to be left alone. You want to keep me forever so you can have someone to talk to for all eternity.

"Whatever." We bent down and picked up the items Gisele had dropped; the book and the knife. We ran our hands over the rough, crumbling cover, frowning down at the blank generalness of it.

Be careful with that.

Trey stepped toward us. "Lark?"

We nodded at him. "Hi. Sorry about all that."

He sighed. "Can we get the hell out of here?"

We nodded again. But Gisele wasn't going to go down without a fight.

No!

When she screamed, our head felt as though it would split right down the middle, and we cried out. Our eyes burned, our chest felt like it might collapse, and suddenly, I was on the inside again. Gisele had forced her way out quicker and easier this time.

I clawed at the mental doorway between my consciousness and the outside world, but she had locked it tight. I was trapped, and I could only watch as the rest of the night played out in front of me like a bad movie.

"You messed with the wrong demon," Gisele sang. Lark's face had morphed even more, and she looked less like herself than ever.

"Stop!" Trey yelled at her. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

Gisele stormed toward him and his muscles went rigid with fear. She grabbed his throat with a strong hand and pushed him against the wall. He stared back at her, his breathing growing short, paralyzed with not knowing what to do. He couldn't fight back; he didn't want to hurt Lark.

Stop it, Gisele, don't hurt him!

"You have stalled me enough, boy," Gisele hissed. "Get in my way again, and Lark will have no one at all once I am gone." She raised her hand that held the knife and brought handle down to smack against Trey's head. He fell to the ground unconscious.