"It's not his fault!" I yelled.
Alex kept Matt pinned beneath him.
"I didn't mean to," I sobbed. "I was going to break up with him. Tell him I couldn't see him anymore. But before I could say a word, he kissed me. I was caught off guard, and I kissed him back. I didn't even realize what was happening until it was too late."
Alex struggled to keep Matt down. Even dead, Matt was strong. "Stupid!" It took me a minute to realize Alex was talking about me. "Why would you go somewhere private to break it off with him? It's like you were inviting trouble." He kneed Matt in the stomach, and Matt groaned. "Look what you've done, Jodi."
"I know," I said, more angry at myself than at Alex. "Please, can't you do something? Help him?"
Alex shook his head. "I can't fix this."
"Yes, you can. You can kill him and bring him back the right way. You said there was a trick to it. That I needed to learn how to do it right. You can do it. You can put him back the way he was." I was begging, but I didn't care.
Matt gritted his teeth and growled. Blood and spit flew out of his mouth. Alex shoved his face to the side so Matt was looking at me. It only made me cry more. "This isn't your boyfriend, Jodi. This is a-for lack of a better word-zombie. You don't know how to use your power, so you didn't put all of him back into his body. He's almost an empty shell. No brain, no thoughts. Only animal instincts." Alex nodded at the bunny, shredded on the grass. "I'm guessing he did that."
I couldn't bring myself to answer, but I didn't need to. Alex knew everything. He may not have been here to witness it all, but he knew enough about raising the dead to put the pieces together. "Please," I begged, "there must be something you can do. We can't leave him like this."
"No, we can't. We have to kill him, Jodi. But this time for good."
I started to protest again, but Alex interrupted. "You didn't know what you were doing when you brought him back. You did it wrong. When you bring someone back-the right way-they come back exactly as they were before they died." He gestured to Matt, still growling and dripping blood from his mouth. That was how Matt would come back, even if Alex did everything right, because that was what I'd turned him into.
"You mean he'll still be like a zombie?"
"Yes. I'm sorry."
I lost it, sobbing so hard I could barely breathe. My nose ran, and my eyes stung. I hated myself for bringing Matt back in the first place. If I hadn't brought him back, if I had waited, Alex would've been able to bring him back the right way. I still wouldn't have been able to date Matt, but he'd be alive.
"Go," Alex said. "You don't need to watch this. I'll take care of Matt and get rid of his body."
"What do you mean ‘get rid of his body'?"
"We can't let anyone see him like this. He's covered in blood."
"Then we'll clean him up. I'm not letting his family wonder what happened to him. I'm not going to put them through even more hell than his death will already cause." I stood up. "I did this. I have to take responsibility for it, and I have to do what I can to make up for my mistake." It felt idiotic to call murdering the guy I liked a mistake. Mistakes were cheating on a test or lying to your parents. Killing a person wasn't a mistake. It was inhuman.
Alex nodded. "Fine. We'll clean him up and make his death look like an accident. Although, the effect our blood has on humans is most like a heart attack. Do you know if he had a history of heart problems in his family?"
I ignored the question. Matt was seventeen. He was healthy. No one would believe he'd had a heart attack. And besides that, I was caught up on something Alex had said. "We're not human, are we? Ophi, I mean."
Matt was getting really restless trapped beneath Alex. "There's too much to explain right now. We need to get this over with. Fast."
"How will you do it?" It was an awful question. One I didn't really want to know the answer to. But I didn't want Matt to suffer, and I didn't want Alex to do anything that would raise even more questions about Matt's death.
"I'll use the power of my blood." He removed a knife from his pocket.
"Wait!" I said. "Maybe we should use my blood. I'm the one who did this to him in the first place. I should be the one to clean up my mess."
"Sorry, but you can't. I appreciate you wanting to take responsibility, but you don't have control over your powers yet. You may end up making things worse."
I couldn't imagine how things could get any worse. But I lowered my hand.
"I need to spill my blood if I'm going to fix this. An adult Ophi can release souls by commanding them, but I don't fully have that ability yet, so I have to poison him again. I'll explain how it all works later. But for now, I need you to step back, and no matter what happens, don't touch Matt or me. Got it?"
I swallowed my fear and nodded, taking a step back. It was hard to watch Alex slice his left palm with his knife. I winced at the sight of his blood. He held Matt's mouth open and dripped the blood inside. For a second, Matt welcomed the blood, and that made me cringe. He really wasn't human anymore. But then his body went completely stiff. Alex stood up and nodded to me. "It's done."
The tears came again. I was surprised I had any left. Alex stepped forward and wrapped me in his arms. It felt strange to have him hold me. He'd completely freaked me out before, but now he was saving me … from myself. I cried on him for a few minutes, relieved that my tears couldn't harm him. I could be myself around Alex.
"Jodi, we have to get him cleaned up and work out a story before your mom or Melodie finds us." His voice was soft, comforting.
I pulled away from him. "There's a hose at the back of the house, but someone might hear or see us."
Alex put his hands on his hips and wrinkled his forehead. "Okay. I need you to go back inside. Tell your mom and Melodie that Matt broke up with you. Tell them he found out you liked someone else."
"No. They'd never believe that. They knew I was crazy about Matt. There was no one else." I cringed, realizing I was already talking about him in the past tense.
He sighed. "Fine. Tell them he was tired of all your drama. Dating you was too much work."
That was believable. Especially with the way my life had been lately. I nodded.
"Good. I'll clean him up. Give me five minutes or so. That's all I'll need. Then come back outside. I'll handle the rest."
I was afraid of what he'd do, but Matt was already dead. Nothing Alex did now was going to hurt him. I headed back to the house and hesitated at the door. I took a deep breath and went inside. Mom and Melodie were in the living room. Mom was on the phone.
"There you are!" she said. "I've been trying to call your cell. Where did you go?"
I fought back the tears. I couldn't have any more accidents. I summoned all my strength and opted for a stoic misery. It must have been convincing because Mom and Melodie rushed to me and brought me to the couch.
"What happened?" Melodie asked.
"Matt," I said. "He broke up with me."
Mom looked angry, while Melodie looked almost relieved. They both waited for me to go on.
"He said dating me was too much work. Things were too hard, and he needed to move on."
Melodie turned and peered out the front window. "Where is he? His car's still out front."
"We took a walk, but he was in the backyard when I left him."
Melodie got up and stormed out of the room. Mom and I followed her. We went out the back door. "Matt!" Melodie yelled, sounding like she was ready to give him an earful. But she stopped short when she saw the pool of water on the back patio. Matt was lying in the middle of it with the neighbor's snapped power line next to him.
Chapter 12
"Oh my God, Matt!" Melodie shrieked.
"Stop!" I grabbed her arm. "That's a power line. If you go near it or the water around Matt, you'll get electrocuted."
"We can't leave him there and do nothing!" Melodie cried. "Jodi, he's my best friend." She broke down, and I couldn't take it. I turned and ran back into the house yelling something about 911. I ran right into the kitchen table and doubled over it. My breathing was labored. I looked up to see Alex in my kitchen. He dialed the phone for me, but then he held it out.
"If I call it in, the police might ask about me. They'll want to talk to everyone who was here. You have to do it."
I took the phone.
"911. What is your emergency?" the operator said. I really hated the sound of that.
"This is Jodi Marshall. There's been an … accident." I choked on the word. "A power line snapped. My boyfriend's been electrocuted."
"Miss Marshall, can you please confirm your address for me?"
Why was it that I could call for pizza delivery and they could tell my address from the phone number, but 911 needed me to confirm it for them?
"118 Pine Street."
"I'll send someone out right away. Please, stay away from the power line and the body. Do you understand me? If your boyfriend's been electrocuted, then the wire is live, and it will electrocute anyone else who comes in contact with it."