You're Dead: Chapter Nine (complete)

I sat in the back of Stevie’s food truck with Booker. The atmosphere was so quiet it was crushing. Freddie was back to normal in the front seat, after having gone through some magical transformation I can’t quite wrap my mind around. Not a word had been spoken since Freddie had to discard his shoes on the street after I blew up all over them.

“You have no idea how much worse you’ve made things on yourself.” Freddie’s voice from the front frightened me. I tensed up into a tighter ball than I already was. “I would have understood you running away. But running into the arms of-” He clenched up and went quiet.

“Bowie,” Booker chimed in.

Freddie cast a glare back at the both of us. “I’m talking now.”

Booker’s eyes widened and he scooched further away from the front.

Freddie huffed and pushed his hair from his face. “You have no clue how dangerous he is. Getting roped up with him is not safe, no matter what you were told. He and Grace are two sides of the same extreme. Falling away from the path of our roles in this world is not an option.”

I turned my head away, staring into the dark shadows of Stevie’s truck where I saw moths fluttering around.

“We are here to protect humanity, to serve it. Making sure souls do not become lost and add to the chaos of this world is a worthy endeavor.”

“Then why did you turn into the big bad wolf?” I grumbled.

Freddie scoffed.

Stevie reached out and shoved Freddie’s arm. “She brings up a good question! She needs to know at least that.”

Booker moved across the aisle and sat beside me. He offered his hand to me and when I didn’t take it he put his arm around me. “We all can do that. Did you not see Bowie’s mouth?”

I remembered the blue flames and smoke. “Is he a dragon?”

“Not that cool.” Booker smiled. “You remember that first lost soul that Freddie siked on you, how it looked all...fucked up?”

I glanced up at him, cocking my eyebrow up in confusion. “Yeah?”

“Souls aren’t meant to exist on this side without a body,, not for long anyways. Same goes for us.”

“Then what is this?” I slapped my arms while keeping them crossed. “Am I wearing a meat suit?”

Booker shrugged and nodded at the same time.

“I’m wearing a meat suit?” I blurted.

“It’s not a meat suit!” Freddie huffed in the front seat. “They are temporary forms. Vessels that allow us to walk amongst the two plains at the same time. Because of this our souls still warp, but at a much closer rate. This is what we call an alter.”

I stared at Booker for assurance and his arm tightened around me.

“They are powerful, filled with energies we brought from our previous life as well as this one. The more souls we protect, the more threads we cut, the less severe this transformation becomes. That is why Grace is in the state she is in. Bowie too to an extent”

Booker hugged me close. “Things you should have been warned about earlier.”

Freddie grumbled under his breath. “Yes. Things you should of-” he stopped and scoffed. “Look,” he turned around in the front seat to look back. “I didn’t want to have to do this at all, but we are going to be dealing with a crisis any day now. I can’t have you running around freely while we deal with something that could be cataclysmic. Until that is over, you’ll be staying with someone who will be able to show you how badly you almost fucked up.”

I glared forward at him. “You’re talking like a long winded fortune cookie.”

Booker smirked but quickly sucked it back in.

Freddie turned back forward. “My friend Rosemary is going to keep you until we can figure out what Iggy is warning us about.”

“Iggy?” I looked to Booker. “What did Iggy do?”

“He went full Mothman, predicted something bad was going to happen at a building near where we found you.”

My eyes widened. “My sister lives in that area!”

“Too bad,” Freddie snapped.

“Harsh,” Stevie hissed.

Freddie looked back again. “That’s what we’re trying to work on. Now that we don’t have to worry about you being missing, we’re going to focus on trying to prevent as much damage as possible. I won’t let what happened in Virginia happen again to that level.”

“Falling off that bridge wasn’t fun,” Booker huffed.

I wanted to ask so many questions, but I kept my mouth shut.

We drove far, far, far, from town, going deep into the woods where I was certain only the weirdest or richest of people lived. We went down a small unpaved road, which seemed to set Stevie on edge. She was still pissed that Freddie ran over Bowie with it. Which was something I hadn’t even begun to process yet.

We came upon a huge iron gate in the middle of the woods and Freddie took out a cellphone. He tapped around for a while and the gate swung open so we could drive through.

“Is this a cemetery?” I clutched tightly onto Booker’s hand. “Are you...are you going to bury me?”

Booker was trying not to laugh. “No! This is Rosemary’s place.”

I furrowed my brow. “Who?”

Stevie parked and exhaled loudly. “You are paying for any work that needs to be done,” she snipped at Freddie. “Got it?”

“Fine,” he grunted. He then looked back at me. “Get up. We’re here.”

Booker helped me up and out of the back of the truck. Freddie walked ahead, going towards the stone cottage that rested amongst the trees.

“Whose Rosemary?” I whispered to Booker.

Booker just smiled. “You’ll see. She’s actually the best.”

The front door opened and a woman stepped out. She had on a slight smile that grew as she stepped into Freddie’s arm. “Good to see you, old man!”

“You too,” Freddie said gently. He pressed his cheek against her hair, which was long, messy, and mane-like. “I’m sorry I had to bother you like this.”

“Shut up.” Rosemary playfully punched him in the side.

Booker snorted and tried his best to keep from laughing. He then rushed up, taking Rosemary away from Freddie and hugging her tightly.

“Easy big boy,” Rosemary laughed. “I’m happy to see​​ you too.” She stepped back and smiled, but then her eyes looked down. “Freddie? What happened to your shoes?”

“Forget about it,” Freddie sneered in our direction. “This is the troublemaker.” He motioned for me to move forward, but I stayed in place.

Rosemary had soft, honey colored eyes that stared deep into me, as if she was going to pull out something. “She’s cute,” the expression then shifted, going tense around the eyes and mouth. “She’s dressed like-”

Freddie’s brow pinched as he looked at me. His dark eyes cut through me, then landed on my face. He took a short breath and quickly avoided my gaze. “She was living with Bowie the past two weeks.”

Rosemary clicked her tongue and rubbed her chin. “Oh fuck. You must have freaked out.”

“He ran Bowie over with my truck,” Stevie scoffed.

Rosemary sucked her lips in and nodded. “Hmm. Yeah, okay. I have some old clothes I can give her. No biggie. Come on in.”

I shook my head. “No.”

Freddie glared back at me. “You don’t get a choice. Maybe, you might have, if you hadn’t run away and played hide and seek for the past two weeks. But right now, you get this and nothing else.”

“Like I can’t run away in the woods?” I snapped at him. “I’m sure she’s nice, but what makes you think I’m going to sit here? That I might get eaten by bears?”

“Coyotes probably,” Rosemary chimed in. “But that’s not the reason he’s putting you here. I am.”

“Rosemary is cool,” Booker assured me. “She raises honeybees.”

“Honeybees aside,” Freddie huffed. “Rosemary is a banshee.”

I stared at her. I had heard about banshee’s from old horror movies and the like, but I had been prepared to see them as gnarled old women who only screamed. Rosemary was pretty, disheveled but pretty.

Rosemary wagged her fingers. “Come on inside and I’ll give you all the grisly details. I knew y'all were coming so I started some leftovers.”

Booker took my hand, leading me inside Rosemary’s home. I saw there were a couple of guns hanging at the front door. I wondered if they were for the coyotes or something else.

“We can’t stay long, Rosemary,” Freddie said. “We have to get back and start patrolling and figuring out what Iggy’s warning is about.”

“I understand.” Rosemary took us into the kitchen where she had us sit in a breakfast nook. “But you can have lunch.”

I was pushed against the window, where I could see the rows of honeybee houses surrounded by flowering bushes. Freddie sat beside me, and I kept noticing his eyes cutting to me.

“I’m not going to jump out the window if that’s what you’re worried about,” I scoffed.

“That window doesn’t open,” he grumbled. “I hate those clothes on you.”

I was wearing the clothes that Bowie had given me. Sure, they were all black, but they were nice. Unless that’s exactly what he hated about them. Bowie only wore all black, perhaps Freddie had grown to hate that.

“Well excuse me,” I huffed.

“Is Basil here?” Booker asked, sounding excited.

“No, he’s at work.” Rosemary brought over bowls of soup she set before us. “I’ll tell him you sent your love though.”

Booker waved to me to get my attention. “Basil is a hot giant.”

I furrowed my brow at him while Freddie scoffed. “Basil is Rosemary’s husband, not yours.” He shook his head as she started eating the soup.

Booker looked at me and mouthed, ‘he’s so hot though.’

Rosemary was watching me. Those honey colored eyes poured over me, feeling heavy on my skin. I looked down at her offering of soup, which looked to be ham and potato. I took a bite, feeling her eyes still on me.

“This is really good, Rose, thank you,” Stevie said sweetly.

“Don’t think of it.” Rosemary smiled, but looked right back at me. “So tell me, what’s your name, troublemaker?”

I swallowed down a mouthful. “Daisy.”

“That’s adorable, it suits you.” She stepped closer to the table. “While you’re here, I’m going to give you some chores. Okay? Until Freddie comes to take you back, I’m the boss. Okay?”

I licked my lips. “Is that a threat?”

Rosemary smiled. “It can be.”

I shivered but feared looking away from her.

“Just so you know, Freddie brought you here to me for several reasons. Yes, I am a banshee. Yes, I live far, far away from anyone and anything. Yes, my husband is the best hunter and tracker you’ll find. But I am also Bowie’s biggest hater, and I will do all I can to make sure you hate him too.”

I gulped.

“You’re so cool,” Booker said dreamily.

Rosemary narrowed her eyes on me. “As a banshee, I’m a harbinger, much like Iggy who I am sure you’ve met. But also, I warn against death, and part of that, is that I can disable psychopomps.”

“Disable?” I muttered.

Rosemary put her hand around her throat. “My scream can keep you at bay before you cut a thread off a mortal. It affects each psychopomp differently, but you all end up unconscious or extremely weak one way or the other. Which is why if you are ever out of my sight, or you don’t respond when I call, I will scream and I will find you.”

I bit down on my lip. “And if you find me?”

Rosemary leaned across the table. “You’ll wish it was my husband with an ax,” she whispered.

I looked up and down, noticing Rosemary was wearing glittery house shoes. “Is your husband bigfoot?”

Rosemary smirked. “She’s got a mouth, doesn’t she?”

Freddie sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m starting to realize that.”

“Should be fun,” Rosemary cast her honeyed gaze at me again. “I always did want a little sister around.”

“I have a little sister,” I grumbled and looked back down into the bowl of soup.

Freddie leaned down to me. “You’ll be safe here, as well as kept under foot. I will come and check on you, just to make sure. Not only that, Rosemary will educate you on this new life of yours. I can’t have you getting into more trouble with Iggy’s new prophecy. I don’t want you hurt either.”

“You said the building was in the same district as where I was. My sister lives there and works there-”

“And we will be working to make sure the damage is kept to a minimum,” Freddie insisted. “The best way to assure your sister’s safety is to stay here and let us work.” His eyes were gentle, and even after seeing an arm spurt out of him, I felt somewhat comforted.

“The Velvet Poodle,” I said.

Freddie frowned.

“It’s the club she works at,” I scoffed. “Just...try and protect that place okay?”

Booker had taken my bowl of soup away from me and was eating it. “I love that place! They have the best sangria.”

Stevie gave him the eye. “I’ve catered events for The Velvet Poodle,” she adds. “It’s a nice place. One of the few bright spots in the grey area.”

“It’ll probably serve as a base for us while we work out Iggy’s warning.” Freddie leans back in the nook. “And like I said, I’ll be coming by often to keep tabs on you.”

I grimaced and turned back to the window.

“Afraid to say we can’t stay much longer,” Freddie huffed. “We need to get back. There’s a lot to prepare for.”

“I get it,” Rosemary shrugged. “Just don’t overwork these two. Alright?”

Stevie glared in Freddie’s direction. “He already has. Between our jobs and this, he’s not given us not much room to work with.”

Freddie rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Possible disaster, I don’t know how to state that more simply. I have a day job too.”

“But you don’t have the bills I do, and maybe Booker does.” Stevie scoffed. “I know what our job is, I’m just saying you could let up, especially now that Daisy is under lock and key.”

I snapped my neck to look at Freddie. “Am I getting locked up?”

“No! You’re not!” He huffed then patted his hand on the table top. “Okay, we have to go.”

“Of course we are,” Booker grumbled. “Ultimate change of subject.”

Freddie frowned then cast his eyes down on me. “I’ll be back.”

I sighed heavily and shrugged. Booker reached across the table and pet the top of my head.

“I’ll try and visit too.”

“No,” Freddie scolded.

Stevie waited until last. Once the other two were gone and scooted in next to me and put her arms around me in a strong hug. It was a shock. I hadn’t expected that from her.

“What’s that for?”

“You scared me shitless,” she hissed. “And with all the bullshit I haven’t had a chance to say how glad I am to see you in one piece.” She smiled softly at me. “Even if you somehow shaked up with Bowie.”

I gave her a smile that was shy and apologetic. “You were worried about me?”

Stevie nodded. “I feel somewhat responsible for you. Mara trusted you to me, and Mara was important to me. Besides, I’m not the newbie anymore.”

I laughed with her then gave her a hug back. Her strong arms did feel really nice. “I guess I should apologize.”

“Later,” Stevie scoffed and got back out of the breakfast nook. “To be fair, it was cathartic to see Freddie run over Bowie. Even if it was with my truck.”

I followed her out, my brow furrowed low. “Did Bowie really hurt you all that bad?”

“He destroyed Freddie, that would be enough for me. But he did more than that.” In the dark hallway Stevie turned to me and placed her hand upon my arm. Her eyes glowed in the dark, radiating a moon-like halo. “Bowie is dangerous. You need to stay away from him, for your own good, Daisy.”

I didn’t say anything, I just looked up into her eyes until she let me go.

“You’re safe here, that’s for certain. So stay fucking put so Freddie doesn’t freak out anymore.”

I huffed. “Fine.”

“That’s all I ask for.” Stevie walked outside, going up to her truck where Freddie and Booker were waiting.

Rosemary approached me and pointed down the hallway. “Your room is this way. Just got it cleaned out yesterday, so it may still smell funny.”

In all my life I had only ever had two bedrooms. My room when I lived at home, and the apartment I shared with Clover. In the span of two weeks, I now added three to that list.

“How funny?”

“Depends on your sense of humor. Come on.” She waved me to follow, taking me to my new room and/or prison. I guess it all depended on my behavior.

“I’ll get you some hand-me-downs from my storage if you want to change.” Rosemary watched me as I stepped into the room. It was small, but also bigger than my room back with Clover. There was a closet as well as a chest of drawers, and a twin bed decked out in a mustard yellow comforter. There was a heavy scent of dust, moth balls, as well as the night light plugin that was in the wall. The window faced out into the woods.

“Thanks.” I sighed heavily and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Rosemary watched me, her hand moving from her waist and dropping down to her side. She stepped up closer to me and moved her hands as she tried to think of what to say. “Listen, I don’t know nothing about being dead. But I do know a lot about death.” She crossed her arms against her chest and held an expression between sympathy and pain. “Being a banshee, it comes with the territory. If you need to talk-”

I huffed and pressed the heel of my palms against my eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it.”

“Is that why you holed up with Bowie?”

I glared up at her and she smirked, but she looked pissed. “I really know how to choose them. Don’t I?”

Rosemary sat down on the bed beside me and patted my back. “You can be honest with me. I’ve known Bowie and Freddie all my life.”

I arched a brow at her. “Really?”

She laughed and clapped her hands together. “Oh god, the stories I have.” She pressed the edge of her flat together hands to her lips. “Being a banshee, I was both useful and dangerous to them.”

“Hence why I’m here,” I grumbled.

“Exactly.” Rosemary smiled at me. “Don’t worry, I’m much safer than Bowie.”

I still had feelings for Bowie. I mean, it was only a few hours ago that we had discussed being more. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear this or not. But everyone was saying it. Everyone had told me that Bowie was some form of dangerous.

“Look, we don’t have to talk about that.” Rosemary then stood up. “How about I show you my bees instead?”

“Okay. Sure.” She put me in a bee suit then led me out to where all the hives were. I stood there like a lump, just listening and watching.

“I just attracted bees, so I decided to make it profitable.” Rosemary said.

“You attract bees?” I asked incredulously. “How come?”

“Did Freddie not tell you about that? All those connected to death attract one of the species of harbingers.” She stopped in the middle of one of the rows. “Have you noticed anything tailing you around?”

I thought for a moment when I saw a moth amongst the honey bees. “Moths seem to be a theme. Everywhere I go, I see them all around me. I thought it was just something that happened.”

“Oh cool, Booker does too.” Rosemary opened up one of the hives and leaned over top of it. “Have you seen Freddie swarmed by cats yet?” She then whispered into the hive and the bees came out in a cloud.

I took a step back even if I was in the suit. “Kind of. I saw him lead an army of them. I think that’s what happened anyways.”

The bees floated up and away, dispersing so Rosemary could remove a comb from inside. “Isn’t it funny?”

Was she talking about bees or cats? “What is?”

“Freddie.” Rosemary then showed me the cute flat of honeycomb. “Look how pretty that is!”

It was strangely opaque and milky looking. “Sure.”

“Basil is going to be so excited about this.” She took the comb over to a work station where she pulled out some jars from a drawer and then a large bucket. “But yeah, it’s funny how he gets cats when he literally turns into a black wolf.”

“Oh! That.” I shivered.

She took something that looked like a window scraper from another bucket. “You saw that right? You know about the alters?”

I nodded. “The wet arm thing-”

“Oh yeah. That’s weird.” She scraped the honeycomb into the bucket, and suddenly, there was a golden waterfall to match her eyes.

“How long have you known them?” I wanted to know about them. That relationship and their connection fascinated me. I’d rather know about that than why I should be wary of Bowie. “Freddie and Bowie I mean.”

“Since I was little.” Rosemary kept herself focused on harvesting the honey. “My dad was raising me alone, and when my banshee side started revealing itself, he was sent into a panic. Mara discovered me and she had the three of them keep an eye on me and my dad. So when my dad died-” She hesitated and her work came to a halt. “They took me in.”

I swallowed back a lump in my throat.

Rosemary sighed and looked up at me. “Can we stop talking about personal, sad bullshit for a minute?”

I didn’t expect that conversation to end so fast. “Uh...okay?”

Rosemary went back to harvesting. “My husband will be home shortly. I think you two will get along swimmingly.”

I fidgeted in place, unsure how to carry the conversation after family trauma. “Is he bigfoot? I never got an answer.”

“He’s been mistaken,” Rosemary laughed. “But no. He's not bigfoot. Just a normal guy who’s over six foot and has supernatural powers. Nothing weird.”

I furrowed my brow. “That sounds weird though.”

Rosemary set aside the now empty comb. “Once you start getting used to this life, Daisy, nothing is going to seem weird that often.” She handed me the bucket. “Get this inside, we’ll get it into jars before Basil comes home.”

Inside the bucket was a sea of gold filled with chunks of the thick, waxy comb. It looked thick and rich, and in a way, it reminded me of how life had felt when I had it. I took the bucket inside while Rosemary returned the frame to the hive.