1 Dead Girl's Guide to Style (15 page)

As I walked toward my car to go home for the evening, I hadn’t expected Max to pop up. It was as if he’d appeared out of thin air beside me.

“Good evening, gorgeous.” Max looked at me through his long lashes.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you,” I said around a smile.

“How about I take you somewhere fun tonight?”

I paused. “Is this a trick question?”

He laughed. “No, it’s not. I want to take you somewhere that I think you’ll like. It’s hauntingly mysterious.”

I quirked a brow. “Okay, now I am curious. Where are you taking me?”

“So that’s a yes, you’ll go with me?” he asked.

I smiled and nodded. “Yes, I suppose I will go with you. I
’m intrigued now and have to know where this is you’re taking me.”

“Wonderful. Let’s go,” he said with a wave of his hand.

“Where are we going?” I asked as he walked down the sidewalk.

“You’ll see.” H
is smile was infectious.

Just a few more steps and he stopped. I looked at the tent sign on the sidewalk.
Savannah Ghost Tours.

“You’re taking me on a ghost tour?
” I asked.

Caitlin wouldn’t be happy. This was the rival ghost tour and I had been officially banned from attending. I hoped she never found out.

“I thought you might enjoy the tour around town.” He looked at me with wide eyes, waiting for my reaction.

I nodded. “I would like that.”

The guide introduced herself and told us about the sites that we’d visit that evening. Max was focused on listening to our host. I watched his handsome face and wondered what this was really all about.

There was a large group of people with us for the tour, about ten in total. That was a lot for a walking tour. Max reached out and grabbed my hand as we followed the group. Of course we walked at the back. The moon shimmered in the sky and warm
th from the summer night hugged us.

“Do you like ghost stories?” I asked.

His eyes held a sadness. “I believe in ghosts.”

The statement brought back memories of what I’d seen in the graveyard.

“Have you seen a ghost?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said vaguely.

The group had stopped in front of the graveyard, the one where I’d met Max and where I’d seen the ghost of the woman. I tried to hear what the tour guide said about the graveyard, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. Only that numerous ghosts had been seen over the years in this graveyard.

Out of the corner of my eye, I got a fleeting movement.
Had anyone else seen it? It was a shadowy mist. I glanced at Max. He looked visibly shaken, as if he had seen something too.

He turned to me. “I’m sorry, Hadley, I just remembered some important papers at my office. I’m afraid that it can’t wait. Please forgive me.”

“Are you okay? You look like you’re sick.”

He shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Please forgive me.”

With that, he turned and rushed away. He couldn’t have run any faster if there had been a fire. Why did this keep happening to me? I’d thought he was different. Why had he suddenly changed when we reached this graveyard? He had a connection to this place, and I intended on finding out exactly what it was.

The next day, I hadn’t talked to Max. If he wanted to talk then he knew where to find me. I wasn’t buying his excuse of needing to get papers from his office.

Caitlin was already twenty minutes late. We had decided to go for coffee
at the Starbucks down the street and discuss the current situation. It was unlike her not to show up, so I knew something had to be wrong. I tried her cell phone yet again.

“Hey, it’s me. Where are you? If you don’t show up in the next five minutes I’m coming to look for you. Call me.”

I hung up the phone and tapped my fingers against the counter. I know I said I’d wait, but five minutes was way too long. Grabbing my purse, I headed out the door. Within a few seconds, I was in my car and headed toward her place. My stomach turned as I wondered what had happened to her. I prayed that she’d just forgotten our meeting or that maybe she hadn’t charged her phone. She had been known to forget that on occasion.

When I pulled up to her place, I shoved the car into park, then killed the engine. I jumped out from behind the wheel and hurried up the front porch. Her car was in the driveway. That wasn’t a good sign. Maybe she was sick. I knocked on the door because I couldn’t find the key that she’d given me. Of all times for me to be
disorganized. I pounded on the door again, but she still didn’t answer. My anxiety grew with each passing second. Of course I was imagining every horrible scenario. I needed to calm down and be rational.

When Caitlin didn’t answer, I decided to move over to the window and see if I could peek inside. I pressed my face up to the glass and cupped my hands over my eyes to fight off the glare. That was when I saw her on the floor. With her hands over her h
ead and legs twisted, I knew she wasn’t sleeping.

I knew I should have been worried. She was dead. Okay, I didn’t know that for sure yet, but I always thought the worst. I had to get in to help her. Going with my first instinct, I grabbed the window and pushed up. To my surprise, it was unlocked and I was able to shove it open. I swung one leg over the sill and then the other. Lucky for me, I could actually reach the window since it was accessible from the front porch of the house. Once inside, I made my way into the room after fighting the curtains that had tangled around me.

“Caitlin, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I yelled as I ran toward her.

I knelt down beside her body, grabbing her in my arms. Bite marks and blood dotted her neck and I knew instantly what had happened. Caitlin had been turned. She would be so pissed.

I looked around the room to see if the vampire was still there, but I saw no one. What would I do now? I lifted her to her feet and tried to walk her to my car. She was starting to wake up, but I knew that would only be temporary. Before long, she would be out of it for a very long time. I didn’t want to lose my best friend for years.

Caitlin’s head l
olled over to one side. I thought I’d totally lost her to the vampire sleep now. There was no telling how long it would be before she returned. I would have to find her a dark, safe place to sleep.

I had no idea what to do really. I mean, I was good at matching shoes with skirts, not helping vampires get their beauty sleep. Not knowing what else to do, I dialed Max’s number before I started the car. Maybe he would have advice. Oh
, who was I kidding? He had never done this either.

Max picked up on the first ring.

“Caitlin was turned and I don’t know what to do,” I said breathlessly. “I’m taking her to my place right now.”

“I’ll be right there,” he said.

It was kind of good to know that he was enough of a friend to help me bury a body.

Once back at my place, I tried to hoist Caitlin out of the car, but it was no use. I’d have to wait for Max.
I ran back over and climbed back behind the wheel.

When I spotted him walking up the sidewalk, I let out a sigh of relief. He rushed over when he saw
me sitting in the car with an unconscious Caitlin. I jumped out and rushed around to the other side of the car.

“When did this happen?” he asked.

“I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think it’s been long. She was supposed to meet me for coffee, but when she didn’t show up I went to her house. I found her on the floor. She was still a little conscious,” I said.

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out,” he said.

“I have to get her inside my house,” I said.

Max reached in and grabbed Caitlin up in one big swoop. He carried her in his arms up the path to my front door. His muscles flexed as I watched his body move. I shouldn’t have been worried about how good he looked at a time like this.

“What do we do with her?” I asked when he placed her down on my white sofa.

Max ran his hand through his hair
. “We have to find a place for her.”

The blood from her neck had dried up and the marks were already fading.

“I can’t leave her on my sofa,” I said.

He
stared down at her. “Well, she has to be in a dark place, so she can sleep, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Can I put her in my basement?”

Caitlin would be one angry vampire when she woke up.

He shrugged. “Sure, as long as it’s dark, I guess that’s fine. But she needs somewhere safe. Like maybe a coffin.”

“I have a coffin!” I said. “I just keep clothing in it.”

He quirked a brow. “Why do you keep clothing in it?”

“It’s like a trunk, right? It’s a great place for storing clothing,” I said.

He shook his head. “I guess that makes sense.”

“It’s a sensible thing to do.”

He looked at me for a moment and then nodded. “Okay, where is this coffin?”

I motioned toward the hallway. “It’s in my spare bedroom. That’s where I keep all my clothes. They kind of spilled out from the closet.”

The corners of his mouth turned up into a slight grin.

“Hey, I have small closets here,” I said.

He held his hands up. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Well, it wasn’t what you said. It’s the way you looked.” I laughed.

He followed me down the hallway. It was strange to have Max in my house again. I wondered if he was thinking the same thing. We made it to the room and I stepped in first.

He walked into the space and looked around. “You like pink?”

“Well, it is my signature color.”

The room had white cabinets with glass doors to store my items and a white vanity was where I sat and applied my makeup.

“The coffin is right there.” I pointed to the corner of the room.

“Where did you get it?” he asked as he stepped over to the window. “It’s not used, is it?”

“No, of course not,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I bought it new. Specifically to use for storage. Well, you never know when you might need an extra coffin.”

“One can never have enough storage, I suppose,” he said.

“How about
you grab one end and I’ll grab the other,” I said.

He nodded. “Okay, that sounds like a plan.”

We headed out the door and down the hallway with the coffin. I had no idea how we were going to get Caitlin in there and down to the basement. Did we put her in first or take the coffin down and then put her in? With much effort on my part, we carried the box the rest of the way down the hall. I hadn’t remembered the thing being so heavy.

“This thing is solid, huh?” he asked.

I smiled. “Yeah, it was well made.”

When we finally made it to the living room and placed the coffin on the floor, I turned around and looked at the sofa.

“She’s gone,” I said in a panic.

Max jumped over the coffin and to the empty sofa.

I scanned the room, but didn’t see her anywhere. “Caitlin, come out, come out wherever you are. You’re starting to creep me out.”

“She disappeared.” Max checked behind the sofa.

“This isn’t good,” I said.

“Where could she have gone?” Max asked. She couldn’t be awake and alert yet, so what had happened to her?

“I’ll check my bedroom while you check the kitchen right down there,” I said and pointed in the direction.

I ran back to my room, but Caitlin wasn’t there. She wasn’t in the bathroom or in the spare room either.

Just then Max called out. “I found her.”

After stumbling back down the hallway, I rushed into the kitchen. He had her in his arms again and was carrying her out.

“Where was she?” I asked.

“She was on the kitchen floor. I guess she came to and went in there,” he said.

“That is weird. I didn’t think that ever happened,” I said as I followed him into the living room.

I opened the top of the coffin and he lowered her in. It was strange to think that she would be sleeping for so long.

He turned to me. “Should we put the top on now?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Max lifted the lid and started to put it on, but all of a sudden Caitlin sprang up. Her eyes were wide open. She stared at me for a moment, but I remained speechless. We looked at each other in silence for a while longer until she finally focused her attention on Max. Again she said nothing, and he was speechless too.

Max’s expression said it all; he wanted to know what the heck was happening. But I had no answer for him. I’d never done this before and was just as clueless as him. I’d only heard what was supposed to happen and I was pretty sure this wasn’t it.

She looked at me again then rubbed her head. It was as if she was trying to rub the fog out. No doubt she was trying to figure out what had happened and where she was. I hoped she remembered me.

Caitlin reached over and touched her neck. “Wow, what the heck happened?”

“You don’t remember?” I asked cautiously.

She shook her head and then peered down at the coffin. “What the hell?” She jumped up and stumbled away from the coffin. “Why the hell did you have me in a coffin? What’s going on
, Hadley? Have you lost your mind?”

I held my hands out. “Okay, try to stay calm, Caitlin. We have something to tell you.”

She looked from me to Max and then back at me. She waved her arms through the air. “Oh, no, don’t tell me.”

Max frowned.

Caitlin backed up against the wall. “I’m a freaking vampire now? Is this what you’re trying to tell me?”

I frowned. “Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m so sorry. You’ll be fine though. We have everything under control.”

“Yeah, I can see that. You were trying to stuff me into a box,” she said.

“Do you know who did this to you?” Max asked.

She shook her head. “Wait. I think I have an idea. It’s fuzzy, but I remember some things. It was definitely a female.” She paused. “And I think I know who it was. I’m going after her right now. Who the hell does she think she is? Mona!”

Caitlin burst out the door and I ran after her. Uh-oh. This wasn’t going to end well. She was going after Mona and there was no telling what would happen when she found her. I had to stop this.

“Caitlin, stop. You have to think this through first. You don’t know for sure that Mona did this.”

Max ran behind me and then passed me. We hurried along behind Caitlin. There was no catching her. Her legs moved faster than I’d ever seen. She made it to the house and I was struggling to keep up.

“Can’t you catch her?” I asked Max.

“No, I think she has some extra strength right now. We will have to just let her work it out.”

“Yeah, well, in the meantime she will get into trouble. I have to stop her from doing something that she will regret,” I said.

“I get the feeling that she really wouldn’t regret anything,” Max said.

Yeah, I hated to admit it, but he was probably right.