Grave Danger by K.E. Rodgers

this
existence might mistake her for one of the angels. But Maddy knew
about such deities to know the difference. For death to take a
person at such an age was a sadness that many of the living
experienced. Death did not discriminate. He took any and all who
crossed his path and without remorse.
    Maddy took in the sight of this young ghost and
wondered what she would be like in a few years, even in a few
months after living here in St. Augustine. Even now after only
being recently created, it was clear that she was an exceptional
being. Clarissa possessed a powerful soul that with enough time and
encouragement could easily rival the aged ghosts who ran the oldest
city. And they might not be so pleased to know that someone could
usurp their authority in the world of the dead.
    “ Would you like to come and see your rooms
now, Clarissa? I’ve set you up in one of the rooms that face the
front yard and the city. You can see a bit of the church from your
bedroom.”
    Clarissa tilted her head, a single nod. “Thank you,
Maddy.”
    They had agreed earlier to set aside formality and
call each other by first names from now on. Madeline was accustomed
to being called Maddy. At first it was only Henry who had called
her by such a name and then it had suddenly caught on until she was
Maddy to everyone as well.
    Clarissa followed Maddy up the narrow staircase to
the second floor. At the moment Clarissa was the only dead resident
staying at the house. Henry and the others in the city had homes of
their own and after a time so would Clarissa. It was one of the
requirements that all ghosts asked for, a home of their own where
they could be at peace and feel safe. It was obviously something
left over from their living days.
    Maddy told Clarissa about her grandson, Jackson. He
would be over some time tomorrow afternoon after school. A senior
in high school, he didn’t have any future plans for himself after
graduation. Maddy knew he would figure it all out in time. His
parents were constantly away on business trips and so left their
only son with his grandmother a lot. It was clear that he loved his
grandmother despite it being un-cool for someone his age to want to
hang out with an old woman. And it was clear that Maddy loved her
grandson unconditionally.
    Jackson could see ghosts just as easily as his
grandmother. Another thing his parents found disturbing about their
son. Conversing with the dead was not something they approved of
and they secretly hoped that he would go away to college and forget
all about his grandmother’s gifts and her paranormal friends. But
so far Jackson had no intention of ever stopping his visits to St.
Augustine or his grandmother any time soon.
    “ I hope your stay here will be pleasant
enough. I know it must be difficult sharing with a living. But I
promise that as soon as things can be arranged we will find you a
place of your own.”
    They had by now reached the landing and were making
their way down the silent hallway to Clarissa’s room. “You must be
exhausted from your journey.” She opened the door on her left,
letting Clarissa walk through first.
    Clarissa was tired, an improbability considering she
was dead and no longer needed sleep to survive. But she was wary.
She just wanted to rest in peace, to think about her new
circumstances and to simply relax her brain. Going to the window
that faced the front yard and the city, the river and sea coast
beyond. Lights illuminated the old city and somewhere out in the
night the flesh-eaters were taking down the living like cattle.
    What did they look like, she wondered? What poor
soul was being taken down by them at this moment, exterminated by
the monsters of the night? It was a strange world she found herself
part of, the dead and the living so close yet never completely
united. The ghosts allowed them, the living, to be sacrificed to
these undead corpses and they thought that was okay. It wasn’t, not
by any standards okay to condone