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Chapter 2 - You’re Dead

Janie was dead and possibly about to witness the death of the only person who could communicate with her. David was on his knees with his hands clasped behind his head and his eyes shut tight. There were a couple hundred weapons hanging from the rafters of The Sword and any one of them might be pulled down at a moment’s notice to detach his head from his body. 

“Pop quiz!” Beth started, “Taylor, explain the sucker’s posturing.” 

“What? Oh, okay,” Taylor stammered, “right, so, when suckers make themselves known they kneel which makes it difficult for them to move and henceforth -” 

“Therefore,” Beth corrected, “watch your syntax.” 

“Therefore less likely they will attack. Umm … the hands … they’re behind his head.” 

“And?” 

“And … his fingers! They’re — you know — oh — what do you call it? Interlocked! Right, yes, they’re interlocked to restrict his umm movement.” 

“There’s another reason.” 

“There is?” 

“Behind the head instead of behind the back …" Beth left an opening for Taylor to finish the explanation, but — despite all Janie’s finger-crossing — Taylor didn’t take it. “It serves as a visual reminder that the only way to kill a sucker -” 

“Oh, I’m such an idiot,” Taylor chided herself. 

“Nope,” David interjected, “pretty sure that’s me for getting a drink at a field bar and not waiting til I was safe at work to meet people.” 

“There’s an understatement,” Beth agreed, “Taylor, how do you kill a sucker?” 

“By severing the spinal cord at the base of the skull.” 

“Effectively doing what?” 

“Effectively … Effectively …” 

“Brain stem,” David whisper-coughed. 

“What?” Taylor whispered back. 

“Are you friggin’ kidding me with this?” Beth asked. 

“Look,” David started, “I’d rather not die and if helping — Taylor, is it? — pass this test of yours helps me not die then that is what I intend to do.” 

“No one’s killing you today.” 

“Really?” David opened his eyes and saw Beth’s cracked cowboy boots and well-worn fitted jeans. He looked up and saw she wore a dark gray blazer over a similarly dark t-shirt with an image that he couldn’t quite make out. Janie scowled at him to signal now was not a great time to check out her sister. 

“Everybody can relax, I found the car!” Janie warned. 

“Really,” Beth assured him — raising her voice so everyone in The Sword knew to go back to their own business — before returning to her student, “Taylor, he said brainstem. What does severing the spinal cord at the base of the skull do to the brainstem?” 

“It severs the brainstem and effectively destroys the sucker’s special healing thing.” 

“Regenerative powers,” David said. “Not like Doctor Who, though. Well … like that time he was in the middle of a full regeneration and lost his hand and grew a new one, but not like the time he was reunited with his old hand and it grew into a new doctor. We can regrow body parts, but body parts can’t become new people.” 

“Suckers,” Beth threw in as both correction and insult. 

“No brainstem to send the info?” Taylor guessed. 

“Exactly.” David said. 

“Great, Taylor passes her pop quiz by the skin of a sucker’s teeth. I’m so proud,” said Beth, “but I’d be a hell of a lot prouder if you passed your Sallies without someone whispering hints to you on Thursday.” 

“Is that you telling me to go home and study?” asked Taylor. 

“Yes.” 

With that answer, Taylor gathered up all seven seasons of Buffy and headed for the door. Janie always loved and hated watching Taylor make an exit. “Can you really see and hear Janie’s spirit?” Taylor asked David. 

“Go home, Taylor, we’ll find out for sure tomorrow,” Beth answered. 

“David,” Beth said when Taylor was out the door. 

“What?” 

“You can get up.” As David stood before her, and Janie rolled her eyes in annoyance, it was Beth’s turn to take note of how his biceps continued to look impressive peaking out from beneath his white t-shirt as his arms hung by his sides. He rubbed his palms nervously on the hips of his jeans. Beth’s eyes darted the rest of the way down to the oldest pair of running shoes she’d ever seen. 

“This building should be condemned,” Janie teased though her sister couldn’t hear, but David could and did his best to hide a nervous smile. 

“Here’s the thing,” Beth said, “I don’t trust you. You’re a sucker. Technically you’re a living, thinking being with rights; but, you wouldn’t be if someone hadn’t drained you dry in the first place. If I find out you’re lying about Janie, I will not hesitate to end you.” 

“You may as well get used to that,” Janie started, “it’s the kind of resentment your ability is going to provoke in some people.” 

“Christ,” David sighed turning to Beth, “does she have the whole movie memorized?” 

“Tell you what,” Beth said, “you can spend the night in holding. I wouldn’t want you refreshing your memory too much on movie dialogue.” 

“Yeah, right, good idea.” David grabbed his jacket from the barstool and put it on. 

“Are you kidding me?” Beth asked when she saw the brown corduroy jacket with its leather elbow patches. 

“What about you?” David countered, gesturing the image now visible on her shirt, a faded Wyld Stallyns logo. “My sister died today and these are the darkest clothes I own that don’t look like I’m on the make. You got a problem with that?” 

“None,” he said leaning back into a silent jolt of air guitar. Beth did not join him in his fanboy salute. 

“Kyle,” Beth called. 

“Yeah,” Kyle said, coming to her end of the bar looking like a direct descendant of Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz

“Put the sucker up for the night will you?” 

“Sure thing.” 

David’s shoulders dropped, “You have a cage in your basement, don’t you?” 

“It’s a field bar, neighbor,” said Kyle. 

“Don’t call him neighbor,” Beth called over her shoulder. 

“I call everybody neighbor!” 

That was the last Janie heard, Beth had put in her request and left with Janie bound to follow. Janie watched as Beth went home to their apartment and started finicking like she always did after work. But it was different. Beth pulled out the bottle of Prosecco they’d been saving for Taylor’s certification celebration, uncorked it, and started drinking. 

With the bottle in one hand, Beth went around taking books and clothes and stuff that Janie had left lying around and started shoving it in kitchen drawers and between couch cushions, drinking all the while. Whatever little hiding place Beth came to first, that’s where her most recent grab of Janie’s stuff went. In the end, Beth sat on the armrest of the couch knowing that if she sat on the actual seat she might feel Janie’s school things. 

She sat for a minute or two, took another swig or two, but then something caught her eye. Janie followed Beth’s gaze to her roller skates. Beth went and picked them up, but the nearest hiding spot happened to be Janie’s bedroom door. 

Janie followed Beth into her old room and watched her big sister put her roller skates down at the foot of the bed. Beth took the last few gulps of Prosecco left and looked around the room. She looked at Janie’s bed and the little stuffed wolf-cub doll Taylor had given Janie for her birthday. 

It was then that Janie remembered her birthday, remembered Beth surprising her with the blue sweater and the sweater turning out to be some kind of magical when Taylor presented the little wolf with a kiss on Janie’s cheek. Janie put her hand to that cheek and decided she wanted to cry, but — when she looked at Beth — she saw her sister had beaten her to it.

Beth was crying silent, heaving sobs. She put the empty bottle on the nightstand and curled up in Janie’s bed and cried herself to sleep. 

Next Chapter: Chapter 3 - Word of Mouth