Raising the Dead Read online

  Scooter interrupted her reverie with a hopeful request. “Piece of candy?”

  Having been briefed by Kay, Vivian replied, “Only if you put your poo-poos in the potty.”

  Well, he did.

  Ain’t normal life grand…

  ***

  After returning to the gift shop with Connor in tow, Vivian was confronted by a staff member and two scared Clemmens sisters. The staffer was tall, skinny, and had a hairdo that reminded Vivian of a lopsided lump of ice cream stuck on top of a red cone. She looked none too thrilled with the girls, or with Vivian.

  Great. Just what I need today.

  “What did you two do?” Vivian asked the girls with a hint of good-natured sarcasm.

  “Are these yours?” snapped the staffer.

  “Not officially,” Vivian joked, “but I am watching them today—”

  “Well, ma’am,” she interrupted, clearly not softened by Vivian’s attempts at humor. “Leaving them alone in a store isn’t really watching them, now is it? All children must be supervised by a responsible adult.”

  Seriously?

  “Well, ma’am, I had to take the toddler to the bathroom, and Annabelle is almost twelve. I think she can handle her sister for a few minutes. What exactly did the girls do?” she asked.

  “Nothing!” Kaitlyn said, stomping her foot. “We were just looking.”

  Annabelle nodded and then stuck her tongue out at the staffer when her back was turned. Vivian shot her a warning look and then turned her attention back to the staffer. The woman pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest, but didn’t offer an answer.

  “Well?” Vivian pushed.

  “We can’t be too careful, and other parents complained when they saw these girls on their own.”

  “Fine, whatever, we’ll be on our way now,” Vivian said. She held Connor in one hand and beckoned the girls with her free hand. She had started walking away when her backpack slipped from her shoulder, spilling the contents on the ground.

  “Candy!” Conner shouted as he wiggled out of Vivian’s grasp and started grabbing Skittles by the fistful.

  Annabelle tackled him and tried to take the candy away. Her heart was in the right place, at least. Kaitlyn helped Vivian pick up what Connor hadn’t already snatched. The staffer just stood on the sidelines and rolled her eyes.

  Vivian was sorely tempted to zap the woman in her skinny ass, but resisted. It was getting a lot harder to resist these days. She was only human, after all—albeit one with some pretty superhuman powers. Still, she reminded herself that her powers should only be used for the living in need and not for petty grudges. She took a deep breath, then thanked Kaitlyn, asked Annabelle to remove her brother from the headlock in which she held him, and convinced Connor to return what was left of the candy to the plastic bag from which it had fallen. At least one other staffer had stopped to help and see if Vivian was okay, restoring some of her faith in humanity.

  “Don’t mind Bea,” whispered the friendly voice from the even friendlier freckled face. “She just gets a little carried away sometimes. You know, she’s all about the letter of the law but not the spirit.”

  “Thanks,” Vivian replied. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. The girls know not to run off with strangers.”

  “Do you need me to watch this little cutie while you take the girls to the ladies’ room?” the staffer asked as she bent down to examine Scooter. Her nametag read “Pat.”

  “No thank you, Miss Pat. I think we’re good to go. I do appreciate the offer.” Even the kids said thank you.

  Vivian turned to gather the girls and was dismayed by a surly, still-scowling Bea. Jeez, lighten up, lady. Before Vivian had time to reconsider zapping her, she watched in horror as a wisp of faint light whizzed past and flew straight into Bea with enough force to knock her off her feet.

  Bea screamed. The girls stared for about ten seconds before bursting out laughing along with some other patrons. Vivian bent low and looked for a clear shot. Bea reached for the cashier’s stand to pull herself up, only to be knocked in the head by a box of rubber snakes that fell from the counter.

  The box and gravity had some extra help.

  The specter she’d seen lurking behind the bushes at the entrance now hovered over the cash register in apparent admiration of his handiwork, allowing Vivian to get a better look at him. He manifested as a smoky gray form, transparent, and only visible from head to torso. She couldn’t make out his features very well, but he appeared to be young, or at least he had been young when his spirit departed his body. The energy his spirit could harness projected a version of his former self, which seemed to be the preference for most guardians and possibly the only option for lost and lonely souls. Vivian was surprised he was able to muster enough strength to cause so much trouble, and even more surprised to sense warmth from him.

  She’d only ever felt a rise in temperature from bona fide guardians before.

  Filing away her observations for later, Vivian made sure no mortal was watching and then took her shot. A lightning-fast flash of red light and he was down. Hey, I’m getting faster! It seemed that she’d managed to stun him without anyone else noticing, thank God. The other shoppers were too busy enjoying the show with Bea, who looked madder than an old wet hen as she plucked the snakes out of her hair. Feeling bad, if not partially responsible, Vivian walked over to her and started cleaning up rogue snakes and other items that had fallen.

  Unfortunately, Bea didn’t appreciate the gesture.

  “Just leave it!” she yelled.

  “Hey, I’m just trying to help,” Vivian said. “But if you don’t want it, suit yourself.”

  Shrugging, Vivian glanced over to check on the specter. He was gone.

  That was definitely weird and unexpected. She hadn’t put a lot of energy into her stun. It wouldn’t have held a guardian or reaper, but it should have held the weak immaterial spirit. Still, she’d done all she could. She had neither the time nor the privacy to seek out the ghost apparently hiding among the living. Vivian decided to file away the rest of this odd encounter. She could always report to the guardians here or tell Ezra later.

  Besides, she was supposed to be off duty right now.

  “Okay, Clemmens children,” she called. “Move ’em up and head ’em out!”

  The girls stopped laughing and walked toward the door. Kaitlyn studied Vivian for a moment and then said, “You’re way too nice, Aunt Viv. I would’ve knocked a box of toy crocodiles on her head if I were you.”

  “Well, don’t tell your mother, but I did think about it,” she replied with a wink. “Hey, where’s Scooter?”

  Kaitlyn pointed to another part of the store. “He’s over there talking to himself.”

  Vivian spun around and spotted the boy in the back corner, apparently engrossed in animated conversation with no one. Toddlers. They were so weird. Good thing they were cute, too.

  “Scooter,” Vivian called. “Come on. Wanna go see the meerkats?”

  “I coming, Aunt Vee Vee! I coming!” he shrieked with joy. As they were all walking through the door, he turned back to wave and said, “Bye-bye, Junior!”

  CHAPTER 2

  After making the entire circuit around the zoo and chasing three kids in the process, Vivian understood why Kay looked tired these days. She was pretty worn out herself, but felt great about giving Kay a break. Kay appeared to have the perfect life to outsiders, but looks were often deceiving. Vivian and Sue Carlson, her best gal pal and mutual friend, had both been wildly jealous of Kay and hoped they could get so lucky when they finally settled down.

  Then Vivian had found out that Kay’s seemingly perfect life was anything but.

  Turned out Kay had suffered from postpartum depression after each of her three children. She was still having a hell of a time shaking it after Scooter, more than two years later. It had been worse each time. Having a traveling husband and full-time work schedule didn’t help either. Vivian hadn’t known any of this until a
fter she acquired her powers, which included the ability to absorb the burdens and suffering of the living in the form of light energy. Along with flashes of insight into her friend’s pain, she’d also coaxed Kay into talking about it with her.

  The good news? It brought Vivian closer to a friend and gave her a rare and wonderful opportunity to help the living in a very ordinary way. And since Sue had been busy with wedding plans and a baby on the way, Vivian had appreciated the company of her other bestie. The bad news? It left Vivian even more ambivalent about family life than she had been before.

  The Clemmens kids were a handful, but she had to admit that they came with some great perks. One of them was definitely comedy. While waiting for the elephants, Scooter chased a horrified Kaitlyn around the sitting area, which came complete with makeshift safari tents that were cleverly situated adjacent to pampas grass-bordered habitats. It gave the illusion of a real safari adventure, especially in the heat of the muggy Tennessee summer. The walkway was strewn with hoof and paw prints.

  It would have been tranquil under different circumstances. Scooter always enjoyed a game of catch-a-sister, but this time he had a very special weapon. In addition to a cry that would make a howler monkey cringe, he wielded the recently retrieved booger on an index finger as he sprinted after Kaitlyn on sturdy, chubby toddler legs.

  While standing on the sidelines to watch the show, Annabelle informed Vivian that she was going to grow her boobies someday soon and hoped they would be as “nice” as Aunt Viv’s. It was oddly flattering.

  Another perk Vivian had discovered were the spontaneous moments of joy she witnessed every now and again between them. Annabelle, with her mother’s raven hair that was cut in a stylish bob, was on the cusp of becoming a young woman. She would often, between eye-rolls and preteen snark, coach her little sister through third grade playground politics and phonics. Kaitlyn, with her wild-child hair and freckled skin, never stopped moving, or fidgeting, or twitching. Yet her unabashed song-and-dance numbers were expressions of sheer bliss and innocence. Scooter was all boy. Ox-strong, he could be mean as a snake and just as unpredictable. But when he gave hugs and uttered words of love and gratitude, she never doubted his sincerity. Plus, Vivian was a sucker for redheads—and unlike her, Scooter was a natural.

  She watched them now as they scampered around what had to be the biggest playground in the greater Metro area. At least the girls were in her sight. Her heart rate shot up when she stood and looked around for Scooter, spiking higher when she didn’t see him tumbling in the toddler pen.

  Shit! That little monkey butt is fast!

  “Connor?” she called. “Buddy, where’d you go?” Panic crept up her spine in as she scanned the area. “Hey, Kate and Anna, have you seen your brother?”

  “Nope,” called Annabelle. “I thought he was playing with you.”

  Shit, shit, shit!

  She’d been lost in her thoughts for a few minutes and managed to lose the boy. Kaitlyn and Annabelle started helping her look and calling for their brother, and a few other parents joined in the search. Vivian was just about to alert the staff when she heard a man’s voice call out, “I think I found him!”

  She sprinted toward the sound of the voice and was relieved to find Connor at the swing set under the supervision of a dad with his two sons. Even more surprising, Wallace the surly guardian spirit stood nearby, unseen to the living and watching over her charge. She mouthed a quick “thank you” to the scowling spirit. He shrugged and then returned to examining his incorporeal nails.

  “Scooter!” Vivian scolded. “What did Aunt Vivie tell you about running away?”

  “I not run away,” he said, giving her his biggest smile. “Junior take me swing swing.”

  Vivian looked at the dad, who only shrugged and said, “Hey, I found him here swinging alone and thought he probably just wandered off.”

  “Thank you for finding him and keeping an eye on him until I got here, sir,” Vivian said.

  “No problem, ma’am,” he replied. “I know how it goes. Don’t tell my wife, but I lose one of these little guys at least once a month.”

  Vivian smiled at the man, and then turned and gave her best mad face to Connor. His smile faltered when he understood that Aunt Vivie was not happy. Fighting tears, he looked down at his feet and muttered, “Sowy,”

  “Well, don’t go running off again, especially with strangers, okay?”

  “Okay, Aunt Vee Vee.”

  “Let’s go.”

  On their way back to the girls, Vivian gave a nod to the friendly guardian as she walked among the living unseen. Jeanne gave her a bright smile and gushed at the sight of Connor. Wallace, who’d just appeared at her side, deigned to return her nod before passing right through a group of tourists. Literally.

  Now that was just plain rude.

  The living couldn’t see or feel the impact, of course, but most guardians she’d encountered didn’t just plow right through the space occupied by mortals. One of the living souls included a very old, wheelchair-bound woman being pushed by a young man, presumably a relative or caregiver. Vivian guessed the woman had been in decline for some time, given her fragile appearance and the soft rays of golden light swirling around her. The light was a manifestation of her surplus of spirit energy, unused life force that tended to accumulate in the infirm.

  The sight pierced her heart.

  Vivian did a double-take after Wallace walked right through the woman and her chair, his movements a blur. She swore that the light around the old woman swirled and then dimmed. Vivian squinted, trying to get a better look. Then, to her disbelief, Wallace appeared in her periphery. She turned in time to watch him rush into the gift shop, arms outstretched as if ready to attack. Perhaps he’d caught sight of the rogue ghost who’d caused trouble earlier. That wasn’t the weird part.

  The weird part was that Wallace kept walking alongside Jeanne.

  But he’d gone into the shop. Vivian could still see him dashing up and down the aisles at unnatural speed when she looked back into the shop. Her gaze darted from each Wallace until she grew dizzy. Did he have a twin? Were they both dead? What were the odds?

  Or could a powerful guardian spirit be in two places at once?

  “Aunt Vivie! You found him!”

  Vivian turned toward Kaitlyn as she and her sister ran to greet them. Connor wriggled out of Vivian’s grasp and galloped to Annabelle, who picked him up and kissed his grubby cheek. She relaxed as a wave of relief filled her. Having wrangled all three Clemmens children, she decided to herd them to her car before she lost another one.

  But the image of Wallace crossing through the old woman haunted her, for lack of a better word. Or maybe it was the perfect word. As far as she understood, guardians and reapers weren’t capable of absorbing spirit energy from the living. She could, but she was a living soul broker. She filed yet another observation away for later, determined to grill Ezra about it once the old coot showed up at her doorstep for another free meal and tutoring session.

  She’d also have to ask about the “being in two places at once” thing.

  She had a sneaking suspicion he wasn’t telling her everything he knew about afterlife management. Her mentor had a history of keeping her in the dark. Fortunately, she had other sources to whom she could turn for information—for a price.

  She’d have to consider carefully, but investigating this new phenomenon just might be worth it.

  ***

  “For the last time, stop apologizing. If I had a quarter for every time I lost the little monster, I’d be a millionaire,” Kay said, reassuring Vivian that she wasn’t mad about the near-loss of her only son.

  “I was watching him like a hawk, I swear. He’s just so fast,” Vivian explained. She was pretty happy that Kay wasn’t mad. She’d been afraid she would be banned from babysitting for eternity.

  “That’s a boy for you. I swear he’ll be the death of me someday,” Kay replied as she handed Vivian a glass of sweet tea.

&nb
sp; Kay’s dark eyes matched her hair, which never seemed to be out of place. Her clothing, however, tended to attract lint, stains, and kid goo when she was at home. Still, she’d managed to keep her looks, humor, and bright outlook through it all, and Vivian was certain she’d earned the title of hottest mommy on the soccer field, not to mention M.I.L.F. Kay had rolled her eyes and scoffed when Vivian said as much, but she couldn’t hide the twinkle in her eyes at the dubious compliment.

  They’d settled in to enjoy some quiet while Scooter slept and the girls played in their room. Vivian swore that if she ever did have kids, she would definitely institute daily quiet time for her own sanity. For hours. It seemed to be working for Kay.

  “So,” Kay continued, “how was the rest of the day?”

  “Oh fine,” she said. “Except for one royal bee-yatch in the gift shop.”

  Kay snorted. “Oh, Anna told me all about that. Most of the folks at the zoo are kid-friendly. I mean, if they didn’t get families there, they’d be out of business, right? So the beehive lady was probably just having a bad day or something. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Anything else?”

  Kay was probably going for offhand with the question, but her expectant gaze gave her away.

  “What exactly are you hoping for, Kay? My ovaries to hop out and start doing the happy breeder dance?”

  “Nope, I was just curious,” she replied coolly.

  Vivian wasn’t convinced. “Did Sue and Jack put you up to this?”

  Kay’s face fell and she said, “Jack didn’t.”

  “So that means Sue’s been sticking her big nose in my business again,” Vivian said a little too sharply. “Figures.”

  Their friend Sue Carlson was in the midst of planning her wedding to Jack Jameson. She’d been happily shacking up with Jack, one of her oldest flames, for almost a year. At least they’d shacked up in downtown Nashville chic style. Of course, since Sue found out she was knocked up and time was of the essence for the sake of propriety and gown fittings, the big day was just around the corner. Vivian wasn’t sure if Sue had told Kay the big news yet, but she suspected as much. While deciding if Jack was shacking-up material, Sue had arranged a blind date for Vivian with Jack’s buddy, Herbert Jace Blakemore. “Herb” had managed to embarrass Sue and entertain Vivian when he’d finally fessed up to going by his middle name, Jace. Good call.