More Than Flesh & Bone

Chapter 20

HERE I GO AGAIN

When I came to I was standing, staring at the outside of a green dumpster and not up at the raftered ceiling of the creepy zombie room. I looked down, disoriented as I checked my body for a sign of the stab wound. As I'd already started to suspect, there wasn't one.

"Oh, fuck… not again," I complained.

"Addie?"

Now that, I hadn't expected.

"Zed?" I spun toward the voice, hope mingling with fear. If he was here, what did it mean? Were we both dead-dead? Or only in that in-between dead like the first time I'd snuffed it? And if I was dead for real this time, did that mean I'd get to see Trace?

"What happened? How'd we get in the alley?"

I shook my head, my eyes drinking him in. Even dead he looked fucking perfect. Why did men have it so easy? Ugh. "I don't know how we got outside, but your psychotic brother definitely just killed us."

"He…" Zed started.

"Is fucking looney tunes," I finished for him.

Zed sighed. "Yeah… I don't know how to process that yet."

"I don't get it," I said. "I was so sure it was Bucky. He was such an asshole. Ugh. I'm not apologizing for blaming him." I crossed my arms over my chest, peering around the backlot behind Zeta Omicron Mu.

It was dead.

Get it?

I chuckled under my breath.

"What are you laughing about now?" Zed asked, clearly less amused.

"Nothing," I said. "Just that it's dead out here. Get it?"

He most certainly did not.

"Shouldn't there be like a white light or something?" Zed asked, looking around.

I frowned. "I'm not sure. The last time this happened Not-Morticia told me I had t go back…" I trailed off. "You don't think?"

Zed gave me an odd look. "Think what?"

I scratched my head, a half-formed idea taking shape in my mind. "Where the hell is a ghost when you need one?"

"You rang?" Eddie intoned, appearing out of nowhere.

"Don't do that," I hissed, although I was more startled than anything.

He blinked at me. "You asked for me, and here I am."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

Zed was looking between me and Eddie, shock etched in every line of his face. "Addie, is that…"

"A ghost? Can you see them now too?"

"No… Rumpelstiltskin."

"Rumple who now? No, Zed, this is Eddie."

Zed shook his head. "No, Addie. I've seen the files. His clothes are different, but I recognize his face. That's definitely Rumpelstiltskin. From the Grimm brothers' tales."

Eddie gave a little bow. "At your service."

"Huh… Okay, not really the point right now."

Zed shook his head, still looking more than a little stunned. I guess it was up to me to get to the bottom of this.

"Um, Ed… I mean, Rumpy…" the two men grimaced at the nickname, which only ensured it was permanent. "Is there somewhere we're supposed to go now?"

He looked confused. "Back into your bodies."

"Our bodies?" I looked around as if I'd perhaps missed seeing our corpses lying on the asphalt.

He pointed to the dumpster.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I said, moving to lift the large black lid. Instead of budging, I went face-first into the trash. "Ugh. Yup, there they are." Pulling myself back out of the dumpster, I turned to face Zed. "Your asshole brother tossed us out here, probably so no one would catch him. Shit murderer he is. I don't know how no one had caught his ass yet."

Zed was still staring at Rumpy like he was some kind of celebrity.

"Hey! Did you hear me? Our bodies are in there."

"So?" Zed asked, looking at me.

"So, if we want to not be ghosts for all eternity, then we need to hop back in and climb out of the dumpster so we can go kick your brother's scrawny ass." I grinned, already imagining the look on his stupid face when he saw I was still very much alive. Surprise, motherfucker.

"Addie, we're dead. There is no hopping back in."

"Correction, we're temporarily dead. You heard Rumpy. We just need to get our spirits back in our bodies and we're good as new."

"That's not how it works," Zed said, shaking his head.

I shrugged. "Are you really going to argue about a second… or is it third… chance at life?"

Zed rolled his eyes. "We can try it your way, but when you're wrong…"

"Then you can say I told you so and be my own personal version of Hell. Just get your ass over here."

He reluctantly walked over and peered inside. "Are you sure about this?" he asked. "Reapers only get one death, and consequently it's always blown for initiation."

"Pretty sure," I said, wrapping my arms around the metal edge of the dumpster. Using all those muscles I'd been making the past few weeks, I lifted myself up, although if I was being honest my body just sort of floated upward because I wanted it. Too bad it wouldn't work like that when I got back.

I swung my legs over the edge and landed next to our bodies.

"Come on." I moved closer to my own. "All you have to do is touch it…"

My words were drowned out the second I placed a hand on my ankle.

Everything faded for a brief moment and the next thing I knew I was staring up at the blacktop of the dumpster. I knew it wasn't oblivion by the smell.

"Ew," I whined, moving to sit up among all the garbage.

Something stirred next to me. I jumped, banging my head on the lid. "Ow. Motherfuck," I cursed.

"Addie?" Zed breathed, his voice soft and confused.

"Zed!" I exclaimed. "You're alive too! I'll be damned!"

"Addie, what is going on? We were dead… I saw Rumpelstiltskin… and then you touched your body and…" He spoke fast, having trouble keeping up with the absurdity of it.

I reached up and flung the top back. It hit the brick wall of Zeta Omicron Mu with a clang, but no one came running. No one jumped out of the shadows. No one was waiting for us.

It was just midnight, moonlight, and the two of us in a dumpster.

"Give me a leg up, will ya?" I asked, turning to him.

"How are you dealing with this so… easily?" he asked, leaning up. Instead of lacing his hands together as I'd expected, he grabbed me by the waist and tossed.

My feet barely cleared the edge of the dumpster before I came back down. I landed in a crouch, ankles feeling weak from the jarring impact. I stood up and didn't bother dusting myself off. There was no point. Not with blood and trash all over me. Something had leaked from one of the bags and onto my shirt that smelled awfully suspicious and made me want to gag.

Zed hauled himself out of the dumpster, landing next to me a lot more gracefully.

It might have been attractive if not for how we smelled.

"Well?" he prompted.

"Oh, yeah… well, it's like I said. I just keep going. This is how it happened last time. For a second there I thought I was dead-dead, but apparently, that's not the case. It wouldn't be the first time I was wrong about how death works. Anyway, at least I get a second chance at kicking your brother in the balls and making him pay for killing us… and Trace." A tiny bit of sadness leaked into my voice as I thought of my brother in sheep form. The stuffie was most definitely gone, but that didn't mean he was. Not permanently. I could summon him again.

Warm fingers brushed against my forearm. I shivered.

"Hey," Zed whispered. "I'm sorry for not believing you when you told me a reaper was involved. I still don't see why or how Zayne is working with a werewolf, or how any of this came to be… but we'll figure it out… After a shower."

"And food," I added.

Instead of the usual ire, I got at the mention of eating, a wry smile crossed his lips. He reached down and stuffed his hand in his jeans, pulling out his keys.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"Actually, I have a better plan," I said, tapping my finger against my lip before realizing what I was doing and where that finger had been. I dropped my hand back to my side. "We get my purse out of your car and take my car back to my place. As soon as your car goes missing, Zayne will know something's up. We need to shower and eat… and possibly eat again… before regrouping. I'm just giving you a heads-up now, your bro isn't off the hook just 'cause you're related. If it weren't for the whole being tossed in a trash can thing, I'd be half tempted to go kick his ass now."

Zed unlocked his car, and I crossed the parking lot, quickly retrieving my purse.

"It wouldn't solve anything, except pissing off the Council more and painting a bigger target on your back because I hate to break it to you, but…."

I held up a hand for him to stop talking as we started for the Sigma Upsilon house where my car was parked.

"I know you think I handle everything that happens to me super easily and that it seems like I don't have any reaction. It may look that way, but that's not exactly how it works. I'm tired. I'm cranky. I wanna beat the shit out of your brother, but I recognize I have to wait for a hot minute. So please, don't make this any worse until I get a shower and some fucking hot wings or something."

"Okay," he said.

I gaped at him. "Really?" I asked, not entirely sure I had heard him correctly.

"You asked me to be quiet…"

"Never mind, go back to that quiet thing," I said, taking the back way through the bushes to avoid any unwanted attention. The sound of moans distracted me for a moment, as did the rocking back and forth of one of the cars in the parking lot.

Zed and I shared a look.

"Do you think that's…"

"Keep walking," Zed said, motioning forward. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as I crossed the rest of the parking lot and made it to the Impala.

"Hold up," I said as he opened the door to the passenger side. Opening the trunk, I pulled out a blanket. "Sit on this."

He raised a brow. "I'm not sure a lone blanket is going to do much."

"It's one less seat that will have to be detailed. Just use it."

Zed chuckled as he unfolded the blanket and sat on it. "I didn't take you for someone who'd get prissy about the interior of her car."

Starting the engine, I gave him an incredulous look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, you just…"

"It isn't just any car, okay? It's the one you worked on with my twin, and right now it's pretty much the last thing of his in my life, so just…"

Zed rested his hand on my knee, cutting off the flood of words. "It's okay, I get it. I'm sorry if I pushed the wrong button."

"As opposed to all the other times?"

"God, you make it impossible to say nice things to you," he said, throwing his head against the headrest.

I laughed. "Trace used to say the same thing."

Zed tilted his head my way, his lips lifting in a hint of a smile. "Wanna know a secret?"

"Haven't you had enough of those already?"

"I think you'll like this one."

"Alright, shoot," I said, gunning the engine as I got out of town and into the less populated area.

"Trace used to tell me the same thing."

I snickered, not at all surprised that my brother would find Zed just as stubborn and pigheaded as me. It's why we butted heads so easily, and why we both seemed to enjoy annoying the shit out of each other so much.

Maybe Bree was right, and it was just our weird version of foreplay.

"Hey, Addie?"

"Hmm?" I replied, his question pulling me out of my musings.

"Is Missy home?"

"Oh shit," I cursed, wondering how the hell I was going to explain our current state to her. Then I remembered who we were talking about. Missy was the queen of weird. I just had to think of some hobby that involved us being in the trash. "Do you think she'd believe we were dumpster diving for like recycling or something?"

Zed gave me a look. "Maybe you should leave the excuses to me."

"You're probably right," I agreed, barely slowing down as I made a left turn onto Mansion Lane.

A few minutes later, I slowed as I turned up the drive and parked the car. The porch lights were out, which meant Missy was either asleep or not at home. Maybe we wouldn't need that excuse after all.

"I'm going to keep the lights off just in case she's sleeping. Try not to knock anything over," I whispered as I started to unlock the door.

"Uh, Addie, I think you're forgetting that I've seen you trying to be sneaky. Trust me, I'm not the one you need to worry about."

I stuck my tongue out at him over my shoulder as I pushed the door open and let us inside. We weren't completely silent, but almost, especially with our hearing. I shut the door behind us and made it two steps before something went whizzing past my right side.

A loud thunk made me jump.

I scrambled to flip the light on.

Nailed in the wooden frame only two inches above Zed's head was an arrow.

What the fu…

"Oh, it's you," came my aunt's voice. I followed the path from the arrow all the way across the room to where my aunt stood with a crossbow. My mouth fell open, then closed as I tried to find words.

"Missy," I said in a shocked breath. "What the fuck are you doing?" It seemed my words came back, and judging by my aunt's face, she wasn't thrilled with the ones I chose. "You nearly shot him in the head with a crossbow!"

"I was practicing," she answered defensively. Ten feet to my side a heavy blanket was draped over the staircase and a red bullseye was spray-painted on it. Bolts stuck in the fabric and the paint dripped onto the hardwood floors.

"At midnight?" I asked.

"It's not my fault you two startled me at night trying to sneak in the house like you're up to no good. Come now, Addison, you remember that talk we had about me time. I've got a great brand I can recommend that'll surely do better than this one." She motioned with her elbow and sniffed once. "Any guy sneaking into your house and smelling like trash ain't worth the quick scratch."

My face flamed red. "We are not having this talk right now," I said, grabbing Zed's wrist and stepping further into the room. I tried to keep myself between him and her at all times. "Zed and I are just friends. We're going to… do a thing. Please refrain from practicing with a crossbow in the house next time?" I looked from her to the makeshift shooting range she'd made of the entryway.

"Mmm," was the only response I got as we started down the hall. "Make sure to use condoms," she called after us. "I'm not sure how smart this one is, and I don't need dumb grand-kids."

If my face weren't already on fire, it would be now. I didn't grace her insults with a response as I opened my bedroom door and motioned for Zed to go in.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Your aunt is officially nuts."

"Sorry?" I offered half-heartedly, closing the door behind us. "She's usually not this bad. She's gone off the deep end since Trace died and is handling his passing in her own weird way."

"That's putting it mildly," Zed said under his breath before turning his attention to my room. My bed wasn't made. My shoes had been haphazardly tossed in my closet and clothes were spilling out of the door. At least I didn't have any dirty laundry laying around.

I opened my bathroom door and pulled a stack of towels out, setting them on the counter.

"You cool showering in Trace's room? You can take whatever you need to wear. I'll shower here, then order us some pizza since Missy is being weird."

"You sure?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, it's right across the hall. I wish I could lie and say I'm doing it to be nice, but really I don't want to wait to shower and you're also disgusting." Zed gave me that look most people gave me when they couldn't believe what came out of my mouth. Not saying anything, he grabbed a towel from my stack and headed toward the door, shaking his head while he did so.

I closed the bathroom door and stripped my nasty clothes from my skin. Taking my first real look in the mirror, I wasn't sure how my aunt didn't ask more questions. My hair was a dirty bird's nest with strands sticking out in every direction. Dark circles lined my bloodshot eyes. Red smudged my neck and lower. Fortunately, most of the blood not being near my face probably helped. That and all the black clothes I'd been wearing.

I took one look at them and wrinkled my nose, tossing them into the trash can before flipping the shower on as hot as it could go. As soon as steam started to fog the glass walls, I stepped inside. My skin went from chilled to burning as the two water jets did most of the work. I washed and scrubbed every part of me, not giving two shits about the amount of blood and gunk that was bleeding into the water.

When my skin was sufficiently pink and my stomach was grumbling enough to pull me away from the shower, I flipped the lever off and stepped out. Water dripped from my skin as I wrapped myself in one of the fluffy towels and used a second one for my hair.

I opened my bedroom door to see Zed sitting on my bed. He lifted his face, and our eyes met. If my cheeks weren't already red from the water, they would have been then.

"What?" I said.

His eyes traveled my form before returning to my face. "Nothing."

The word liar was on the tip of my tongue, but my stomach gurgled again, and reality came back. I retreated to my walk-in closet, closing the door behind me as I dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. Once dressed, I flipped my head a few times, letting my hair air-dry as I stepped back into my room.

Zed opened his mouth to speak. I held up a finger as I picked up my phone. "First step, pizza. Then you can talk."

"At least no one will ever doubt your priorities?"

"Preferences?" I asked as I dialed the pizza place by memory.

"I'm not even surprised you have their number memorized."

"Last chance," I said, flipping him off as the line rang.

"Anything spicy," he answered.

I couldn't help but smile at his answer. I ordered us two large pizzas with pepperoni and jalapenos, mostly ignoring his raised eyebrows when I added on an order of breadsticks, hot wings, and chocolate lava cake. I'd just died. Again. I was going to eat whatever I wanted.

Hanging up the phone, I settled next to him on the bed. "Alright, now you may speak and say all of the dire things."

Zed studied me, an odd expression crossing his face. "You know, before tonight, I thought I knew pretty much everything there was to know about the supernatural world."

"That's funny. Before tonight I already knew I didn't have a clue about any of it."

Zed grinned at me. "I should have remembered the cardinal rule. It can always get worse."

"Yeah, no kidding. At least we seem to be immune to dying, or whatever," I said, playing with my sweatpants.

"Addie," he said, his voice tentative, "that's not a thing. Reapers only come back once. Whatever you are… I don't think you're a reaper."

"Really, because a few days ago you were certain I was." My gaze held onto his, but he extended a hand, begging me with his eyes to let him finish.

"I've been on the fence for a while. I mean, female thing and hair color aside, you seem to be able to do stuff that no other reapers can do, and not much of what they can. The seeing and talking to ghosts for one, your crazy speed, and now this."

I don't know why it felt harder to accept this possibility than everything else that had happened since coming home. I'd died and come back. Been told I was a reaper zombie thing, and that my dad and twin were too… I felt like it fit. Like there was a piece of them I didn't have before but maybe I would now. It made an off sort of sense. But now I was different. Other. Unknown.

"How is that even possible?" I finally asked.

"I don't know," he admitted softly. "But we're going to find out."

"How? You just said you don't have a clue what I am."

"So? That doesn't mean someone else won't. I'm sure Eliza probably knows something she didn't tell us last time."

"Okay… but what about you? You came back too."

"I think the blood rite had something to do with it."

"So, you can't die because I can't?" I asked, thinking through the implications of that.

Zed scratched the back of his neck. "I think so? I'm guessing here. This is all way out of my comfort zone. A few days ago… hell, a couple hours ago… I would have told you this entire conversation was impossible, but now that I'm living it…" he trailed off and shrugged.

I flopped back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm going to need an entire truckload of Takis to deal with this."

Zed waved a small purple snack pack in front of my eyes. "It's not a truckload, but how about a couple to hold you over until the pizza gets here?"

I sat up. "Where did you get that? Don't tell me it was in your pocket when we were in the dumpster."

Zed laughed and shook his head. "No. I've been keeping a stash in the car since I know how impossible you get when you're hungry. I snagged it when you grabbed your purse. Just in case."

I was oddly touched by the thoughtfulness of it. Even if he did sound like a bit of an asshole when he said it. Ripping the pack open, I pulled one out and popped one of the spicy chips into my mouth.

"You know, Zed, there are worse things than being what I am… whatever that is. At least if we can't die, this bullshit punishment doesn't really mean anything."

"Well, there is that."

"We still gotta deal with your brother, though," I said around a mouthful.

Zed sighed. "For once, I think we're on the same page. Pizza first. The other shit can wait."

Despite how shitty and yet not shitty our situation was, I smiled.