Iridescence

Chapter Four (Emily)

CHAPTER FOUR

EMILY

I had gone straight to the cemetery. It might seem like an odd choice for the girl Death liked to follow around, but I felt more at home there than among the living sometimes.

I sat beside a secluded grave and tried to calm down. All I wanted was to be alone, but that wasn't an option because Betty showed up.

Normally, I didn't mind Betty that much. She was a nosy old lady, but I knew she was just lonely. No one ever visited Betty, who'd died in 1974 of natural causes at the ripe old age of eighty-three. She was buried a few sections over, in a nicer part of the cemetery that was closer to the road, but she popped up all over the place because she tended to wander around.

"Emily, dear, it's so good to see you!" Betty cried in delight. "Did you come for another picnic?"

"Sorry, Betty, not today," I replied.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?"

"I just came by to clear my head."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Betty was always eager for a good bit of gossip.

"I'd rather not."

I spotted a boy watching me. He didn't look surprised to see me talking to myself, so I assumed he was a spirit, too. Sometimes it's hard to tell, but this kid radiated death.

"Who's that?" I asked Betty. She always knew everything about the residents of the cemetery.

"I'm not sure," she replied. "I've seen him lurking around lately, but he hasn't said much of anything to me."

Curiosity got the better of me. I approached him as Betty watched from a safe distance. "Quit staring," I said. "It's rude."

He smirked at me before saying, "I'm just doing my job, Princess."

"Call me that again and I'll destroy you," I replied sharply.

"Do you prefer Cupcake? Turtle dove? Sunshine? That would be an ironic one."

"You're looking to die again."

"Who said I've ever died before?"

"Aren't you a ghost?"

"Am I? Maybe. Maybe not." He winked at me. "A little bit of mystery never hurt anyone, Buttercup."

"It's Emily, and if you call me anything else, you'll regret it. What the hell do you mean it's your job to stare at me?"

"Hades asked me to watch over you until you come to your senses and join the others."

"Tell Hades I don't need a babysitter. Especially not such an annoying one."

"Do you think I like following you around? Because I have plenty of other things I'd rather be doing."

"So go do them."

"Can't. I have orders. I'm Jake, by the way."

"I don't care, Jake. Your orders are irrelevant. Get lost."

"You're a friendly one, huh?" He laughed. "I'm not going anywhere, Sweet Pea."

I punched him in the jaw. My eyes widened in surprise as I connected with his very solid face. "You're alive," I realized.

"Sometimes," he replied with a smirk.

"Leave me alone, and tell Hades and his friends I'm not interested." I stormed away.