The Death of Colleen Rivers

Chapter 16: Colleen

"Malcolm, you have to listen to me," I said as calmly as I could. But of course he didn't listen to me. He backed away and acted like I was a monster. Time to take more drastic measures.

So naturally I had to tackle him to the ground. I sat on top of him, pinning his wrists to the ground. I was tiny, but he had no muscle whatsoever, which was less than what I had; I could pin him with ease.

"Get. Off. Me!" he squealed. He thrashed around but couldn't get free.

I dug his wrists into the ground harder. "Only if you promise to listen to me," I smirked.

"Okay, okay! I will! Just please get off of me!" he cried. "You're crushing my rib cage!"

"Fine." I got off of him and brushed myself off, smoothing out my clothes.

"You know," Malcolm said, "You're tough for a teeny tiny girl."

I lightly smiled. "Thanks, I guess?" He chimed in a "you're welcome" but then there was an awkward moment which I had to fix because it was clear he wasn't going to start up a conversation. "Sit down, this is going to take some time to tell."

I told him how I was angry at my family and somehow I woke up in a coffin and almost suffocated before Baylor found me. I told him how Baylor claimed there was a ghost me which led him to the real me in the coffin and she kept him company. I told him how we went trick-or-treating, went on a picnic, and then we came to his house. Malcolm didn't react much. He just sat there, unemotional for a full minute — I counted — before he did anything.

"That was an amazing story!" He jumped in the air and ran over to me, giving me a hug.

"Um, I guess? It was just the truth–"

"Quick! We gotta call Channel 3 news! This is HUGE! We have to–"

Once again, I had to tackle him to the ground. This time though, I smushed his mouth closed with my hands. Honestly, I don't know how Baylor could be friends with this guy. He's beyond annoying...and a wimp. "No, Malcolm! You can't tell anyone," I demanded. "Not yet anyways. We aren't ready for that. If this gets out too soon..." I took a deep breath. "If this gets out, bad things could happen. Very bad. You have to promise not to tell another living soul. I swear if you do, you will not be alive long enough to tell anyone anything else, got it?"

His eyes grew wider with fear and he nodded yes.

"Good," I said, getting off of him. "Now get back to work."

He scurried away, cleaning up hay off the ground.

Suddenly, Baylor showed up with Natalie. I jerked my hood up around my face, hoping she didn't already see me. It would be better if she didn't see me yet. For her sake. I jumped behind some bales of hay and settled down, my back to them.

"Sit down over here, on the hay," I could hear Baylor tell Natalie.

"B–but I'm allergic to hay." Just then I could hear Nat sneeze about five times.

"Alright, alright. Just stand in the middle then. There, is that better?"

"Uh huh," she sniffled.

"Okay, now what I'm about to tell you might make you think I'm lying, or crazy, or both. But I need you just to hear me out. Can you at least do that for me?"

I'm guessing she nodded because I couldn't hear her say anything.

"Good," Baylor continued. "Okay, you remember how I swore I saw Colleen even though she was dead?"

"Yeah. And you're crazy because she is dead. Not was. Bay, I know it's hard, but you just have to accept–"

"No!" Baylor was raising his voice now and that was never a good sign. I decided to peek around in between the hay bales so I could see what was going on. Well, it wasn't a pretty sight. Baylor's fists were balled up and his back was hunched over. That meant he was really, really angry. All of the sudden, he loosened up and relaxed. "Just, hear me out," he said calmly. "You said you would."

"Okay, okay. Sorry. Continue."

"Colleen isn't dead," he began. "She's right here and real. You can see her, and touch her." He turned around and looked directly at me. I don't know how, but he knew I was there, and somehow that was comforting and creepy at the same time. "Colleen?"

I hopped out from my hiding spot and flicked off my hood, fixing my hair so it wasn't too messy. I smiled at Baylor, then at Natalie. "Hey, Nat. How's it go?"

And then she fainted.