I Was a Teenage Necromancer

Chapter1-It Begins With a Death

A week and a half. That's how long it took until the funeral. Amber stood in a daze, watching the procession go by, carrying her mortal remains. She watched her uncle huff from the strain, his breath making fog from the cold. Normally it wasn't that chilly this time of year, but the last two days had brought grey skies and rain that chilled the air prematurely. Not that Amber could really feel it.

It was strange, being a ghost. Amber always had a faint yellow glow, like an outline or an aura. She couldn't interact with solid objects at all, phasing right through them. She couldn't talk to people either, no matter how much or how loudly she screamed or cried or pleaded. No matter who; her parents, her friends, her teachers, Stephanie... it was as though she were as silent and invisible as the air.

'Dead air,' she thought to herself as the pallbearers lowered her casket onto the winch.

There were no real leads on who had murdered her. Amber's fist clenched. She wished she'd paid more attention to the news; her death had dominated headlines, but primarily because it had been the fifth slaying in four months to rock the formerly sleepy town.

Craven Falls had a serial killer.

Amber had overheard about it when the police were examining the crime scene. The M.O. was the same as the other four times: a young female as the target, the victim grabbed from behind and chloroformed, stabbed to death by a knife, and a trophy taken as a gruesome souvenir. Amber had stopped listening at that point, partly because she didn't want to hear anymore, partly because her parents had arrived, hysterical, and she had gone to try and communicate with them. Futilely.

She was startled from her reverie by her uncle's grunt sitting down. She turned forward again, because she didn't want to see her parents. She had spent most of her time as a ghost following them, but the last two days she had avoided them altogether. It was too painful. They may have been trying to put up a tough front, but it was as plain as day to Amber. They were breaking.

"We are gathered here today to honor the memory of Amber Harris, beloved by her father Rex Harris and her mother Kelly." the pastor began. Amber ignored him, going up to the casket to inspect her body. It was a closed casket funeral, but as a ghost she didn't have to let that stop her. She put her head through the lid, her glow enough to illuminate the darkness.

She decided the morticians didn't do a bad job, giving herself a once-over. She was obviously too pale, and her dark blonde hair was set down around her shoulders instead of her customary ponytail or braid, but Amber supposed stylistic choices differed from person to person, and it wasn't like she could complain anyhow. No matter how much she wanted to. Still, with her nicest dress covering the wound, she didn't know why her family didn't opt for an open casket.

Glancing up at her parents, Amber ducked back down and grimaced. Maybe she did know why after all. It was probably the same reason she was avoiding them.

Amber sighed. She was certain there was nothing worse than being a ghost. No one could see her, she couldn't touch anything, she couldn't eat, sleep, or use the bathroom. At night when everyone else was sleeping, she had taken to walking the empty streets. It was better than watching her father toss and turn fitfully, only to get up at random intervals to stare at a picture of her. Or better than watching her mother sleep, dead to the world thanks to the now empty wine bottle in her hand.

Amber shook her head and pulled up just in time to hear the pastor say "...though she was cruelly taken from us in her prime, we can rest easier knowing that her soul is in a better place."

"No it isn't! I'm right here, you dickwad!" She started kicking the pastor in the shin, her foot phased right through, but it helped her feel a little better. After that, she decided to make a nuisance of herself throughout the rest of the eulogy, making faces, singing obnoxiously, and dancing on her coffin.