"I swear, if I'm dying tonight because of you, I'm gonna haunt your ass so hard, Harrington!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I'm gonna go full Poltergeist and shit!"
"Then bring it, Graveswood."
"Challenge accepted."
***
In which after years of suppressing their...
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Chapter Nineteen: A Funeral, A Plan And Questions
(The Flea And The Acrobat, Pt. 3)
***
Alistair was gently shaken awake. Mumbling, he looked up and saw his aunt.
"Five more minutes..." he mumbled.
"Sorry, kid, as much as I would love to, you can't."
"Why?" he whined, burrowing further into his sheets, pressing his face into his pillow. He heard someone laugh, recognised it as his sister.
"And here I thought I was the unreasonable one to get out of bed."
Though he couldn't see it, Alistair knew his aunt had given Rowan a look, before she turned to him.
"Come on, kid, you need to get out of bed."
"Why?" he repeated, finally looking up, squinting blearily.
"To go to Will's funeral."
At that, Alistair was wide awake.
"Oh."
Aunt Aco gave him a sympathetic look.
"I know you don't do well at cemeteries, kid, but..."
"I know," Alistair murmured, gripping his sheets.
Aunt Aco looked at him, squeezing his shoulder.
"If you don't want to come, I don't blame you. I know it's hard, and if you want to stay at home..."
"No, no, I can do this, Aunty," Alistair muttered. "I can do it. For Will."
Aunt Aco looked at Rowan, who gave her little brother a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.
Patting his back, his aunt said, 'Well, get up and get ready, Al. We need to be there at ten."
Alistair nodded. "I will."
She walked out of his room and Rowan followed, pausing to look back at her brother.
"You sure you can do this, Al?"
Alistair nodded. "Positive."
Rowan bit her lip, but left.
Alistair sighed and leaned back in bed, rubbing his eyes.
He hated the cemetery. All the death, all the ghosts... it was too much. He didn't even walk by it, and if he had to, he walked as quickly as possible. The only time he'd been there was for his parents' funeral, and that was years ago.
But this was Will's funeral.
Even if his friend wasn't dead, was instead trapped in another dimension... it was still his funeral.
