Not Quite Dead

Chapter One - Not Quite Invisible

Dawn

I could say that I just woke up and was ready to start the day. I mean, heck, why not? The sun was out, and it was totally beautiful. I could hear the birds singing their usual songs, and the sounds of dogs biting the mailman's leg.

But I honestly don't care. What's the point? I don't need air to breathe, the sun doesn't make me any tanner, and I can't even sing with the birds. I can't even sing. In fact, I can't talk. Period.

I, Dawn Rosa Davis, am what you call an In-between, or, at least, what you would call us if you could actually see us. I don't speak - none of us In-betweens can - and even if I could, it's not like you could hear me. I can't get hurt, seeing as anything used to harm me would just pass right through me.

No mortal, one of the humans, can see a spirit, or us In-betweens, which are not quite mortal, not quite spirit, and not quite dead.

"Hola, Dawn," said a not-quite-Spanish spirit next to me. She knows my name because she made me spell it out for her. Avery. Luckily for me, this was her Angel spirit and not her Dark. Dark Avery was in Canada. Avery's in Blue Falls, North Carolina with me. She's alright to hang with.

She just invades my home. Well, the home that used to be mine. Now, it's just the home I stay in because I really have no choice. It's the home she goes to because she's new, and doesn't know any other spirits (or In-betweens). I'm the only In-between for miles. I know, and I checked.

Avery just died recently in a car accident. She's a newbie to the spirit world, but I'm sure she'll fit in. She's nice enough. Avery talked a lot, spoke to me about all her problems, spying on her old acquaintances, how her still-alive boyfriend is locking lips with her best friend, about how who did whatnot. Honestly, I love her...and I'd also love to tell her to shut up for once, but I can't talk at all, and my body language hasn't seemed to be working.

I waved to Avery and gave her the usual fake smile I usually do when she's about to start a story. I pretended to listen. I don't think she really cared whether or not I really listened; she just needed someone to talk to. That's why I don't leave. I relate to her a little more than I might let on.

Okay, maybe that's not the only reason I stay here. This house is extremely close to my heart. I've seen so many people live and die here; I've seen all the changes that this house has been through. It's a large, modern house, and the rich people who left just a few days ago, left all the nice furniture. Sometimes I like to sit on the white leather sofa and pretend I'm talking to my family, or someone else close to me.

I had heard the old owners talking to the soon-to-be new owners, and they seemed to be a big family from the city. I wondered why people would move from the city to this tiny, tiny city. The family's surname was Alexander. They had twelve-year-old girl triplets, and nine-year-old boy twins, who were adopted. There was one more boy who was sixteen, and a six-month-old baby girl. That mother must have a strong patience, and an even stronger uterus.

The movers were going to arrive today. If I were still a mortal, I would have been dressing up in my best outfit, straightening my already-too-straight hair, putting on a smile that would impress them. But, then again, if I were still mortal, I wouldn't even be here. Technically, I would have died about two hundred twenty-seven years ago.

"Well," Avery was saying, "It was nice talkin' to ya again, Dawn! I'm going to 'have dinner' with my old family and make sure Dark Av isn't stalking them. Buh-bye!" And with that, she floated to the wall and phased straight through it.

My ears picked up the sound of an upcoming truck. The movers, I thought.

I phased through the floor of the second floor and floated onto the kitchen table on the first. I crossed my legs as Mother had taught me to do when I turned twelve. "Look presentable at all times," she had said so many times before. "Regardless of the circumstance, Dawn, it is important..." Then she would rattle on and on about how my beauty would find me a prince for sure. I didn't really want a prince, but I didn't want to disappoint my mother.