Almost Dead (Dead, #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

stand here and listen to her ramble, the more I realize she might be in shock. Nobody should see their lifeless bodies after they’re departed; it’s too disturbing. And quite frankly, I’m pissed that I’ve passed on to the realm of the dead, or whatever this place is.
    “Hel lo . Are you even listening?” Laney props a hand on her hip bone and stares at me like I’m one of her minions she can order around.
    Deadpan, I state, “Uh, no. I tuned you out years ago.”
    She huffs. “Screw this. You’re wasting my time, freak.” Turning toward the direction her vehicle landed, Laney disappears into the thick brush and knee-high fog.
    “Peace out,” I mutter under my breath as I head down the opposite path.
    The trees, the bushes, the grass, the mist—it’s all a never-ending maze. Everything is grayed out. There is no finish line in sight. No light at the end of the tunnel. It’s just me versus whatever this place is.
    The Barbie wannabe’s scream pierces the air, and I contemplate whether or not I should turn around. The poor girl might’ve broken a nail, or maybe reality—whatever kind of reality this is—set in and she found her body. My curiosity gets the best of me, and I circle back, traipsing through the thick shrubbery.
    As I approach, Laney frantically peers into the windows of her car, then glances all around her. What the hell is she looking for?
    “It has to be here,” she mumbles. Her voice rising an octave, she blurts, “Where is it?”
    I’m skeptical at first—like, maybe this is one of her stupid pranks and she’ll get a good laugh afterward—but she doesn’t let up. Bit by bit, Laney Tipps slides into hysterics, and I have a front-row seat. Too bad there isn’t any popcorn or candy.
    “But if it was here, it’d have to be right there,” she murmurs, pointing toward the driver’s seat and then to the ground beside her car. She bends down and swats the fog, whispering, “Where are you?”
    What do I say to a person who’s lost their mind? “Laney, I—”
    “Sssh. It’s here. I know it.”
    There’s really no use in trying to continue a conversation with her, so I attempt to figure out what has her frazzled. Studying the driver’s seat and the area around her vehicle, I notice one important thing is missing: Laney’s body.





chapter four • laney
     
     
    M y body’s not in the car. Where is it? Where the hell stiG is it ? I madly claw at the ground around me. It has to be somewhere close. “Just has to be,” I mumble. “Help me!” I yell. Flora just stands aside, looking stupid, like someone who doesn’t have a brain. She probably doesn’t.
    “What am I supposed to do?” she asks.
    “Help me find my body!”
    “Laney…”
    “We’re in some serious shit, aren’t we?” I glance her way. She doesn’t say anything, so I press on. “Why are we ghosts? Why can’t we travel away from our bodies, like you said? It’s not right .”
    Flora opens her mouth to speak , then takes a long, dramatic pause. It’s something my sister might do, for theatrical purposes. Like they’re in a damn movie. For the record, I know what she’s going to tell me. I know I sound crazy. But guess what? It’s my body, and I’m not going anywhere until I locate it.
    “Laney, I hate to break it to you, ” says Flora, “but what are you going to do when you do find yourself? I mean, it’s not like we can magically hop back into our corpses.”
    “You don’t know that!” I screech, patting the ground more furiously. It’s here somewhere. Somewhere, somewhere, somewhere. The mist coils around my neck, my to rso and my legs. I swipe, but nothing happens. The cloud-like substance doesn’t break, or cause a ripple effect. It continues as an eternally-progressing sheet.
    “ People can’t just hop into their bodies and have their spirit fully return,” Flora continues, which only aggravates me even more.
    “You think you know so much, don’t you? Admit it—you’re just as