Death is a Girl

Chapter 86 - Breakfast at Tiffany's

Morrigan carefully navigated downstairs, favoring her injured ankle with each step. When she and Pepper arrived in the dining room, they found Jenna and Tyler setting the table with plates and silverware. Morrigan knew their type all too well—they probably played the part of angels in front of the counselor and even if any of the adults suspected them, they likely underestimated just how devious Jenna’s crew truly were. On top of that, someone like Pepper wouldn’t speak up and alert anyone to what’s really going on so it's no wonder they got away with it.

Jenna smiled in her usual manner, asting as though their altercation in the bathroom had never happened. “Want to help grab some stuff from the kitchen?” she asked, her tone bright and insincere.

Morrigan narrowed her eyes at Jenna instead of verbalizing an affirmation, but moved toward the kitchen all the same. Before she reached it, a different girl, wearing glasses and holding a serving platter, emerged. “Oh yeah, introductions,” Jenna said. “Beth, Morrigan. Morrigan, Beth.”

“Nice to meet you,” Beth nodded as she passed, setting the tray down on the table.

“Same,” Morrigan replied, wondering if Beth was part of Jenna’s crew or not.

“And there’s one more I don’t think you’ve met yet. Cersi’s our resident chef,” Jenna explained, pointing toward the kitchen.

Cersi emerged, quickly dusting her hands off on an apron slung around her neck. She looked about Pepper’s age. She turned her head curiously and Morrigan noticed a scar—a straight line where hair didn’t grow—running from her left temple to the corner of her eyebrow.

Morrigan tried not to stare, but the scar was hard to ignore. She couldn’t imagine anything other than a knife making such a clean cut.

Jenna dispensed with the introduction. “Cersi, this is Morrigan, the new girl.”

“Hey! Nice to meet cha’.” Cersi nodded, offering the first genuine smile Morrigan had seen in a long time. It lacked the fakeness of Jenna’s smiles or the hollow concern of CPS agents and cops.

“Nice to meet you too. Do you work here?” Morrigan asked.

“Nope, I’m an orphan like the rest of ya’. Well, like most of the people here anyway. I like cooking, so they let me do it. Hey! We just need cups, plus a couple of serving trays and a pitcher in there.” Cersi spoke quickly, and her movements matched her rapid speech. Morrigan noticed she hadn’t stopped wiping her hands on the apron since she’d appeared and then disappeared back into the kitchen.

Morrigan and Pepper followed her in, each grabbing something, with Livy and Tyler doing the same. Soon everyone was seated at the table, and the once spacious dining room suddenly felt a bit crowded. Pepper and Beth sat on either side of Morrigan, the three of them clearly the quietest. Though, once Cersi’s attention got on Morrigan she didn’t have much of a chance to get many words out either way.

"So, Morrigan, where you from?”

“Well, from around here. Just south of—”

“You’ve got that look about you, like you’ve seen a bunch of places or maybe just one really tough one. I’ve been here for a while, moved around a lot before, though. I, uh, just kind of moved from place to place with my dad, but that ended a while ago when I was pretty young. Where’s the furthest you’ve ever been? I almost went to Hawaii once, but it didn’t happen, and—”

Morrigan tried a couple of times to answer her, but it was clear that wasn’t going to work, so she gave up and just ate her food. Cersi’s cooking was really good, though. The pancakes were fluffier than anything Morrigan had ever had, the bacon was perfectly crispy, and the omelet was surprisingly complex, showcasing Cersi’s skill.

"Anyway, you’ll love it here once you get used to things. It’s not so bad," Cersi continued, barely pausing to breathe. "We have movie nights on Fridays, and sometimes Sarah lets us do karaoke. Do you like to sing?"

Morrigan shook her head, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She didn’t bother attempting a verbal answer.

"That’s okay! Not everyone’s into it. Thing about singing though, you just can’t think about it. If you ever think about it, you’ll mess up ’cuz it’s something you’re supposed to do naturally." Cersi leaned in, lowering her voice slightly. "You know, if you ever need anything, or if you wanna help cook, let me know. Jenna’s, well, Jenna, but not everyone’s like that, you know?"

Beth chimed in before Cersi could switch topics again. “So, what happened last night anyway?”

Pepper fidgeted in her seat. Morrigan was more interested in what Cersi said about Jenna who sat with her crew and Sarah on the far end of the table. It seemed to her that Cersi and Beth were not one of them after all.

“Yeah, it’s a total wreck down there!” Cersi’s voice lowered as she glanced cautiously toward Jenna’s group. “Sarah said a shelf fell on you. That’s crazy! Like, what happened?”

“Uh… got lost,” Morrigan said.

“Yeah, it’s a big place,” Cersi agreed. “I never really got lost, except when I first got here. I didn’t remember what room was mine because they all look the same. So anyway—”

“Cersi,” Beth said, raising a hand to cut her off. “You haven’t touched your food. It’s getting cold.”

“The ghost is gone,” Pepper suddenly chimed in, speaking faster than Morrigan thought possible for her. Probably because she knew from experience her window of opportunity was quite small around Cersi.

“Really?” Beth asked.

“Yeah… it really is.”

Morrigan exhaled and said, “Yeah, I exorcised it.” She took a drink of her orange juice and winked at Beth as if it were an inside joke. Beth seemed to catch on.

“Well, if it’s gone, that’s good. Guess it won’t bother you anymore,” Beth said.

Cersi lasted all of thirty seconds before washing down a few bites and starting up again. “Man, that’s cool! Never really saw one, but lots of people have. You hear about it all the time. Some people are really into that stuff. Speaking of which, you got any hobbies? I mean, aside from ghost-hunting—”

“Sewing,” Morrigan cut in, actually wanting to answer that question. Plus, she wanted to steer Cersi away from the ghost topic since her voice was starting to get loud again. “I used to like fixing up old clothes, or repurposing them to make something new.”

Beth leaned back slightly, eyeing the rune on the back of Morrigan’s hoodie. “So, that symbol on your back?”

Morrigan smirked. “I have a friend who’s into occult stuff. It’s a rune. And yeah, I embroidered it myself.”

“Looks complicated. That must’ve taken you forever.”

“About a week,” Morrigan said with a shrug. “A couple of hours here and there, and I finished it faster than you’d think. My friend said runes work better if you spend a lot of time with them. This one’s to… uh… well, evil spirits can’t get past it.”

Beth smiled, though there was a hint of skepticism. “You’re really into that stuff, huh?”

“Not as much as my friend.” Morrigan didn’t blame her for being skeptical. She wouldn’t have believed it either if she hadn’t seen so much of the supernatural world herself over the summer.

“Um… do you think you could teach me to sew something like that?” Pepper asked. “To help keep spirits away.”

“Well… maybe when I get my phone back. I don’t really know how to draw the runes myself. But if I can get her to send me a picture, sure.”

“Can I get in on this?” Cersi asked. “Sounds fun. You know, it’s the same thing every day around here. I like cooking and all, but it’s not like I can do it all day…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Morrigan chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. “Of course you can. Well, we’d need some sewing supplies too.”

“Hey, Sarah!” Cersi called to the counselor sitting at the other end of the table, chatting with Jenna’s group. Pepper shrank into her seat as Jenna’s crew’s attention shifted toward them. “Can we make a trip to Hobby Hut sometime? Morrigan wants to show us how to sew runes!”

“Runes?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah, for warding off evil spirits!”

Morrigan rubbed her eyes and sighed, feeling a twinge of embarrassment. Jenna’s gaze flickered over them, and Morrigan wasn’t sure if she saw a hint of condescension, skepticism, or flat out disdain in her eyes. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a happy expression.

Sarah, however, sounded intrigued. “Warding off spirits, huh? That sounds like an interesting project. I don’t see why not.”

Cersi beamed, clearly pleased with herself for initiating the plan. “Awesome! This is gonna be so much fun!”

Beth sighed. “You really don’t know how to be discreet, do you?”

“If you’re too quiet, you never get what you want!” Cersi said, snapping her fingers and pointing at Beth. “That’s the same reason I get to cook. I just kept talking about it until I was the one doing it!”

“You could ask some things privately, you know.”

“I could, but I didn’t,” Cersi said, waving a fork with several chunks of pancake skewered on it before stuffing it into her mouth smugly.

***

After breakfast, Morrigan tried to explore the lower hallway branching off from the dining room. She wanted to get a better sense of the house’s layout and identify potential escape routes. But she only managed a few steps before she was stopped.

“Hey, Morrigan,” Sarah called, making her turn around. “Sorry, but I don’t want you wandering the house. Can you just stay in the living room so I can keep an eye on you?”

“I just wanted to look around,” Morrigan said.

“Unfortunately, I can’t let you do that. You’re still a flight risk. Really, I should be keeping you confined to your room, but I want to give you a chance.”

Morrigan frowned. “Fine,” she replied sharply, but saw no point in arguing.

Sarah gave her a sympathetic look. “And I’m waiting to hear back from Saffron. I’ll let you know about contacting your mom or visiting as soon as I hear something.”

“Right. Thanks.” Morrigan nodded and walked back to the living room, doing her best to hide her limp.

The living room was spacious, filled with mismatched furniture that gave it a homely feel. A large TV dominated one wall, but Jenna’s crew was already gathered there, flipping through channels. There was no way she was going to sit with them, so she turned her attention to the stairs, deciding she might as well go lay down. She was still tired after the little sleep she got the night before.

After ascending a few steps, she realized she was being followed and turned. “Oh. Hey, Pepper.”

“Hey… is it okay if I hang out with you?”

“Well, I was just going to lay down.”

“Oh… I see…” Pepper said, glancing away and scratching her arm.

“I mean, it’s your room too, though. Don’t let me stop you.”

“I… um… I just don’t want to bother you.”

Morrigan gave a flat chuckle. “No, you’re fine. Come on.” With that, she continued up the stairs with Pepper following her.

Once they made it back to the room, Morrigan plopped down on the bed, her hands behind her head. She didn’t exactly need to be alone for Noir to show himself—he could just make his presence known to her and tell her to go somewhere private if necessary.

Seriously though… where the hell is that cat? I should be reaping right now.

She knew she hadn’t seen or heard the last of Alice and wondered how her current confinement was playing into that other reaper’s evaluation of her.

“Hey, Morrigan.”

Morrigan looked over to see Pepper sitting on her bed with her knees folded up, holding a book open in front of her. She didn’t seem to be reading, though—her fingers just played nervously with the corners of the pages.

“What’s up?”

“I was just thinking about that ghost… The hollow.”

“What about it?”

“I don’t think it ever meant to hurt anyone. I think it was just sad… and scared.”

“Yeah, probably. If it really had malicious intent, I would have been in a lot more trouble after that shelf fell on me.”

“Are a lot of spirits like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… they can seem scary. But I was just thinking… Maybe they’re usually the ones who are really scared.”

Morrigan paused. “Well… yeah, I think so too. They were once human, you know? So imagine how you’d feel knowing you’re dead but still trapped here. Or even worse, some of them don’t know they’re dead, and they don’t really get what’s happening to them.”

“Um… you’ve helped spirits before, right?” Pepper asked.

Morrigan hesitated, unsure if she should answer. “Well…” But, since Pepper could see ghosts anyway, she was already involved in the supernatural. Morrigan decided there was no reason to outright lie. “Yeah, that wasn’t the first one, of course.”

Pepper closed the book, seeming deep in thought. “The thing is… I um…”

Morrigan raised an eyebrow, propping herself up on one arm to get a better look at her. “What’s wrong, Pepper?”

“I know where another ghost is… it’s a few miles from here, but… I was wondering if it would be possible for you to help her.”

“Her?” Morrigan asked, surprised by Pepper’s words. It sounded like this spirit might be someone Pepper used to know. “Who was it?”

“Her name was Juniper,” Pepper said, her voice trembling. “She was my big sister.”

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