Even in Death

Dierdre worried me. Ever since her boyfriend David had died, she'd become more and more withdrawn. Gone was the vibrant red-haired beautiful best friend I once knew. She sat across the table from me in the diner with sleep-deprived eyes. Her normally bouncy red curls hung limply around her pale face. She barely resembled her former self. I wanted to help her but I didn't know how.

After the waitress brought our orders, I finally spoke up.

"Dierdre, I'm concerned about you. Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?"

She regarded me with a dull stare.

"I heard him singing to me last night", she said in a monotone voice. Her words floored me.

"David? But he's d-" I started to say but she interrupted me as if she were ignoring me.

"He was singing the song he wrote for me. It was the same one he sang at the club the night he died in that car accident. I tried to follow him. I did. When I finally realized where I was, I was standing outside on the sidewalk in my nightgown. That was last night. I'm going to find him tonight, Kelly."

I sat there in stunned silence. She had me really concerned now. I knew she needed more help that I could give her. Slowly, I forced myself to reach over and grasp her hand. It was so cold that it sent tingles down my arm. I struggled not to shiver.

"Dierdre, I want you to stay over at my place tonight. I'm really worried about you, hon." My eyes pleaded with hers.

She regarded me as if from a great distance. Finally she replied, "No."and then sipped her coffee.

I was at a loss. Clearly, she did not need to be by herself tonight. I had to think of some way of keeping an eye on her, for her own good.

"How about if I stay over with you? It would make me feel better knowing you're not alone tonight, Dierdre. It'll be like old times, remember? What do you think?" I asked her.

She sat her cup down and thought for a long moment.

"Sure", she finally agreed without emotion.

I let out the breath I'd been holding and signaled to the waitress for the check. Our dinner had grown cold anyway, so I got a couple of to-go boxes.

We stepped out of the warm diner into the frigid February night. Neither one of us said anything all the way back to her apartment. She unlocked the door and I found that her place was nearly as cold inside. I hurried over to the thermostat and turned on the heat.

"How can you stand it so chilly in here?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around myself.

"I never even notice it anymore."

Dierdre shed her thin jacket on the couch and slipped out of her shoes. Then she headed towards her bedroom.

"What are you doing?" I asked, trying to sound casual. I needed to keep a close eye on her after our bizarre conversation at dinner. I didn't want her trying to hurt herself.

She stopped and turned to face me. "I'm going to bed."

"Well, I'll crash in a minute. I'm just going to put these leftovers in the fridge."

"Fine. You can use the sleeping bag if you want to. You know where it's at. I'm really tired, Kelly."

She disappeared into her room. I heard her lay down so I went into her tiny kitchen. I was surprised by the sheer lack of food in her refrigerator. There was only a half-empty bottle of Evian in there. A quick sneak peek at her cupboards revealed a scant quantity of groceries. Just a few packages of ramen noodles and a nearly empty box of saltine crackers. 'No wonder she was so thin', I thought to myself. She barely had any food! This only added to my concerns about her. Had I been so wrapped up in my own life that I didn't even notice my best friend wasting slowly away? What kind of pal was I?

I found the sleeping bag in the hall closet and made a nest of it on the floor next to her bed. She was already asleep, her breathing was regular and deep. Normally I would have slept on the couch, but I knew I'd feel better staying close to her.

Somewhere around midnight, I was awakened by Dierdre getting out of bed. I had a gut feeling she wasn't just going to toddle off to the bathroom either. So I followed her down the hall. When she made to open the front door, I knew I had to stop her. The temperature outside was even colder now since we'd come home.

"Dierdre! Stop! What are you doing?!" I yelled at her, hoping to snap her out of it.

She ignored me and continued out of the apartment into the freezing night. Quickly, I snatched up our jackets. Then I slipped on my shoes before running to catch up with her.

She appeared to be walking in her sleep. Her eyes were open but she didn't seem to be aware of her surroundings. Nothing I said would make her wake up.

Finally I got in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Dierdre! WAKE UP!!" I screamed. The icy air tore at my eyes, making tears stream down my cheeks. A lump formed in my throat and I fought the urge to break down crying.

She seemed to have inhuman strength as she broke easily free of my grasp. I supposed whatever she was hearing in her dreamlike state was too strong to resist. She kept walking. I had no choice but to follow her, and I was openly sobbing now.

We wound up at the cemetery on the edge of town. Somehow, I knew she would go there. After all, it was where David was buried.

The cold wrought-iron gate squealed in the wind as we passed through. Sure enough, Dierdre's sleepwalk led us straight to her boyfriend's grave. She knelt down beside it, lovingly stroking his tombstone. Her hair blew around her face in disarray. Then I heard her speak.

"They think I'm crazy but I know you're still there. I've come for you, my love", she said softly. The jacket I'd draped over her shoulders slipped off as the wind gusted. She didn't even seem to notice. Dutifully, I put it back on her and wiped at my tear-streaked face. In her mind, she'd gone to a place I couldn't follow.

It was a complete surprise to me when she suddenly let loose a shriek of despair. I'd never heard anyone sound so grief-stricken. It chilled me to the bone to hear her keen like that.

It was another shock when she began to dig and claw at the earth on David's grave. I knew without a doubt, she was trying to get to him. I had to stop her, but how? She was too strong for me in this altered state.

Helplessly, I could only watch her scrabble at the half-frozen dirt. Soon her once pretty slim hands became soiled, cracked, and bleeding. I began to cry again.

I knew I was going to have to leave her so I could go for help. I didn't know what else to do. She was still frantically digging when I left her.

**********************

About twenty minutes later, I came back to the cemetery with a policeman. He drove us in his cruiser over to where I told him I'd seen Dierdre last. When we reached David's grave, however, she was gone.

Instead, there were no signs of his site ever being disturbed. I got out of the car to take a closer look around. The only footprints on the ground around the grave were mine. It was as if Dierdre had never been there.

I was truly baffled.

The officer, who had been using his flashlight to take in the scene, spoke up.

"What's this?"

He'd reached over behind the tombstone and picked up something made of cloth. It was her jacket!

"That's Dierdre's! She must have left it or-"

His annoyed tone interrupted me, "Listen young lady, I don't appreciate phony emergency calls. The only thing I see here is your shoe prints. I don't see anything that suggests your friend was even here!"

"But what about her jacke-"

"You could've put it there yourself, trying to fool me. Now it's late and you shouldn't be running around a graveyard at night. I suggest I taking you back home and calling off this silly goosechase."

Frustrated, I tried again. "But-"

He glared at me impatiently. "I'll let you off this time with a warning. But the next time you prank phone call the cops, you'll be in more trouble than you want. Is that clear?"

It was clear to me that he wasn't interested in anything I had to say. I knew then I would be unable to change his mind. So I meekly agreed and he took me back to my apartment.

After he left, I immediately headed over to Dierdre's place. Her door was still unlocked, so I let myself in. She wasn't there, however. Everything looked just as we'd left it. I just couldn't understand what had happened to her.

If her parents had been alive, I would've contacted them right away. Sadly, she had no family that I knew of. I had no one I could tell. So I went back to my lonely apartment and went to bed.

The night's adventures had finally taken their toll, and I fell into a deep sleep. Then I began to dream.

I was at the club Dierdre and I used to frequent. The lights were dim, the room was foggy from all of the cigarette smoke, and David was on stage singing, his dark brown curls falling into his eyes like it always did. I found myself sitting at a table in the back, watching him and his band perform. The whole place was crowded and everyone seemed to be ignoring me.

A gentle hand touched my back, causing me to start. I turned to see Dierdre sitting in the chair next to mine.

"Where did you go? What happened?" I asked with concern.

She smiled at me. Her appearance was no longer gaunt and uncared for. She looked more alive than I'd seen her in months. Her skin was pale and glowing.

"He came back to me, Kelly. He said he would and he did", she replied.

"But he's dead!" I protested, not liking the feral gleam in her eyes.

"No, he's not. In fact, he will never die. Neither will I after tonight."

I frowned, not liking where this was headed. "I don't understand."

Her smile grew wider, revealing elongated incisors. She licked them slowly. "Oh, I think you do, Kelly. I think you do."

That's when she grabbed me and sank her teeth into my neck with more force than I could've imagined. I tried to fight her off, but couldn't. So I screamed for help instead.

It was my own screaming that woke me up. I lay there gasping for breath, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes. Slowly, I reached up to touch my neck and my fingers came away with a sticky wetness.

"This isn't just a dream!" I whispered to the darkness. Somewhere in the distance of the quiet city, I heard him singing again. I knew it wouldn't be long before they came for me, too.