Page 78 of Death and Do-Overs

“I know.”

“Whenyou’rescared you get a whole extra you. If that happened to me, maybe I’d like being scared, too.” She squinched up her face. “No, still probably not.”

“I’m not her.” And I never said I liked to feel fear. People made assumptions about me based on my black clothes, but I wore them because I liked them. I liked how people reacted to them, assuming I was unfriendly. They left me alone.

Imogen stared at me, her eyes extra wide. “You seem to be as Marnie-y as Mar does to me.”

Everything that had happened to Mar felt like my life. I remembered it all happening,to me.

But I was new, a freshly spawned copy.

“I don’t think there is an original when you split. I mean the first time you guys split, there was Keys Marnie and Wallet Marnie,” Imogen said. “They both ended up with stuff from the pockets of the original Marnie.”

That was true. But this time when we split, Mar was the one in Levi’s arms, not me. It may have felt like I’d lived through Nie’s kidnapping, through Levi’s gentle care as he’d bandaged my foot, through our first kiss.

But Mar and I were separate people now. The kiss, and whatever could be with Levi—those things belonged to Mar, not me.

I stewed on that thought and kept it to myself until we reached our destination, the general store.

Inside, Imogen beelined straight for the aisle of repaired ancient technology. Did anyone actually want to buy a VCR anymore? I headed for the counter.

No one was standing by the register, but two male voices carried back and forth from somewhere beyond. I leaned over to get a better look through the doorway and spotted a set of stairs to the building’s second story.

“Be right there,” one of the voices called.

Footsteps carried down the steps and out into the shop. Imogen hummed behind me, in the shop’s small aisles.

“Greta, look.” Imogen stepped up beside me.

She held a black t-shirt over her chest. A white graphic filled the center, with a large bird and the words:Quoth the Raven: Nowhere’s better than Nevermore.

“Isn’t it delightful?” Imogen beamed at me.

It was horrid.

“I’m buying one for each of us,” she said.

“Thank you, but I’m good.”

“Commemorative souvenirs. We need them. I know the circumstances that led to our trip are less than stellar, but it’s special to share an adventure together.”

How was I supposed to shut her down after she said something like that?

“Sorry for the wait, how can I….” As Caspian entered the room, he spotted me. His words died on his tentacle lips.

I slammed my palms on the counter and leaned forward. “Hello, Caspian. You’ve been less than forthcoming. That changes now.”

Imogen waved. “Um, excuse me, before we get into what I’m sure will be a perfectly lovely conversation, can I pay for my finds now, please? Just in case.”

In case I went feral.

“Uhh.” Caspian glanced at her before turning his concerned stare back at me.

Imogen set two t-shirts on the counter, along with a bag of candy corn.

“Don’t say anything about it, Greta,” she said when she spotted me eyeing her choice in candy. “I don’t care if it makes me a pervert. Those corn syrup and food dye filled nuggets are a Halloween tradition.”

“It’s not Halloween anymore,” I said.

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