Page 93 of Death and Do-Overs

The same Marnie pulled Imogen’s phone out of her pocket, used Imogen’s sleeping face to unlock it, shone the purple light of the black light app on the Imogen-possessed bad guy’s face.

Imogen blinked his eyes at the light.

Swirling marks appeared on his skin.

“It’s the same curse,” the Marnie with the phone said.

“Who cursed him?” I asked.

Imogen-controlled Alden said, “He doesn’t know.”

“Why did they do it?” the third Marnie asked.

Imogen-controlled Alden said, “He doesn’t know that either.”

“What does he know?” the third Marnie asked.

“Does he know why he tried to kill me?” I asked.

“He has to,” Imogen-controlled Alden said. “Whoa. He’s getting really feisty in here. Anyone have any rope?”

The third Marnie ran off, likely to retrieve the rope Bernadette kept on the side of her garage. She returned a few moments later, carrying it.

“Tie me up real good,” Imogen-controlled Alden said. “I don’t think I can hold him much longer.”

We tied him up.

“Did he kill Nie?” one of the other Marnies asked.

“No,” Imogen said.

“Does he know anything about a glowing stick?” I asked. “It’s from Nie’s memories and has to do with the curse.”

“Magic wand. Someone knocked out a group of people…and…yellow? All I’m getting now is yellow,” Imogen said. “And I really should have eaten two bags of candy whoa?—”

Imogen returned to her own body.

That was it, that was all we were going to get. But, it wasn’t nothing this time. Yellow was one of the flashes I’d gotten in Nie’s memories, too. Since Alden had the same memory, withthe same lack of context, that meant my memory wasn’t broken because of the damage to Nie’s body.

Something else was going on. Maybe something to do with the application of the curse, or why someone was cursing a group of people who kept ending up dead.

Alden was the exception, because he was the killer? Was he actually the cloaked figure from the train and the Mournmore basement?

Alden tried to stand, but we’d hogtied him, so he fell back onto his face.

The Marnie with Imogen’s phone laughed. It was pretty funny.

Alden didn’t try to get up a second time.

He lay completely still.

A little too still.

I began to wonder if it was possible that Imogen had startled him so badly that she’d caused permanent brain damage. Or perhaps he’d inhaled too large a piece of mulch and it had gotten lodged in his skull.

He still wasn’t moving.

I noticed then that something was sticking out of his neck. It was a dart. I reached down and put two fingers to his artery. I couldn’t find the right spot….

---