All The Pretty Ghosts (The Never Series Book 1) Jamie Campbell (best life changing books .TXT) 📖

Giving the handle a try, it moved. It was unlocked – unsurprisingly. Lilia wouldn’t have a key that fit the mechanism.

“Lilia,” I called out several times but received no response. She was probably out, collecting food or water. That was probably part of her daily routine, the one that kept her sane through all the lonely days.

We walked in, Oliver followed as close behind as he dared. I headed straight for the one room I knew Lilia occupied. That door was closed too. I knocked and waited for any kind of response.

There was none.

I turned the handle and pushed it open, getting no resistance. The moment there was a sliver of a gap between the door, the smell hit me.

It was the smell of death.

Chapter Seven

I thought I must be mistaken. When I had last seen Lilia she was so happy and determined. It couldn’t be her death that was trapped in my nose. It just couldn’t be.

Her little face still swum in front of my eyes.

She wasn’t moving.

My head was screaming just one word: no. It took a while to realize it was also coming from my mouth. I ran to her body. Little Lilia, the innocent child that reminded me so much of my sister.

Dead.

Lifeless.

Gone. She was gone and she was alone. There was nobody to comfort her, whisper sweet lies of reassurance as she slipped from her body. Lilia had died alone in the place she was so proud of.

The smell no longer registered, only the lifeless gaze of Lilia’s still-open eyes. I knew she could no longer hear or see me, but it didn’t stop me taking her in my arms. I whispered repeatedly to her, “I’m so sorry”, “I should have been there for you”, “Who did this to you?”

Oliver waited a very long time, sitting on the floor beside us, letting me grieve for the child I didn’t really know. She had survived for so long on her own, why had she left now?

Nothing was making sense. Crying was a useless emotion, all the tears had long left my body. Yet sitting there with the dead girl in my arms, they managed to find their way back to me again.

Tears welled in my eyes, blurring my vision. If I concentrated enough, I could imagine her waking up and laughing about how she had tricked me. I wanted that to be true and real more than I had wanted anything for a very long time.

“Ev,” Oliver started softly. He was speaking to me like I was a wild horse, ready to bolt or attack at any time. “We have to go. We can’t stay here all day. She’s gone.”

His words didn’t register in my brain. I didn’t want to leave. I couldn’t leave her. Not again. She was even more defenseless now than she was before.

I had made the mistake of leaving Lilia once, I wouldn’t do it again. She was so small and frail, there was nobody to protect her. I should have done it earlier, I should never have left her alone when she was so young.

Her death was on my hands.

I continued to cradle her as the tears fell from my cheeks to hers. They streaked a trail down her delicate face and disappeared into her red hair. They didn’t magically awaken her like in a fairytale. She was gone.

For good.

“We can bury her if you like,” Oliver said. “We don’t have to leave her here.”

I could bury her. I could give her the final act of compassion that she was denied before her death. At least then she would be safe for good. Nobody would be able to hurt her again. Not if she was buried deep within the earth.

I nodded and wiped at my tears. I could do this for her. I could get through it. But I needed to do something first. “I have to wash her. She’s covered in dirt.”

Whether Oliver understood or not, he gave me space to do what I had to. He guarded the door, looking out toward the corridor while I undressed Lilia.

The water was cold but she was no longer here to feel the goosebumps. I used an old rag she had in the sink to thoroughly clean her little body. I untied her hair from the ponytail she still wore and let it fall around her face. She was like a little porcelain doll. She didn’t deserve to die.

I dressed her again in the same clothes, not finding any others in the room. I wrapped her in the blanket she was lying in when we found her. It wasn’t much of a burial shroud, but at least it would protect her somewhat. At least she would be warm.

“She’s ready,” I said. Oliver went to pick Lilia up but I stopped him. “I’ll carry her. It’s the least I can do.” He didn’t argue as he led me out of the house.

We had to walk three blocks before we found enough dirt and ground in which to bury her. I didn’t have a shovel, only my hands. The park’s earth was damp from the recent rain. I placed Lilia on the ground and starting pulling at the soil.

Again, Oliver tried to help but I admonished him. “I have to do it myself. I have to. She deserves that.”

He argued quite a bit with me about that but I didn’t care. Lilia was my responsibility and I wasn’t going to let her down again. I continued to dig. Dirt caked in my fingernails, so deep I would never be able to get it out.

Good. It would be a reminder of the girl that had died because of me. I should not have left her alone. She was just a child, more than half my own age.