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A few paces behind him were April and Allison, the twins fronized I waved at theesture, they turned away I frowned
Brett followed aze "Don’t worry about them," he said, and took a crab canapé from one of the waiters
The boat slowed, and the captain lowered an anchor into the water The chain unraveled for what seerandfather’s voice boomed from the back of the boat "Would everyone please convene at the bow?" he said
The crowd fore’s casket Brett and I stood near the back
"So, is it true?" Brett asked, his voice low
"Is what true?"
"You know"
I shook lanced around us "That you’re some kind of…immortal?" He said it in jest, as if he didn’t believe it, but I knew his question was sincere
My face grew hot Now I understood why Brandon and the girls from Horticulture had acted so aloof Is this what it would be like when I went back to school? "I--I don’t knohat you’re talking about"
An old ave him a polite s that Gideon took your soul, and you died, but instead of reani as an Undead, you just woke up Alive"
I bit my lip I couldn’t tell him the truth I couldn’t tell anyone the truth, or Dante would be buried and I would become a specimen
Brett studied me onder "It is true; I can tell"
Before I could corandfather stepped into the center of the circle and cleared his throat The boat grew quiet
"Monitors! Friends Thank you for joining us on this cloudy occasion" His white hair waved in the wind "Annette LaBarge was a mysterious woman A solitary wo his words hang in the air "Some of us are here because we knew Annette the philosophy professor Others, Annette the student, Monitor, and later, colleague Still others, Annette the caretaker and friend"
The boat swayed To
"As Annette would say, ‘We cannot control the actions of others All we have are our reactions’ So I implore you: let us learn from her death Let us react Let us find the Undead who killed her and put that creature to rest"
My grandfather took the pocket square fro with his eulogy I gazed at the open casket, which was close enough for e’s nose Was death ever fair? If Miss LaBarge had died naturally, would that have been easier to bear? Or would it always feel as if life were being taken froust of wind blew a stack of napkins into the water, speckling the surface hite squares Above us, a flock of seagulls cawed
My grandfather opened a prayer book and read a passage in French as I looked at the swells of water sloshing against the side of the boat, at the seagulls roosting on the er and ht about how all these details see that Dante still existed, and that he loved randfather closed the prayer book and motioned to two men, who hoisted a barrel of soil up frorandfather touched Miss LaBarge’s forehead with his thued it into the barrel of soil and sprinkled the dirt over her body
A line for the side of the boat, and, one by one, everyone followed Brett stood behind me, and we inched forward until it wasup to the casket, where Miss LaBarge was resting with two coins over her eyes They made her look expressionless and somehow inhuman Soil and flower petals were sprinkled across her body
"Go on," Brett said, givingmy trowel into the barrel, I leaned over her, , and touched her forehead
Surprised by how cold her skin was, I jolted, spilling the soil everywhere Everyone looked in my direction, and I bent down, mortified, and tried to scoop the soil up frorandfather said, pullinglost On the bench across fro her knees as her blond hair blew around her face Our eyes met for the briefest moment, before we both looked away After my parents, after Dante, I still didn’t knohat to do when confronted with death That’s the thing nobody tells you It never gets easier
The captain opened a latch, pulling open a gate in the handrail at the edge of the deck With sorandfather and three other e’s casket, closed it fire of the deck and slid it into the water The splash was much s and watched as the casket tre into the sea, a tiny trail of bubbles rising behind the box as if Miss LaBarge had let out one last breath