The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall

 

 

I didn’t ask him how he knew that. The thought of sinking to the bottom of the frigid, dark water sent a chill up my spine.

 

“You okay?” Theo asked.

 

“Yeah,” I said. “Somebody must be walking on my grave, that’s all.”

 

“They’re bound to eventually,” he said. “Now see if you can catch me!”

 

He swooped away, and I pushed off behind him, wobbling a little before managing to find my balance. Then I was sliding, faster than I would have thought possible, across the slick ice. The wind cut through me, but it felt good, bracing, human.

 

We spent hours racing each other across the pond, and I got to be almost as fast as Theo. By the time the sun began to sink below the trees, I could spin just as well as he could.

 

“How many times can you go around without stopping?” I asked. “In theory, if there’s no friction, you could just spin forever, right?”

 

With a grin, he pushed off with one foot and began to turn.

 

Then he came almost to a screeching halt.

 

“Theo?” I asked. A moment later, I realized that time had slowed down again.

 

How long would I be stuck out here, alone in this slip of time? Without Theo to keep me company, the tall trees and pale sky felt like a terrible wilderness. But after a few minutes, I decided to ride it out. So I stood back and simply waited, watching Theo’s slow series of turns take shape in front of me, the delighted flash of his smile sending a trickle of hope into my heart.

 

If I had to do this—if I had to be stuck here forever—then at least there was someone like Theo …

 

“How many was that?”

 

Theo stood in front of me. Time had sped up and I didn’t even notice.

 

“You’re flushed,” he said, a note of concern in his voice.

 

“It’s nothing,” I said. “I’m just having fun.”

 

“You are?”

 

I nodded. “But I lost count of your turns.”

 

“Me, too,” he said.

 

As the sky darkened, we ended up slowly circling the pond. After a while, Theo cleared his throat and stopped. “I guess your feet are pretty cold,” he said.

 

“I can’t feel them,” I said. “But that doesn’t matter, does it?”

 

He was quiet for a moment, then brushed his hands on his trousers. “Still, you should get back to the house.”

 

“Why?” I asked. “What difference does it make?”

 

But he was walking in that direction, and with no better options, I went with him.

 

“Am I really the first person you’ve talked to since you died?” I asked.

 

“You really are.”

 

“Well, your social skills are pretty good, considering.”

 

“Thanks,” he said. “I think.”

 

We walked in silence toward the main entrance and stopped at the foot of the wide stone stairway.

 

“This was … nice,” I admitted. I looked at Theo, wondering if he felt the same.

 

But the smile he’d been unable to hide all evening had melted away, and in its place he wore an even more serious expression than usual. Behind his eyes was a deep pain, something he didn’t want me to see.

 

So I turned and walked up the steps without saying anything more.

 

*

 

I was shocked to see Florence sitting on the lobby sofa, waiting the way Mom used to wait when I went out with Nic or Landon. When she saw me, her face lit up with concern. “Sugar, you’ll freeze out there!”

 

I brushed my arms off and shrugged. “Still dead. No harm done.”

 

She gave me the kind of look my mom used to give me, puffed-out lips and a sideways glance—the kind of look that says, Oh, YOU.

 

She frowned. “What have you been doing out there? You weren’t talking to that boy, were you?”

 

“Is that a problem?” I asked.

 

She sighed. “It’s just that … your place is in here. I’m sure he’s lovely, but being out among the trees and the wild animals is no place for a lady.”

 

“Oh, well that’s fine,” I said. “I’m actually not much of a lady.”

 

She clucked and shook her head. “What I mean is that … well … I think the house prefers us to be indoors.”

 

I tried to think of a polite way to say that the house could stick its preferences down its stovepipe, but words failed me.

 

Florence’s sweet laugh filled the room. “Sugar, you look sadder than a fat turkey on Christmas Eve. Anyway, I’ve talked to Eliza, and we have something planned that’ll turn that frown right upside down.”

 

I let her shepherd me back to the nurses’ dormitory.