Chapter 2

The next day, the rehearsal wake officially began.

Everyone who came thought I was alive. They had all been told in advance to treat these seven days like a real period of mourning.

Brandon stood at the entrance of the viewing room, greeting the guests.

Aylin wore a black veil and stayed by his side. Some people just assumed she was family.

She kept her head down and dabbed at her tears, all while standing in the spot reserved for family members.

"If Leanna were here, she'd scold me for standing in the wrong place. But my therapist says I have to face her death directly."

Brandon straightened her crooked black veil as he said, "Nobody's going to blame you today."

I drifted behind them as a lingering bitterness stayed in my chest. It could not hurt my soul anymore, but it did not go away either.

At our wedding, Brandon held my hand in front of all our guests and promised that whenever we stood side by side, the place beside him would always be mine.

Less than a day after my death, he had allowed another woman to stand beside him.

My phone buzzed in the break room.

My younger sister's name, Irene Picton, popped up on the screen.

He got to it before Aylin could.

He stared at the incoming call with a frown. Then, he used my birthday as the passcode to unlock my phone.

Irene had sent several texts in a row. She asked about the announcement Brandon had posted in the family group chat and told me she had already booked the earliest train to find me.

Aylin leaned in the doorway, pinching the black veil tight between her fingers.

"Irene hates me the most. If she shows up and finds out Leanna's missing, she'll shut this whole thing down on the spot."

He replied to Irene on my behalf.

[I'm staying somewhere else for a few days. I'll reach out after seven days. Don't come looking for me, and don't call the cops.]

Irene replied fast and asked for a photo of the place I was in.

He switched the phone to airplane mode, put it back in the drawer, and locked it.

"The two of them throw tantrums the same way. Once Leanna's back, I'll explain everything."

I lunged at the wooden drawer. My arms went straight through it no matter how many times I tried to grab it.

Irene would have come looking for me.

Brandon had just cut off my second chance at survival.

The memorial video began playing in the funeral hall.

Aylin sat in the front row and listened to Brandon talk about the early days of our marriage.

He said I was afraid of thunder, that I hogged the blanket in my sleep, and he even used the little details of our travels only the two of us knew to make the wake seem real.

Aylin listened intently and occasionally rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Leanna really had it all. My family is gone, and I can never make new memories with them."

He turned down the video volume and pulled her closer.

"We can make new memories together."

The moment he made that promise, the control panel in the hallway suddenly flashed red.

The old cold storage unit was still drawing power. The temperature had already dropped to 0°F.

Patrick was just about to check when Aylin walked over and yanked the power cord out from behind the panel.

"Red reminds me of fire."

Brandon blocked Patrick's reaching hand and said, "Swap the monitor. I don't want her seeing any alarms tonight."

The red light went out, but the compressor on the cold storage unit where my body lay was still running.

On the morning of the third day, Brandon finally went to the parking lot.

My car was still parked in its spot, and the keys were still in my bag.

He stood beside the car and rubbed his fingertips back and forth across the window. I could see that he was hesitating.

Patrick followed him down and showed him the full surveillance footage he had just pulled.

"Ever since the rehearsal started, none of the exit cameras have recorded Mrs. Robinson leaving since the rehearsal began. The west side of the old building is closed for construction. There's no way she climbed over the wall and ran off."

As Brandon turned to head back upstairs, Aylin came rushing out of the elevator and shoved a folded note into his hand.

The handwriting on the paper imitated mine.

[If you want me to come back, end this farce.]

"I found it in her bag. Leanna has been hiding and watching us. She just wants to force you to choose."

He crumpled the off-white note. He recognized it.

It was the same kind of paper I used to write him birthday letters. The rest of the box had been sitting in our bookcase at home.

When Aylin moved in for her so-called treatment, she went through that bookcase.

He never questioned whether I had really written the note.

Aylin raised her wrist and showed him the fresh scratches from last night.

"I dreamed about a fire. When I woke up, I went looking everywhere for you. If Leanna sees these, she'll be even happier."

His hesitation from earlier was gone.

He tore the note and threw it into the trash can.

"If she wants to keep hiding, then let her. The rehearsal will go on, and I won't give in to her threats."

As he headed to the elevator, Patrick blocked his path and brought up the abnormal power consumption in the old cold storage unit.

When Brandon glanced toward the end of the corridor, Aylin's face went pale.

She slid down the wall, covered her ears, and kept muttering about how her family had looked lying in those cold storage units.

He bent down, scooped her up, and said in a serious tone, "That place has been closed for ages. Is a little electricity usage really worth upsetting her over?"

Patrick was ordered out of the event area, and they confiscated his temporary door keycard.

Brandon handed the keycard to Aylin to hold on to.

That card could open the gray door, and it could also cut the power to the cold storage unit.

She tucked it into the pocket over her chest and pressed it through the fabric.

My soul was pressed against the elevator mirror, and I saw her flash a quick smirk.

That afternoon, they started going through my belongings.

Aylin brought a suitcase from home with my clothes, books, and the mug I used every day. Every time she picked something up, she made Brandon share a memory about me.

At first, his tone was stiff. As he went on, he spoke more slowly.

When he got to the part about me holding an emergency light and waiting for him to come home the night the power went out, he stared down the pitch-black corridor outside the funeral hall.

Aylin rested her head against his leg.

"Leanna has only been gone a few days, and you already miss her. My family has been gone for years. Every morning, I wake up and realize they aren't here."

He held her cold hands.

That night, he stayed in the hall and lay down beside her.

The machines in the old cold storage unit let out a low rumble every so often.

Brandon turned over, as though he heard something strange.

Aylin clutched his sleeve. "Don't go. I'm scared that if I open my eyes, everyone around me will be dead again."

So, he lay back down.

Inside the cold storage unit, a thin layer of frost had already formed on my eyelashes.