Part I: Restless in Peace
Alexy found me in Dark Streets Bookstore. His clothes hung on him as if he were a scarecrow who’d lost his stuffing. Jane had told him I needed help adjusting to “the early stages of being late.” On the way to group, he offered me a chocolate. I felt better.
At the open community center door, Alexy gave me an encouraging shove. I stumbled into a room with a snack table, a circled folding chairs, ghosts, demons, a banshee, vampires…
I looked askance at Alexy. “And when will Buffy get here?”
“Don’t mock,” he said. “You’re one of us now.”
Part II
It was my first session with "Restless in Peace," Alexy the vampire's therapy group for the lately late. I'd been murdered recently, but nothing had changed. I was grappling with the implications.
"So am I a zombie?"
"Time will tell," Alexy said. "If you were a vamp, we'd know by now. Decompose, you're a zombie; fade, you're a haunt; grow horns, a demon."
"What if nothing happens ~ then what?"
"Then you might be an immortal."
"That sounds *boring*. What am I supposed to do in the meanwhile?"
"Act like nothing's happened."
"And how's that true to my authentic dead self?"
Alexy found me in Dark Streets Bookstore. His clothes hung on him as if he were a scarecrow who’d lost his stuffing. Jane had told him I needed help adjusting to “the early stages of being late.” On the way to group, he offered me a chocolate. I felt better.
At the open community center door, Alexy gave me an encouraging shove. I stumbled into a room with a snack table, a circled folding chairs, ghosts, demons, a banshee, vampires…
I looked askance at Alexy. “And when will Buffy get here?”
“Don’t mock,” he said. “You’re one of us now.”
Part II
It was my first session with "Restless in Peace," Alexy the vampire's therapy group for the lately late. I'd been murdered recently, but nothing had changed. I was grappling with the implications.
"So am I a zombie?"
"Time will tell," Alexy said. "If you were a vamp, we'd know by now. Decompose, you're a zombie; fade, you're a haunt; grow horns, a demon."
"What if nothing happens ~ then what?"
"Then you might be an immortal."
"That sounds *boring*. What am I supposed to do in the meanwhile?"
"Act like nothing's happened."
"And how's that true to my authentic dead self?"
