Free The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting Page A

best of all, what if she had just been normal, going through life in ignorance…blissfully unaware of the dead? She was exhausted from her own self-deprecation and inner turmoil.
    But just like when she was eight, when sleep finally claimed her, it came at a cost. Nightmares of the dead girl drifted through the waves of her subconscious. Pale, lifeless eyes watched her closely whenever she closed her own. And no matter how shocking the images were, she couldn’t avoid them as sleep reclaimed her, again and again, until the dawn.
    She went back to school too soon, but didn’t realize it until it was too late.
    That Monday, as she ventured out, she thought the diversion would be good for her. Jay was relieved to see her, and even though Violet was still unable to ask for his forgiveness, his presence made her feel better…almost alive again.
    He reached out to her and held her cold hand as they walked to class together. At any other time that simple gesture would have caused her heart to skip beats, but at the moment, it simply reminded Violet that she was still awake.
    What she hadn’t bargained for was that what had happened over the weekend, at the lake, hadn’t happened only to her, or to the two of them. It was as if it had happened to the entire school. And every student who could get close enough wanted to talk about the events…. They wanted her to relive it for them, over and over again.
    How did Violet see her, the dead girl?
    Did she recognize her?
    What was it like seeing a dead body?
    Did she think the girl had drowned? Was there blood? Did she see bruises?
    Was she missing body parts?
    The questions were endless.
    Those who really knew Violet, her friends, were more sensitive but no less chatty on the topic. And their questions, for some reason, bothered Violet more than the predictably grim curiosity of the others. They were too personal.
    Was Violet all right? Did she want to talk about it? Did her uncle say if they knew who the girl was?
    She felt like concern for her was being paraded around like an exhibition, and even when she tried to change the subject, which she did as often as she could, they always managed to bring it back around to the topic they really wanted to discuss: the dead girl in the water.
    Jay was the only one who understood her, the only one who seemed to know that she wasn’t ready for this yet. He stayed as close to her as he could throughout the day, and even though Violet thought that she should be trying to offer some sort of comfort to him, she doubted that she could have brought herself out of her own well of self-pity long enough to try. He didn’t seem to mind, though. He didn’t appear to be damaged the way she was.
    At home, her parents were patient. They listened when she talked, and she did talk to them, but when she was finished they would leave her alone again. It was a cautious dance as they took great care to stay out of her way, and she wondered if they thought she were fragile or breakable. Instead of being grateful for the space they gave her, she felt annoyed that they considered her so weak.
    Her uncle Stephen made regular appearances during that first week too, checking in on her and dropping off cookies that her aunt Kat had baked, the real homemade kind that didn’t come in a roll from the refrigerated section at the grocery store. Violet tried but couldn’t seem to find it in herself to appreciate the effort her aunt had made.
    And then, almost simultaneously, two things happened that changed everything.
    Just one week after Violet found the body in the lake, another dead girl was discovered.
    It was exactly one week to the day.
    Then, on the following day, and two cities away, on a Sunday afternoon, the girl from the lake—Carys Kneer—wasburied by her family…laid to rest in proper fashion.
    Once and for all.
    And despite the fact that another body had just been found, Violet was suddenly at peace with