Free She Lies Twisted by C.M. Stunich

grabbed James by the arm. I dragged him past the cop and Grandma Willa and into the pretty bedroom. I closed the door until there was just a little crack and leaned my ear against the opening.
    James sat down on the bed and waited in silence. I could tell he was bursting to tell me something. Should've thought of that last night when you were eating my Rice Krispies. I stifled my anger. It wasn't really directed at him. I was coming down from an adrenaline rush. As soon as my body realized it wasn't a flight or fight situation, I'd be okay.
    Mr. Cedar thanked my grandma with a promise to check up on us sometime next week and left. I sagged against the door with relief.
    “ I can't believe it,” I breathed as Grandma Willa hummed her way up the stairs and disappeared into a bedroom.
    “ You should go thank your grandma before we go outside,” he said, face serious. “She obviously cares about you.” I scowled as I stood up and opened the door.
    “ She's just too senile to remember what happened,” I said stomping over to the busted front door. How'd we get away with that one? James followed me quietly.
    “ She saw it, Neil,” he said softly.
    “ She's crazy,” I replied, avoiding his previous statement. “She has hour long conversations with my dead mother on a regular basis.” I stepped out the front door and into the back of a harpy with a glowing bow clutched in her hand.
    “ It's lovely to see you again, Tatum,” she breathed in a voice that was two parts Marilyn Monroe and one part harpsichord. I shied away from her and approached the dog thing. James stopped on the porch next to her.
    “ Thanks,” he said, his macabre face lighting with a genuine smile. “I thought Tatum, ” he winked at me. “Was done there for a second.” I rolled my eyes and never thought to wonder how the harpy knew my name when I'd never told her. That was the least weird thing I'd seen that night.
    “ The demon has been incapacitated,” she replied simply, dropping her wings to the ground and gliding forward with long, graceful steps. Black feathers trailed behind her like the train of the world's most beautiful dress. My chest twinged with jealousy. I'd always wanted wings.
    “ Demon?” I asked, taking a step away from her. Despite the fact that she'd saved me from a pretty nasty attack, I still wasn't quite comfortable with the ethereally beautiful bird woman. Maybe I never would be. Her black lips twisted into a half smile.
    “ A soul that has been released but has not yet passed through or over. A wanderer, a lost one, a poltergeist.” I held up a hand and she paused. I had the feeling that if I didn't stop her, she could go on forever. “You must pass him through,” she said to me. I glanced back at James. He nodded. Action first, explanation later, I got it. I knelt down in the grass. Blood soaked into my jeans making me sick. This isn't the same. I told myself. This isn't Boyd. I squeezed my eyes shut.
    Boyd is lying dead in a pool of dark.
    You were minutes late.
    It was your fault.
    I opened my eyes with a gasp and jammed my fingers against the creature’s warm skull. Its body disappeared as neatly and easily as the sandman's but the blood remained. I struggled to get my feet under me and collapsed against the side of the house.
    “ Are you feeling well, Tatum?” Asked the harpy lady. I closed my eyes and tried to swallow the clear night air into my aching chest. The blood on my knees was cooling rapidly. It was like having salt poured into a wound.
    “ I have to go,” I said as I lurched towards the front door and into the house. I barely made it to the toilet before I was throwing up. My hair draped over my face and reminded me of my sister's dead body. I grabbed the edge of the sink for balance. This is too much for me, I thought as my fingers slipped off the granite counter top and I slumped against the wall. I didn't want a new life. I didn't even want one at all.
    I put my head between my legs and