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“Lazarus Serum”. I grabbed it and closed the cabinet. Unless you looked carefully, you couldn’t see the broken lock. I just had to hope the janitor wouldn’t look carefully.
    He was almost outside now. I needed a place to hide. There wasn’t one. So I did the best I could. I hid behind the door.
    The janitor pushed the door open a second later. He peered into the dark room. I held my breath. The door was between me and him.
    Light fell from the hallway onto the medicine cabinet. The cabinet door was slightly open. If he saw that, the game was up.
    It seemed like ages that he stood there. He knew something was wrong. He’d heard something, but he didn’t know what. Any moment I expected him to notice the broken cabinet.
    But he didn’t. He left the room and shut the door.
    I breathed out in relief. I listened to his footsteps as they went away down the hallway. Then I took the needle of serum out of my pocket and looked at it. A smile spread across my face.
    “This one’s for you, Sadie,” I said.

Chapter 10
Arrangements
    I found David outside the school gate. We walked back to the Graveyard together, taking the back streets. Walking in the dark was risky for Pales. You always had to keep an eye out for normal kids. If they caught you, they’d beat you up. Just like I used to do.
    David was really quiet.
    “What’s up?” I asked.
    He shrugged.
    “You don’t have to feel bad for running off,” I said. “I told you to, remember?”
    “It’s not that,” he said. He kicked the ground with his toe. “What do you want the Lazarus Serum for?” he asked.
    “I can’t tell you,” I said. “You’ll just have to trust me.”
    “I’m not stupid,” he said. “You want it for Sadie, don’t you? You’re going to turn her into a Pale.”
    I didn’t answer.
    “It’s not right,” he said.
    “I’ll tell you what’s not right!” I snapped at him. “She brought me back to life and then she dumped me! She left me like this! A Pale!”
    “Being a Pale isn’t so bad,” said David. “Sure, it can be hard. But would you rather be dead?”
    A week ago I would have said yes. Now I wasn’t so sure. I’d grown to like David and his friends. They were just like other kids. Except they were dead.
    “Listen,” I said. “That girl loved me. And …” I swallowed. It wasn’t easy to admit. “I think I might have loved her, too. So we’re going to be together.” I held up the needle of serum. “I’m going to make her like us.”
    David just looked sad.
    “I won’t ask you to help anymore,” I said. “Just don’t try and stop me.”
    David didn’t speak the rest of the way back. We parted at the border of the Graveyard. He went home. I wondered if he’d say anything to his dad about what I planned. But I didn’t think he would. He wasn’t the sort to tell on a friend.
    In my pocket I found some coins I’d found by the side of the road. Then I went to find a telephone booth. I knew Sadie’s phone number by heart.
    “Hello?” she said, as she picked up the phone. The sound of her voice almost made me cry.
    “Hi, Sadie,” I said. “It’s me.”
    I heard her give a little gasp. “Jed?” she asked.
    “Right,” I said.
    It was like she didn’t know what to say after that. “How are you?” she asked, in the end.
    “Not so great, actually,” I told her. “I ran away from home. I’m staying in the Graveyard now. Sleeping on someone’s floor. What about you?”
    She started to sob. I hated to hear her cry. “I’m sorry, Jed,” she said. “It’s just that … Well, when I saw you at school … With all those people around … You understand, right?”
    “Yeah,” I said. “I understand.”
    “When I hear your voice on the phone, I can almost imagine you’re alive again. The old Jed. Not a Pale.”
    “I am the old Jed,” I said. “And I’m also a Pale.”
    There was silence from her end of the phone. We both knew what she couldn’t say. Pales and normal kids couldn’t be