Rest In Peace Read Online Free

turned to leave, hesitated, then faced her again. Like a robot , Lucy thought, more cold and withdrawn than ever . As though Angela’s disappearance had added a final layer of distance to those steel barriers around Irene’s heart. Lucy couldn’t help wondering how differently things might have turned out if that relationship between stepmother and stepdaughter hadn’t been so strained. But speculations were pointless, and now she watched curiously as her aunt’s lips twisted into a tight semblance of a smile.
    â€œDid Dr. Fielding mention your going back to school?” she asked, and Lucy nodded.
    â€œYes. On Monday.”
    â€œHe feels it’s best for you to get back into a normal routine. I agree with him.”
    Of course you do. Out of sight, out of mind.
    â€œHe called me this afternoon.” Irene seemed to be struggling for conversation. “He says you’re doing well. He says you’re coming to terms.” Another uncomfortable pause, and then she straightened. “You should eat. Fix yourself something in the microwave. There’s pizza. Angela always . . .”
    Abruptly her aunt walked away. Lucy waited for the sound of the back door to close, then jumped up and went systematically around the house, checking windows, double-checking that shades were drawn and curtains were closed, inspecting locks and deadbolts and the security system. Then, as satisfied as she could be that the house was impregnable, she sat down again and pulled out the paper she’d hidden.
    Angela , Lucy thought miserably, where are you?
    She stared down at the crumpled poster. A poster of Angela, just like the ones she’d seen plastered all over town.
    With a weary sigh, Lucy snuggled deep into the couch and leaned her head back against the cushions. No one had seen or heard from Angela since that Saturday night of the festival, the night of Lucy and Byron’s accident, that strange and fatal night just over a week ago.
    Things like this don’t happen. How many times had Lucy told herself that in the days following the tragedies? Things like this happen only in movies. Happen only to strangers. Things like this don’t happen in real life, not to normal people.
    But I’m not normal anymore , she had to remind herself now for at least the hundredth time. Not since she’d wandered into the cemetery that night and found Katherine. No matter how much she tried to pretend, nothing would ever be the same again, and it had taken Byron to convince her of that.
    Byron . . .
    She’d cried buckets of tears, cried until she couldn’t cry anymore. The guilt was more than she could bear—the doubts, the regrets, replaying those last moments of Byron’s life. Her heart and soul felt empty. So empty, in fact, that she often found herself wondering if maybe she had died, too, and that this strange half existence was but a lingering dream. Her salvation had become a cold sort of numbness, a distancing of herself from both memories and emotions. This was the only way she’d been able to survive.
    The only way she would ever be able to survive.
    Reaching over, Lucy lifted a mug of cocoa from the end table, then tested the foamy marshmallows with her tongue. The chocolate was sweet and hot, but did little to warm the chill inside her. As she took a cautious sip, her gaze returned to the small poster she’d placed in her lap.
    MISSING: HAVE YOU SEEN ANGELA?
    Looking back at her was a color-copy image of Angela’s face, taken from her senior class photo. Those perfect cheekbones and flowing black hair, that model-perfect smile. I wonder where that smile is now? I wonder if she even can smile?
    Lucy fought off the familiar waves of guilt and set her mug back on the table. Then she put the poster aside, drew both knees up to her chin, and wrapped her arms tight around them.
    â€œNot your fault,” Dr. Fielding would say if he could share her thoughts now.