All the Pretty Ghosts (The Never Alone Series Book 1) by Jamie Campbell

covered her over with a determined set to my jaw. I wasn’t going to cry any more. It was useless. I was useless when I cried. It was an emotion that had no place in my life.
    When I was done, I found a single dandelion flower and placed it on her grave. It was not the burial she deserved but at least nobody could hurt her anymore.
    “We should go now,” I whispered. I hoped Lilia would forgive me for walking away from her twice. We started moving, I resisted the urge to run back and beg for her forgiveness.
    “We should take what we can from her apartment,” Oliver said. I stopped, turning to face him with a look of shock etched in my features.
    “I can’t rob her.”
    “It’s not robbing her. It’s taking what you need for survival. She would understand.”
    I shook my head fervently. “I’m not taking anything of hers.”
    “If Lilia was your friend, she would want you to take what you need,” Oliver argued. “If you don’t, someone else will. Would she like that any more?”
    “I am not doing it. It’s robbing the dead.”
    “Everly, will you just do it. Please?”
    “No. I don’t even know how you can suggest something like that. It’s wrong, Oliver.”
    “I’m trying to keep you alive,” he yelled at me. He actually yelled at me. Oliver hadn’t raised his voice to me for years. Not since I accidently broke his favorite toy car when we were nine years old. “Why can’t you see that? We live in a world that is hard. You need to fight back, Ev. You need to survive.”
    I didn’t see what made me so special, why I needed to survive more than anyone else. But I was too speechless to say anything. Oliver never got riled up like that. He was my rock, the one person I could count on to keep me calm.
    He had obviously reached his boiling point. If it was so important to him, then I would do it. Even though the thought made me want to vomit.
    “Fine,” I sighed. “We’ll see what she has.”
    We changed course and returned to Lilia’s apartment. The entire way, I stared at the ground. Lilia was dead, which meant her spirit could pop up at any time. I didn’t want to see her, not so soon.
    I dreaded crossing the threshold into her apartment. When people passed, they tended to linger around things that meant something to them. Normally that was their home because that’s where their loved ones were. Lilia wouldn’t have that connection to her place, but it was probably all she left behind.
    I hesitated on the top step long enough for Oliver to notice. “Are you okay?”
    “Let’s just get this over and done with.” I took the last step and hurried on through, keen for it to be over. There was no point in extending our time here. In and out, that was the plan. And hopefully not see any dead little girls in the meantime.
    Lilia didn’t have a great deal but what she had accumulated for herself was handy. I took some cans of food, a blanket, and some soap. I would have to wash the blanket over and over again before it stopped smelling of her. I couldn’t have that reminder.
    I just couldn’t.
    I gathered up the items and stuck them in my bag with the rest of my food. I would have enough supplies for a little longer now. Thanks to the dead girl.
    “What do you think killed her?” Oliver’s voice frightened me in the small space. I was too lost in my own thoughts.
    “She didn’t have any marks on her body,” I replied, remembering when I had bathed her. Her poor little body. “She had a few bruises, but they were starting to heal.”
    “It could have been natural causes. Starvation, malnutrition.”
    “Or loneliness.”
    “Ev, it’s not your fault. You can’t blame yourself for this.”
    Except I did. And I would continue to do so. I shrugged, ending the conversation. The only consolation I could take was the fact Lilia didn’t die violently. Alone, cold, scared, yes. But not at someone else’s hand.
    We left and stood in the street outside. I needed to breathe deeply to refill my