Death Whispers (Death Series, Book 1) by Tamara Rose Blodgett

parents. I couldn't
imagine Jonesy doing it and not at all John. Huh.
    “Did you tell her about us?” I asked.
    “Well, I didn't tell her a name. I just said I
liked a boy at school.”
    “What's your aunt's name?”
    “Oh...Andrea,” she responded absently, as if
her mind was already a million miles away.
    I whipped my pulse out of my pocket (it was
all-black because it's cool like that), and pulsed Mom:

    Mom,
it's me- CH
    Hey
honey, whatcha doin'? AH
    I'm
here in the woods with Jade- CH
    You
are, are ya? laughs - AH
    We're
talking; when's supper? CH
    Usual
time- AH
    Okay,
I'll be on time- CH
    Jade
is welcome anytime, Caleb- AH
    Gotcha,
see ya- CH
    Love
you- AH

    I passed my thumb over the pad and the luminescent
characters faded to black. I looked up.
    “Your mom.” A statement.
    I nodded. “She says you're welcome to come over
anytime.”
    Jade looked down, her long hair falling like ink
spilling.
    She twisted in my embrace to look at me. “You
told your parents about me?”
    I put my hand up, palm open. “Yeah, I mean, it's
not different than you telling your aunt Andrea, that you like a boy.
But,” I looked directly at her this time, “I gave them your
name.”
    Jade squirmed, wringing her hands.
    “What?”
    “Do they know about...” she trailed off a
little, then resumed, “my dad and our family and all?”
    “Yeah, I didn't tell them but they already
knew.”
    We sat in silence for a few moments, not awkward
but like people that fit together like puzzle pieces.
    “I love my aunt,” she said suddenly.
    What could I do to make this better?
    I knew. “My parents don't care and neither do
I.”
    “Really?” she asked shyly, her hands
unclasping.
    “Really.”
    A huge grin appeared like sunlight breaking
through storm clouds. I grinned back. The moment held, grew and
became a perfect memory.
    She did a little shiver as I gave her a side hug.
I was diggin' on that response.
    “Sunday,” she said.
    Oh
yeah, that. Mood-killer.
    “Okay so, the APs are coming up on Monday?”
She looked at me like, yeah... duh.
    “Well, I found out that I have AFTD.”
    I
expected shock, surprise or something . But
Jade just looked back at me calmly.
    “I already knew.”
    What
the hell? “How?”
    What she said next took my breath away: “Because
I'm an Empath.”
    It
was like the biggest puzzle piece falling into place! I understood
her behavior! She already knew about my “problem” because she had
one of her own!
    I
became instantly self-conscious. She knew stuff about me that maybe I
hadn't wanted her to know, like how much I liked her. Couldn't a guy
have a few secrets?
    She sensed my tension. “This is why I haven't
said anything.”
    I tried to relax.
    “You haven't told anyone but me?” I asked.
    “And Sophie. I was thinking about telling Andrea
but she may tell my dad.”
    I was surprised. “Why would she do that?”
    “I
don't know. She knows he's crappy, has been crappy, but she thinks he
has a right to know important stuff. She'd think this was.”
    “Well, she's gonna find out after Monday.”
    She nodded, she knew.
    “My dad's got a cerebral inhibitor that I'm
gonna take so I won't hit the radar as a corpse raiser.”
    “Caleb, they're gonna know that you're AFTD.”
    “I
know, but I can be a lesser AFTD and I won't be that important. Ya
know, a two-point or something.”
    “How do you know you can raise dead things?”
she asked.
    I explained the cemetery, then the dog. Jade
showed a lot of sympathy for the dog. Just thinking about him was
bringing his “emotions” like a flood to me.
    “Where is he now?”
    “I don't know for sure but the impressions...”
    She cut me off. “Impressions?” Jade asked with
a raised eyebrow.
    “ Yeah,
if I think about him, he's like, there with me.” I tried to clarify.
    “Like when I touch people...” she mused.
    “ I
don't know if it's like what you have, but all I know is that I thought he needed to live, then he did . ”
It was hard to