Definitely Dead

real personality was waking up enough to trigger a thread of guilt that I was leaving a mess that someone else would have to clean up. That wasn’t the Stackhouse way. That thread wasn’t strong enough to make me go back down the stairs to retrieve the filthy garments. Not then.
    After I’d wedged a chair under the door I’d broken, and after I’d set the alarm system with the numbers Amelia had taught me, I got into the shower. The water stung my many scrapes and cuts, and the deep bite in my arm began bleeding again. Well, shit. My cousin the vampire hadn’t needed any first aid supplies, of course. I finally found some circular cotton pads she’d probably used for removing makeup, and I rummaged through one of the bags of clothes until I found a ludicrously cheerful leopard-patterned scarf. Awkwardly, I bound the pads to the bite and got the scarf tight enough.
    At least the vile sheets were the least of my worries. I climbed painfully into my nightgown and lay on the bed, praying for oblivion.

Chapter 16
    I WOKE UP UNREFRESHED, WITH THAT AWFUL FEELING that in a moment I would remember bad things.
    The feeling was right on the money.
    But the bad things had to take a backseat, because I had a surprise to start the day with. Claudine was lying beside me on the bed, propped up on one elbow looking down at me compassionately. And Amelia was at the end of the bed in an easy chair, her bandaged leg propped up on an ottoman. She was reading.
    “How come you’re here?” I asked Claudine. After seeing Eric and Bill last night, I wondered if everyone I knew followed me around. Maybe Sam would come in the door in a minute.
    “I told you, I’m your fairy godmother,” Claudine said. Claudine was usually the happiest fairy I knew. Claudine was just as lovely for a woman as her twin Claude was for a man; maybe lovelier, because her more agreeable personality shone through her eyes. Her coloring was the same as his; black hair, white skin. Today she was wearing pale blue capris and a coordinating black-and-blue tunic. She looked ethere ally lovely, or at least as ethereal as you can look in capris.
    “You can explain that to me right after I go to the bathroom,” I said, remembering all the water I’d chugged down when I’d gotten to the sink the night before. All my wanderings had made me thirsty. Claudine swung gracefully from the bed, and I followed her awkwardly.
    “Careful,” Amelia advised, when I tried to stand up too quickly.
    “How’s your leg?” I asked her, when the world had righted itself. Claudine kept a grip on my arm, just in case. It felt good to see Claudine, and I was surprisingly glad to see Amelia, even limping.
    “Very sore,” she said. “But unlike you, I stayed at the hospital and had the wound treated properly.” She closed her book and put it on the little table by the chair. She looked a little better than I suspected I did, but she was not the radiant and happy witch she’d been the day before.
    “Had a learning experience, didn’t we?” I said, and then my breath caught when I remembered just how much I’d learned.
    Claudine helped me into the bathroom, and when I assured her I could manage, she left me alone. I did the necessary things and came out feeling better, almost human. Claudine had gotten some clothes out of my sports bag, and there was a mug on the bedside table with steam rising from it. I carefully sat against the headboard, my legs crossed in front of me, and held the mug to my face so I could breathe in the smell.
    “Explain the fairy godmother thing,” I said. I didn’t want to talk about anything more urgent, not just yet.
    “Fairies are your basic supernatural being,” Claudine said. “From us come elves and brownies and angels and demons. Water sprites, green men, all the natural spirits . . . all are some form of fairy.”
    “So you’re what?” Amelia asked. It hadn’t occurred to Amelia to leave, and that seemed to be okay with Claudine, too.
    “I’m trying to become an angel,” Claudine said softly. Her huge brown eyes looked luminous. “After years of being . . . well, a good citizen, I guess you’d call it, I got a person to guard. The Sook, here. And she’s really kept me busy.” Claudine looked proud and happy.
    “You’re not supposed to prevent pain?” I asked. If so, Claudine was doing a lousy job.
    “No, I wish I could.” The expression on Claudine’s oval face was downcast. “But I can help you recover from