A sudden, cold sensation attacked both the outside and inside of my frail body. Was the temperature inside the huge cemetery to blame? Had the wind kicked up? Was it trying to deter us from burying Gabriel's bones? Was the dead trying to warn us to not throw the clean bones in the fresh grave? Gabriel was that terrible of a being? Goosebumps immediately appeared all over my sweaty skin. I laid my hands on my upper arms. I was freezing as if we were in the middle of winter not because of the temperature or the wind...but because of the voice that made me feel less lonely in my struggle and relaxed me only this morning and afternoon. From day one.

I whispered, "Gabriel." Adalee and Gus were looking at him. Now what would we do?

"If you wanted to admire my skeleton, my dear Allison, all that you had to do was ask," the ghost rasped. "I will bring you to the bottom of the lake so we may admire it better together."

Without thinking, I shot out my hands and grabbed my shovel. I leapt around, squeezing said shovel in front of me. My vision trembled when I noticed what was in his hands. The box. The box holding his remains. Crub! He must have crept towards us and grabbed it all the while that we were digging up his own grave! Gosh, why did I not have Adalee or Gus hold the box?

"Drop that box, Gabriel. Better yet, hand it to Gus. And no funny business."

Gabriel was standing nearly a foot from us and his new grave, stroking the box's lid as if it were a loyal pet and grinning.

"What are you all smirking about?" Gus snapped. "Just because you have your remains does not mean that you have won." He moved a finger from right to left in front of us. "You have three people who know your secret."

"What exactly will you do with my secret? If you spill it to your families and friends, they will just laugh in your faces and compliment you for your creative story. None in Forlot will believe you - even if you are hanging off a cliff, your slacks down just enough for everybody to see your unicorn underwear."

"What law says that unicorns are only for gals?" Adalee challenged. "Any boys with unicorn underwear are cool in my book. Cooler than celebrities."

This is the most savage response from her yet. She sure is smarter than she realizes.

Still glaring at Gabriel, Gus answered, "Thanks, Adalee. But I am not wearing unicorn underwear. I do not have any either. Even if I was, though, I would not somehow find myself hanging off a cliff."

"Hmm. You might have a point," Gabriel said. "A more fitting punishment for you would be dangling on top of a flagpole by your nasty underwear."

Gus was going to make some comeback, but I butted in as I took a step forward. "Why should he be punished?" I moved in front of him and Adalee, wanting to protect them despite that I was still the target. The only reason for us being in this terrifying situation is because of my prosthetic arm and leg. I may possess a disability, but I can still fight for my life.

Gabriel nodded to Gus. Then to me. "You are with him. You and Adalee are with him."

Gus stood next to me and patted my shoulder. "Why do I sense some jealousy? Jealous that Allison is spending time with me, a living boy, instead of you, a dead boy?"

"Do not anger him," I said. "He could use his powers to snap you in half. The Lord knows that neither my sister nor I should witness it."

"If I wish to get rid of Gus, I will teleport him to the top of the closest flagpole so he can watch helplessly as you and I hurry back to my lake," Gabriel said. "Adalee may come to say her final goodbyes to us."

"You gotta fight the three of us and drag me by the legs if you want to drown me in the lake and add me to your collection."

He was wearing his dark blue jacket. He raised the side on his left and tucked in the box.

"No, give us the box. Do you not want to rest in peace?"

"I never can until society pays for what it is doing to us. The man responsible for that car crash and leaving you without your other arm and other leg...I believe that he deserves more than a jail sentence for turning your life, as well as your family's lives, completely upside down." He pressed his fingers together. "Agree, Allison?"

"Do not change the subject - especially if it is in regards to the past. A traumatic incident that I prefer staying in the past. The present is what matters. Y...you matter in this moment. We are preparing a grave in the cemetery at night for you. To give you and all the kids trapped in the lake peace at long last."

Gabriel's voice started echoing. "You believe that God's angels will let me be in peace after what I did to people like Anthony...and drowned disabled children?"

"It is not too late for you to receive peace."

"Like Gus said...I am dead."

"But you are still here. You have not been judged by the Lord. If you do a simple yet difficult thing—"

"God will not let me in because of my disability."

Had he said what I heard?

I shook my head. "Many disabled folks are denied from entering Heaven because Jesus is not their Savior - not because they were disabled."

His hands disappeared in his jacket's pockets. "Curious to know what my disability is?"

"Allison and I have been curious since that you brought it up," Adalee chimed in. "What is your disability?"