Derrek is climbing slowly down the bank. The other one, Ben, is watching from the top, arms folded over his chest. Impulsively I step forward, place my hands on his back and shove with all my might. My hands slide right through his back up to my elbows, taking me forward through him, and I stumble on the edge of the steep embankment, screeching in shock. I barely stop myself from going over the edge. Panting, I look back at Ben. He's wearing a disgusted expression, and he runs both hands over his upper arms, as if he's trying to brush something off himself.

            He says, "Uh, I'll meet you back at the house."

            Ben looks up at him from the river bank, face pale in the faint moonlight. "What? No way! Wait for me."

            Ben ignores him. Turning around he walks back toward the house the same way Caleb and Larry just went, stumbling blindly through the forest. He sounds like a baby elephant crashing around. I look after him thoughtfully. He felt me.

            Ben is talking to himself now, obviously freaked out at being left alone. "Holy shit, can't believe I got mixed up in this crap. Damnit, I don't make enough money with this shit." He pulls himself awkwardly up the bank. Grunting, grabbing onto patches of dried grass and rocks that jut out of the dirt. His face comes up over the ledge. If he could see me right now he'd be staring at my knees. I imagine kicking him in the head, sending him flying backwards, listening to the splash his body makes when he rolls down into the river. Instead I content myself with standing right in front of him so he has to walk through me. "Ugh," he says. "This place is creepy."

            He hurries off, blundering through the forest as blind as a bat. The thought of following him back to the house isn't appealing, but what else do I do? I'm torn between going back there, and staying here in the quiet forest. What now?

Empty shock echoes through me, and I'm seized with a terrible fear. What do you do after you die? Where do you go? Will I just wander around forever now, stuck in a state of limbo? No one can hear me, no one can see me. Will I wander afraid and alone for eternity?

 I turn back towards the river, watching the water froth over the rocks. Stars reflect off the dark surface, and a sliver of moon hangs over the trees in front of me, a tiny thumbnail sized jewel set in a bed of velvet. As far as burial grounds go, I guess the river isn't such a bad place. Better this than the cold, unforgiving earth.

            My eyes slide along the bank, taking in its the length, and then I spot him. He's standing several feet down river from me. A tall boy, probably my age, shaggy brown hair nearly covering his eyes. Why didn't I see him before?  He raises a hand, shoving his bangs out of the way, and the gesture is oddly familiar. The boy walks forward along the river bank, hands in the pockets of his jeans, gaze fixed on me. He can see me.

"Who are you?" My voice quavers, hanging in the still, cold air. For a second I'm afraid he hasn't heard me, and then he smiles. He's silent until he gets closer, nearly close enough to touch. His eyes are a soft, warm brown, and he seems more vibrant than my surroundings, more real. His smile is easy, relaxed, almost comforting. Finally he says,

"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Bree." He glances from me to the river, and my eyes widen in disbelief,

"Sam?"

            Sam and I sit by the river, cradled in the shelter of a nearby weeping willow, listening to the rush of the water. An owl is hooting in a tree somewhere nearby, and the sound is haunting and a little sad. The shock of seeing him had practically knocked me off my feet. His face has haunted my dreams for so long. For years I would wake up in a cold sweat, having  heard wet footsteps patter into my bedroom. Opening my eyes to see his standing there in the center of my bedroom, fat droplets of water making "tap, tap, tap" sounds on the hardwood as they fell from his clothing and hair. His face white, eyes wide and scared. The dreams were all the same, he would ask me in a small, sad voice. "Why didn't you save me?" Over and over, "Why didn't you save me?"

            The dreams had faded eventually, his face had faded with the guilt. But now, being confronted with that face again...it was enough to knock all the wind out of me. When I finally can speak I'm burning with questions.

            "So, when you died you just stayed here by the river? Why?" I study his face and he smiles at me. He probably knows there are a million questions on the verge of bursting out all at once.

            "I didn't want to leave you." He hesitates. "You stayed there by the river and you were so little and sad. So lost looking. Do you remember?"

            Swallowing hard, I nod. Those hadn't been good days. I had visited the river every morning before school, as if I had expected him to finally surface. My parents ended up sending me to therapy. They had even contimplated moving, but I had pitched a screaming fit if the idea was even mentioned. "I remember."

            His smile is sad. " I enjoyed your visits, even if they were a little torturous at the same time. I wanted so badly to cheer you up, to let you know I was there." He shuffles his feet, kicking at a root, and I watch as his sneaker swipes through it like vapor. I blink. That will take some time getting used to.

            "Are you in the same clothes?" I frown suddenly, trying to remember what he was wearing that day.

            Sam laughs. "You can ask me anything and that's what you ask me?"

            "Yeah." I look down at my sweater. "I'm wearing the same clothes."

            "I am too." Sam looks down at his t-shirt. "Don't ask me how it's possible. There are a lot of things I still don't understand about being dead."

            Being dead. I shudder and turn away from him, looking at the ground, at the moisture soaked grass and the willow tree that dips down towards it, green tentacles nearly sweeping the ground.

            I bite my lip. The old familiar guilt has risen to the surface, like a body floating to the top of the river after so many years. "I'm sorry I stopped visiting."

            Sam is silent for a moment, and I peek sideways at him. He appears to be studying his shoes. "That's okay. I know it was hard for you. And you couldn't have known I was here."

            I fidget, face glowing. "So you've just stayed by the river all these years?"

"I'm tethered partly to the river, so that's where I stay mostly."

            "Tethered?" I say, curiously. "Like, you're attached to it because you died here or something?"

            Sam nods. "Sometimes I can stand to be away from it for short periods of time." He looks down, cheeks flushed. "Because I'm also tethered to you."

            My eyes go wide, and butterfly wings tickle my stomach. "Are you serious? Why?"

            Eyes still on the ground, he shrugs. "I think, because when we were little we spent so much time together, and I honestly thought I loved you." He looks up at me from under his shaggy hair, a sheepish grin on his face. "Typical ten year old behavior I guess."

            "I guess so." I smile and heat rushes through me. "I was determined to marry you at the time." We both laugh a little, and then the laughter trails off, and I still have a million questions left.

"What is it like? I mean, is it like this forever? We just wander around on earth?" My hands feel shaky, and the butterflies have turned mean. The thought of being trapped in this place, next to the house where Caleb and Nakia live is a horrifying thought.

            Sam is shaking his head. "No, no don't worry. We can cross over." He stands up, holding his hand out for mine, and I take it hesitantly. "I didn't know this would happen, and I'm sorry it did, but..." He looks down at his shoes, "I'm glad you're here with me."

            He pulls me to my feet and I say, "Wait, when you died you were ten. How come you look...my age?" I study his face, thinking that his brown eyes are still as soft and gentle as they ever were, but everything else had changed.

            "I aged with you, because I was tethered to you," he says. " That much I can guess. I just couldn't tear myself away from you and cross to the other side." He squeezes my hand gently, and I can't help but feel comforted by his real, solid presence. His hand is warm and his grip is firm. "I understand if you're not ready to cross over yet, if you need to say goodbye." He glances in the direction of my house, and I feel my heart drop. I blink back tears. "I need to see my parents."

            Sam nods. "I'll wait by the river for you. The sooner we cross over the better. When you're ready, just come here and call my name. I'll show up."

            "Do you just...fade in and out or something?"

            "Sort of. It's a different state of existence, almost like sleeping. But I'll always hear your voice if you call me."

            Trying to grasp all the information at once is almost too much to handle. "Okay, I- I'll be back."

            He lets go of my hand, reluctance plain on his face. I turn away from him, but some part of me aches. I don't want to leave him here, he's the only one who can see me. The only one who can hear me. Part of me is afraid that if I leave him I'll vanish all together. "Can't you...come with me?"

            Sam shakes his head. "No. You're not alive anymore, so my tether to you is broken. I'm stuck to the river completely now."

            I frown. "Wouldn't I be tethered too? They just dumped my body there."

            Sam glares back over his shoulder, at Caleb's house. "I know, I saw them." His frown fades when he looks at me. "You're probably tethered to several things right now. His house, your house, the river. You had attachments to all of them in life. If you haunted one place for long enough you would get stuck there, but for now, you should be able to go to all of them. It was like that for me at first."

            I pause, struggling to process the information. "Okay, I think I understand that."

            "Go." He takes my hand again, a gentle, reassuring pressure and then lets it drop. "Go see your parents if they're home."

If they're home. I hadn't even thought about that. I turn to go, waving at Sam, telling him I'll be right back.