Miranda lay awake staring at the ceiling.

It was the first anniversary of CiCi's death and her parents had spent the day in silence moving through the house like zombies.

They blamed Miranda for her sister's death and she understood because she blamed herself. It had been her responsibility to watch her four-year-old sister while her parents finished up at work.

CiCi had been watching cartoons when Miranda's boyfriend called. She had answered without thinking twice not even realizing her sister was gone until she heard the squeal of tires outside the house.

CiCi had slipped outside headed to her friend Reagan's across the street. The driver of the pickup truck hadn't seen her until it was too late.

Miranda's parents hadn't yelled at her or even gotten angry but she wished they had.  Their silence and cold stares spoke volumes about how they felt.

With the anniversary approaching her mother's mental state had begun to decline so her father had called their family doctor who referred him to Dr.Good a highly sought-after specialist here in Salem.

Miranda was unsure what it was Dr. Good specialized in and her father had been rather vague on the subject himself but every week like clockwork Dr. Good would arrive and she and Miranda's mother would lock themselves in the den for several hours a session. It seemed strange to Miranda but then again everything was strange since CiCi's death.

From somewhere downstairs, Miranda heard hushed voices. She listened as it grew silent and then someone started up the stairs to the second floor. 

Miranda noted that whoever was coming sounded as if they were dragging something behind them. It was unnerving. Thump, drag. Thump, drag.

As they approached her door. She could now make out the sound of two people and then that terrible noise. Thump, drag. Thump, drag.

Turning on her side she watched as the door swung open. Light from the hallway flooded in and outside stood her mother and Dr. Good.

"Miranda," her mother said. "There's someone here to see you."

From the hallway, came that terrible noise again. Thump, drag. Thump, drag. It was the sound of CiCi's broken leg dragging behind her as she moved jerkily toward Miranda's door.

"Randy." She called in a guttural voice thick with a year of disuse as she moved slowly towards the bed.

CiCi's head was cocked at an odd angle and Miranda remembered that her neck had been broken during the accident.

She realized with horror that she could smell her sister. The smell of mold, rot, and decay.

From the door, came her mother's cheerful voice. " Dr. Good said she wasn't really dead but I didn't believe her. Oh, Miranda, she's missed you terribly and she forgives you!"

The little girl looked up at Miranda with a ghoulish smile her purple lips pulling back over milky white baby teeth. "I missed you, Randy."

As small cold hands closed around Miranda's throat she began to scream.