We sat in stunned silence, staring at each other as the train pulled into an empty station. As we entered I started looking around, the doors closed behind our backs and that’s the moment we knew we had to finally accept the fact that she was dead... I sat down in one of a million vacant seats, put my heavy head in my hands and did my best to hold back my tears. Gregg made his way to the seat beside me, stretching his arm out and putting it around me in a desperate attempt to demonstrate sympathy. Sitting on the quiet train, seeing the lights pass by at lightning speed, I was finally able to breathe.

- Gregg...

- What’s up Kat?

- Please tell me I’m not the only one seeing this.

He followed my gaze and not even a second later all the color had left his body and I felt my brother start to shake. His breath became short when he stuttered out.

- Is that really...

And there, at the end of the compartment sat our friend, Maddy. The same Maddy from whose funeral we were going home. Dressed in her burial clothes, her long black hair as shiny as ever, her jaw still unhinged as a reminder of the day when she got hit by that nasty drunk driver, Maddy was lying as still as a statue.

- Kat please, I beg you, tell me this is some sort of a jo

As I opened my mouth to try and mumble out an answer, something else caught my attention. The sudden movement came from the end of the cabin. Maddy had moved her head, now staring straight at me. Our stop was a few minutes away when I realized unconsciously I had started praying. She was still looking at me, her eyes filled with the cold feeling of loss.

The train came to a stop and we made our way to the door. I felt like all this time I was holding my breath and the moment I stepped out on the station my lungs suddenly filled with air. But my relief was short-lived since Maddy’s corpse was now opposite us. Both Gregg and I jumped a little when we saw the dead girl make a step in our direction. She reached out her hand and slowly tried to make her way towards us. This shattered my heart into million pieces. With teary eyes, I fell on my knees and started sobbing uncontrollably. Seeing my childhood best friend in a condition such as this made me feel weak and useless. Millions of voices in my head were blaming me for her death.

“If you had walked her home, maybe it wouldn’t have happened.” “If you were there, she would have been alive.” “You should have...” A cold hand on my shoulder suddenly stopped all my internal worries. My undead friend was on her knees in front of me, a sudden spark of life shining in her eyes. As I stared into her eyes, I remembered her sweet melodic voice and heard Maddy whisper in my mind:

- Goodbye Kat!

In a blink of an eye she was gone.

Once a week I visit my friend’s grave and leave flowers. I sit beside her tombstone and tell her how my week went, how her family was holding up...

Sometimes I can still feel her hand on my shoulder.