Less than a half an hour later, everyone—even Nate—was gone from the house and we were alone. I was still fiddling with and talking about paper, but I could feel Oren’s eyes on me.

“I just wanted to give them time to get the hearse and leave,” I explained. “I’m ready now.” Sort of.

No getting out of it now. I’d already decided I wasn’t going to show him everything, but I was still nervous.

We put on our shoes, went out the side door and walked across the parking lot to the funeral home’s back entrance. I was about to press the code into the keypad, but I stopped and turned back to Oren.

“Last chance. It’s okay if you’ve changed your mind.”

He looked a little freaked out, but he shook his head and pointed at the keypad.

“Okay, okay.” I entered the code, and when I heard the lock release, I pulled open the door. I held it for him to go through, knowing the light would come on automatically. “There isn’t…I mean, there aren’t any…people in here. But I can show you around and explain stuff.”

Once we were both inside, I pulled the door closed behind us and turned the lock. I was about to start down the hall, but first I asked, “So are you freaked out?”

He bobbed his head yes.

“There aren’t any ghosts,” I said. “If that’s what you’re worried about. I’m in here all the time, and I know for sure that zombies and ghosts aren’t a thing. Dad says people say that spirits sort of hang around between the time they die and when they get buried, and maybe that’s true. But I don’t think it’s like what you see in movies.”

For a second I worried that it smelled weird in there, but when I took a sniff, it smelled like it always did—a combination of the wood polish I use on the pews and the cleaner for the bathroom and floor. Clean and lemony—not a smell you would associate with dead people.

Oren looked around at the walls and then up at the ceiling, which was dotted with lights spaced at regular intervals. It was like he was looking for something. Or maybe he was surprised that it was different than he’d expected. But really it was just a regular building.

Following his gaze, I noticed a cobweb up in the corner. No ghosts though.

“So where should we start? Do you want to see the inside of a casket?”

His eyes went wide, and then he pulled out his phone and poked hard at it before turning it toward me.

CASKET?!?

I shrugged. “It’s just a wooden box lined with fabric inside. It’s not scary if there’s no one in it.”

He didn’t look so sure.

“There’s a whole showroom full of them,” I said, pointing my chin toward the front of the building.

Can I do that some other time?

“Sure. Come on then,” I said. “I’ll show you the fridge.”