"I call him Slurp," your little brother said proudly.

When Pugslley's Spark powers had developed, you'd known something would go wrong eventually. Every Outcast had an embarrassing story about something they did after just manifesting their power. But accidentally reanimating a corpse was not what you'd expected.

"And you have him chained up in the shed why?" you asked, eyeing the zombie. Pugsley had managed to put a metal collar around his neck and chain him down.

The fourteen year old grew defensive, "He's my friend."

That got a sigh from you. You knew Pugsley had been struggling with his first year at Nevermore, and you felt guilty over not making an effort to spend more time with him. You gestured to Slurp, who was trying to stalk closer to you both.

"I know you want a friend, Pug. But Slurp isn't a pet that you can put on a leash. He used to be somebody, even if he can't tell us who."

That seemed to get through Pugsley's stubborn defense. While he was very lonely and the idea of having a zombie that couldn't bully or leave him was appealing... you had a point. Slurp couldn't stay locked up here for the whole school year. That wasn't fair to Slurp.

You looked back at the zombie. His black trench coat had been bitten by moths and dirtied by his grave. He looked to be your age, meaning he'd died as a high school senior. But Pugsley said he'd just been buried under Skull Tree, so who'd buried him?

Had Slurp been murdered?

Creeping closer caused Slurp to rattle his chain, his dark eyes uncomfortably human despite being undead. There was a hole where his heart should be, inside it a metal contraption that ticked away quietly. A clockwork heart.