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    Possessing Jessie
    Possessing Jessie
    Possessing Jessie
    Ebook92 pages1 hour

    Possessing Jessie

    By Nancy Springer

    3/5

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    About this ebook

    When Jessie’s brother dies, something takes hold of her in this chilling supernatural story of guilt, possession, and obsession

    Jessie wakes up knowing exactly what she needs to do. Gazing at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she begins cutting off her beautiful locks, leaving herself with a short, boyish cut—just like her brother’s.

    Jason died in a car crash, and since the funeral, Jessie hasn’t been the same. Now, wearing her brother’s clothes, her hair spiked just the way he used to wear his, she can face herself again. But what starts out as a difficult grieving process becomes something much more serious. Before long, she is sleeping in his bedroom, talking like him, even hearing his voice in her head. She is no longer just acting like Jason . . . she is starting to become him. 
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateDec 30, 2014
    ISBN9781497688810
    Possessing Jessie
    Author

    Nancy Springer

    Nancy Springer is the award-winning author of more than fifty books, including the Enola Holmes and Rowan Hood series and a plethora of novels for all ages, spanning fantasy, mystery, magic realism, and more. She received the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for Larque on the Wing and the Edgar Award for her juvenile mysteries Toughing It and Looking for Jamie Bridger, and she has been nominated for numerous other honors. Springer currently lives in the Florida Panhandle, where she rescues feral cats and enjoys the vibrant wildlife of the wetlands.

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    • 2/5
      This book seemed interesting but it was so messed up. The whole topic was really disturbing.

    Book preview

    Possessing Jessie - Nancy Springer

    Chapter One

    Jessie put on her brother’s True Athlete T-shirt. He was dead. She put on his blue jeans. He had been dead for a week, and it was her fault.

    His belt fit around her hips. He was a year younger, a few inches taller.

    She put on his white crew socks and his Nikes. They were only half a size large. She could wear them.

    Jessie went to the bathroom mirror—weird, how since the minute she had woken up, she knew just what to do. She found a pair of fingernail scissors and started to cut her long, wavy hair. The nail scissors didn’t work very well, but shaggy was okay. She grabbed handfuls of hair, hacked them off, and let them fall into the sink. Around her ears and the back of her head, she cut her hair messy but short. On top she left a longer stubble. When she was sure she hadn’t missed any places, she took her brother’s gel and spiked the hair she had left.

    She checked herself in the mirror. Ever since it happened she had not been able to face herself, but she could now. The look was right and so was the hair color, light brown. And the green-brown eyes and the short, straight nose and the freckles. People always said she and her brother looked alike.

    She missed him so much. Her bigmouth bad-boy kid brother. Dead. How could Jason be dead?

    She did not put on any makeup or earrings or perfume. She had not worn any of that stuff since the day he died. Not to school. Not anywhere. Not even to the funeral.

    Makeup looked bad when a person cried. And Jessie cried a lot.

    Not like Mom.

    She had not seen her mother cry at all. Not a single tear.

    But Mom would not look at her.

    And Mom would not eat. Not at all.

    Mom would not talk, either.

    Mom had not talked to her since it happened.

    Not one word.

    Jessie scraped hair out of the sink with her hands and buried it deep in the bathroom trash. She wiped up what was left with toilet paper and flushed it down the john. She picked up some fallen hair from the floor. Not exactly hiding the evidence, she told herself. Just trying not to upset her mother by leaving the bathroom in a mess.

    Once she’d finished cleaning up, Jessie checked herself in the mirror again, took a deep breath, and thought about what she was doing.

    It’s the beginning of my senior year. My last chance to have a high-school life. I should be partying, finding some cool friends, maybe even a boyfriend …

    Yeah, that’ll be the day, Jessie thought. She didn’t seem to know how to act the way the popular girls did, or maybe she just didn’t want to. Everybody wore black, black, black, and Jessie didn’t like it. To her, black was for–

    Jason’s funeral. Two days ago, Saturday. She remembered only blurry parts of it, of the whole week since the accident. She felt as if someone had hit her on the head and her brain wasn’t working right. She could look at a slice of bread for minutes before she could think what it was for and whether she wanted peanut butter. But one thing she knew for sure: since Jason died, everything had changed.

    Forget senior year.

    Jessie breathed out a long sigh, got moving, went back to her room, and pulled her cell phone and her wallet out of her purse. Her driver’s license occupied a plastic pocket on the outside of the wallet, and the picture of herself caught her eye. She studied it for a moment. Smile, pretty hair. Gone now.

    When Mom sees me this way, she has to look at me. Then she can kill me if she wants to.

    She stowed the things deep in the pockets of Jason’s jeans and headed downstairs fast and heavy-footed in the Nike crosstrainers, thumping the way her brother would have. Walking into the kitchen, she stood tall and made her shoulders wide.

    Her mom was sitting at the table. Just sitting there in her bathrobe. Head hanging. Not looking at her.

    Yo, Mudder Jessie said in a deep voice.

    Mom jumped, staring, her mouth open. Then she closed her mouth and gave a soft smile. Well, hi, Sweetie, she whispered. A tear slipped from one eye.

    A real tear.

    Jessie felt like her chest was filling with helium. Huge relief. She went over and hugged her mom. Thank God. This crazy urge, pretending to be her brother, was okay. Mom had not only looked at her, she was talking to her again!

    What would you like for breakfast? Mom asked.

    Jessie shook her head. She usually got her own breakfast cereal. It was nice of Mom to offer to make her something. But these days she had to force herself to eat. Especially in the morning, food felt like smashed metal in her stomach.

    Aren’t you hungry? Mom asked, looking so surprised Jessie didn’t know what to say. She just shook her head again.

    Well, don’t forget your lunch money, Mom said.

    Yeah, yeah, Jessie said the way Jason used to. See ya, Mud. With a bad-boy strut she walked out the door, headed for school.

    Chapter Two

    Once she reached the car, she dropped her pose. Shoulders sagging, she got in and fastened her seat belt. She checked the controls to remind herself where they were before she started the car. The rental provided by the insurance company seemed nice, even smelled new. But Jessie didn’t care much about cars.

    It was no problem that she was taking the car and leaving Mom without one. Mom hardly ever went anywhere since she’d gone on disability. Her bad back forced her to lie down half the time. Most days she didn’t even bother to get dressed, just went around in a flowered cotton bathrobe and pink vinyl slippers. Only once in a while she’d put on clothes to make a supply run to Wal-Mart, usually on Saturday so Jessie or Jason could carry the groceries and stuff for her.

    Make that just Jessie from now on.

    Jason was gone.

    The sunny September day went dark. Jessie ached as if she had just this moment learned that Jason was dead. Over and over again this had happened. He kept sneaking up on her.

    She had to go to school

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