"You're not real," I insisted as my foot danced from brake to clutch and I torqued the steering wheel.

"Are you really so sure about that?" Lupe asked with a smile. "After all, it wasn't that long ago that you didn't think vampires or werewolves-"

"You're not real, either," I announced as the envelope floated back into the glove compartment and closed with a snap. To close off any further conversation, I reached over and switched on the radio.

An oldies station was playing the last few bars of "Earth Angel." There was a disembodied chuckle behind me and Lupe was grinning wolfishly.

"I don't find any of this particularly funny."

Hey, Jenny's voice murmured in my ear, didn't anybody ever tell you: dying is easy; comedy is hard.

I stomped on the accelerator as the radio segued into a new selection.

It was "The Monster Mash."