How does someone even do that? My mind was blown. Was this actually something the supernatural do? They just animate the dead to do their tasks when they want?
My gaze held Carol’s. “How does this happen?”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Honestly? I have no idea.”
All I could do was shake my head. “Who does that?"
"Someone who's about to have a very bad day, that's who," Beth said, her eyes blazing with righteous fury. "We need to do something about this."
"Agreed," Carol said. "Let's get some fresh air. I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling a little green around the gills."
"Seconded," I said, my hand instinctively flying to my stomach as it gave another unhappy lurch.
Beth shook her head. "They're using zombies to cook food, That's not just disgusting, it's...it's..."
"An abomination," Carol finished for her. "Using magic to reanimate the dead is one of the most forbidden acts a witch can commit."
"Okay, okay," I tried to calm myself down. "Ohhhkay. This is bad. Really bad. I don’t even know if this is tied to Deva or not, but we have to stop it. What do we do about it?"
"We need to figure out who's behind this too," Beth said. "Whoever it is, they're powerful and dangerous."
"Maybe it's that server we talked to earlier?" Carol suggested. "She seemed a little off."
"Could be," Beth said. "I think it’s just as likely to be the Burns family. I doubt they’re running the restaurant and don’t know about the zombies, but we won't know until we confront the guilty party. For that, we'll need a plan."
"Right," I said, my stomach churning, but not about the gross zombie making people's food. More at the idea of facing off against someone capable ofcreatingzombies. "A plan. You guys have any ideas?"
"We need to make sure whoever's behind this doesn't suspect we're onto them. We'll go back inside and act like nothing's wrong until we figure this out."
"Ugh." I groaned, the mere THOUGHT of eating more of that tainted food making me want to hurl. "Do we really have to?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Beth said. "We need to keep up appearances, at least for now."
"Fine." I steeled myself for the task ahead. "If I puke, it's on you guys."
"Deal," Carol said, her lips quirking into a small smile despite the gravity of the situation.
As we tried to sneak down the hallway back to the dining room, the door to the kitchen swung open, revealing the Burns family glaring at us. Mr. and Mrs. Burns, along with their children Frank and Maggie, owned and operated the restaurant, which meant they were likely responsible for the undead staff.
"Would you care to explain why you're snooping around our kitchen?" Mr. Burns asked loudly, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Us? Snooping?" I feigned innocence. "We were just admiring your, er, unique approach to staffing."
"Cut the crap," Maggie said. "You know about the zombies."
"Look, we don't want any trouble," Beth said, attempting to diffuse the situation. "Using magic to animate dead people is forbidden, not to mention unsanitary. You can't keep doing this."
"Who do you think you are, telling us how to run our business?" Mrs. Burns said, hands on her hips and chin jutting out defiantly.
"Three concerned customers who just ate food prepared by the undead," Carol said, her voice tight with anger. "You need to put those poor souls to rest and find some living employees. Using zombies to run your restaurant? Beyond cruel, it's disgusting."
"Disgusting?" Mrs. Burns spat, her face flushed with anger. "We're just trying to survive, Do you have any idea how hard it is to compete with Deva's place?"
"Maybe if your food didn't taste like it was prepared by the undead, you'd have better luck," Carol shot back, her words laced with venom.
"Enough," Frank shouted, stepping between his parents and us. "You have no right to come in here and judge us."
"Actually, we do." A wave of courage washed over me. "I'm Karma, and I'm pretty sure exploiting the dead goes against every moral code in existence."
