Moonlight filtered through the swaying trees. The shadows seemed to dance against them, creating scattered images of days long passed. My eyes scanned around frantically. The woods were different at night, a lot different. There seemed to be secrets hiding amongst the foliage, daring you to discover them. I didn't. I stuck as close to Brandon as I could without actually clinging to him, though I was tempted too.
He shrieked and jumped back, knocking into me. My returning scream could have woken the dead. That wasn't a pleasant thought considering we were almost to the graveyard.
“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Rose tromped back through the underbrush, her agitation leading the way.
I stood up and wiped the dirt from my palms. “Big boy over here scared the shit out of me. What the hell, Brandon? You're supposed to be braver than I am!” I was pissed. I didn't need to be anymore scared than I already was. Maybe I should have stuck to Rose instead.
“God, seriously? Look, we're almost there. Can you guys refrain from pissing your pants until
Brandon looked between the two of us. I wasn't going to help him out. Besides, I wanted to know too. “I thought I saw a bug.”
My jaw nearly hit the floor. “Are you serious? We're in the freaking woods! Of course there's going to be bugs!”
Rose started laughing. Yeah, it was kind of funny, but I wasn't in the mood for hilarity. I just wanted to go up, touch the damn headstone, and go home.
“Whatever. Let’s just go.” He stormed away, leaving me and Rose to follow after him.
Silence ensued on the rest of our trek. I still couldn't believe that the original graveyard was technically in my back yard. I shuddered at the thought of all the bodies rising from the grave. They'd run into my house first when they went to go eat the townspeople. Freaking great.
The woods started to thin and I could make out a bath of moonlight in the distance. I swatted away low lying limbs as we broke free.
There were headstones everywhere. The moonlight bathed against the perfect circle that the woods created. It was like a natural border. The full moon hung full in the midnight blue sky, seeming to weigh over us. I huddled into my jacket, trying to shrink into myself. Rose stepped forward and looked expectantly at me. I thought about backing away and making a mad dash to the house, but I didn't want to become lost in the woods. At night. Alone. Plus, she probably would tackle me before I even made it that far.
I took a deep breath and stepped forward. Her smile broadened as I walked toward her. There was an almost malicious gleam in her eyes.
“Alright, here's what you have to do. You see that statue in the middle of the graveyard?”
I looked around. We were at a
She rolled her eyes at me. “The one directly in the middle! The angel, you see it?” I nodded. “Good. Now Merlo's headstone is right by it. Even you won't be able to miss it.”
I looked at her like she was stupid. What, was it supposed to glow or something? She shoved me forward. I shot a glare at her but she just waved me on. “Go on. You've got to do it. It's tradition.”
I thought about how many stupid things people had to do because of tradition. This had to top the list. I weaved my way around headstones, my feet sliding seamlessly within the fog. I shivered, the oncoming winter chill in the air biting into my flesh. My breath puffed out before me to join the fog that was drifting around. It was creepy as hell. And silent. I thought my ears would rebel at the lack of sound.
I stopped as I made it to the angel's statue. Time hadn't been kind to it as I looked up into his hauntingly beautiful face. His hand reached down to me, seeming to want to help me, to offer something. A couple of fingers were missing and one of his wings looked like it was about to fall off at any moment. A sense of sadness overtook me as I looked closer at its crumbling form. He must have stood guard here for generations. Protecting and offering comfort to those who had passed to be beaten away by time and nature.
I caught myself reaching out toward him and jerked my hand back. I didn't know where that thought had come from, nor why I had the sudden urge to touch him. I shook my head and looked around. This was crazy.
Crumbling gravestones stood around in rows like sentinels. Each of them had signs of decay. Pitiful, hopeless. All except for one. I frowned. This couldn't be right.
It looked like it was just made, the obsidian still a pure black. No wear shown. No damage by nature. I stepped forward hesitantly. Confused.
“You found it?”
“I think so. Why does it have a deceased year then a lead to? I thought the dates were supposed to be from birth to death.”
“Yeah, that's one of the weird things about it. It's like they're expecting him to come back or something.” Her laughter echoed throughout the clearing. I went cold at the sound. “Just touch it already so we can go home. It's freaking cold.”
“Alright, just give me a minute.” I pulled my hand out of my pocket and reached forward, holding my breath as I prepared to touch the headstone. It's just a piece of brick. That's all. As soon as I do it I can go home. The reassurances ran through my mind. I groaned at myself. I was being such a chicken.
Determined, I reached forward. I expected the stone to be smooth, cold. What I didn't expect was to feel an intense energy to creep into my hand and to travel up my arm. I was transfixed as the sensation move through me. I knew I should be scared, running for the hills the minute I felt the warmth, but I couldn't find the strength to turn away.
The darkness inside of me flared. I felt it spread as it seemed to feed on the warmth the stone was generating. A pulsing sensation started to come from the stone, becoming stronger, faster until my body started shaking with the intensity. My eyes stayed locked on the obsidian in front of me, seeming to fall into the endless pure black like an abyss. It was calling to me, welcoming me.
“Star! Are you done yet?”
My head snapped up and with an audible crack I flew backwards as the last of the warmth rammed into me. My head hit the gravestone behind me. Dazed, I raised my hand to my head only to come up short as I saw a silvery sheen. I peered closer and saw a long slash down the center of my palm. The moonlight turned the crimson flow silver, making it beautiful in its grotesqueness.
I turned at the sound of leaves crunching as Rose stomped forward, Brandon was swiftly behind her. “Did you hear me? What are you doing?”
“I touched it.” I sighed out. I didn't feel right. Something was wrong, but I couldn't function enough to figure out what.
She looked at me, frowning, then looked back at the stone. Her eyes widened and she took a step back. “What happened?”
She sounded shocked. Some part of me seemed to care about her tone so I slowly turned my head and followed her gaze. The headstone was still there, but barely. It was like three hundred years had passed in the minutes that I had touched it. Where once there was nothing but smooth obsidian, now there was a crumbled mass between gray spears where time hadn't touched yet. I frowned. That wasn't right either. “I think we should go—”
“What are you kids doing? Get out of here!” I jerked up at the sound of the enraged voice. Rose and Brandon quickly grabbed me, half-dragging me toward the boundary line.
“Shit!” Rose screeched, pulling on me roughly.
“Who is that?” My breath started to come faster, fogging up the space in front of us.
“That's the groundskeeper. He keeps people like us away.” Brandon huffed beside me.
“I thought we were allowed to go?”
“No one's allowed to go, Star. That's what makes it so much fun. You've got to touch the stone before you're caught and he runs you off.” Under Rose's agitation there was a hint of excitement. I guess she would enjoy
