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She thought back to Elizabeth. Something had drawn the woman to Cassie’s house, to her bedroom, in the middle of the night. Something told her where to go, where to ask for help. But asking why and how was a dangerous game. In over ten years, Cassie hadn’t learned the answers to those questions and so decided to stop asking them.

Besides, there were other questions she could answer. Unlike most of the ghosts in the graveyard, Elizabeth had been ruthlessly murdered. Her story needed to be told, and her mystery deserved to be solved.

Cassie felt her anger flair up once more. She got to her feet and continued her circuit around the cemetery, taking in the names and dates on the various headstones. She forced herself to let go of the events from the last few days and enjoy the warmth of the sun and the calm of the graveyard.

A few minutes later, she found herself standing at the foot of a recent grave. It was covered in fresh flowers and wreaths. Along the top of the headstone, Cassie caught sight of piles of coins and little stones. Notes had been folded in half and placed under a few of the rocks.

It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. This was the gravesite of one of the victims of the recent string of murders.

Cassie looked up and down the pathway, wondering if anyone else was on their way to pay respects to the woman. She hadn’t yet decided what she was going to do, but she didn’t want anyone to see her do it.

She doubled down on that notion as soon as she turned back around and saw a young woman crouched over the grave with her head in her hands.

Twenty-Two

The young woman appeared as though she had been sitting there all along. Her jet-black hair looked faded and lifeless. Her skin was translucent, but she didn’t glitch out as often as Elizabeth had. She looked more corporeal. Almost alive.

Until she looked u

p.

Cassie took an involuntary step back. The quiet hum of electricity circulating through her body was sharp and painful. The top of her head felt warm and the tips of her fingers went numb. The ghost’s gaze bore into her, as though searching her mind for answers. Cassie couldn’t help but break the connection, choosing instead to look down at the headstone.

Her name was Jessica Tran.

Cassie returned her gaze to the woman and gasped upon seeing her standing. She still looked at Cassie with intense eyes, but with less fire. Perhaps she found what she was looking for.

She wore a plain navy dress. Her hair hung down to her waist and the ends fluttered in an otherworldly breeze. There was a ghastly mark across her neck. Her chest had been opened and her heart removed. Blood soaked into the material, leaving splotches of wet cloth to glisten in the sun.

Cassie could feel the strength of this woman. Her anger fueled her ability to stay connected to earth’s realm. She had been dead longer than Elizabeth, so she had had more time to understand what was happening to her. She would be able to control her spirit form better than Elizabeth, too.

When Jessica stepped closer and spoke, it was with a clear voice that didn’t struggle to escape her throat.

“It’ll be over soon.”

Cassie’s heart stopped. It was the same line Hannah and Elizabeth had given her.

“I don’t understand,” Cassie said. “I don’t know what that means.”

“It’ll be over soon,” Jessica repeated. There was a flash of anger in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I—”

Jessica took another step forward and pressed her hand against Cassie’s cheek. It felt like the memory of a touch. It was cool and light, but Cassie only had a second or two to comprehend the feeling when an image sliced its way into her brain.

Cassie stood inside an open structure. There was a roof over her head, but she could feel the breeze blowing by her, carrying the muffled sound of cars and music and voices and laughter and the smell of the river and the restaurants. She felt dizzy and drunk, too tired to stand on her own but unsure of where to go or what to do.

There was a scraping noise and she looked up. In front of her, there was a white vehicle with a large green sticker on the side that read Savannah Non-Emergency Medical Transport Van. A man with his back to her was opening the side doors. He was tall and well-built with brown hair. He was wearing dress pants and a collared shirt, but she couldn’t see his face.

Cassie swayed on her feet and looked in the direction of the breeze. Although she couldn’t see the street, she realized she was several stories off the ground. It was nighttime and the moon hung low in the sky. She could barely make out whooping and yelling from below.

A touch at her elbow alarmed Cassie. She turned back around, and she realized the man had left the van and was by her side, guiding her toward the vehicle. Something felt off, but in her confusion, she didn’t know what to do. As the car got closer to her, her vision started to fade.

In a panic, Cassie tried to look over at the man next to her, but her vision faded, and she was back in the cemetery.

She blinked against the bright Georgia sun, staring in the face of an elderly woman who had her hand on Cassie’s elbow.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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