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Dressed in what looked like Victorian style wedding dress, the ghost was more of a specter—with the flesh missing from her body. The skeleton carried a mist-shrouded bouquet and long blond hair still flowed from where it was attached to her skull. Flames burned in her eyes, and she seemed more vital and aware than most of the other spirits in this graveyard.
She fastened her gaze onto me—the twin flames in her sockets blazing like burning coal. She moved forward, and I quickly sensed an animosity toward me as she stopped in front of our hiding spot. I wanted to shout for her to go away, but that would give away our presence for sure. I had no idea if the stalker could see ghosts—if he could, and he was near, he’d notice the kerfuffle. If he didn’t, then he probably wouldn’t notice us unless I was stupid and said something.
What do you want in my kingdom?The skeleton bride asked.
I glanced up at her, not wanting to speak. Time to see if she could hear my thoughts.We aren’t here to disturb the dead—we mean you no harm. Our quarry is one of the living. We seek him alone. We do not aim to disrupt you or your subjects.Until now, I mostly had spoken aloud to the dead, but it was time to see if I could reach them on their own level.
Apparently, it worked. She stared at me a moment longer, then said,Then be about your business and leave my shadowy kingdom as soon as you can. Your quarry resides within the mausoleum walls. Take him and get him out of our way. The living aren’t welcome here.
I longed to tell her that we didn’t to be here, either, but decided to take my victories where I could. I quickly whispered what had happened to Faron.
He shivered. “There are ghosts walking around us right now?”
“Never mind the ghosts. Did you hear what I said? The guy’s inside.”
“Yes, I heard what you said. But I’m not too keen on ghosts.” Faron frowned, then moved in front of me. “Let me go first.”
My first instinct was to be annoyed, but then I checked myself. He was strong and he was skilled in fighting. I wasn’t skilled or strong. I followed him as he stood and darted across the five yards separating us from the mausoleum.
We reached the edge of the granite structure and pressed up against the wall. Faron slowly inched around the front, with me following him. Another step closer to the open door, then another. Faron held up his hand and, fingers counting down from three, he motioned for me to follow him. On the count of one, we slipped around the cracked door, pushing our way in. A moment later, I pulled out my flashlight and turned it on.
The light illuminated the inner sanctum, showing four sarcophagi, laid out in a diamond pattern. A small window high up on the back wall allowed a sliver of light to enter, but right now, all I could see was the glint of the glass.
I looked around, but I didn’t see anybody. “I don’t understand. IknowI felt him in here.” I spoke as softly as I could.
“Well, I don’t see him now. Is there another way out?” Faron examined the walls as I followed him, holding the light as he tried to find any secret exits.
“Not that I can see,” I said, squinting over his shoulder. “I still…he was in here. I could feel him. I could feel?—”
But I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence, as something hard hit my head and everything went black.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
The first thingI noticed was that my head hurt. Bad. The second thing I noticed was that I was cold and lying on something hard. Squinting, I slowly pushed my way up, sitting on what I now realized was a cold stone floor. I tried to look around but it was pitch dark, and I couldn’t see anything.
Where was I? What had happened? And then, I remembered—I’d been with Faron. So, where was he? I’d also been holding a flashlight. I felt around me, trying to find something that would tell me if I was still in the mausoleum.
Something raced over my hand and I yanked my hand off the floor, trying not to shriek. I didn’t want to alert anybody that I was here.
There are few venomous creatures over this side of the Cascades, I thought, trying to reassure myself.There shouldn’t be any black widows or scorpions or rattlesnakes.
A moment later, I ran into something solid and cool—I felt along the sides and realized it was about four feet high. The material felt like stone and so I pulled myself up to my feet. I still felt woozy from the knot on my head. Holding onto the edge, I crept my way around the stone outcropping and quickly realized, it was a sarcophagus. Maybe Iwasstill in the mausoleum.
I tried to remember the position of the sarcophagi—they had been arranged in a diamond, so I made my way to the end and staggered forward. Not ten steps later, I bumped into the end of another one. Since I’d been at the back of the mausoleum, I suspected that the exit would be on the other end of this stone coffin. I felt my way around it, holding onto it for both balance and direction. When I came to the end, I let go and kept walking forward, hands out.
I wavered, my head spinning with pain and wooziness, but a few steps later my hands ran into a wall. I felt around and found the door handle and, shoving with my shoulder, I opened the door and stumbled out into the dark of night.
I gasped as the chill air hit me. Nights were cool on the peninsula, even during summer. Shivering, I was grateful that I’d brought the light jacket. But now that I knew where I was, what the hell had happened? And where was Faron?
As I waited for my eyes to adjust, I heard a dog bark and Oscar ran up to me, barking loudly. He bumped against me, whining. I petted his ears.
“Crap, if you’re out?—”
I’d no more started to speak when Atlas joined us. He was limping, from what I could see in the starlight that shone down on us. I felt for my phone, but couldn’t find it. Double-crap. It was probably on the floor in the mausoleum.
“Come on, boys, help me back to your house. I need to check on Bree and call the cops.” I pressed my hands against them and felt them respond. I leaned down, focusing on what I needed to accomplish, and they seemed to pick up on it. They stayed by my side and, with me stumbling along, guided me to the gate dividing the cemetery from Bree’s house.
We reached the porch a few minutes later. Thank gods, the light was on and I was able to see that the door had been busted open. I quickly turned to the dogs, and saw that Atlas had blood on his hindquarters. I hustled them inside and immediately I could see that a struggle had taken place.
