B00B9FX0F2 EBOK (13 page)

“What? How do you know that?”

“I saw something gold catch the light. Do you think he knew we were there?”

“I think he would have done something if he knew.”
Like kill us
, Jason added to himself. “We have to find out what he buried.”

“Left here,” she interrupted. “There, that’s my house up there.”

She hopped out of the car. “We’ll talk tomorrow,” she said tightly. He couldn’t tell if her worries stemmed from fear of Troy or anxiety about her curfew. He wanted to tell her it would be okay, but there was no time. Besides, just like earlier, he wasn’t sure whether or not he believed it.

A
t first, Jason headed toward Oakdale. Over five thousand songs on his iPod, and not a single one capable of calming him down. His fingers twitched on the steering wheel, and he called Rakesh on speaker phone. It rang through to voice mail.

“Hey, just wanted to tell you about my night. Pretty ordinary stuff, like, I saw the cocaptain of the Brighton lacrosse team crying in a graveyard. He buried something. In a totally normal way. Okay, call me back.”

At a red light, he logged in to Facebook. The message from Lacey was only two words.

Look deeper.

Jason felt sick when he read the words. He’d wanted her to finally explain what was going on, but here were more instructions. And they were cryptic — as usual — but Jason still knew exactly what they meant. He had to go back to the graveyard. Alone.

In the back of his mind, he’d been thinking about his bed waiting for him. As edgy and tense as he was, the idea of his soft inviting mattress, the plush down comforter, the fluffy pillows — his bed was calling to him like a siren. But he’d already turned the car around, was already five minutes from
the entrance to the cemetery. How had Lacey known he’d been there? How did she know what he’d missed?

This time he drove through the open gates and down the half mile of road he and Jenna had followed on foot. A squirrel dashed in front of his car, and Jason slammed on his brakes, stopping just before he hit it. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he half expected to see zombies rising out of the earth. He accelerated again until the oak trees he’d concealed himself in earlier were in sight, and then he cut the engine and switched off the headlights.

A chilling breeze had kicked up, it had cleared the sky of the cloud cover, allowing the moon to shine bright and cold overhead. It was almost full, illuminating the stray, gray puffs of cloud that lingered. It was the type of night that was made for a witch on a broomstick. Or digging up something that didn’t belong to you at the grave of someone you doubted was dead. Jason might have preferred the witch, not that anyone had given him a choice.

Jason’s limbs felt like sandbags. The closer he got to the grave, the less he wanted to see it. He kept reminding himself Lacey wasn’t underneath, but it didn’t help. He squinted through his glasses, trying to make out the names carved onto the headstones.

Beloved Father, Brother, and Husband: James Keegan.

Martha Nolan, who lives on in our hearts.

Shane Ryan, friend to all he met, loved by all who knew him.

He wondered, if he were to die here, tonight, what would his say?

Jason Moreland, loner.

He shook the thought from his head. Some of the
engravings were too worn down to read. Instinctively, he reached for the flashlight on his key chain, and then remembered that the last time he saw it, it was locked in Lacey’s car. A new wave of fear crashed over him, but it was tinged with something else: hope. Maybe she’d summoned him here to finally reveal herself. Before the idea took him any further, he spotted her gravestone and froze.

Dark marble rose elegantly from the grass, and Lacey’s name arched boldly across the top, the dates marking her birth and her death below. He swallowed, and his throat felt like it was coated in chalk. It wasn’t the idea of Lacey being dead that upset him — that idea was plenty creepy, but by now he was almost used to it — it was the headstone. It was so … lifeless. At the memorial, you could feel Lacey’s presence; the space was filled with love for her. In contrast, the cemetery felt like a sea of abandonment. People left behind by the ones they’d cared about most, memories buried to rot, bodies deserted by their souls. Jason’s whole self buzzed with fear, and he switched into high gear. The sooner he did what he came to do, the sooner he could get out of this haunted field.

He dropped to his knees where Troy had left the spongy earth loose and sank his fingers into the dirt, pulling up tufts of grass as he went. The earth had been softened by the spring rains, and the soil came away easily. Jason unsuccessfully tried to block out the fact that the ground he was digging into was literally littered with bodies. His fingers had just brushed something hard and metallic when he was overcome with the sensation that he was not alone. His neck jerked up, and he swiveled his head.

“Who’s there?” he cried softly, and only when the words were out of his mouth did he realize he was going through the
exact same motions Troy had earlier. He released the item he’d discovered in order to turn toward the oak tree he’d hidden behind with Jenna, but no one was there. He scanned the rest of the cemetery, half expecting to see the clown from
Hamlet
leading Ophelia’s funeral procession. As far as he could tell, he was completely alone. So why did he feel so shaken?

Returning to the small hole he’d created, he sifted through the dirt until he found the object he’d stumbled on. It was a delicate, thin chain with a flat pendant hanging from it. This must have been the gold Jenna had seen in the light. Jason pushed his glasses up his nose; her vision must be a lot better than his. Dangling the necklace from his fingertips, Jason felt the sides for hinges; maybe it was a locket with a clue inside. Instead, his fingers fumbled over an engraving. He wiped away the remaining dirt, and shifted the face into the moonlight to read what it said.

LG + TP

KC

Just then, a shriek ripped through the night, and Jason leapt to his feet, his eyes widening in terror before he identified the interruption as the sound of his phone’s ringer. He reached into his pocket, but his hands were shaking so much he couldn’t answer until the third ring.

“Hello?” he whispered.

“Dude, it’s like you
want
me to miss all the good stuff.”

“Rakesh, I can’t talk right now.”

“Why are you whispering? I know your mom and Mark can’t hear you from their room.”

“I’m not at my house.”

“Where are you, then?” Rakesh demanded. There was a
pause while Jason cradled the phone on his shoulder and held the necklace up to his face so he could examine it. “Wait, are you at Jenna’s? Bow chicka bow bow!”

“I’m not at Jenna’s,” he hissed, blushing at Rakesh’s suggestion there was something more than friendship going on between them. “I’m at the cemetery. Troy buried something, and I came back to get it.”

“You’re digging up something from a graveyard? Have you never seen a horror movie in your life? You have to get out of there. Also, seriously, since when did you become the guy who sneaks around Brighton breaking into cars and stealing things from grave sites?”

“I’m not stealing anything,” Jason answered, still distracted by the necklace he was holding. “What do you think KC is?” As soon as he said it, he realized the connection.

“What are you talking about?”

“KC,” Jason repeated, his voice rising with excitement. “Casey. It’s got to have something to do with the phone calls she was getting.”

“Jason, I’m worried about you. You’re in a freaking cemetery alone at midnight digging up graves and babbling about someone named Casey. Do I need to come get you? I’m pretty sure I can steal my dad’s car.”

“Even if you could get halfway out of the driveway before your dad murdered you, what would you do then? You don’t even know how to drive!”

“So you
do
want me to come rescue you?”

“No, I’m fine, I’m about to …” Behind him, Jason heard rustling. The tension that had been slowly easing out of his shoulders as he settled into the familiar conversation with
Rakesh returned with a vengeance. He felt like every hair on his body was standing at attention.

“Look, I gotta go,” he said slowly into the phone, dropping his voice to a whisper.

“What’s happening? Are you okay?”

Jason turned around, finding only emptiness. The branches of the oak tree were swaying in the breeze, but he was certain the noise he’d heard had come from much closer. He hadn’t realized how many person-size monuments there were for someone to crouch behind. To his left he saw the pit of a grave that been freshly dug. Somehow he’d missed it earlier, and it sent shivers coursing down his spine to think about a coffin being lowered into it. Rakesh was right; he had to get out of there.

“Jason? I’m calling the police,” Rakesh was saying.

“No, don’t,” he protested. “I have to go. I’ll call you back.”

“Okay, but if I don’t hear from you in ten minutes …” Jason ended the call before Rakesh could finish the threat.

Jason slipped the necklace into his pocket and started toward the Subaru, but something was stopping him. He turned back toward Lacey’s grave, and this time instead of seeing Ophelia’s funeral, he pictured Lacey’s ghost wandering among the grassy rows. The necklace weighed like lead in his pocket. He didn’t believe in curses or anything like that, but Rakesh’s warning about removing items from the resting place of the dead rang in his ears, and he knew he had to leave it behind. He hastily removed it and dropped it back in the small hole he’d created. Using the tip of his sneaker to fill in the rest of the dirt and the clumps of grass, he looked around him one last time, and, satisfied he was free of evil spirits, walked as quickly as he could back to his car.

W
hen Jason walked through the front door, he found his mom reclining on the sofa with a book on her lap, her eyes half shut.

“Hiya, sweet pea.” She yawned. “Where ya been?”

“The chemistry project,” he reminded her. “Lacey lives out toward Brighton.”
Six feet
under
Brighton
, he added silently in his head,
if you believe her headstone, which I don’t
.

She looked at her watch. “It’s almost one in the morning. They’re gonna put you in child services if they find out I let you stay out this late to do homework. We should both go to sleep. Mark’s probably up there, snoring away.”

“Yeah.” He feigned exhaustion even though his heart was still racing. “I’m beat.”

She rested a hand lightly on his back. “Have you been doing okay lately, kiddo? Some days, I swear, it’s like you’ve got the weight of your world on your shoulders. I don’t mean to pry about Lacey, but you’d tell me if something was going on, right?”

What would she do if he told her the truth — that there
was
something going on but he couldn’t talk about it because everyone thought she was dead? That a psycho lacrosse player had scared her or hurt her enough to allow them to think that? His mom would take away his laptop for life, that much he
knew; what was up for grabs was whether it would happen before or after she locked him in a mental institution.

“I’m fine, Mom. And there’s
nothing
going on with Lacey — I’m just a little stressed about the chemistry project. I want to do well on it.”

She frowned. “Your grades are important to me, but sometimes I wish you’d worry less about school. You’re a smart kid, the project will be fine. You should loosen up sometimes. Grades aren’t everything.”

“I’ll remind you of that the next time you see my report card.”

“I mean it, Jason. As your mother, I can say with authority that your happiness is more important to me than straight As. You have the best heart of anyone I know; you should let people see it occasionally.” Involuntarily, he thought of Jenna.
So there is a heart beating in there somewhere.
He fought back a grin, and then felt a pang of guilt. Lacey was the one who was supposed to make him smile like that.

“Thanks, Mom,” he mumbled. “Seriously. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m going to go to bed now, okay? I love you.”

“Sleep well.” She hugged him tightly. They headed upstairs together. “Oh, and have a good weekend.” When he looked at her blankly, she laughed. “You totally forgot, didn’t you? Mark and I are going to his sister’s lake house for the weekend. I was sure you and Rakesh were planning some sort of party. You really
are
a good kid. I’ll leave cash for pizza and emergencies by the phone in the kitchen. Don’t make me regret anything I said to you tonight.”

He smiled weakly and shrugged. Under other circumstances he probably would have hosted a rager. As it was, he was just happy he wouldn’t have to explain his comings and goings.
Something told him he’d be back in Brighton before the weekend was over.

As soon as she had shut the door to her room, he logged on to his computer. After he’d gotten off the phone with Rakesh, he’d spent the entire car ride home composing the message in his head; it tumbled off his fingertips and onto the screen.

L,

It feels weird writing this. I get the strangest sense you already know everything I’m going to say. But maybe I’m imagining things. Feels like I’m doing a lot of that lately. Anyway, here goes …

I did what you asked. I went back to your grave (literally can’t even believe I’m typing this stuff). If you don’t know this part, me and Jenna followed Troy (Dick Tracy style), and when it got dark out, he drove to the cemetery. If you told me this morning I was going to see the cocaptain of the Brighton lacrosse team crying like a baby, I’d have said you were a liar, but if you told me six months ago I’d be e-mailing with someone everyone thought was dead, I wouldn’t have believed that, either, so maybe I just need to work on my powers of imagination.

Anyway, it was pretty intense, and it freaked Jenna out enough that she wanted to get out of there. So I took her home, but after I got your message, I went back. Which is what you wanted, right? I hope so, cause it wasn’t exactly fun being in a graveyard in the middle of the night. But I did find your
necklace. Troy buried it there when he was bawling his eyes out and telling you he was so sorry.

I’m starting to piece together what happened to you, but I know there are things you’re not telling me. Is it because you were dating Troy? I’m not gonna pretend I love the idea of that, but you still don’t have to hide it from me. I care about you. And if he hurt you, if he’s the reason you had to disappear, I’ll … I don’t want to finish that sentence, but Lacey, you should know I would do ANYTHING to protect you.

Anyway, I guess that’s it for now. I hope this isn’t weird to say, but I miss when things between us were easy. Sometimes I think if you would just see me, face-to-face, we could figure this out. But I understand it’s complicated. Just remember, I am here for you.

— J

After he hit send, the exhaustion hit him like a ton of bricks. He crawled into bed, and was surprised to find that he was almost
happy
. Yes, there was a lot about Lacey that he didn’t understand. But even though his mind was swimming in uncertainty, there was something satisfying about it. Jason had spent more nights than he could count lying in bed, combing over every horribly boring detail of his day, and as bizarre as everything was, he was grateful to finally have real things to think about. Besides, he was on the verge of learning what had happened to Lacey. When he found the obituary and his perfect girlfriend turned into a ghost before his eyes, he’d felt like
he’d been stripped of something, but that thing she’d given him originally — the sense of mattering — was gradually coming back to him. Despite everything, he was enveloped by a deep sense of peace and fell asleep with the rock-solid knowledge that everything was going to be okay. In retrospect, he realized, that should have been his first sign that something was wrong.

Bleary-eyed, Jason checked Facebook on his phone as he idled outside Rakesh’s house. He’d overslept, and his brain still felt thick with slumber. He tried to ward off his disappointment that Lacey hadn’t answered his message. He told himself even runaway missing girls had to sleep sometime.

Rakesh was already grumbling when he climbed into the passenger seat. “Where’s my breakfast?”

“Shut up, Rakesh.”

“I want an Egg McMuffin! I thought I told you to bring me breakfast.” When Jason had called him from the car the night before, Rakesh had demanded he be brought a breakfast sandwich as payback for, as he put it, “missing the good stuff.” As with most of his friend’s requests, Jason ignored it.

“Can you at least wait until I get a cup of coffee in me before you start complaining?” Jason backed out of the driveway. Rakesh kept his mouth shut. Until they were halfway to Roosevelt High, that is.

“Yo, where are we going?” he asked.

“Um, school?” Jason answered, confused. It was Friday. They were already running late for homeroom.

“No, no, no. We’re not going to class right now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We have to go get that necklace.”

“You’re the one who told me to leave it there last night!”

“Yes. It was midnight. You can’t take something from a cemetery at midnight.” Rakesh spoke slowly, as if Jason was stupid. It didn’t help that Jason stared at him blankly. “But now the sun is shining. Nothing bad can happen. We have to go back and get it. It could be evidence.”

“Evidence of what?” Even though daylight was a lot less frightening than the darkness, Jason still wasn’t keen on making a third trip to the cemetery.

“Who knows, but don’t you think Lacey wants you to get it?”

Invoking her name had the intended effect. Jason sped past the Roosevelt parking lot and steered the car toward Brighton.

It had turned into a beautiful morning by the time they arrived at the cemetery. Rakesh may have entirely made up the rules about when you were and were not allowed to remove items buried at grave sites, but it was definitely less spooky during the day. All the same, it still weirded Jason out to think about the rows and rows of bodies buried around them.

“So you rolled up here
alone
last night?” Rakesh asked when they got out of the car. The respect in his voice was a peace offering, and Jason accepted it with a nod. He didn’t want to be fed up anymore, and Rakesh was at least trying to help. Jason pointed out the tall trees where he and Jenna had hidden. In daylight, he could see the tips of their branches were dotted with the first tiny pale green sprouts of spring leaves. It was strange and also comforting to think about something blooming here among the dead.

When they arrived at Lacey’s small plot, it was like Rakesh could read Jason’s mind. “I wonder what’s buried here.”

“Dunno,” Jason said. “Maybe an empty coffin. Maybe someone else.”

Rakesh shivered dramatically. “So creepy.” He nudged a clump of loose grass with his toe and asked, “What now?”

“We dig, I guess,” Jason answered, though he was unsure. It was true that the space seemed less haunted by the light of day, but the sun posed other problems: Like a passerby seeing two teenagers digging something up in a graveyard and jumping to conclusions. Jason didn’t even want to imagine how a security guard would react when he explained it was okay because there was no one buried there.

He hadn’t done as well as he thought covering his tracks from the night before. Half the grass was uprooted and the dark base of the headstone was covered in dirt. He dropped to his knees. Rakesh knelt next to him. Troy’s and Jason’s previous forays made the soil easy to sift through, and it didn’t take long for Jason and Rakesh to assemble a small pile next to a neat hole. And then the hole grew wider. And deeper. A rock formed in Jason’s stomach. The necklace wasn’t there. He sat back on his heels and after a moment Rakesh did, too, knowing better than to say anything.

“I swear, it was here last night. I left it here last night.”

They both peered down into the pit that had formed, and Jason felt around the edges in case he had missed something, but he was just going through the motions. Someone had taken the necklace. He was certain of it.

Just then, Jason felt a throbbing ache in his side, his glasses went flying, and all of a sudden he was on his back with the
wind knocked out of him. He patted at the ground, fumbling in vain for balance.

“What the …” he heard Rakesh from next to him, but his blurry vision was filled with Luke Gray’s face, staring down at him in fury.