The Haunting Read Free Page A

gothic iron fence surrounded the crypt. The rusted gate propped open crookedly, the top hinge having come apart, leaving the bottom to drag.
    I took a deep breath. It smelled like damp, freshly cut grass, making me homesick. I thought of my parents, of my little sisters…of Aunt Nell or should I say, Mom .
    “Focus,” I reminded myself with a grimace.
    Neive had said to make it to the house. Twisting in a circle, I couldn’t see a house in any direction. It was tombstones for as far as I could see, rows upon rows of them. If it wasn’t graves, it was tombs on either side of me or fat trees that looked like they’d been there forever.
    Hugging the blanket tighter, I felt anxiety building. Where were my friends? What if I didn’t make it to the house?
    Staring at the line of neighboring sepulchers, I knew that I’d prefer to walk away from them. The narrow buildings were too close together and shadowed. Maybe I could walk through the cemetery. There were trees to hide behind if I needed.
    Feeling a twinge of relief at the idea, I started to walk along the edge of the crypts. I kept a few rows of tombstones between the buildings and me.
    The air was electric. Insects didn’t hum, owls didn’t hoot, and no traffic sounded in the distance.
    The further I ventured, the thicker the trees and the more unkept it appeared. Gravestones looked more like stone slabs, chipped and brushed clear of names and dates. The lawn wasn’t manicured past a certain point, though I couldn’t recall where.
    Odd trees crowded together. One had knocked a tombstone over with an overzealous root that arched out of the ground.
    Walking around the trees and careful not to trip, I saw they’d grown thicker than the graves.
    My steps slowed as I realized I might have made a mistake.
    I stared at a forest instead of an urban area. Weren’t there usually houses around cemeteries? I had seen the obscure little cemeteries along the highway before, but there’d only been a few dozen headstones. They weren’t as big as this one.
    This isn’t the land of logic, though , I concluded and leaned against the nearest white-barked birch. Chewing on my lower lip, I tugged at the blankets around me, trying to make sense of my situation.
    I was alone. I didn’t have any of my friends this time. They’d guided me up to this point, mostly. I had Aidan all through the first Challenge, and I had Phoebe throughout most of the second.
    Then there was the subject of Neive. I felt my insides twist. She was alive. I wasn’t sure why I felt guilty that I hadn’t suspected that she could be. She’d been watching this whole time. I couldn’t just let her stay here, could I?
    Maybe Damien was right; I didn’t know this girl anymore. Yes, she was my twin, but I didn’t know her. She could be on Damien’s side for all I knew. Some sort of trick. Maybe she wasn’t Neive at all but part of Damien’s game.
    Feeling a burning streak of resentment, I pushed away from the tree.
    He had been using this memory against me since the beginning. Why stop now?
    It was an idea anyway. Could she have survived all this time? And if so, where? Here? Damien said she could wander, so why didn’t she come home? She’d been here since the age of five; she couldn’t have fended for herself. Damien or someone had to have helped her. Maybe that was why he didn’t want to let her go with us. Maybe, just maybe, Damien felt love.
    Maybe it was paternal. He would have had to raise her, watch her grow up.
    But Damien wasn’t a parent; he was a demon. Part, I reminded myself. He was part human too. That still didn’t explain why Neive never came home. Did she love him too? Or felt she owed him something?
    I touched my cooled cheek. He tried to kiss me. Had he tried with Neive too?
    Frowning, I clutched the blanket tighter. The last thing I needed to do was think about him.
    Trudging through the ankle-tall grass, I hopped over tombstones. I had to refrain from apologizing to the imaginary