The Haunted - Jessica Verday [37]
“Today’s your birthday?”
I shrugged. “It was.”
“Happy birthday, Astrid.”
His words filled me with warmth, but I tamped down on the feeling. “So now what, are you stalking me? Hiding out in the bushes, watching?” I thought about the day I came home, with the kid and the dog. “Have you been here before? In the daytime?”
“Sometimes I stop by when I’m out just walking around,” he admitted. “At first it was to look for you. But then I thought you were avoiding me, so I tried to stay away.” He kicked at a loose branch by his foot. “I guess I couldn’t stay away tonight.” A loud bark suddenly had both of us lifting our heads. Nearby, Mr. Travertine shuffled sleepily along the perimeter of his porch, clearly not very happy about the task of letting his dog out for an early-morning walk.
The dog barked again, and it sounded like he was coming closer.
“I’m gonna go,” Caspian said. “And you should get back inside. You’ll get sick if you stay out here too long.”
He stepped away from me and gave me a sad, final look.
“Where does this leave us, Caspian?” I called out softly. “What do we do now?”
“I don’t know, Abbey,” he replied. “But whatever it is, I guess we’re not meant to do it together.”
The Haunted
Chapter Nine
SHELTER
To look upon its grass-grown yard, where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one would think that there at least the dead might rest in peace.
—“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
The next morning I woke up full of confusion. Last night had really happened. I’d washed mud and grass from the bottom of my feet. Caspian was real. And he’d said he loved me…
But did it mean anything? Could it mean anything? He was dead. That threw a slight complic-ation into the mix.
I got out of bed and knelt down, feeling underneath it for the necklace. Looking at it in the daylight, I traced the red cursive letters, spelling out the name Astrid, trapped forever beneath tiny glass squares. The edges were soldered all the way around with a shiny metal, and a black satin ribbon hung from a small O-shaped ring at the top. The other necklace he’d given me was tucked away in the back of my sock drawer.
Very slowly, I put it on.
It felt like it belonged. Like it was meant to be there.
The house was curiously quiet when I went downstairs. I couldn’t tell if Mom and Dad were gone, or just sleeping off the effects of last night. I ate a quick bowl of cereal and then scrawled “Going out. Be back later.” on a notepad next to the fridge. I didn’t need Mom freaking out if she woke up and couldn’t find me.
I capped the pen and slid it back into the little clip that held it in place, then made my way out the door. I headed up the hill and started walking toward the cemetery. I wanted to see Caspian again. I had so many questions.
The warmth of the sun felt good at first, but it didn’t take long for me to start getting hot and sticky. I pulled my damp shirt away from my back and used my hand to fan my neck. Almost there. It won’t be much longer now.
I just hoped that I’d be able to find him, or at least a sign of him.
The cemetery gates came into view, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Weeping willows, cherry trees, and great oaks lined each pathway. A profusion of fresh green buds and flowers bursting with new life filled the grounds. A mower sounded, and suddenly I craved the scent of freshly cut grass.
I checked down by the river first. We’d met there so many times that it seemed like that was where he would be. I scanned underneath the bridge, and the top of it too, but he wasn’t there.
I walked slowly through the cemetery, checking behind upright tombs for any type of crawl space or cubbyhole that he might have found. Several mausoleums were next, and I tried each door latch. But they weren’t giving up their secrets, or their dead, and I was forced to move on.
The mower sounds grew closer, and I sat down in a clearing of grass to wait while it went by. Keeping my eyes peeled, I scanned