Before them, the path to West Wood Cemetery lay sinewy through a copse of trees, just beyond the village boundary. As Lilly and Silas walked on, the world seemed to grow quieter. The hum of the town fell away into a distant humming, replaced by the soft rustling of leaves and at times the whispered wheeze of wind. Something about the silence was eerie, unnatural, and it sent the hairs on the back of Lilly's neck standing on end.
It was a feeling she was growing used to, though she couldn't say it was comforting. The closer they drew to the cemetery, the heavier the air seemed to grow around them, weighted as if the very atmosphere around them knew what was in store.
Do you feel that?" Lilly asked in a hushed voice, turning to Silas. He'd been walking beside her in silence, eyes turned ahead into the way.
Silas nodded, his face grim. "The energy of the cemetery is stronger now. The presence of the entity bleeds into this world. It's not just the spirits anymore, something darker and more powerful.
Lilly's heart was racing as she swallowed hard. She could feel the change in the air, the cold seemed to seep deeper into her bones with every step they took. It wasn't the usual chill that came with spirits; this was something else. It was as if the cemetery itself was coming alive, responding to the growing power of the entity.
As they neared the wrought-iron gates of West Wood Cemetery, Lilly's breath caught in her throat. In the daylight, the cemetery was different, without the menaces of the night, but the energy she sensed within its border was unmistakable. Something was pulsating beneath the earth, a low thrum that coursed through the soles of her the very earth seemed to vibrate with some ancient and dangerous entity.
Silas stopped at the gate, leaning his hand against the cold metal. He turned and looked over, though at Lilly, his expression unreadable. "You sure you're ready for this?
Lilly met his gaze, her jaw set with determination. "I don't think I've ever been ready, but we don't have a choice, do we?"
Silas's lips arced into the barest suggestion of a smile-an acknowledgment of their shared fate, perhaps. "No, we don't," he agreed softly.
They moved together, and the gate creaked loudly in protest; protesting metal moaning as the iron swung inward. The familiar view on the other side of the cemetery came into the frame: rows of weathered gravestones, long shadows across the paths cast by towering oaks, and the ominous mausoleum at the center. Yet, this time something was different. Lilly could feel it before she saw it.
It was when they entered the cemetery grounds that a ghostly glow faintly caught Lilly's attention. Her breath arced in her throat as, immobilized, her eyes locked onto the source of the glow-a patch of earth near the edge of the far side of the cemetery. Subtle it was, almost like mist hovering above the ground, yet there it was. The ghostly essence was leaking from beneath the soil, visible to only her.
Do you see that?" Lilly asked, her voice scant more than a whisper as she pointed to the glowing spot of earth.
Silas finally followed her gaze, but he shook his head. "I don't see anything. What is it?"
Lilly swallowed, her heart racing in her chest. "There's… something there. A glow. It is as if the essence I saw in the mausoleum, but it's coming from the ground.
Silas furrowed his brow as he studied the spot to which she was pointing. He couldn't see the essence, but he did believe in Lilly's exceptional abilities. "That must be where the tomb is hidden," he whispered. "The Grey family built the tomb to contain the entity, but it was never to have been found again.
Lilly's heart quickened as she took a step forward hesitantly. The glow, seemingly pulsing with response, drew her to it. She felt that ghostly energy was calling her, somehow urging her to disclose something lying beneath.
Her second ability was that of the ghostly presence, which had grown stronger and stronger since she had come in contact with the artifact. It seemed her senses had sharpened to such an extent that she was more aware of the spiritual forces surrounding her. The glowing was dim, almost imperceptible to any other, but it now somehow acted like some kind of beacon.
"We have to move the stone," Lilly said after a moment of exhalation, the tone of her voice much steadier now. "The tomb is down there. I can feel it."
Silas nodded, his gaze darting back to the patch of earth. "Hope we can move it without drawing too much attention.
They walked across the cemetery, the ghostly glow growing with each step Lilly was taking. The air around them felt charged-like in the moments before a storm-and Lilly could feel the entity's presence lingering just out of sight. It was watching them, lying in wait for the right time to strike.
As they reached the glowing patch, Lilly fell to her knees, whisking off the layer of leaves and the dirt that the Green Hill countryside had thrown over the stone beneath. It was old, cracked, and covered in moss, but it distinctly was a grave marker-one laid here long ago and forgotten by time.
"This it is," Lilly whispered, her finger tracing the edges of the stone. "The tomb is underneath."
Silas knelt beside her and peered down at the stone, his features set in concentration. "We have to be very careful," he said. "If we disturb the spirits that are bound to the tomb, they will try to stop us."
Lilly nodded. Her heart was racing in her chest. The spirits of the Grey family, which had failed to bind the entity, were still trapped here, bound to the same mistakes they'd made centuries ago. They would defend the tomb with everything they had if that meant standing in the way of the only people who could finish the ritual.
Together, Lilly and Silas heaved against the stone, hands straining against its weight. For a moment, it did not budge-the ground beneath solid, unyielding. But as Lilly concentrated on the ghostly glow, something shifted. The essence seemed to react to her touch, pulsing in time with the energy she could feel coursing through her. With an oarlike groan of effort, it shifted at last, sliding aside just far enough to show a narrow opening beneath. The air that welled up from the tomb beneath was cold-far colder than the chill of the autumn morning-and it carried with it the faint smell of earth and decay.
Lilly's heart was racing as she peered into the darkness below. The tomb wasn't like the mausoleum was far, far older; the stone walls crumbled with age, and there was a sense of finality to it, a feeling this place had been sealed off from the world for a reason.
It is, Silas said quietly, his voice hardly audible above the stillness of the graveyard. Where the entity was supposed to be bound in the tomb.
Lilly swallowed hard, her mind reeling under the weight of their discovery: where the ritual went wrong and the tomb holding the key to stopping the entity once and for all. But the ghostly leakage from the tomb wasn't a memory of what took place here but a warning.
"Ready?" Silas asked, steady eyes fixed on her.
Lilly took another deep breath, her heart racing. She wasn't ready, but neither of them did have a choice. The entity was swelling in power, and if they didn't stop it now, it would break completely out of its bonds.
"I'm ready," she said, attempting to sound steadier than she felt. Silas nodded, and they made their way down to the tomb together. Their footsteps were cautious and slow as the weight of the past pressed in and the darkness closed around.