The tension in the air thickened as Cain led them away from the sealed grave. Mia kept glancing nervously over her shoulder, while Olivia's gaze lingered on the disturbed earth, her thoughts swirling with unspoken questions. The cold pressed in more intensely now, settling into their bones, as if the cemetery itself had grown heavier with secrets. Each step they took seemed to stir something beneath the surface.
Cain, sensing their unease, tried to break the silence with a grin. "You know," he said, his voice casual but edged with something deeper, "people come up with all sorts of stories to explain what they don't understand. Portals to hell, monsters, ancient curses… all a bit far-fetched, don't you think?"
Mia snorted, though her eyes darted toward the darkened graves. "Right. You say it like it's no big deal, but those talismans? That grave?" She gestured over her shoulder. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to scare us."
Cain turned, walking backward so he could face them, his smile playful but distant. "It's not about scaring you. It's about what you choose to believe. Spirits, wraiths… they're not just stories to everyone."
Mia forced a laugh. "Come on, ghosts aren't real. They're just old tales to keep people in line." She nudged Olivia in the ribs. "Right, Liv?"
Olivia blinked, snapped out of her thoughts by Mia's elbow. She had been thinking about the grave they'd left behind, the strange symbols, the way the air had felt different. "Yeah… just stories," she muttered, though her voice was absent, and a flicker of doubt curled inside her.
Cain's smile faded slightly as he glanced back at the grave. "Believe what you want," he murmured, almost to himself, "but some things are more real than you think."
The night deepened around them as they walked, shadows stretching between the graves like silent witnesses. The silence wasn't peaceful—it was expectant, as though something was waiting just beyond their sight. Olivia couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't alone.
They reached the central pathway, and Cain clapped his hands together, the sound jarring in the quiet. "Well, I think that's enough for tonight. You two still have some graves to clean."
Mia groaned, rubbing her arms. "Great. Back to reality, I guess."
Olivia gave a half-hearted smile, her mind still lingering on the cold press of the grave's aura, on the sense that something had shifted beneath the earth. Cain watched her closely, his brow furrowing ever so slightly. Something wasn't right, and he could feel it. Why had Evelyn really hired them? Were they just ordinary cleaners, or was there more to their presence here? He wasn't sure yet, but he couldn't shake the sense that they were somehow connected to the strange pulse of energy in this place.
Just as he was about to say something, the ground beneath them trembled. A low, ominous rumble vibrated through the cemetery, sending a chill up their spines. Olivia stopped dead in her tracks, her breath catching in her throat.
"What was that?" Mia whispered, eyes wide as she looked around.
Cain's entire body tensed, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the cemetery. "Something's coming," he muttered, his voice barely audible.
The air grew colder, an icy wind sweeping through the cemetery, cutting through the silence like a knife. Olivia's heart raced as a strange energy surged through the night, thick and suffocating. Her instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong.
A jagged crack split the earth a few yards away, the ground giving way with a sickening lurch. From the gaping hole, an eerie light pulsed, casting grotesque shadows across the gravestones. Slowly, unnaturally, creatures began to crawl from the depths—twisted, malformed things with disfigured faces and limbs that seemed to bend in ways that defied nature.
Mia stumbled back, her voice trembling. "What… what is that?"
Olivia's blood ran cold, her body frozen as she watched the creatures pull themselves out of the earth. She had never seen anything like them, but in the pit of her stomach, a strange recognition stirred. This wasn't just fear—there was something disturbingly familiar about them.
Cain's face hardened, frustration boiling beneath his calm exterior. "Did either of you see Evelyn before this?" His voice was sharp, cutting through the chaos.
Olivia shook her head, her voice barely a whisper. "She… she said she was at the other cemetery."
Cain cursed under his breath. "Figures." His gaze flicked back to the advancing creatures, their twisted forms moving with unsettling speed. "Listen to me," he said, his voice low but commanding. "You need to get to Miss Evelyn's office. There should be supplies there—holy water, weapons, something that can deal with these things."
Mia's eyes widened in panic. "But we don't even know what we're dealing with!"
Cain turned to them, his expression fierce. "It doesn't matter what you know. What matters is that if you don't move now, those things will tear you apart. Run. Get to the office. I'll hold them off."
Olivia hesitated, fear and doubt warring inside her. This wasn't what she had signed up for. But deep down, something in her knew this was more than just a fight for survival. There was a connection here, a thread pulling her toward something far darker than she'd ever imagined.
"Go!" Cain's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, his eyes blazing with urgency. "If you want to live, move!"
Without another word, Olivia grabbed Mia's arm, and they bolted toward Miss Evelyn's office, the sound of the creatures' guttural growls and Cain's curses ringing in their ears. As they ran, Olivia couldn't shake the feeling that this was only the beginning—that whatever had stirred in the depths of the cemetery was tied to something far older, far more dangerous.
And somehow, she was part of it.