The forest felt colder than it should have, a damp chill clinging to their skin as they trudged deeper into the overgrowth. The faint hum of civilization faded behind them, replaced by the rustle of leaves and the occasional hoot of an owl. Each of their flashlights cut narrow paths through the darkness, revealing roots that jutted out of the ground like gnarled fingers.
Rose was the first to speak, her voice barely rising above a whisper. "Are we even sure we're in the right place?"
Kayla, as usual, seemed entirely undeterred. She balanced the book under her arm, her flashlight weaving back and forth. "The map said the graveyard started just past the old gym's foundation. We're definitely close."
"Close to what?" Caston asked with a sneer. His flashlight flickered, and he slapped it against his palm in frustration. "I still think this is a giant waste of time."
"Then why are you here?" Kayla shot back, not bothering to look at him.
"Someone has to make sure you don't fall into an open pit or something," Caston muttered.
"Guys," Marina interjected, her tone a mix of weariness and exasperation. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Can we save the bickering until after we survive this little field trip?"
Laura, trailing slightly behind the group, added softly, "I don't think surviving is guaranteed if we keep making this much noise. What if something—or someone—is out here?"
The implication sent a shiver through Rose, though she didn't dare show it. She glanced at Kayla. "How much further?"
Kayla stopped suddenly, raising her flashlight. Its beam landed on a crooked iron gate, barely visible beneath layers of vines. The rusted metal bars were twisted and warped, as if some great force had bent them out of shape.
"Found it," Kayla whispered triumphantly.
The group gathered around the gate, their breaths visible in the frigid air. Beyond it, the overgrowth thickened, but the faint outlines of tombstones stood out against the darkness, leaning at odd angles like teeth in a broken jaw.
"Alright, let's do this," Kayla said, her voice brimming with determination. She pushed the gate, and it creaked open with an unsettling groan.
Caston hesitated, lingering behind. "I'm just saying, if we find a giant 'Keep Out' sign or something, I'm turning back."
"Noted," Kayla replied curtly. She stepped through the gate, leading the way into the forgotten graveyard.
The group moved cautiously, their flashlights casting jittery beams over the cracked, moss-covered headstones. Many were illegible, their engravings eroded by time. Others bore names that felt oddly familiar, though no one could place why.
Rose stopped at one of the graves, brushing dirt away from its surface. Her fingers trembled slightly as she traced the faint outline of a date: 1893.
"These are so old," she murmured. "How could they build a school here and just… forget about this?"
"Maybe they didn't forget," Laura suggested quietly. "Maybe they wanted to."
Kayla knelt beside another grave, her flashlight illuminating the name etched into the stone. "Sarah Whitlock," she read aloud. Her brow furrowed. "Does that name ring a bell to anyone?"
"Nope," Caston said, kicking at a loose clump of dirt. "Unless she was on the basketball team, why would I care?"
Kayla rolled her eyes. "You're impossible, you know that?"
Marina knelt beside Kayla, her gaze serious. "Kayla, are we actually going to… dig? This feels… wrong."
Kayla hesitated for the first time. "I just… I have a feeling, okay? Like we're supposed to be here." She opened the dusty book she'd brought, flipping through its brittle pages until she found a sketch of the graveyard. Her finger landed on a section marked with an X. "Here. This is where we need to look."
Rose exchanged a wary glance with Marina, but no one spoke. Kayla's instincts had been right before—too many times to dismiss outright.
"Fine," Rose said reluctantly. "Let's get this over with."
The shovels they'd brought seemed out of place in the eerie silence, their metallic clinks ringing sharply as they dug into the cold earth. Caston grumbled the whole time, though his complaints were quieter now, as if the oppressive atmosphere of the graveyard had finally started to weigh on him. Laura kept watch, her flashlight darting nervously from shadow to shadow.
"How deep do we have to—" Rose's question was cut off when her shovel hit something solid. She froze, her heart hammering in her chest.
Kayla dropped to her knees, brushing dirt away with her hands. Slowly, a wooden surface came into view—worn and splintered, but unmistakably a coffin.
"Okay, that's my limit," Caston said, backing away. "This is insane."
"Shh!" Kayla snapped. She leaned closer, examining the coffin's lid. "There's something carved here," she said, tracing the faint markings with her fingertips. "A symbol… and words. It's Latin."
Marina glanced over her shoulder nervously. "What does it say?"
Kayla squinted, her lips moving silently as she translated. Finally, she spoke aloud. "It says, Here lies the keeper of the veil. May the seal remain unbroken."
"The keeper of the veil?" Rose repeated, her voice uneasy. "What does that even mean?"
"I don't know," Kayla admitted, but there was an edge of excitement in her voice. "It has to mean something."
Suddenly, a cold wind swept through the graveyard, extinguishing Laura's flashlight. She yelped, fumbling to turn it back on. The others froze, their breath catching in their throats.
"Did anyone else feel that?" Rose whispered.
Before anyone could answer, the ground beneath them began to tremble. The coffin shifted slightly, as if something inside was stirring.
"Tell me that's just an earthquake," Caston said, his voice breaking slightly.
Kayla's eyes widened, but instead of fear, there was a glimmer of realization. "It's the seal," she said. "The coffin—it's—"
Her words were drowned out by a deafening crack. The coffin's lid splintered, and a burst of frigid air erupted from within, knocking the group backward. Rose hit the ground hard, her flashlight rolling out of her grasp.
When she scrambled to her feet, the coffin was empty.
"Where is it?" Laura whispered, her voice trembling. "Where's the body?"
Kayla didn't answer. She was staring at the grave, her face pale. "The seal… it's broken."
"What does that mean?" Marina asked, helping Rose to her feet.
Kayla's voice was barely audible. "It means we just unleashed something."
A low, guttural sound echoed through the graveyard, sending a chill down Rose's spine. It wasn't human—but it wasn't entirely inhuman, either. Shadows moved unnaturally among the trees, coalescing into a dark, amorphous shape that seemed to pulse with malevolence.
"Run," Kayla whispered. When no one moved, she screamed, "RUN!"
The group scattered, their flashlights bobbing wildly as they sprinted back toward the gate. Rose's lungs burned as she ran, but the sound of that thing behind them pushed her forward. She didn't dare look back.
When they finally burst through the gate, the oppressive chill lifted, but the fear remained. They collapsed onto the grass, gasping for air.
"What the hell was that?" Caston demanded, his face pale.
Kayla clutched the book tightly to her chest, her eyes wide. "I don't know," she admitted. "But I think it's just the beginning."
The group sat in stunned silence, their breaths visible in the cold night air. Somewhere in the distance, the guttural sound echoed again, a haunting reminder of what they had awakened.
And as Rose looked at her friends, she couldn't shake the feeling that whatever lay ahead would test them in ways they couldn't yet imagine.