Chapter 3

Before I can even say hello, her voice comes through sharp and frantic.

"Mia, what the hell are you talking about?"

"My Aunt Diane died over ten years ago. There's no way you were just with her!"

The ground drops out from under me. My face goes white.

"That's impossible. She told me she was your aunt! She said she went back to grab the wedding favors..."

Bella sends me a photo.

It's a funeral portrait.

My legs give out. I drop to the ground right there.

The woman in the photo is the same woman who just walked me through those woods. Same face. Same smile.

An icy chill crawls up from my feet all the way to the top of my skull.

I stare at the tombstones in front of me. I can't stop shaking. Tears pour down my face before I can even try to hold them back.

"Bella...please come get me!"

"I don't know what's happening. I keep ending up in this graveyard! I've been walking forever and I can't get out!"

"I swear, your aunt was right here with me, and then she just, disappeared!"

I'm talking and scanning the darkness around me at the same time. Terrified that any second, something is going to crawl out from behind one of those headstones.

Bella pauses. "Mia, what are you even saying right now? There's no graveyard anywhere near our village."

"I'm telling you the truth!"

My voice comes out almost as a scream. I'm shaking so hard I can barely hold the phone.

"I'm standing in a graveyard right now! I'll take pictures, hold on!"

I snap a few photos of the tombstones right in front of me and send them to her.

There's a long pause. Then Bella's voice comes back, flat and annoyed.

"Mia, quit messing around. You're standing right outside the chapel. Get in here. The ceremony's about to start. Everyone is waiting."