VANISHED (#1 in the VANISHED series) #NaNoWriMo2019 ✔

n i n e ✔

Slinging their backpacks over their shoulders, the girls proceeded into the Hollywood Cemetery. But the second their shoes crossed the invisible limit, an eerie sensation crawled over Arielle's skin. She turned to Stella—and from the narrowing of her chocolate eyes, she could tell her friend experienced the same energy coming alive around them.

But is that energy alive... or dead?

Both shuddered as they meandered by the red door of the Chapel Office. Up close, there was nothing creepy about it. Average, albeit bright, with a few dings and cracks, and obvious signs of wear and tear. Yet Arielle couldn't bear to look at it for more than a few moments before prying her gaze away. No spirits blinked in and out of focus in front of it, but the image imprinted in her brain and she couldn't make it stop.

"Stel... I'm sort of regretting this." The black mass from the prison and the fizzling figure from the door both warped and floated in her mind, blurring her vision. "And I... don't good."

It was yesterday all over again—but now Arielle had the nausea and discomfort.

Stella seemed unmoved as she pointed to the right, past the Gatekeeper's house. "You'll be fine... I sense it too, but we have to investigate it. We... said we would. No running away. Come on... we should go that way."

Arielle's eyebrows raised as she prepared to retort something, but her words mixed up in her mouth and her jaw tightened.

Stella continued down the landscaped path. "I remember reading something about a pyramid... the Monument to the Confederate Dead, I think? It's said you can hear moans and stuff. Should be a good place to start."

Arielle nodded, but everything in the surrounding atmosphere begged her to turn tail and exit. A cool tingle traveled across her skin and a coppery, sulfuric stench skittered into her nostrils. She fought the urge to gag.

Stella didn't see or smell anything—or didn't care to—and hastened onward, leaving Arielle no choice but to hobble behind her.

Once at the Pyramid—a huge rock and stone monument that stood almost as tall as some of the trees surrounding the property—Stella tipped her head to the side.

"Nah, there's nothing here." She shrugged and pinched her lips. "I'm not getting anything."

Arielle chuckled, though the sound came out as more of a cackle.

Is she fucking joking? This place is nuts! It's active! There are... things here!

"D-does it work like that?" Her teeth clattered as she fixed her backpack strap. "Don't you have to focus or something? Or... stay here a little longer to be sure? This area is... saturated with energy. I... can tell."

Stella whipped around, her eyes narrowed. "How can you tell? Because I have no fucking clue how it works." Arielle flinched, but Stella had already taken several steps away and missed it. "This is new to me, but all I can say is I'm not getting any vibes here. And, supposedly, I'm the one who was born with that ability. So since I'm not getting anything... let's go." She twisted her upper body towards Arielle, gesturing for her to follow.

With one last glance at the high pyramid that freaked her out, Arielle rolled her shoulders and hurried after Stella. But her pace was uneven and her steps wobbly. Agony awoke in her lower abdomen, and it was so sharp, so stinging, she wondered if it was that time of the month.

At their next location—a crypt built into a hill that served as the place where the Richmond Vampire was seen—Stella had no sensations. As she checked her phone—an article describing the "blood-covered creature with jagged teeth and skin hanging from its muscular body"—she shook her head.