In Another Life

124

"I went right here. Everyone was going a few feet off from each other, not just me. I'm an adult. I can do what I want. Besides, you didn't tell me that you were moving on. I didn't answer you, because you obviously weren't yelling loud enough. If I had heard anything, I would've answered," I replied, my eyes narrowing at him. "We're in a cemetery in the middle of the night," he said stonily, his jaw clenched. Was he really this mad at me? "You can't just go that far off. We did yell for you, very loudly. I yelled for you, over and over again. We were talking to Corey, then when I looked over to you, you were gone. Just disappeared. Do you know how scared I was? Please don't do that again. This is already weird and scary, I don't need you being all rebellious right now." "Rebellious??" I replied in indignation. "I wasn't being rebellious! We were supposed to be looking for Gracie's grave! That's what I was doing! I literally took maybe 10 steps from the group, then you guys left me without even calling out to me!" He shook his head hard, looking like he was getting more confused than mad now. "No T, we were talking to Corey on the other side of the graveyard. Waaaay on the other side." I rolled my eyes at his exaggeration. "We literally spoke to Corey, right over there, by that archway," I replied, pointing my finger in the direction that I had come. Colby flashed his light to where I was pointing. "What archway? Because I don't see one. There is one on the other side of the graveyard, maybe a half mile from here." I blinked in confusion, finally paying attention to my surroundings. It was completely different from where we had been talking to Corey. I had only been over here maybe 10 minutes. How did this happen? "That's not possible. I couldn't have made it this far, in that short amount of time. I've only been separated from you guys for maybe ten minutes," I said, my voice starting to shake. Colby stepped towards me, concern in his deep blue eyes. "No baby girl, you've been gone for almost 45 minutes. We were about to call the police when I heard your voice," he replied, his voice full of apprehension. "45 minutes?" I asked, dumbfounded. "That's not possible," I whispered, swallowing hard against the knot that was forming in my throat. "I've only been here a few minutes, and I only took a few steps away from you guys...didn't I?" Now I was beginning to question my sanity. There was no way that I could lose that much time! Did I just get distracted? But still, 45 minutes was a long time. I would have noticed being by myself in this spooky ass place for that long. "This is fucking weird," I replied, laughing shakily. "I think I'm ready to go." "Okay, we can go...but first, do you mind if we get this footage. You said that you found Gracie?" I nodded, and started twisting my rings, while still holding the flashlight, making the light bounce around on the ground. "Yeah, she's just here," I replied, turning and shining the light on the headstone of Gracie's grave. "Oh my God, that's a creepy ass statue," Denise whispered, covering her mouth with her hand as her eyes got wide. "I don't like this. It doesn't feel right. We should go," Corey said, staring at the statue as well. Everyone seemed to be transfixed by it. "It's kind of beautiful though," Colby replied, stepping closer to it, and running his hand over the smooth granite. I had to agree. The statue had a "frozen in time" concept. The little girl had frozen bouncy curls, her face captured in a small smile, while her hands were pressed together in prayer. Even her dress had folds in it, like it was moving in the wind. "Gracelyn 'Gracie' Bartow...this has to be it. Look at all the things left for her," Sam said, leaning down to pick up one of the dolls. It was an old style doll, made of porcelain, and the face has a crack down the side. "Okay, that's creepy," Jake said, startling me with his voice. We all laughed but you could hear the nervousness coming from the group. "Okay, let's move thi-" Just then the light on the EMF meter that I hadn't noticed Jake holding started spiking repeatedly. "Oh fuck," Colby said, staring at it as Jake held it out. "Sam, Sam, are you getting this??" He exclaimed, half scared, half excited. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Gracie, is that you?" The EMF spiked again, then stopped. "Are you trying to tell us something?" Colby asked. Again, it spiked, then fell dormant. "She's actually talking to us!" Colby whispered, his eyes on the meter. "Does your spirit inhabit this statue?" This time the EMF meter stayed dormant, no spikes. "If we move your gifts, will you make it cry?" Colby tried again. The meter jumped one notch on the colored scale but that was all. "Should we try it?" Colby asked, staring at Sam holding the camera. "Of course he's going to say yes. This is Sam," Corey scoffed. "I don't think we should though. It might piss her off." "She's just a little girl, Corey. It'll be fine," Sam replied, smiling at him. "Uh huh, sure. Tell that to the people who died in Children of the Corn, or The Ring. They were just kids too," Corey retorted. "There were those creepy twin girls in The Shining too," Jake added. "Yeah, them too," Corey replied, nodding his head. Colby kind of laughed, and pushed one of the toys near the grave with his foot. The wind picked up a little just when he did. He lifted his head and looked around. "Well that was perfectly timed," he said quietly. "No, that was Gracie, telling you to leave her toys the fuck alone."