A Good Way To D.A.I

Chapter 1: Midnight Wish

The moon shone bright as an earthy stench invaded my nostrils. But I was too busy focusing on my task to bother with that smell. The smell of fresh earth and dead bodies, that is. Sweat dripped along my back leaving a cold trail in its wake. When a corpse starts to deteriorate and release that musk of rot and decay; when the stains cover a body, when the bones grow soft and the flesh turns to mush -- that's when I truly feel it. Nah, I gotta be joking. I have no words to describe just how disgusting this stink is.

A cold sweat beaded on my forehead and a shiver was sent down my spine when a owl suddenly hooted from nearby.

"Jeez!" I muttered. "That scared the heck out of me."

This place is as silent as a mausoleum. Maybe it used to be one, but now all that stands are rows and rows of graves waiting for someone to open them up. There's nothing to hide, nowhere to go. Every move, every sound, a deadly give-away. Is someone watching us? Are they waiting on us, readying to jump down and expose this secret of ours?

"This is fun," my friend replied. "You know, it's still kinda boring, but less that I expected it to be."

"Seriously? We're hiding a goddamn body!"

Only the our sounds of shovels hitting some loose soil could be heard. We carried on with our task, basked in the cold light of the moon and an absolute silence - until he decided to break it.

"What's with the attitude?" Ethan gave me his best puppy eyes and pouted. His signature move on every girl, except I'm not every girl.

"Didn't you hear what i just said?" I hit his stomach with the shovel handle. "We're hiding a body, god dammit!" I tried not to hit too hard as not to hurt him, but hard enough for him to cough slightly.

But Ethan clutched his stomach and choked. I rolled my eyes at his dramatic display.

"Okay, okay, I heard you, Amelia. You don't need to be so loud! Have you heard how quiet it is out here? I bet even the guys buried six feet underneath our feet can hear our echo."

Ethan started howling as if he was some silly werewolf. I cringed as I listened to his voice echoed through the empty graveyard and bounced against the rows of deadly silent white graves. I bet a hundred bucks that the stones cracked because of crazy people like him. Well, if they didn't, maybe their owners cracked them themselves, down there.

Oh God, that boy could be so infuriating! Yet I don't dislike him either after knowing him for so many years. But that's... another story for another time. At that moment, all I felt was the urge to hit him again with that godly shovel of mine. Until I heard the rustling of leaves.

"Who's there?" I whispered. Call me paranoid but the setting itself was spooky enough to raise the teensy weensy hairs on my arm.

Ethan smirked at me and punched my shoulder playfully.

"What, got cold feet, Amelia? You scared now? Told you this isn't something a girl should be doing. Why couldn't you just let me do it by myself?"

"Cause I was worried you'd end up pissing your pants if you went alone. Now shut up. I heard something."

"But you have to admit---"

I pressed a finger to Ethan's lips and he complied. Oh, poor Ethan, I just touched a dead guy and then your mouth. Sorry, not sorry. My eyes scanned the umbra surrounding us, checking the green of the grass and the white of the stones; they were alert for the sign of the strange people dressed in black, shadows blending within the night itself. But nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, so I allowed my body to relax.