Hatchetfield.

You, Me, and the Moon

The night was clearer than Pete could have hoped for, not a cloud to cover the moon. It was full, so only a smattering of the brightest stars were visible, but they were far out enough into the Witchwood that no city lights intruded on the sky. Even though they were miles from town, Pete felt less alone with Steph as his only company than he did surrounded by people. She was the person who understood him best, the only person who could ever understand what they'd been through, the person he was tied to forever, for better or worse—but mostly for better.

And she was holding his hand. More than he could have hoped for.

"It's a beautiful night," Steph said. The moonlight glittered off her face and hair, illuminating her as bright as the moon itself, and definitely more beautiful.

He squeezed her hand. "Yep. Just you, me, and the moon."

From the dark of the Witchwood, a voice, barely loud enough to hear and yet almost in Pete's ear hissed, hey! You two should kiss!

Pete sat bolt upright, his heart rushing in his ears, making it impossible to listen out for who the fuck had said that. Suddenly, the darkness and solitude of the Witchwood wasn't friendly or safe. Now it was a threat, a reminder that they were alone without anyone to help them or even witness their deaths. "Hello?" he yelled, then realized too late that making noise probably wasn't the best idea right now. Oh G-d, were they being stalked?

"What? Who's there?" Steph was up in an instant too, her eyes wide and white in the dark. She floundered, grabbing a nearby rock off the forest floor next to her, and scrambled to her feet. "What's going on, Pete, is he back?"

Pete paused for a moment. As creepy as the voice has been, it definitely wasn't Max's style to whisper in anyone's ear. "You didn't hear it?"

"Well—no, but I wasn't paying attention either. What did you hear? Should we run?"

High up above them—so high above them, in fact, that up didn't really mean anything anymore—Richie sighed. "See, I told you it would just freak them out."

"They were taking too long!" Ruth griped. "Come on! He's the last one of us alive, and he has a girlfriend, and they're alone together where no one can see them, and they're still not making out? At least one of us should be!"

"Why does it have to be him?"

Ruth shot Richie a withering look. "Because we're dead."

"But clearly, we're still here," he pointed out.

Ruth opened her mouth to fire back, then paused, considering. "I mean, we're definitely not the only people who died in this town before losing their virginities," she mused.

"It shouldn't be hard to find someone in the afterlife," Richie said. "I mean, it's Hatchetfield. People go missing every day."

"Right! But shouldn't we..." Ruth gestured at Steph and Pete, who were currently huddled together on the ground back to back, their eyes darting wildly around the forest.

"It'd only make it worse," Richie said.

"True," Ruth said. "I'll be your wingman if you'll be mine?"

"Deal."