Different

Chapter 15

"Now what?" I sighed. The place was chillier, and crickets were everywhere.

I was in the middle of a cemetery. It was ridiculous!

"Fuck!" I stepped onto dog manure. "Screw you, Matt. I'll kill you when I find your sorry ass!"

I wished I brought a flashlight. The light I conjured on my palm was flickering. But that was good enough for me. I had to find my way out of the place that wasn't too familiar to me. The tombs stood out in the eerie darkness. They all stood out in pale grayness in the pitch black backdrop. I could see light posts from afar. But this derelict graveyard must have been abandoned. The tombstones were covered in mud, if not moss. But there was one fresh tomb that had wilted wreaths and melted candles.

Susan Stewart was the name it bore on its surface. I stooped to look at it closely to make sure I wasn't imagining things. My fingers ran across the freshly carved letters. Why my spell took me there began to make my hairs stand on end. I looked around, but the darkness was unforgiving. I was torn between getting out and staying to find anything that could give me a clue.

There was nothing else on the tomb and around it that gave me even the slightest idea why I was there. I had decided to leave when I heard footsteps. I hid behind one of the nearby gravestones, looking out for anyone who would walk by.

A beam of light tore through the dark, moving towards where I was. I shook my hands to turn off the flickering light they emitted and waited patiently, a bit nervous. The beam of light stopped in front of Susan's tomb. A man holding a flashlight crouched in front of it. As the light bounced off from the tomb, his gaunt face became apparent -- to my astonishment!

Antonio looked serious, glaring at the tomb. I couldn't make out any emotion on his face. He was neither melancholic nor livid. He was just quiet, perhaps contemplating.

Whatever brought me there, it was for this purpose. The nerves left me, as the compulsion to know the truth got stronger. I slowly stood up and walked towards him. Certainly, the noise my feet made on the ground disturbed him. He turned in my direction, shining the torch on me.

"Who are you?" His eyes widened. His hand trembled. "You're the lawyer's assistant." His lips shivered.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Ignacio?" I asked calmly. "Visiting your victim?"

"No," he responded nervously, pointing his flashlight in different directions, perusing the surroundings as if looking for someone else.

"Is that guilt?" I walked closer.

"Don't try to hurt me." He took something from his pocket. A gun was pointed at me. It vibrated in his grip and fell from his hand. "What are you!" He glared at me. "You're one of them!" He tried to pick up the gun.

"Don't do that," I warned him. "I can do much worse than move things." Yeah, I hoped he would get scared. My powers were still erratic.

"Don't hurt me," he pleaded nervously. He grabbed my hands and knelt.

But I pulled him up. His arms were so frail, I could almost touch his bones. "What are you doing here?" I looked at him in the eye. "Making sure the woman you killed was still in her grave?"

"I didn't kill her." He said it conviction.

"So I heard." I loosened my grasp and then let him go. "What brought you here?"

"I keep coming back here after I escaped from..."

"Escaped from what?" I remembered the images I saw in his cell. "Who took you from your detention?"