Unforgettable (OLD COPY DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 21

After being thoroughly spooked, we pack up and leave the park behind, as a sudden chill has entered the air and doesn't seem like it's going to leave anytime soon. I mull over Finn's words as I pull out my phone in Diana's car to text Shawn.

I hesitate as I stare at the screen and think about what I should ask him, though a sense of dread has already begun to settle over me as I think about Shawn's last couple of texts.

His neighbor just recently lost their daughter and Finn is telling me to ask Shawn about the funeral.

The answer is there but I don't want to accept it.

My fingers are already typing on the keyboard before I can process the fact as I read the text before I send it.

"I don't mean to be rude or to pry, but what is your neighbor's daughter's name?"

I click off the screen and put my phone back in my coat pocket as I settle into the passenger's seat. The Ouija board in my lap has lost its coolness, the object instead feeling warm, like it almost has a pulse of its own as it sits quietly in my lap like a subdued cat.

"So...tell me the whole story," Ava says in a low voice.

I gnaw on my lip for a moment before I speak, deciding to briefly outline the events that have happened over the past week. I don't tell her about me seeing Luke but Cynthia's murder is enough to keep her attention focused. I then tell her about seeing Finn's ghost and finding out that he and Cynthia had been friends as she silently listens.

"I'm sorry...about all that I've done before," Ava speaks up from her place in the back-seat once I've finished talking.

I glance in the rearview mirror as she makes eye contact with me and my heart twists at the hollowness in her gaze.

"It's fine," I mutter and she shakes her head.

"No, it's not fine," Ava says in a low voice as she looks out the window and wraps her dark coat more tightly around her.

"So we're in agreement that something else is going on? That Unfamiliars could be in danger again?" Diana asks aloud.

"Well you saw the planchette, no one was touching it," Ava counters before she looks to me. "So this Shawn guy is somehow involved with a funeral?"

"Yes, he's a guy I went on a date with," I tell her in order to get her caught up on things. "He texted me yesterday saying that he had been busy because his neighbor had just lost their daughter," I explain and she blanches as I turn back around in my seat and fiddle with the knobs for the heater.

"You don't think...?" Ava begins, but I nod as I cut her off.

"Finn wants me to go, Shawn's neighbors must be the Heartwoods," I tell them firmly.

Diana clears her throat as she gives me a nervous look, "But why? She's dead, there's nothing else you can do."

"There might be something he wants me to see at the funeral, I don't know, let's just see what Shawn has to say," I explain as she pulls up to the bookstore to drop off Ava.

"Keep me in the loop," Ava calls to me as she gets out and walks for the entrance of the bookstore.

For a moment, I watch her walk away as I reflect on the fact that my enemy now wants to help me. My phone buzzes suddenly as Diana drives away from the curb, pulling my attention to it as I open my text messages to see that Shawn has responded.

"Cynthia Heartwood, why?"

"If you don't mind me asking, can I go with you? I knew her but I didn't know when the funeral was," I reply, "I don't have school tomorrow, my spring break starts next week," I admit as I feel relief for not having to go to class.

His response comes a few minutes later as we pull out onto the deserted, Highland Avenue, as not a single car is in sight.

"I guess you could, it's at the."

I squint at my screen as I realize that the text has been cut off, like he sent it but wasn't finished with what he was typing. My phone buzzes suddenly as its screen goes dark and I look up to see that Diana is watching me expectantly.

"So what did he say?" Diana asks and I shake my head.

"I was right, the Heartwoods are his neighbors and I asked him if I could go but his text was cut off," I lift my phone and flip it around so she can see it, "and then my phone just-."

The air suddenly clouds with my breath as I speak and I can't help but gasp in surprise at the abrupt change in temperature. Frost begins to spider across the windshield, swift and deadly as a sheet of white blocks the outside world from view behind a thick curtain. Diana startles at this and pumps the brakes then, her foot slamming against the brake pedal but to no avail as the car continues to barrel forward, the engine whining as the car lunges.

I grip the seat under me and grab my wand from its pouch as I lean forward and start to draw a protection sigil, which is quickly followed by an attempt to draw a nullifying sigil. My hand slips before I can finish it as the car swerves, its tires screeching in protest as we slide sideways. I grip the dashboard as Diana curses and yells something, her voice harsh with fear.

The windshield abruptly clears and I am met with a view of the harbor in the distance as the car careens toward the concrete wall that lines the bridge we're driving on.

This is how I die.

I try to scream but nothing comes out as Diana turns the wheel hard and the car follows as we spin. My heart leaps in my throat as I watch our surroundings flash past, the harbor becoming a view of the bridge before we circle around once more, the car at last grinding to a halt as I am jerked against my seatbelt.

I sit low in the seat for a moment, my mind racing as I try to calm my breathing and thundering pulse. I can faintly feel my heart beating in my neck as I dare to swallow and take a shaky breath as the air inside of the car smells like burnt rubber.

"Are you okay?" Diana barks, her voice harsh with panic. 

I look over at her to see that her pupils are blown wide as her fingers continue to grip the steering wheel, like she's afraid to let go in case the car tries to drive off by itself. I nod after a moment, the seatbelt chafing against my shoulder blade from where it still straps me into place.

"How am I able to see Luke?" I wonder aloud, my voice trembling as I speak.

Finn's appearances have been explained, yet how I'm able to see Luke is still a mystery.

She shakes her head at this, "I don't know," she narrows her eyes as she carefully tests the brakes on her car. "But we need to be careful, if Luke is getting out, I wouldn't doubt that he sabotaged my car."

My phone buzzes to life suddenly and I look at the screen as I read my new messages. "I guess you could, it's at the Greenlawn Cemetery," is the first message that I receive, along with a second, "It's going to be at five, what time do you want me to pick you up?"

"I can get over there by myself," I text back carefully as my fingers are still shaking uncontrollably.

I know that in the end it would be best that I get myself to the graveyard since I can hardly think of a good way for him to come and pick me up at Greenwood.

"What curse did they use?" I ask Diana as I put away my phone.

"I'm not sure," she says as she traces a cautious finger across the steering wheel, the material glowing under her touch as she must be casting sigils. "I just know that someone wants us dead."