Whispers of the Dead

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Amy. Amy. Amethyst!

Amethyst thought she was dreaming when she heard the voice, but at the exact same moment she realized that, on the contrary, these words were the cause of her sudden awakening. It was a while before she recognized the voice.

Samuel?

Two weeks had passed since Hope's post and the suspension of Johnson, and she hadn't visited any graveyard since then. But that couldn't be the cause of the voice which resembled so strongly that of the deceased boy – since she hadn't ever heard voiced like this before.

Amy!

She sat up, heart hammering in her chest. She pinched herself to check she really was awake, then slipped out of bed. An, at the first sight irreal fear, started to take hold of her. He sounded almost scared, but nothing could have happened, could it? He was already dead. In the scarce moonlight coming through the gap in the curtains she took her clothes of the floor and slipped into the bathroom to change as fast as she could. 

She didn't bother being silent – Hope was such a light sleeper she was likely awake from the moment Amy had sat up. Amethyst wasn't concerned about her asking questions later. Hope was a lot of things, but she wasn't the type to stick her nose into things that weren't her business. Amethyst hurried out of the room, closed the door behind her and ran off the stairs, meanwhile listening for the voice. A deep silence rang out, until – are you there? Can you here me? You need to help us.

He didn't just sound scared, he sounded panicked. Amy picked up her pace and climbed without hesitating over the gate that separated the school grounds from the parking lot. Her visits to the graveyards had sure brought her some climbing skills, and this time she wasn't wearing tights that could get stuck on spikes. 

The material of her jean overalls was thick enough, but she still felt the top of the fence painfully prodding her leg. She jumped, hurt her ankle, and again cursing took off in the direction of her small red car on the other side of the lot. She had just unlocked the door and plopped in the seat when Sam's voice sounded again, even more panicked, but with another message.

It's too late. He knows of you; stay where you are! The end of the sentence was almost not audible.

What did he mean? What was happening? The old car started with some difficulty, and completely ignoring his last command, she drove off into the night. Why would he ask her to come first and then tried to keep her away? But he had sounded so desperate, during both messages, that Amy just couldn't stay at her dorm. 

Maybe he did need her, but someone had forced him to contradict himself. Maybe it was the other way. Maybe it was a trap. It didn't take long for her to reach the graveyard, and when she jumped out of the vehicle, nothing seemed wrong. At the first sight. But when she walked over to the fence, she noticed it was unlocked.

 A breeze flew through her loose hair and caused goosebumps to appear on her skin. A shiver ran down her spine, and she hugged her waist, trying to get some warmth from that gesture. It was a very cold night – winter was clearly sneaking up on them. 

Autumn leaves crunched under her boots when she trespassed the graveyard border. Everything was dead silent, as always, and there were ghosts everywhere. Then what was bothering her so much, apart from Samuel's voice earlier on, and the fact she didn't see him anywhere? 

She walked over the path without a goal, and suddenly she knew. Their expressions – they were afraid. Deadly afraid. And they were all glancing one way – to the right of her, in the direction of the newer graves. Amethyst increased her pace, and the moment she turned in that direction, one of the ghosts separated herself from the crowd and spoke to her in a soft whisper. She didn't recognize her, but the middle-aged female just said, "Don't."