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Why Is My Bestie Getting Married in a Graveyard
Novelix
Completed
"I'm supposed to walk five minutes to my best friend's wedding. Instead, I end up in a graveyard — and no matter which way I turn, I can't get out. I follow the balloons. I follow the map. I even follow her dead aunt through the woods. Every path leads me right back to the tombstones. Then I fall off a cliff. And I die. When I open my eyes, it's the same day again. This time, I stop running. I stop crying. I start looking. And what I find isn't a ghost story. It's my best friend's murder plan — and I'm the target."
Chapters (3)
第1章
It should've been a five-minute walk to my best friend's wedding. Instead, I end up in a graveyard.
I'm already in my bridesmaid dress. Bella's getting married in a little countryside chapel at the edge of town, and the ceremony starts at sunset. I've been walking for over fifteen minutes, and somehow I'm standing in the middle of a bunch of old tombstones.
I call Bella right away.
"Bella, where are you guys? I think I took a wrong turn."
She picks up instantly. "We're at the chapel! Just follow the red balloons along the road, you can't miss it."
I freeze. I was following the balloons. That's exactly how I ended up here.
I figure I must've missed a turn somewhere, so I double back. But no matter which way I go, I end up right back at the same graveyard.
Cold sweat runs down my spine. I ask Bella to share her location. I follow the pin through a patch of woods, and, I'm back at the graveyard. Again.
The ceremony's about to start. Bella keeps calling, over and over. I'm running around like crazy trying to find a way out, and then...
My foot hits nothing.
I fall off a cliff. And I die.
Then I open my eyes, and it's the same day all over again.
...
The first thing I see is the graveyard.
Bella's family does sunset weddings. It's some old tradition. The sun is sinking low, and the tombstones cast long shadows across the ground. They look like cold, dead eyes staring straight at me.
A shiver rips through my whole body.
I bolt back to the road and call Bella.
"Bella, I think I'm lost. Can you come get me?"
She sounds panicked immediately. "Lost? Where are you? Didn't you follow the balloons?"
I stare at the trail of big red balloons lined up along the road.
I want to cry.
第2章
Last time, I followed the balloons exactly like she told me to. I followed them until I died, and I never found the chapel.
And yesterday at the rehearsal, I walked that road from Bella's house to the chapel multiple times. Every fork, every turn, I remember all of it.
But today, no matter which way I go, I end up at this graveyard.
When I tell Bella I have no idea where I am, she jumps in right away.
"Okay, stop moving! Just go back the way you came. I'll send Ryan to get you!"
I'm about to agree when I catch something out of the corner of my eye.
A woman in her fifties is walking toward me from down the road. She's wearing a red jacket and carrying a bunch of bags, gift bags with big red wedding prints all over them.
Relief floods through me. I rush over.
"Excuse me, ma'am, are you heading to the chapel for the wedding?"
She looks me up and down, then breaks into a warm smile. "Sure am! I'm the bride's aunt. Went back to grab some wedding favors."
She eyes my dress. "You here for the wedding too?"
I nod eagerly. "Yes! The bride's my best friend. I'm the bridesmaid. But I'm not from around here, and I got completely turned around."
She laughs. "Oh honey, don't worry about it. These back roads are a mess. If you don't know the area, it's easy to get lost. Come on, walk with me. I'll take you right there."
I nod over and over. The weight on my chest finally lifts.
With Bella's aunt leading the way, there's no way I can get lost this time. Right?
I text Bella: "Hey, I ran into your Aunt Diane! No need to send Ryan."
Then I grab one of the gift bags from her. "Here, let me help you carry some of these."
Aunt Diane beams. "Oh, aren't you sweet!"
We chat the whole way. She keeps saying how nice I am, asks if I have a boyfriend. I get a little flustered and change the subject.
"Aunt Diane, how much farther is it?"
She stops walking. Turns and looks right at me with this wide, toothy grin.
She lifts her hand and points ahead.
"Almost there. Just around that bend."
I look where she's pointing. There really is a curve in the road up ahead, and beyond it, lights. Bright, warm lights.
My heart leaps.
Finally.
I don't even wait for her. I grab the gift bag and practically sprint around the bend.
And then I stop dead.
"No. How is this..."
It's not the chapel. It's tombstones. Rows and rows of cold, dark tombstones.
My blood goes ice-cold. My mind goes blank.
Why? I was with her the whole time. How did I end up back here?
I spin around to ask Aunt Diane, and I nearly scream.
She's gone.
The woman who was chatting with me thirty seconds ago has vanished into thin air.
My heart slams into my throat.
"Aunt Diane?"
My voice shakes. The woods around me are dead silent. Not a single person in sight.
Then my phone rings. It's Bella.
第3章
Before I can even say hello, her voice comes through sharp and frantic.
"Mia, what the hell are you talking about?"
"My Aunt Diane died over ten years ago. There's no way you were just with her!"
The ground drops out from under me. My face goes white.
"That's impossible. She told me she was your aunt! She said she went back to grab the wedding favors..."
Bella sends me a photo.
It's a funeral portrait.
My legs give out. I drop to the ground right there.
The woman in the photo is the same woman who just walked me through those woods. Same face. Same smile.
An icy chill crawls up from my feet all the way to the top of my skull.
I stare at the tombstones in front of me. I can't stop shaking. Tears pour down my face before I can even try to hold them back.
"Bella...please come get me!"
"I don't know what's happening. I keep ending up in this graveyard! I've been walking forever and I can't get out!"
"I swear, your aunt was right here with me, and then she just, disappeared!"
I'm talking and scanning the darkness around me at the same time. Terrified that any second, something is going to crawl out from behind one of those headstones.
Bella pauses. "Mia, what are you even saying right now? There's no graveyard anywhere near our village."
"I'm telling you the truth!"
My voice comes out almost as a scream. I'm shaking so hard I can barely hold the phone.
"I'm standing in a graveyard right now! I'll take pictures, hold on!"
I snap a few photos of the tombstones right in front of me and send them to her.
There's a long pause. Then Bella's voice comes back, flat and annoyed.
"Mia, quit messing around. You're standing right outside the chapel. Get in here. The ceremony's about to start. Everyone is waiting."
