Whispers at Moonrise

Shadow Falls, I sensed he was close. I felt him and I knew. I knew I went to Shadow Falls because of him. He’s not happy with just killing me. He wants Holiday.” Her words seemed to linger in the night air when she snapped her head back and looked up at the dark sky.
    “What is it?” Kylie asked, fearing the killer was close again.
    “I think it’s that strange shape-shifter from the Shadow Falls camp. The blond kid with eyes that change colors all the time.”
    The fear Kylie had felt for Hannah and from a murdering evil being faded, and Kylie’s own concern rose. If Perry had found her, Lucas wouldn’t be far behind. And then probably Burnett. Hoping she’d be less visible, she moved closer to the gate. She looked again at the dead faces appearing as guards of the cemetery. She didn’t know if they recognized her from before. She wasn’t sure if they even knew she could see them yet. But one thing was clear: if she didn’t go in now, she might miss her grandfather.
    Kylie looked at Hannah still glancing up at the sky. “Did he see us?” Kylie reached for the gate to open it.
    “ It’s her. I told you it was her,” one of the spirits behind the gate said. Then the spirits’ arms started reaching through the bars to touch her. Kylie’s vision filled with nothing but the arms coming out between the rusty bars of the gate. The cold shot through her skin and stung all the way to the bone. She bit down on her lip, fighting the pain and panic as she pushed open the gate.
    “He can’t see me. I don’t know if he saw you.” Hannah’s voice echoed from behind her. With the gate open, Kylie pulled her hand free. The ghosts scattered, but the moment she moved a few feet inside the cemetery, they surrounded her. The cold of their spirits crowding around her coated her lips with ice. The pain nearly brought her to her knees. She forced herself to move a few feet away; the reprieve was instant, even if she knew it wouldn’t last.
    She looked back at Hannah. Fear filled her gaze—a gaze that was just as dead as those from the cemetery, who were now growing closer.
    “I can’t come in,” Hannah said. “One of them might be a death angel. If they want to send me to hell for my sins, they can. I deserve it, but not until I know Holiday is safe.”
    “I don’t think they’ll send you to…” Kylie stopped talking when Hannah started to disappear.
    “Save her for me, Kylie. Please save my sister!” Hannah’s words rang in the dark.
    The cold from the spirits drew closer. “Please,” Kylie said, her gaze moving from one ashen face to another. “Give me some space.”
    They scurried back a few feet. Kylie looked over her shoulder, hoping she might see someone who walked in this world. Her hopes were futile. Everywhere she looked, she saw only death.
    But then the darkness cloaking the tombstone terrain limited her vision. Kylie knew from the few times she’d been here that the cemetery was immense. Would her grandfather know she was here? The thought that it might not be her grandfather waiting for her, that it hadn’t been him sending the e-mails, stirred deep in her chest, but she pushed it back.
    She took a few more steps, then, remembering Hannah’s concern over Holiday, Kylie grabbed her phone from her pocket and dialed the one person she knew would help her.
    “Are you okay?” Derek answered on the first ring.
    “I don’t have a lot of time, but I need you to do me a favor. Go check on Holiday. Stay there. Don’t wake her up. Don’t let her know you’re watching her, but don’t leave her until I get there.”
    “Shit! What’s happening, Kylie?” Derek asked.
    “I can’t explain right now. Just please. Do it.”
    “Where are you?” he asked. “I know you aren’t at your cabin.”
    She bit down on her lip so hard she tasted blood. “Please.” The word came out with desperation.
    He finally answered. “Holiday is fine. Burnett’s watching her place.”
    “Why? How do you know? Did something happen?”
    “No, I felt you were in trouble and I was walking to check on you when I came across Burnett standing outside Holiday’s cabin. He said because of what we knew about Hannah and the other girls, he wasn’t taking any chances.”
    “Good.” She wondered if that was why Burnett had called Lucas and not left to check the gate when the alarm went off.
    “I can feel you’re scared out of your wits, Kylie. Tell me—”
    “I have to go.” She cut the phone off. Then