"They say the dead never really rest. Maybe because the living won't let them."
Eloise had once read that in a book Jessica made her return unfinished.
Now, with each step forward, she wondered if those words were more than fiction.
The wind shifted as she moved down the sloping road, away from the house she'd pointed out to her mom. As soon as the taillights vanished around the curve, Eloise turned, heart pounding like fists against ribs, and followed the hidden path scrawled in ornate script on the letter.
The air was colder here. Damper. She tightened her hoodie around herself, breath curling like ghosts from her lips. The streetlamps thinned, then disappeared altogether, swallowed by the dense mist curling between ancient oaks and tangled hedgerows.
And then she saw it.
The cemetery.
Its rusted gate loomed ahead like a mouth waiting to swallow her. Wrought iron, its bars twisted into crosses and thorns, flanked by two crumbling stone angels whose faces had long eroded into blankness. Fog seeped from the forest beyond, weaving around gravestones that jutted from the earth like crooked teeth. The scent of damp soil and old decay hung in the air, thick and metallic.
She clutched the invitation in her jacket pocket, fingers trembling slightly. Was this still part of the Halloween aesthetic? Was this some theatrical prank Courtney and the others cooked up to mess with her?
Still, her feet kept moving. One after another.
Hope hadn't died yet.
Crunch.
Leaves underfoot. Her gaze darted left, then right. The trees were still. The only sound was the distant caw of a raven.
"Okay," she whispered to herself. "Just... follow the directions. This is fine. It's just dramatic. It's their vibe."
The fog thickened as she neared the entrance. The world grew muffled, like it had been padded with cotton. Eloise felt it then—a sense of wrongness pressing against her skin. Like she was being watched by something that didn't blink.
The gate creaked open as she neared, though she hadn't touched it.
Her breath hitched.
Standing in the open threshold was a figure in a long black cloak, face hidden beneath a deep hood. The man—if it was a man—stood perfectly still, his hands clasped in front of him like a monk before a ritual.
"Have you been invited?" His voice was deep. Measured. Neither kind nor cruel. It struck her ears like a bell rung in an empty church.
Eloise stared.
This had to be a joke. Right?
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the letter. The black wax seal has broken, marked with a sigil she hadn't recognized back then; A winged creature, encircled by thorned vines. And a touch of perfume like roses and burnt sugar she didn't notice at first.
She really didn't notice all these because of her stupid excitement.
The hooded man extended a pale hand.
She gave it to him.
He opened the seal with a thumbnail. Unfolded it. His eyes—though unseen—seemed to scan its contents with the weight of a judge considering a verdict. The silence grew longer. Thicker.
Eloise shifted on her feet.
"Is... is this the party?" she asked, her voice high with strained politeness.
The man folded the letter carefully and tucked it into his cloak.
"Follow me."
He turned, and the gate opened wider.
Beyond lay darkness. Graves layered upon graves. Statues of angels and mourners, some missing limbs or heads. Fog that moved like it had breath. A cobblestone path wound like a serpent through the tombstones, lit only by the occasional lantern, flickering with an unnatural blue flame.
Eloise hesitated.
One wrong turn.
That's what Jessica had said on the phone earlier.
"I think… I think they're not who they pretend to be."
But it had felt worth it.
Maybe because Eloise was tired of always being on the outside looking in. Of being the one left behind. Of being the nobody. Maybe she wanted to believe this was her shot, her invitation into the world she'd only seen in glances and hearsay.
So she followed.
The man's cloak barely disturbed the mist as he walked. He didn't speak. He didn't slow. Eloise kept her gaze forward, afraid to look too long at the cracked gravestones around her. Some had writing in languages she couldn't read. Some had none at all.
A statue of a weeping woman stood clutching a child. The child had no face.
Her skin prickled.
Behind her, the gate clanged shut with a sharp finality.
She turned, instinctively.
No one was there. Just iron bars and the shivering trees beyond.
Ahead, the man had paused. He waited for her to catch up, his silhouette still and silent in the lantern's glow.
She quickened her steps, boots crunching on gravel and dead leaves.
Somewhere, a bell tolled. Once. Deep and slow. Not from above, but below.
The man resumed walking.
Eloise followed.
The cemetery was vast. Larger than it should have been. Every path forked into another, every fork twisted and curved. She lost track of direction. Of time. Fog swirled in her lungs. The air grew colder. Her breath now came in short bursts.
Still, she said nothing.
Because hope had not yet died.
Even as dread began to wrap its fingers around her throat.
They passed a crypt with a stone lion guarding the door. Its eyes were gouged out. Red-streaked. A single black candle burned before it, unmoving despite the wind.
The man paused again, and turned his hood slightly, as if to make sure she was still behind him.
Eloise nodded quickly. Too quickly.
"Is it far?" she asked, her voice cracking.
The man did not answer. He simply turned back and resumed.
She followed.
In the shadows behind gravestones, something shifted. But when Eloise looked, there was nothing. Only silence and mist.
The world had narrowed to this path. This fog. This man.
And still, she followed.
Because somewhere beneath the weight of fear and bone-deep unease, hope still flickered again and again.
Maybe just a little farther, and she'd see them. Courtney and Madison. A bonfire. Laughter. Someone jumping out in a cheap vampire mask to scare her.
And maybe, just maybe, they'd be smiling for real.
Maybe.
She passed a headstone with her last name.
She didn't look back.
The man led her into the thickest part of the fog.
And the darkness took them both.