The entrance itself was a gaping mouth, and its teeth were iron gates that were now propped open. There was something altogether eerie about the invitation they presented. I wondered if it was just me, or if Velvet viewed it in the same way. If she did, her expression didn’t let on.
We covered the relatively short distance between our vehicles and the entryway in a matter of a half-minute, both silent as we walked. I made the turn as we reached the gate, starting through without really slowing down. However, before I managed to cross the threshold, the good doctor’s arm shot across my path, barring my way. I stumbled against my momentum then caught myself and took a step back.
“What?” I asked.
“What are you doing?” she asked in reply.
“Well… I thought I was going into the cemetery, but I guess I was wrong?”
She shook her head. “You need to give them an offering first.”
“Oh,” I replied, unsure of what else to say.
She gave her head another shake then asked, “Do you have any change with you?”
I shoved my hand in my pocket then dug around and extracted all of the loose coins I managed to find. Holding them in my palm, I used my index finger to spread them out and display them to her. “This enough?”
“It’s really not as much about the amount as the effort and respect,” she told me as she nodded at my hand then showed me the similar pile in her own. “Just let them know you have a gift for them and ask permission to enter.”
“I can’t say that I’ve ever done this before,” I offered, a hint of embarrassment in my voice.
“Have you gone into cemeteries before?” she asked.
“Yeah, of course.”
She sighed. “Then I suspect you’ve offended a few ancestors.”
“Great.”
“Don’t worry about that now. You’ll all get over it,” she told me with a quick shake of her head. “Just do it right this time.”
“Anything special I’m supposed to say?”
“No, just speak from the heart. Tell them you’re bringing a gift and ask permission. It’s not hard. It’s like showing up at a dinner party with a bottle of wine and knocking on the door.”
“And then I just walk in?”
“You’ll know what to do,” she said and smiled for the second time since we’d officially met. “Believe me, if they don’t want you to come in, you’ll know it.”
“Okay,” I replied, unable to keep the apprehension out of my voice.
I stood next to her before the opening and tried to gather my thoughts. I had absolutely no idea what I should say, but after looking through at the closely arranged rows of tombs, I began to speak.
“Greetings…” I said then hesitated.
I glanced over at Velvet in search of reassurance but found little, as her eyes were closed and her lips were moving in a silent greeting to the spirits.
I turned back to the opening and started again, speaking softly but still aloud, though I’m not sure why. “Greetings. My name is Rowan, and I’ve come to visit you…for…well, for some very important reasons. I’ve brought you this token…”
I wasn’t sure quite what else to do at this point, so I held out my hand to display the coinage.
The day was pleasant with the temperature resting in the upper fifties. With the sun shining there had been no reason for anything more than the light jacket I had donned when I left the motel. However, a slight chill ran up the length of my spine causing me to shiver involuntarily. It lasted only a moment and was then followed by soothing warmth that flowed over my entire body. My anxiety was instantly replaced by comfort.
Just as Velvet had said, I knew in that moment that I was welcome.
“Put the coins over here,” Velvet told me, stepping forward and placing her own in a receptacle just past the gate.
I followed suit, and though she hadn’t verbally instructed me to do so, I mimicked her overt motion that made the coins clatter noisily. Still, I glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow.
She recognized the question in my face and immediately explained. “You want them to hear it. They need to know you are actually leaving the gift you promised.”
I simply nodded.
Apparently, she felt at home in the cemetery as it seemed to be loosening her staunch expression more than a little.
“Rowan,” she said with a slight smile. “You can talk here. It’s okay. Just keep your voice low.”
“Okay,” I answered with a nod. “I just wasn’t sure.”
“Well, you can. Oh, and in case I forget, don’t just walk out the gates. When we leave, we’ll say goodbye, thank them, and then back out.”
“Back out? Like walk backwards?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. You’re the expert.”
Velvet looked up and to the right, pointing as she mumbled something to herself. A second later she took hold of my arm and pulled gently to guide me.
“The tomb should be this way, near the back.”
With a nod I followed along, letting her lead the way down the narrow paths. We hadn’t been picking our way through for more than a minute or so when the pain in my head made a sudden leap in intensity. I stumbled but managed to catch myself as a hard stab of agony drove deep into the base of my skull.
“Are you all right?” Velvet asked, concern in her voice.
“Something’s wrong,” I told her, reaching up to rub the back of my head.
“We’re almost there. Are you going to be able to handle this?”
I nodded carefully, the pain still clawing at my grey matter. “I have to.”
We started forward again, rounding the corner of a large family tomb. Velvet was in the lead, and she suddenly halted then looked back at me.
“Someone’s here,” she whispered.
I stepped forward then looked up and past Velvet. Standing thirty or so yards down the narrow row was a petite woman with fiery red hair cascading down the center of her back. She had her forehead pressed against the stone face of the tomb in front of her.
I stopped dead in my tracks and stared.
As if the woman could sense she was being watched, she pushed back from the tomb and slowly turned toward us.
There was the distance to consider, not to mention that there were oblique shadows falling across her from the closely spaced stone mausoleums. But, the resemblance was as beyond uncanny as it had been in the vision.
I had spoken to Felicity less than two hours ago, and I knew for a fact that she was still resting comfortably in Saint Louis, Missouri, under Helen Storm’s care. But, if I hadn’t known that, I would have sworn she was standing here now, staring directly at me.
A faint look of recognition flickered across the woman’s face, but was quickly obscured by the creased lines of abject fear.
“Is that…?” Velvet asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Annalise,” I replied, my own coming out as a dry croak.
I’m not sure how many heartbeats it took before the two of us were no longer frozen in place, but Annalise was the first to thaw. She turned and bolted down the alley, taking off like a sprinter from a starting line.
She had a healthy head start, but I was already in motion and closing the gap.
CHAPTER 13:
“Call the police!” I yelled over my shoulder to Velvet as I darted forward.
Annalise had everything on her side at the moment. Not only did she have a lead of several yards, but she had youth as well. She was also in better shape, which was obvious just by looking at her. Rounding out the advantages, it was a sure bet she was more familiar with this maze of tombs than I could ever hope to be, which was something that could play against me at any moment. All she had to do was duck between a stand of the structures or turn down an alley, and I could be lost.
However, I had something I was hoping would trump everything she had stacked in her hand. Determination.