The Graveyard Plot Read online

  She squinted at Damon. “You look familiar,” she said.

  Damon shrugged. “I don’t even live in this town,” he said. “We’re from Lakeville.”

  “Hmm,” the woman said. “Well, the streets of Ravens Pass are no place for children, especially after dark.” Then she stomped off.

  “What is she talking about?” Jaden said with a laugh. “I guess your grandpa isn’t the only one in Ravens Pass who’s a little crazy, huh?”

  Damon gave Jaden an angry look, but he didn’t notice. He pointed at the map.

  “There should be a clue nearby,” Jaden said. “It says, ‘Find the metal plaque near the smoking stack.’”

  Damon looked around. “I don’t see any smokestack,” he said. “But I do see the pizza place.”

  “We’ll eat later,” Jaden said. He looked around.

  “Jaden, can you hurry up?” Damon asked. “I’m starving, and it’s getting cold.”

  “You’re such a baby,” Jaden said. “And don’t act like you’re not scared anymore. It’s pretty obvious.”

  Jaden glanced up at the awning over their head. Then he smiled. “I found it,” he said.

  Damon looked up. “Old Plant Café” was written on the awning.

  “I don’t get it,” he said. “Where’s the smoking stack?”

  “This is it,” Jaden said. “Obviously this building used to be a factory.”

  Damon stared him. “‘Plant’ is another word for ‘Factory,’” Jaden said. “Duh.”

  “So where do we go now?” Damon asked.

  Jaden walked slowly along the wall of the café, looking at the sidewalk and at the red bricks of the building. “Here,” he finally said. “A plaque.”

  Damon squinted at the square of metal. “I can’t read it,” he said. “The lettering is all faded.”

  Jaden pulled out his cell phone. He pushed a button so the light would come on. “This plaque is in memory of Esther Smith,” he read aloud.

  Damon frowned. “So what does it mean?” he asked.

  Jaden frowned. He glanced at the plaque, and then at the map, and then back at the plaque. Then his sly, familiar grin appeared.

  Jaden leaned in close to Damon. “Our next stop,” he whispered, “is the graveyard.”

  Chapter 6

  Ravens Pass Cemetery

  “This is where I draw the line,” Damon said. “I am not going to the cemetery.”

  He was hurrying next to Jaden, who was smirking as he walked with confidence along Main Street toward the old cemetery at the other end of town.

  “You’re just scared,” Jaden said.

  “Have you ever been to the Ravens Pass Cemetery?” Damon asked. “I have, when my grandma died. It’s creepy!”

  Jaden laughed. ‘Nothing can hurt you in a cemetery, you scaredy-cat,” he said. “Except . . . maybe . . .”

  He turned and suddenly grabbed Damon by the shoulders. “ME!” he yelled.

  Damon pushed his arms away. “Get off me!” he shouted.

  Jaden burst out laughing. Damon glared at him. “That wasn’t funny,” Damon said.

  “Yes it was,” Jaden said. Then he started walking again. “If you don’t want to find that treasure, then just run back home to your mommy.”

  Damon gritted his teeth. Then he hurried to catch up.

  * * *

  The big, iron gates of the cemetery were wide open.

  Inside, a few stray cats slinked around the gate. There were some newer headstones near the entrance, but most of the gravestones were cracked. Several creepy statues cast long, eerie shadows in the moonlight.

  “Wow, you weren’t kidding,” Jaden said. “This is one creepy cemetery.”

  “I told you,” Damon said.

  Jaden smiled. “Just my kind of place,” he said, grabbing Damon’s shirt and pulling him in.

  “What are we looking for?” Damon asked.

  Jaden weaved between tombstones and ducked under tree limbs. “A grave,” he said.

  “Here’s one,” Damon said, pointing at a cracked gravestone. “There’s another. Oh look, and another.” He stopped pointing. “Can we leave now?”

  “You’re hilarious,” Jaden said, rolling his eyes. “We’re looking for the grave of Esther Smith — the name on that plaque we found.”

  They moved slowly as they got deeper into the cemetery. The trees became uglier. The ivy grew wild along the crumbling brick walls. The tombstones were broken and chipped. Damon could barely read the names on some of them.

  “We’ll never find it,” Damon said. “This is hopeless.” Jaden didn’t answer.

  As they stepped over a fallen and cracked gravestone, something moved slowly in the shadows.

  “What was that?” Damon whispered, bumping into Jaden.

  Jaden twisted his head and stared for a long moment. Nothing moved except for tree branches that swayed in the wind.

  Jaden started walking again. With his first step, he snapped a twig.

  “Naughty children!” a voice cried out.

  A figure darted out from the shadows and grabbed Jaden and Damon by their shoulders.

  Chapter 7

  Final Warning

  “Get away from me!” Jaden screamed. He twisted and strained, but the woman held tight.

  “Stop struggling,” the woman said. She was shorter than Damon or Jaden. She wore a black cloak with its hood up over her head. The shadow it cast made seeing her face difficult.

  Damon didn’t dare try to pull away. “Who are you?” he asked.

  The woman laughed. It sounded like a crow cackling.

  Finally Jaden stopped squirming. “Let us go,” he said, “or I’ll scream so loud the police will come and arrest you!”

  “The Ravens Pass police department?” the woman said. She laughed. “They’re a joke. Where were they seventy years ago when Aaron Moone disappeared?”

  “Aaron?” Damon repeated. “That must have been my grandpa’s friend.”

  The woman peered at Damon. Then she threw back her hood. She was older than Damon would have guessed possible.

  “I know your face,” she said. “But it’s not possible, it can’t be you. You’re too young!”

  “I’ve never seen you before in my life,” Damon said.

  Jaden looked at the woman, then back at Damon. “She must think you’re your grandpa,” he said.

  The woman nodded. “Yes, the grandson,” she said. “That’s why you little brats are here tonight, isn’t it? You seek the treasure, just like that night seventy years ago.”

  “You know about the treasure?” Jaden asked.

  The old lady gave Jaden a cockeyed glance. “You should not be here at night,” she said. “Do not go to Esther Smith’s grave. It will only bring death.”

  Jaden didn’t speak for a moment. He just stared into the old woman’s eyes. Damon saw that Jaden’s face was stern and hard. His jaw was set. His eyes were narrow.

  For an instant, Damon thought that Jaden was the creepy one — not the old lady.

  Finally Jaden spoke. His voice was surprisingly calm. “You won’t hurt us?” he asked.

  The woman smirked. “You don’t need to worry about me,” she said. “There is great evil here among these graves.”

  “Well, we’re not leaving,” Jaden said. “So you might as well tell us where Esther Smith’s grave is.”

  The woman shook her head sadly. She slowly raised a crooked finger and pointed at a crooked gravestone in a clearing not too far away.

  Without another word, Jaden rushed toward the clearing.

  Damon glanced at the strange woman and then chased after Jaden.

  “Wait for me!” Damon cried.

  “Please!” the woman called out. “If you must go inside Esther Smith’s grave, don’t take the other one with you!”

  Jaden and Damon ran faster.

  Chapter 8

  The Grave

  Jaden stopped running a few feet away from the gravestone. Damon bumped right into him. “W
atch it!” he said, panting. “Did that crazy lady follow us?”

  Damon turned to look back. No one was there. “I think she’s gone,” Damon said.

  “Good,” Jaden said. He pushed a button on his phone and shined the light on the gravestone. “Esther Smith” was etched into the top of the stone. “Bingo!” Jaden said.

  Jaden lowered the light toward the ground. There was a big slab of marble over the burial plot. “That’s weird,” he said. “Usually graves are covered with grass.”

  They both kneeled in front of the marble slab. “What now?” Damon asked.

  Jaden shrugged. “No idea,” he said, tracing his fingers along the edge of the marble slab.

  Damon glanced around nervously. “You should check the map for the next clue,” he said.

  Jaden pulled out the map. He read aloud, “Push the stone toward the moon and descend below into the gloom.”

  Jaden’s eyes lit up. “This grave must be an entrance!” he said. He walked toward the gravestone. “Come help me push.”

  “Are you crazy?!” Damon said. “This is somebody’s grave!”

  “I don’t think Esther will mind,” Jaden said. “She’s dead, remember?” Jaden pointed at the dates written on the stone. “Yep, she’s dead all right — and has been for almost two hundred years.”

  Damon crossed his arms. “Nobody in their right mind would do this,” he said.

  “Your grandpa did,” Jaden said. “Sixty years ago — maybe sixty years ago this very night — your grandpa and Aaron opened this coffin.”

  “You don’t know that!” Damon said. “Maybe they never made it this far.”

  “You know they did,” Jaden said. He walked slowly toward Damon. “You’re just scared.”

  “So what if I am?” Damon said. “You’re creepy! This whole thing is creepy! And I don’t believe there is a treasure!”

  Jaden clenched his jaw. He turned, put his hands on the gravestone, and pushed. Jaden grunted and struggled. Nothing happened. “What’s going on?” Jaden asked. “It’s not moving!”

  Damon glanced skyward. “The map said to push the stone away from the moon,” he said. “You’re pushing the wrong way.”

  “Right,” Jaden said. He walked to the other side of the stone and pushed his shoulder into it. Suddenly, the stone slid off its base and dropped to the ground with a great crash, shattering into pieces against the ground.

  “You broke it!” Damon said, horrified.

  Jaden shrugged. “So what?” he said.

  Jaden looked down at the slab. “It’s not moving,” he said. “Shouldn’t it be opening, or something?”

  At that exact moment, a deep rumbling came from underground. Suddenly, the marble slab started to move. Jaden stepped back. “It’s working!” he cried.

  Inch by inch, the slab slid back. The bigger the opening became, the louder the rumbling sound was. Damon and Jaden pressed their hands to their ears. Then the sound stopped. The grave was open.

  Jaden peered over the edge. He shrugged. “The grave is empty,” he said. “It’s fake.”

  Damon went over to see. It was the top of a staircase, not a grave at all. The steps led into the darkness below. “Man, this is too creepy,” he said.

  “I guess you’re too afraid to come along then, huh?” Jaden said. Then he climbed in and started down the narrow, dark staircase.

  Damon glanced around nervously. Then he followed Jaden inside.

  Chapter 9

  Death

  Damon lost count of how many steps they’d taken. “We must be a hundred feet underground,” he whispered to Jaden. Jaden didn’t respond.

  Moments later, the steps ended in a big, empty chamber. Jaden covered his mouth and nose with the top of his shirt. “Ugh,” he said. “It stinks like your grandpa’s place down here.”

  Damon came down the last steps and stood behind Jaden. “It does, doesn’t it?” he said. But he didn’t cover his nose. He just smiled.

  Jaden turned and faced him. “What are you so happy about?” he asked. He spun and waved at the empty room. “There’s nothing here. No treasure. Nothing.”

  “Not nothing,” Damon said, smiling. “We’re here now.”

  “Since when did you get a sense of humor?” Jaden asked, rolling his eyes. He pulled his shirt tighter to his face. “What is that horrible smell?”

  “It’s the smell of death,” Damon said. He walked across the hard floor toward him. “And success.”

  Jaden took a step back, toward the steps. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

  From the shadows, a figure stepped forward. “Who’s there?!” Jaden cried out.

  “You’ve done well, Damon,” the man said.

  Jaden shot a glance at Damon. “What is your grandpa doing here?!” he asked.

  Jaden shined his cell phone’s light in Damon’s face. His features had changed. His ears seemed longer, and his teeth looked sharper. His mouth seemed bigger, too. Or maybe he was just smiling.

  “You, Jaden, will be our next sacrifice,” Damon said. “Grandpa is getting old again. It’s time for him to feed.”

  Jaden screamed.

  “Ah, that wonderful sound,” Grandpa said. His voice sounded like gravel. “It reminds me of our last victim.”

  “Wha-what?” Jaden stammered.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Grandpa asked.

  Damon grinned. His smile seemed monstrous now. “That other boy in the picture you had,” Damon said. “He was our last victim. He kept us the same ages for the last 70 years.”

  Grandpa chuckled. His voice was distorted and gruff. “And now,” he said, “you will help us live another 70 years.”

  “I changed my mind, I don’t want the treasure,” Jaden whimpered. “I just want to go home.”

  Damon laughed. “There is no treasure,” he said. A strange, purple glow surrounded him. “And you can’t leave — not after all the trouble we went through to get you here.”

  Jaden backed up until he bumped into the wall. Damon and his grandpa crept toward Jaden, their mouths were open wide.

  THE CRAZY CAT LADY CASE

  Case number: 232328

  Date reported: September 17

  Crime scene: Ravens Pass Cemetery

  Local police: None

  Victims: Jaden Kane, age 14

  Civilian witnesses: None

  Disturbance: Jaden Kane filed a report with police concerning a narrow escape from what he called “demons”

  Suspects: Damon Germaine, true age unknown; his grandfather, David Germaine, true age unknown

  Evidence: Jaden Kane’s statement. Additionally, birth certificates for Damon Germaine and his grandfather, David, indicated they were both born over 200 years ago. Neither have been seen since the incident in Ravens Pass.

  CASE NOTES:

  IT’S MOST LIKELY THAT THE “DEMONS” JADEN KANE CAME ACROSS WERE ACTUALLY WENDIGOS, A SPECIES OF SHAPESHIFTERS FIRST SEEN BY NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES SEVERAL CENTURIES AGO. THE SPECIES HAS BEEN KNOWN TO CONSUME THE BODIES OF THE LIVING IN ORDER TO INCREASE ITS OWN LIFE SPAN. I DECIDED TO INVESTIGATE.

  WHEN I ARRIVED AT RAVENS PASS CEMETERY, I FOUND THE GRAVE THAT JADEN HAD MENTIONED. DOWN A LONG FLIGHT OF STAIRS, I FOUND THE AREA WHERE THE ATTEMPTED ASSAULT HAD OCCURRED. I TRACED MY FINGERS ALONG THE EDGES OF THE CRYPT. IN THE BACK, I FOUND A HIDDEN SWITCH AND PRESSED IT. IMMEDIATELY, A GRANITE WALL SLID OPEN, REVEALING A HIDDEN COMPARTMENT.

  INSIDE, I FOUND THE TWO WENDIGOS. THEY BOTH APPEARED TO BE OVER 200 YEARS OLD. IT SEEMS THEY HAD HIDDEN THERE AFTER JADEN ESCAPED. UNFORTUNATELY, BOTH OF THEM WERE DEAD. I HAVE TO ASSUME, SINCE THEY WERE UNABLE TO FEED ON JADEN AND PROLONG THEIR LIVES, TIME RAN OUT AND THEIR BODIES AGED AT AN ACCELERATED RATE.

  THEY WON’T BE EATING ANYONE AGAIN.

  DEAR READER,

  THEY ASKED ME TO WRITE ABOUT MYSELF. THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO KNOW IS THAT JASON STRANGE IS NOT MY REAL NAME. IT’S A NAME I’VE TAKEN TO HIDE MY TRUE IDENTITY AND PROTECT THE PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT. YOU WOULDN�
��T BELIEVE THE THINGS I’VE SEEN, WHAT I’VE WITNESSED. IF PEOPLE KNEW I WAS TELLING THESE STORIES, SHARING THEM WITH THE WORLD, THEY’D TRY TO GET ME TO STOP. BUT THESE STORIES NEED TO BE TOLD, AND I’M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN TELL THEM.

  I CAN’T TELL YOU MANY DETAILS ABOUT MY LIFE. I CAN TELL YOU I WAS BORN IN A SMALL TOWN AND LIVE IN ONE STILL. I CAN TELL YOU I WAS A POLICE DETECTIVE HERE FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS BEFORE I RETIRED. I CAN TELL YOU I’M STILL OUT THERE EVERY DAY AND THAT CRAZY THINGS ARE STILL HAPPENING.

  I’LL LEAVE YOU WITH ONE QUESTION—IS ANY OF THIS TRUE?

  JASON STRANGE

  RAVENS PASS

  GLOSSARY

  antique (an-TEEK)—a very old object

  eerie (EER-ee)—strange, frightening, or unsettling

  familiar (fuh-MIL-yur)—well-known or recognizable

  hunchback (HUHNCH-bak)—a humped back

  plaque (PLAK)—a plate with words inscribed on it that is usually placed on a wall in a public place

  plot (PLOT)—to make a secret plan, or a small area of land, like a grave

  recognize (REK-uhg-nize)—to see someone and know who they are

  reputation (rep-yuh-TAY-shuhn)—what other people think of you

  sacrifice (SAK-ruh-fisse)—the offering of someone or something in order to earn favor or fortune

  scowled (SKOULD)—made an angry frown

  shattered (SHAT-urd)—broke into tiny pieces

  wicked (WIK-id)—evil or cruel

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  Were you surprised by the ending of this book? Why or why not?

  Jaden bosses Damon around until the end of this book. Have you had to deal with any bullies? Talk about bullies.

  What was the scariest part of this book? Why?

  WRITING PROMPTS

  If you could live forever, what would you do with your life? Write about being an immortal.