Chapter 15

I spinin a slow circle and take in the beauty of the colored glass as it spills out in a rainbow onto the floor. Arabella's stained-glass art depicts so much of the past it"s like a story woven into each piece. The cemetery and a girl in white. A knight on an altar. An angel in the dark. I could stand here for days and lose myself in their beauty and hidden meanings.

Noise from somewhere else in the apartment distracts me from my admiration.

Arabella is in her bedroom. There's an open suitcase on the bed in front of her, and Miles is perched on the end of the mattress.

"What am I supposed to take?"

He shrugs. "Clothes? We're spending a week at our old school. I don't think they expect anything fancy until Prom night."

They're coming to Churchill Bradley Academy? They must have gotten the same invitation as Eli. The thought fills me with excitement.

"Yoga pants, T-shirts, and hoodies it is, then." She dumps an armful of T-shirts into the suitcase.

Miles rolls his eyes. "Maybe something more elegant and casual? You don't have to look like a homeless person all the time."

She chews on her bottom lip. "Are you sure you want to go?"

"Are you?"

Sighing, she moves around the bed to sit beside him on the mattress. "Ivan is convinced we need to face the past, but I still think this is some cruel cosmic joke."

He hugs her. "My fiancé means well."

"What if this causes more damage than good?"

"And what if it helps us overcome all the shit that happened?"

His words remind me of the anguish I'd felt watching all the pain and trauma they suffered—a silent witness who'd been unable to warn or save them as their fate unfolded.

I move closer to Arabella.

"Kellan died there." Her voice is low. "So did Zoey."

She talked to me in the cemetery and brought flowers to where I died. Throughout her ordeal under Eli's hands, she'd gravitated toward me. In return, I ensured she found my diary, hoping that it would connect me to Eli and Kellan somehow..

Reaching out, I brush my hand over the curve of her cheek. She shivers, a small frown creasing her brow. I wish that, just once, she could see me.

Miles frowns. "Hey, are you okay?"

Arabella nods. "I feel like someone walked over my grave."

"I hope you"re not coming down with something."

"It's probably just stress."

Or me.

A familiar tug inside my chest warns me my time is short.

"What about Eli?"

Arabella glances at him. "The last place on earth Eli would ever return to is Churchill Bradley Academy."

The pull is harder this time, and I don't bother trying to fight it. I don't have as strong a connection to Arabella as Kellan does to Eli. I can't stay away from Churchill Bradley as long as he can.

My being is bounced from one location to another, and when I look around, I'm back in the cemetery.

Kellan is sitting on one of the gravestones. "Well?"

I grin. "Arabella is coming to the reunion."

He nods. "Thank fuck for that."

"What were you going to do if they said no?"

"Find another way to get their asses here."

A ghostly moan emanates from the crypt, and we both turn our attention in that direction.

"Is it me, or does old Churchill seem a little mellow lately?" Kellan hops off the gravestone.

"What do you mean?"

"Since there's been more activity at the school, he's not been as easy to annoy."

"Yeah … I guess so."

"You'd think he would be mad about all these people being here. All the noise and things changing."

"Maybe he likes it?" I fall into step with him, and we walk closer to the tomb.

Kellan's expression is thoughtful, but he doesn't reply.

"Arabella and Eli will be here in a few days. We should focus on getting them together."

"Leave that to me. I have a plan."

"She's coming with Miles and his fiancé."

That gets his attention. "Miles is engaged?"

"It sounds like it."

"Why didn't you mention this before?"

"Because I didn't know. The few times I've checked on her before, she's been alone. She might have mentioned Ivan's name, but I thought they were just friends." I curl my fingers around his arm. "Come on, let"s go and check out the school."

We weave our way through the headstones toward the gate.

I wonder how much everyone changed? It's been ten years for them. I can't help but feel excited to have the living back within the walls of Churchill Bradley Academy once again.