Chapter 1

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

The Gaia Plane

Selene Riley looked down at a new text message on her phone and rolled her eyes. She glanced over at her sister and said, "So apparently, not only are there ghosts where we're going but Bigfoot too."

"Perfect," Cass said as she eased her car onto the congested interstate. "I'll get a photo of him, and we'll be millionaires."

Selene took a sip of her Grande sugar-free vanilla latte and held it tightly as Cass tapped the brakes. Even on a Saturday, Nashville traffic was a nightmare, so Selene was glad her sister was driving for their impromptu road trip to the tiny town of Rugby, Tennessee. It was the least she could do, after all. Selene was only partially functioning after being woken up an hour ago by a knock on her apartment door, followed by her sister's voice squealing, "Road trip!"

"He's lured by the smell of bacon, according to Evan," Selene said as another text about Bigfoot sightings in East Tennessee popped up from her younger brother, Cass's twin. "Thank goodness we're not camping. Wait… we are sleeping indoors, aren't we?"

"Of course. But I want to do a little hiking tomorrow morning. You're up for that, right?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really," Cass chirped.

"Great," Selene sighed. She began twirling the ends of her shoulder-length brown hair between her fingers. With her boyfriend out of town, Selene had been looking forward to a weekend of lounging by the pool and reading. But apparently, her plans weren't as important as her sister's desire to enter a photography contest. Cass had argued that the historic buildings of Rugby were the ideal subject, and the June weather was perfect for a little sisterly bonding trip. Selene had protested but quickly gave up. It had always been easier to go along with the plans her family made.

"You're lucky I love you," Selene said, stifling a yawn.

Cass gave her a worried look. "Are you mad at me? I thought you'd always wanted to go to Rugby to see the library."

The anxiety in her younger sister's face made Selene feel instantly guilty. She dropped her eyes to her lap. Stop acting so spoiled, she told herself. What was so great about staying home alone when Cass was generous enough to take her on a weekend getaway? After growing up with a small-minded mother and living with a boyfriend who hated flying, most of her time was spent dreaming about faraway lands rather than visiting them. Reaching over to squeeze Cass's elbow, she said, "I'm not mad, and you're right. I have always wanted to visit Rugby. This was a great idea. I'm just sorry Evan couldn't come too."

When Cass beamed, relief flooded through her. Selene had spent so many years trying to shield the twins from difficult emotions that offering reassurance was practically a reflex. And her words weren't a complete lie; Rugby had been on Selene's travel radar for a long time.

With a population of only seventy-five, Rugby was a tiny place with a fascinating past. It was founded in 1880 as a utopian community by upper-class English colonists and boasted over three hundred residents at its peak. Although sickness and poor management caused the social experiment of Rugby to fail, Cass was planning to photograph the handful of Victorian buildings that still stood today. Among them was the oldest preserved historical library in America, complete with all 7,000 books from its original collection.

Selene's phone chimed with another message from her brother. "Here he goes again. Do you know what a Wampus Cat is?"

"Another story Evan made up to scare us when Dad was out of town?"

"No, this seems real," Selene said, squinting at her phone. "Well, as real as any of Evan's stories are. He says the Wampus Cat is a cryptozoological creature with bright yellow eyes and huge paws. If you hear her cry, you will die in the next three days. There was a sighting recently in Rugby, near the woods by the cemetery."

"By the river? That's where I want to do a few sunrise shots tomorrow."

"It doesn't say exactly. The headline is, ‘Monstrous Cat Spotted Near Rugby.' It goes on to say a few people saw a huge gold cat limping around some empty bear traps."

"Yikes."

"But if Bigfoot is there with the cat, maybe that's to our advantage," Selene joked. "They'll be too busy fighting over their territory to bother with us."

Cass laughed, and Evan began to entertain them with texts about Rugby's most famous ghost legends. He'd always had a keen interest in the supernatural and was a wealth of information on that sort of thing. Selene, on the other hand, preferred to dwell in reality.

The sisters giggled about the stories, but once they left the interstate and began traveling along the small roads leading into Rugby they grew quiet. The overgrown fields and rugged forests of the Cumberland Plateau echoed with loneliness as the number of cars sharing the road dwindled until they seemed to be the only ones left.

They passed several empty churches, barns decorated with folk art, and an old gas station turned general store. Once they reached the ancient sign announcing their entry to Rugby, the sisters cheered even as a prickle of unease crawled down Selene's spine at the sight of the village.

Selene knew Rugby was small, but she didn't expect the town to be a handful of buildings scattered on either side of a single road. After driving past the gift shop, historic printing works, and restaurant, Cass pulled into the Rugby Visitor's Center parking lot.

When Selene stepped out of the car, she couldn't suppress a shiver, though it was 70 degrees out. It was like a veil of crushing silence had dropped over them. The air was dead. Oppressive. There were cars in the parking lot, but the town was completely, eerily hushed.

The sound of Cass's car door shutting cracked like a hunter's shotgun, making Selene jump. Cass inhaled deeply. "Wow, it's so peaceful."

"Yeah," Selene replied. Quiet had always been a comfort to her, a soothing companion. But this quiet was unwelcoming.

They walked into the visitor center, which to Selene's relief was buzzing with voices. Children were laughing as families milled around waiting for the next walking tour to start. Selene loaded up on brochures, including a hiking guide to the curiously named Gentlemen's Swimming Hole. After they picked up keys to their historic guesthouse accommodations from the visitor center clerk, they took the last two spots on the tour.

The library was everything Selene had hoped for. From the charming red roof outside to the delightfully musty smell of old books inside, it was like taking a time machine back to 1882. She was even allowed to flip through a few books while wearing cotton gloves.

While Selene was engrossed in an old schoolbook, Cass pointed her camera and called out, "Hold it right there. Smile!" Selene obliged.

But when Cass quipped that she looked like she was in her happy place, her smile fell. Her sister didn't mean to strike a nerve. To Cass and Evan, the library was a fun place their big sister took them on nights and weekends when they were children. They were lucky to grow up with a branch across the street and even more fortunate that it was staffed by kind librarians who didn't comment on their lengthy visits. Selene and the twins all loved reading, but for Selene libraries were also an escape from the chaos of home.

After the tour, Cass and Selene lingered outside each of the historic buildings for more photos. When it grew dark, they went to dinner at Rugby's only restaurant, the Harrow Road Cafe. It was a bright, airy space with dark beams stretching across the peaked ceiling and wooden booths polished shiny as church pews.

Cass looked down at the menu. "Ooo, do you want to split a piece of pie?"

"No, thanks," Selene said. Cass was the type who could eat anything she wanted and stay lithe as a supermodel, whereas Selene had inherited their mother"s curves. "I'll just get a salad."

"You've become as boring as Kevin," Cass said before squeezing lemon juice into her iced tea. "What is the great Kevin P. Norton doing this weekend?"

Selene paused. Trying to make her voice sound casual, she said, "He's on tour as the opening act for another band. It's a huge opportunity for him. He's playing all his original songs. Great exposure."

Selene twirled the straw in her ice water, hoping her sister didn't notice she was hiding something. She wasn't ready to tell Cass that after a year of dating, Kevin had told her he wanted to "press pause" on their relationship while he was on tour. He needed a break to refocus on his creativity, he said. It wasn't about her; he just needed some freedom to explore without boundaries. Although Selene was deeply hurt, she agreed because she wanted to support his career aspirations. Also, she didn't like to argue. She had helped Kevin pack up his things and wished him well, assuring herself that things would go back to normal once the tour ended.

"And he didn't drag you along?" Cass said. "How will he survive?"

"Don't start."

"He should pay you to be his manager. How long is the tour?"

"Eight weeks. I'm just managing his social media while he's gone."

"He can't handle all of his 102 followers on his own?" Cass said with a laugh.

"Give it a rest, Cass," Selene said. "Although he doesn't always show it, he is appreciative."

Cass made a dismissive sound. "Except in the bedroom."

Selene's face grew hot, and her mouth tightened. She knew she should never have confided to her sister that her sex life was as exciting as a deflated balloon. "Do we have to get into this now?"

Cass shrugged. "I just don't think he's the best fit for you."

Defensively Selene asked, "Who do you think I should be with then?"

"I always hoped you'd end up with someone more… wild."

Selene shook her head. "No. That's one of the things I like about Kevin. I don't have to walk on eggshells around him like we do with Mom. He's never yelled at me, he doesn't drink, and I always know where I stand with him."

"Yeah, but guys like Kevin are a dime a dozen in Nashville. When we were growing up, you used to always like men who were a bit out of the ordinary. Like, remember how I had a thing for Tom Cruise in the movie Legend but you had a huge crush on the devil?"

"His name is Darkness. Lord of Darkness," Selene said, referring to the demonic character in the classic '80s fantasy film. "And so what? Horns are sexy."

"If you say so," Cass said, running a hand through her blonde bob. "I don't know. I just don't want you to be with someone that dulls your sparkle, you know what I mean?"

"I'm in my thirties now. Sparkle is overrated," Selene said. Although she loved reading stories about wild adventures and fascinating people, she liked to keep her life small and manageable. Focusing too much on her own desires had always led to more drama than she cared for.

It was just past 4:30 a.m. when Selene dressed in the dark, pulling on jeans, a T-shirt, and a hoodie to fight the slight chill in the air. Cass wanted to photograph the first rays of sun rising over the Clear Fork River, which required a short half-mile hike starting at the Laurel Dale Cemetery. When Selene laced up her hiking boots, she wondered if Rugby's odd quiet would be even more pronounced in the wee hours before dawn. But as they stepped out on the porch to lock up, she realized Rugby after dark was anything but silent.

There was a faint buzzing, like static from a dead phone line. It was not a peaceful chorus of insects and cricket chirps, but a low-frequency drone. Selene turned her head left and right, trying to determine the direction it was coming from, but it draped over the whole area like a shroud.

The treetops swayed in the wind. An owl hooted to her right, and she startled. At her sharp intake of breath, the wind changed direction, marking her with a gust that whipped her hair around her shoulders before she ducked into the car.

Cass insisted she heard no buzzing, and they argued about it as they drove the two-mile journey to the trailhead. The road leading into the cemetery was narrow, and the trees lining the road swayed as the car crunched over the gravel. Eventually, the narrow path opened to a wide meadow and small parking lot.

Although they were deep in the woods, the cemetery was flat and cleared of vegetation. Selene's breath caught when she saw movement in her peripheral vision, but it was the ripple of a small flag planted by a headstone. The eerie strains of a rusted wind chime, another gravesite decoration, sounded as Cass opened her door. Selene climbed out of the car and put on her backpack.

"Do you want to look around the cemetery for a minute?" Cass asked. She shone her flashlight over the headstones, which were a mix of markers, old and new.

"Let's do it later. I'm starting to get creeped out," Selene replied. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but the droning buzz seemed more pronounced.

"We'll be fine," Cass said. "Look, the sky's starting to lighten up."

Cass"s flashlight bounced as she walked toward the wooden sign that read "Gentlemen's Swimming Hole—0.4 miles." Selene activated the flashlight app on her phone and focused on Cass's black-and-white striped leggings as she moved into the woods.

The trail started as an easy downhill slope with a few turns. It was a well-maintained path, but Selene grew frustrated as they progressed. She kept getting her hair tangled in branches and her arms scratched by tree limbs. Pausing to untangle yet another spiky branch from her hair, she marveled at how Cass glided ahead of her with ease, unencumbered. Although it was a silly idea, Selene felt like the forest was reaching out to pull her in.

It wasn't until they reached the trail's hairpin turn around a small creek that Selene's vague unease shifted to genuine anxiety. One moment she felt fine, but then she was hit with a sudden headache. It was sharp and intense like someone had inflicted a blow right in the middle of her forehead. The pain made her stumble for a moment and gasp.

Cass stopped to place her hand on Selene's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Selene pinched the bridge of her nose. "I just had this pain shoot through my head. Did something hit me?"

Cass shone her flashlight over Selene's face. "I don't see any marks. Do you want to sit down?"

"No, maybe it's my allergies. Let's keep going. I can hear water, so we must be close."

The trees that lined the trail behind them gave way to large rocks and stone ledges. They came upon a downward staircase made of strategically placed rocks cut into a hill. Cass slowly descended before shining her flashlight back to illuminate Selene's steps. As she reached the bottom, they paused to take in their surroundings.

Cass studied her map and said, "This must be what they call the Witch's Cave. Not much of a cave, is it? More like a rock shelter. She shone her flashlight around the stone overhang. Craggy stone walls soared above them on three sides, and a small pool of water collected the moisture from the rocks at the bottom. "It has a funny smell. Like printer toner."

"Ozone. It's the smell before a storm." Selene rubbed her hand over her forehead, wincing. "I feel weird. You should go on ahead. I need a second to sit down." She eased herself onto one of the large, flat rocks strewn beneath the overhang.

"Maybe we should go back," Cass said, but then looked toward the horizon anxiously. Sunrise was about to break any minute now.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just need a moment." Selene took a drink from her water bottle then gestured at the sign pointing to the Gentlemen's Swimming Hole. "I don't want you to miss the sunrise, so go on without me. Hurry."

Cass looked uncertain, then said, "I'll just get a few shots and be right back. Holler if you need me."

Selene nodded and watched her sister's flashlight weave down the trail. The humming sound was piercing now, and goosebumps prickled across her arms. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to regain her usually calm composure.

She breathed deeply for several moments and resolved to Google "sound hallucinations" once they got back to the guest cottage. The rock she sat on had been damp with dew, and that moisture was seeping into her jeans. Slowly she stood up, reaching out to the jagged rock wall for support, noting the irony of how even when she traveled she managed to find a way to be stuck in one place—left behind while others got to experience glorious sights and adventures.

Her head continued to throb, but her attention shifted as loud pops like sparks of static crackled behind her. Tentatively, she turned to see where it was coming from.

Please don't be a rattlesnake.Or Bigfoot, or a monster cat…

Her eye was drawn to a dark hollow within the jagged rock. It was a small, square-shaped opening, only about three feet tall. She took a step back and directed her phone's flashlight into the darkness. When the beam of light hit the empty space, the air seemed to shimmer. The darkness pulsed within her phone's pale light, like waves of heat rising from hot asphalt.

Suddenly she realized her headache was gone. She touched her forehead. The pain had disappeared completely. As she wondered what sort of games her body was playing, she was overcome with a new sensation. It started as a tingly warmth in her stomach. Then it burst within her, traveling down her limbs in waves that made her sway on her feet. But this time, it wasn't anxiety. It was a feeling of welcome. Of rightness.

The sensation seemed to tug her forward, propelling her toward the glittering mist.

She took one step closer, then another. She watched her legs move as if outside her own body. Her whole being strained toward the opening, as though a tremendous magnetic force was pulling her closer.

The electric smell of ozone hit her so hard her eyes watered. She shook her head to clear it, never dropping her gaze from the mist. The buzzing sound persisted, but now it sounded like hypnotic music.

She reached out her hand, desperate to make contact with the strange haze. But right before she was to learn of the rock's shadowy secrets, her boot landed directly in the puddle of water pooling on the ground. Then, as if something powerful had grabbed her foot, her body was violently jerked downward.

Everything went black as the ozone smell enveloped her—sharp, metallic, and pungent. Her limbs scrambled wildly, and her stomach dropped. It felt like she was falling from a great height, yet she could only grab handfuls of empty space.

Her vision blurred, and she tried to scream. She struggled for air as immense pressure surrounded her. It was so strong she felt like her bones were breaking, dissolving. Her skin felt too tight, like her muscles might burst out of their confines. She tried to call out for her sister, but she couldn't even open her mouth.

She continued to fall farther and farther down, plummeting and writhing until she was certain this must be what it felt like to die.