The Gathering

The air inside Marina's basement was thick with tension. The old hanging lightbulb flickered above them, casting uneasy shadows on the walls. Rose sat cross-legged on the floor, flipping through the cursed book, while Laura scribbled frantic notes in her notebook. Caston leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his sharp blue eyes darting to Kayla every few minutes.

For once, she didn't snap at him for it.

She was too damn tired.

"So, let's lay it out," Marina said, breaking the silence. "Kayla's name is on the list. She has—what—six days left now?"

Kayla exhaled through her nose. "Yeah."

"And the ghosts are getting bolder," Caston added, voice tight. "They showed up at my house last night."

That got everyone's attention.

"What?" Laura looked up from her notes. "Like… you saw one?"

Caston's jaw tensed. "No. But I heard them. They whispered. Same thing Kayla's been dealing with."

Kayla turned to him, surprised. "You never told me that."

He shrugged, but there was something unreadable in his expression. "Didn't want you to freak out more than you already were."

Kayla huffed, crossing her arms. "Not sure if I should be annoyed or… grateful?"

Caston smirked. "Go with grateful."

Rose cleared her throat loudly. "Okay, flirting later, surviving now."

Kayla rolled her eyes, ignoring the warmth creeping up her neck.

Marina tapped the book. "So, this list—every year, a name appears, and every year, that person vanishes. But what if—" She hesitated. "What if we broke the pattern?"

Rose frowned. "How?"

Marina pulled out an old newspaper she had found in the school's archives. She spread it across the floor, pointing to a grainy black-and-white photo of Ridgewood High—except, in the picture, it looked different. Smaller. Older.

"This was taken before the school expanded," Marina said. "And if you look at the construction plans—" She pulled out another document. "The new wing? The part they built over the graveyard? It was added the same year the first student vanished."

Silence.

Then Laura spoke, voice hushed. "Are you saying… the disappearances started when they built over the graves?"

Marina nodded. "I think disturbing the burial site unleashed something. And every year, it takes someone."

"Then we have to stop it," Rose said firmly.

Caston scoffed. "No shit. The question is how."

Kayla bit her lip. "Maybe… we give it what it wants?"

Everyone turned to her.

Marina frowned. "What do you mean?"

Kayla hesitated. "If this started because the graves were disturbed… maybe it won't stop until they're put back to rest."

"You're saying we need to find the bodies," Caston said, narrowing his eyes.

Kayla met his gaze. "Yeah."

Rose inhaled sharply. "But… where would they be?"

Laura flipped through her notes. "The school expanded, right? If the graves were here—" she pointed at the old map, "—and the new building was placed over them… then the bodies must still be somewhere under the school."

A heavy silence fell over them.

"Under," Caston repeated. "Like… in the basement?"

"No," Marina whispered. "Lower."

It hit them all at once.

The tunnels.

Ridgewood had an abandoned network of tunnels beneath the school—leftover from when it had been a hospital decades ago. Most were sealed off. Forgotten.

But if the bodies were anywhere… they were there.

Kayla swallowed hard. "Then that's where we're going."

Caston exhaled, shaking his head. "This is insane."

Marina cracked a grin. "And yet, you're still in."

His lips quirked up. "Damn right I am."

Kayla couldn't help it—she smiled. Maybe, just maybe, they had a chance.

But deep down, she knew one thing for sure.

The ghosts weren't going to let them walk in and walk out.

Not without a fight.