Chapter 96 Is the Cemetery Haunted?
Osflow, the old Smith family house.
Five folks in camo crept through the cemetery, dodging flashlight beams like pros.
Oliver called back to Celeste, "Come on, hurry up. It's just a busted cemetery. Why does Martin get so many people to guard it?"
Celeste's dad, Declan Brown, and mom, Anouk Roberts, were trailing behind, poking Celeste and grumbling, "What's the story here? Why's Oliver tagging along? Weren't we supposed to do this alone?"
They had this plan to secretly bury the Brown family's ancestors' ashes and then claim Elodie's ashes were in there too, hoping to bring some good luck to the Brown family.
Celeste was just as puzzled, thinking, 'What's up with Oliver? Suddenly he's all about re-burying Elodie's ashes at the old house. He wasn't there when Elodie was buried and worried how Catherine handled it, so now he needs to see it himself.'
Anouk's eyes darted around, and she whispered, "Let's talk to Oliver later. The grave's big enough; maybe we can sneak the Brown family's ashes in there too?"
Declan nodded, rubbing his back as he followed. "Yeah, let's try that. If Oliver's not cool with it, we'll figure something else out."
Celeste was worried, knowing Oliver's stingy nature. If anyone tried to mess with his stuff, he'd never go for it.
They crouched and moved through the cemetery, where Charles had guards patrolling with military flashlights to keep troublemakers away.
Seeing all this, Oliver muttered, "What's Martin's deal? All this fuss for a cemetery. If we could get him to team up with the Smith family, our problems would be solved."
Oliver's bruises from a recent beating still ached, and he thought, 'If this cemetery wasn't supposed to bring the Smith family good luck, I wouldn't be here.'
"Clara, have you talked to Lucas lately?" Oliver asked. He'd called Lucas a dozen times about the Smith-Johnson marriage but got no response.
Clara felt a bit guilty. She'd been busy with scripts and prepping for a film shoot, so she hadn't reached out to Lucas. "No, Lucas said he's been swamped at work and couldn't hang out."
Oliver was annoyed. "Why is Lucas ignoring his beautiful fiancée? When we get back, I'll take you to the Johnsons and ask about the wedding."
"Okay."
Thinking about marrying Lucas soon, Clara was excited. 'When we tie the knot, I'll make sure all the big media outlets know. Catherine, now just a caregiver for the Windsors, will see how happy I am! Lucas has been my dream guy since forever, and now it's finally happening.'
The mountain path was rough, and the cemetery was a muddy mess from the rain. The family walked in silence, carefully stepping through the muck.
Celeste hadn't been to a place like this in years and almost slipped, but Declan caught her just in time.
Celeste grumbled, "What a dump. Is this really supposed to be a place blessed by God?"
"You don't get it. This tomb has to be blessed by God. Why else would Martin have so many people guarding it after he bought it?" Oliver said.
'That makes sense. Only something valuable would get this much attention. Why else would Martin spend so much money? It can't just be for the Smith family's old house. That place is a dump; I wouldn't go there even if I was paid,' Celeste thought.
Oliver finally found the spot Martin mentioned on the phone and quickly pulled out the shovel he brought, ready to dig up Elodie's ashes.
Just as he started digging, he heard a weird noise!
Oliver nearly jumped out of his skin, thinking, 'This whole mountain is a cemetery. What's with that creepy sound?!'
"What is that noise?" he asked.
Celeste and Clara were freaked out too, huddling together. "We don't know. Maybe we shouldn't dig up Elodie yet. Let's open the grave and take a look first?"
As soon as they stopped, the banging sound got louder.
Oliver's nerves were shot. "Is this place haunted?"
Declan smacked him on the back of the head. "Haunted? There's no such thing as ghosts! Not in the middle of the night!" But his voice was shaking too.
Listening to the eerie sounds, the family huddled closer.
"Let's open the grave first. Oliver, I brought some of Elodie's ashes with me. It should be enough, so stop digging." Declan had planned to tell Oliver that what he had were Elodie's ashes, figuring Oliver wouldn't know the difference, allowing the Brown family's ancestors to be buried smoothly.
Oliver was thrilled. "Declan, you're a genius!"
Declan must've known Oliver was scared and had brought some of Elodie's ashes ahead of time!
The family started digging the grave again.
As they dug, the banging on the coffin got louder.
Celeste was getting scared. "Oliver, do you think that sound is coming from Elodie's coffin?"
'Elodie's coffin?' Oliver thought, almost dropping the shovel in fear!
"Don't be ridiculous! You must be hearing things. Let's dig it up quickly and get out of here!" Oliver said, not wanting to come back to this place ever again!
They finally dug up the grave, and when they opened the coffin, Oliver was stunned! "Steven Johnson? Why are you in my mom's grave?"
Clara covered her mouth, "Uncle Steven?"
Steven Johnson was Luca's father, the owner of the Johnson Group, Clara's future father-in-law.
Steven was gasping for breath, pale and weak, looking at Oliver. "How would I know? How did I end up here?"
Clara was shocked, "Uncle Steven, what are you holding in your hand?"
Steven weakly replied, "My mom's ashes. Help me up first. I'm suffocating here."
Steven had come out in the afternoon to pay respects to his mother, only to find her grave had collapsed a bit. So he decided to have it repaired and carried his mother's urn. He hadn't taken more than a few steps before he blacked out, and when he woke up, he was in Elodie's grave! He didn't know who threw him in the grave, almost suffocating him! He had been knocking on the coffin for a long time, and Oliver hadn't noticed, which made him furious.
Oliver, however, squinted his eyes, thinking, 'Martin said he bought this land to use for his elders, to bless his family with wealth for generations. And now, in the grave, lay Steven and his mother's ashes. What does this mean?'
"Steven, you tricked us out of our grave and wanted my mother to have no resting place. How vicious! Today, you must give me an explanation," Oliver demanded.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
