LITMIR.BIZ

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letter to the center of the chipped Formica table along with the enclosed plane ticket.

      “She might be leaving you a million dollars.” Mama smirked as she shoved a sandwich, a banana, and a bottle of water in a lunchbox.

      “Or it’s an elaborate sorority prank.”

      “You know, I always thought you were meant for more than this.” Her gaze darted toward Daddy as her voice dropped to a whisper. “It may be a case of mistaken identity, and even if the woman leaves you her most valuable cross-stitched quilt, it’s a trip you’ve never taken before. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen?”

      “Never say that when someone is about to board a plane.”

      “That’s my girl.” Mama kissed my forehead. “Now I can’t be late, or I’ll be fired.”

      “Love you.”

      The screen door slammed behind her.

      According to the letter, a video of the deceased reading her will would be shown at the funeral. Apparently, she wanted me to witness it.

      A few days later, I boarded a plane to Nashville, Tennessee.

      * * * *

      A cold, murky thickness surrounded me. Seconds felt like minutes, and my lungs burned under the water.

      Mud suctioned against my feet as I trudged forward.

      Through the frothy murk, a rectangular box emerged, a casket of rotting wood and rusted latches embedded in green sludge.

      My heart did a staccato against my chest, and my lungs burned deeper. My hands grabbed the wooden hatch on the coffin, and the latches broke free.

      I pushed the lid upward, and the corpse’s hair lifted with the current. Through the settling hair, leathery gray skin stretched across a deformed skull.

      My feet were trapped in mud. Though observing the most horrifying thing I’d ever seen, I couldn’t swim away. A large rock pinned down a decomposing corpse in a long white dress.

      My hair tangled around my face as my hands pulled the rock from the box. With a steady jerk, they severed what was left of the rope preventing the body’s escape. I willed my hands to stop, but they wouldn’t.

      I shook my head frantically.

      The hands that had disobeyed me weren’t mine.

      I tried to push up from the bottom of the watery grave, but a force too strong to fight compelled me to stand erect, motionless.

      The hands reattached themselves to the forearms of the corpse. Skin and tendons snaked together and pulsated to create unity. The fingers wiggled as the corpse tried them on. The long slender fingers grasped the side of the coffin.

      A sucking, popping noise pulsated from the corpse’s neck as it turned its head toward me. The eyelids popped open, revealing large yellowed orbs with white irises.

      Thin leathery bands of flesh stretched back into a leering smile.

      The rotting corpse rose from the bottom of the coffin with stiff jerky movements. Her face changed and death fell away, little by little, but not enough. She still looked like a dead girl, but she had been beautiful in life. Her skeletal cheekbones became covered in whitish-blue skin, and her eyes blacked out, hollow.

      She no longer had difficulty moving through the water.

      Propelling myself backward, I stumbled, and my bottom hit the muck. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound escaped. Dirty water filled my mouth, gagging me. I yanked free of the impossible suction.

      She leaned in toward me with her arms outstretched.

      With all I had, I flailed against the water to get away.

      Under the black depths, a voice that could only be hers blasted through my skull as I reached for the surface. “You have something that belongs to me.”

      My fingers scraped against the rough embankment, and jagged rocks cut into my knees. Grass and tree roots gave me anchor as I dug my way out of the pond. I gasped and coughed until I caught my breath. Behind me, the corpse stood motionless at the water’s edge, eyes now black and expressionless.

      When I turned to run, a guy with no face appeared. He was the same sweet guy from all my recurring dreams, but this time he was desperate.

      “I never belonged to her,” he said. “You have to forgive me.”

      His face shifted in and out, giving me an unclear picture of what he looked like, but bright green eyes shined through the vision.

      The landing gear skidded across the pavement.

      I jumped awake.

      The arms of the plane seats were slick, and my shirt was damp with sweat.

      Recurring nightmares had found me any time I closed my eyes since I’d received the letter. I’d liked having only the faceless young man dominating my dreams much better. These made no sense.

      No one seemed to notice my abrupt jerk awake. The little bald man on one side of me smiled, and on the other side, the elderly lady’s face pinched in irritation.

      Had I drooled on her?

      As others gathered their carry-on bags and made their way to the front of the plane, I wobbled to the restroom. A refreshing towelette, one of the first class amenities, wiped away the dream’s after effects, though sleep deprivation had set purple circles under my eyes.

      Outside the airport, the sign-holder bearing my name wore a suit and a captain’s hat, and he stood next to a long stretch limo. Everyone around me gawked at the huge car and whispered. A few people pulled out cameras.

      With my head down, I made my way through the crowd toward him.

      “Miss Knowles?” the man said.

      “Um, that would be me.”

      “Jensen.” He bowed. As soon as he opened the door to the car, the first camera flashed.

      Poor fool.

      I was a nobody.

      Jensen offered his hand to assist me into the limo.

      The door shut on the faces of people who peered in at me, wondering who I was. I sank into the soft leather with a sigh of relief.

      * * * *

      The long limo took a left onto Rolling Hills Drive. It twisted and wound around the countryside for miles. The road narrowed so that another passing car wouldn’t have fit. Green-leaved branches of hundred-year-old trees armored the road. Clover and an array of wild flowers bordered the lane banks. It was a private little piece of heaven.

      The window that separated the driver from the cab of the car was down, and the man peered back every so often.

      “It feels like my first day at a new job where everyone knows me, but I don’t know anyone’s name. It’s awkward.”

      “You’ll be fine. It won’t be long now.” Jensen gave a friendly smile.

      To the right of the car, a black wrought iron fence inlayed with tall shrubs stretched on with no sign of an entrance.

      “Yeah, the way gossip travels around the estate, I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone there didn’t know your life history. Ava did her homework, and we have some nosy staff members.” Jensen shifted his gaze between me and the road. “But one thing’s certain. Ava Rollins never made an uninformed decision.”

      The gate came into view. I settled back into the comfort of the plush leather seat.

      The driver maneuvered the large vehicle to the left into a gated entrance.

      On both sides of the car, standing against the backdrop of a blue sky, two black gargoyles stood perched on top of columns made of chiseled rock. Their heads angled toward the entrance, but their suspicious eyes narrowed at me.

      Monuments

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