Grave Discovery

Stacy and Roxy sat in the cafe looking out over the water. “So what do you want to do for Halloween?” Stacy asked as she sipped hr pumpkin spice latte.

“A friend of mine told me about a really cool graveyard that could be haunted.” Roxy answered.

“Haunted?”

“Yea, she says she hears all sorts of screams coming from behind the gates at night.”

“Well has she been there yet?”

“No, she just visits it from the outside the gate. She says shes drawn there for some reason. But hasn’t found anyone crazy enough to go with her.”

“Well she has now, call her up and let her know she has a deal.”

Roxy got out her cell phone and made the call on the spot. “Hey Julie, remember you said you wanted to go to that graveyard, but hadn’t found anyone to go with you?”

There was a pause.

“I’m here with my friend Stacy, and she has agreed to go.”

Another pause.

“Oh, I don’t know, say Halloween night? After all what better time….. Yes I know we are nuts. But what better friends could you have then two who are willing and eager to go with you to a graveyard?”

“Well that’s true, okay, I’ll call you later to set up the time and place. Talk to you later.”And with that it was set. The three had plans for Halloween. But would it be more than they bargained for?

Halloween Night

8-9pm

The three women drove through the gates of the graveyard at around 8 and parked. Even though it was open 24 hours, there were no other cars there. And according to videos they had seen, being alone when investigating any place supposedly haunted is best. That’s because with others there, you can’t tell whether the sounds are paranormal or human.

“So Julie, do you know anything about this graveyard?” Stacy asked.

“What I have read is minimal. It’s called Sims Graveyard and houses several graves from the early 1900’s. Mostly families, but there were some shady characters and quote unquote mysterious deaths that could not be explained.”

“Oh, so maybe angry or unhappy spirits. That doesn’t sound good.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, I would prefer not to run into anyone angry.” Roxy said.

“Same here.” Stacy said, “I just want a fun explore.”

“I have watched so many on-line videos and seen all the cool gadgets they have. But the only thing we can really get right now is the spirit box we can download on our phones. We just need to be careful talking to the spirits. And when we are done, we need to say good bye and they can’t follow us or attach to us or equipment.”

“Then let’s try that.” And before long, Julie had the app downloaded and took the lead because she was the most eager to know what drew her there.

She turned on the app and all three jumped when it came on.

“Hello, my name is Julie, and I’m here with my friends Stacy and Roxy. We just want to talk to any spirits that are here and want to talk.”

“Hi,” Was the first thing they heard.

“It said hi!”Stacy said excited.

“Hi” Roxy said back. “Who is this we are talking to?”

There was static between words then names came through.

“Earl, Julie, Bob, Mary, Gloria……”

“There are so many names and spirits.”

“Where are you?” Stacy asked as the other two walked a few feet away looking at the names on the stones….

“Here…. can you help…. see me….” The app said as the words came through.

“Help? What do you need help with?” Roxy said.

“My child. Want my child”

“Who am I talking to”

“Gloria.”

“How did you die?”

“Crash.”

“Car.” Another voice said.

“That was a different voice?”

“Husband.”

“That was your husband.”

“How did you crash?”

But there were no more words that could be understood so they said goodbye and thanked those who spoke to them and continued on.

As they passed several graves, they looked to be children who had passed fairly young. All with the same last names. Gordon.

Suddenly Julie feel silent as she just looked at the names. When Roxy saw that she had stopped at the graves she went back and stood next to her.

“You okay?”

“Yea fine. It’s just sad that all these children died.”

“I know, it is sad seeing those so young.”

“And look they are all about a year apart. Almost like the couple kept trying to have children and couldn’t.”

“What’s wrong?” Roxy asked coming to join her two friends.

“We were just looking at these graves of children. All by the same family.”

“What?”

“Yea look.”

“Oh my gosh, they are from the same family.”

Then Stacy looked at a few names. “Hey Julie, what are your parents names?

“Marc and Casandra why?”

“Oh okay, because the names on the gravestones were Earl and Gloria” Stacy answered.

Suddenly both Roxy and Julie looked at the headstones. “And look there are three children graves with the same last name.

“When were you born?”

After great care at looking at the dates she looked at her two friends… “it was after this last child.”

“Has anyone told you what happened and who these people are?"

Julie looked at the graves again. “ No, they haven't. Okay, this child who was named Mary was born and died in 1985, this child was named Bob and was born and died in 1990.”… Then Julie looked at the next stone which she had missed before….

“Umm guys, this stone has my name on it. “Julie Gordon. The year I was born is there June 12 1990, but the death isn’t filled in. Nor do I see names for Marc or Casandra.

“That’s a good thing.” Stacy said as she walked over and joined Julie.

And a weird thing." Roxy added also moved closer to her friends after looking at the two grave stones that were next in the row.

“This stone has a couple’s name Gordon. Earl and Gloria died 1996.” Roxy said pointing to the stone.

“Could you adopted?” Julie asked.

"I don’t remember anyone raising me but my parents.”

“It might be a good idea to talk with your mom and dad again and see what they say. If you haven’t asked ……” Roxy began “Maybe they will tell you.”

“Yea maybe.” Julie said.

After another hour and seeing no other names with the same last name they all headed home. Now more than ever Julie had a goal to learn the truth about her childhood and if she was adopted.

The next morning after Julie dressed and had breakfast she called her folks and arranged to go visit them for lunch.

All morning she kept thinking about the names on the grave stones she and her friends had seen the night before and wondered who they were and how they died.

Now sitting in her car she headed over to have lunch with her parents. After pulling into the driveway, she took a deep breath and mounted the steps to the front door.

Just as she was about to knock, the door opened. “Julie, it’s so good to see you dear.” Her mother said smiling at her daughter. “Please come in, lunch is almost ready.”

“Where’s daddy?

“In his study of course.” Her mother said laughing.

“What is he working on?”

“Oh he’s working on a new story. It’s the story about his family, well our family.”

“Funny, that’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you and daddy about.”

Before her mom could question her further, the bell rang and everyone headed into the dining room for lunch.

“So what was it you wanted to talk to us about?” Her mom asked after they settled.

“Yes well,” Julie smiled at her mom then turned to her dad and back again. “Last night Stacy, Roxy and I went to the graveyard. And while there we found several stones with the same last name as we have.”

Both parents looked at each other not quite surprised. Which did not go unnoticed by Julie.

“Do we have relatives who are buried there?” Julie asked.

“As a matter of fact, yes. We do.” He began. “As your mom may or may not have told you, I’ve started a new project. That of discovering our family tree.” He said simply.

“Who are they?” With that question both parents looked at each other.

“Who did you see?”

“There were two adults and two children.”

“I think it’s time she knew Marc.” Her mom said hesitantly.

After a moments thought he cleared his throat. “Perhaps your right Casandra.”

****

“Those graves you found were of your family. They were your aunt and uncle. And the two young children, were your brother and sister.”

After she sat there silent for a moment, her dad continued as she tried to understand. As he did, her mom stood and went to his side.

“Due to a faulty gene in your mother’s family, your mom and I were unable to have our own children, so your aunt and uncle offered to carry children for us.”

Now looking at them, her mom continued. “The two younger children would have been your brother and sister had they lived.”

“What happened to them?”

“They died in an auto accident a year after you were born.”

“Oh no.” Julie said before it dawned on her. “Wait, if I was only a year old why wasn’t I with them?”

“Because you were sick and we were watching you. Your brother and sister were at daycare and your biological parents had your brother and sister in the car on the way home. were n the way here when they were hit and killed. "

“I’m so sorry.” She said knowing the grief must have been stronger for them than herself. “Tell me about them all.” Were her final words to her dad as her mom sat back down.

And with that request he told her of the family she never knew.

The end