"You know what I love about your grandmother?" Hazel placed the plate of scrambled eggs and sausages on the table.

I looked up from my phone. "What?"

"I love your grandmother's fashion style," she said, looking out the window. Grandmother was outside in her garden pruning her orchids. "I just love the coastal grandmother look, you know. Although I'm not there yet, but I can completely picture myself one day smashing that look when I retire. Imagine having a cozy beach house and you're walking down the beach with a cup of coffee in hand."

"Yeah, I could totally see it." I smiled and took a sip of my coffee.

Hazel let out a long yawn and started rubbing her temples. "Stupid headache. I couldn't sleep last night. I kept hearing a cat nonstop meowing by the window. Did you hear it?" She placed two sliced breads in the toaster.

"Nope. I slept like a baby." I scooped up some eggs onto my plate.

"Are you sure?" She asked, looking confused. "It went on for hours. When I checked the window, there wasn't any cat there."

"Seriously, I didn't hear a thing."

"Your grandmother mentioned that her cat died, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she did. That was probably the neighbor's cat. You know how cats love to roam around the neighborhood, especially at night. My cat does that all the time. Sometimes they don't come back for weeks."

She sighed as she sat down. "I wouldn't know. I've never had a cat. My parents wouldn't let me have one because they're allergic."

"Maybe you should get one when you move out someday," I suggested. "Cats are great companions. There are so many misconceptions about them."

Blinky, Morris, and Ash entered the kitchen, all drenched in sweat. Blinky looked like he would pass out anytime soon. He went straight to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water.

"How was your run?" I asked.

"I almost died." Blinky replied as he finished drinking his water. He unzipped his jacket and sat down on the chair next to me. Blinky was a bit on the heavy side and had struggled to lose weight for the longest time.

"We hiked up that mountain five miles from here," Ash said, grabbing an orange on the table. "The view was sick."

"Sick is the right word, alright," Blinky quipped. "It sure made me sick."

"It's good for the health, Blink," Morris gave his shoulder a pat. "You did great. Keep it up."

"Did you guys hear that cat last night?" Hazel asked.

"No," Ash shook his head. The others did the same. We were all silent. "Why? You couldn't sleep?"

Hazel rolled her eyes. She seemed frustrated. "I don't understand. How come I was the only one that heard it?"

I reached out to hold her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Maybe we were all just tired from the trip. You probably weren't as tired like us. Hopefully tonight you'll get a better sleep."

She nodded. "Okay. But I want to go out tonight."

Blinky let out a laugh. "You're not serious, right?"

Hazel grinned. "I'm dead serious. Now who's with me?" Everyone looked at each other. There was hesitation in everyone's eyes. Blinky had a stunned expression. I knew what he was feeling at that moment. We were both on the same page.

Then Ash raised both his arms. "Hey, I'm in. Come on, guys, it'll be fun."

"Ash," my stare flipped over to where he was standing. "Remember, we can't stay out late. You know there's a curfew in this town."

"Wendy," Ash said softly. He went to the back of my chair and started massaging my shoulders. "We'll be back before the curfew is in effect. I promise."

Morris removed his glasses and started wiping the lens with his shirt. "You know what? Ash is right. It's not like there's a serial killer on the loose every night."

That's exactly why they have the curfew every night. The murders only happened at night. But then again, it has already been ten years since the last person was murdered. I stared at the window where my grandmother was. This time she was talking to a neighbor by the fence. After pondering over it, I let out a sigh of defeat. "Okay, whatever. As long as we come back home before the curfew starts."

Hazel lifted her hand to high five me. Everyone else shouted for joy, except for Blinky and me. Regret washed over me as soon as I agreed. I've always trusted my gut whenever something doesn't feel right, and half of the time, I was always right. Ash and Hazel were always known as the daredevils of the group. It's frustrating how everyone would treat me like the big sister of the group. For years, since we were in middle school, I was the one that kept telling them to be careful, or not to go through with whatever plans they had because it was dangerous.

Sometimes I asked myself if I was doing the right thing, or was I simply disrupting their lives for getting in their way so much?

After breakfast, Hazel and I took a stroll around the neighborhood. Blinky and Ash decided to stay at home and play some video games while Morris started marinating some ribs for our barbecue tomorrow. Hazel dug into her purse and applied lip tint when she saw some guys sitting at a table under a white canopy.

"Let's go over and say hi." Hazel whispered, linking her arm around mine.

"No, thanks," I chuckled. "You go say hi. I'm going to continue walking around."

"Typical Wendy," Hazel poked me in the ribs. "Still scared of boys, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I'm not. I'm just not that interested in cocky looking boys like those sitting at the tent."

"Fair enough," she looked at herself in her compact mirror before unlinking herself from me. "See you in a few."

"Don't take too long now," I winked at her. "Now go and have fun."

Hazel waved at them like they're her long lost friends. It's not surprising. She is, after all, the social butterfly of the group. She can be friends with different groups of people without any problems. She would often get invited at group events and private parties. I steered clear from parties due to bullying that happened since elementary. Insecurities started taking a toll on me, but I grew up fighting for myself and other people whenever bullying came up. I refused to be broken by people who didn't really get to know me as a person. My parents were there to clear my mind and helped me accept who I really was. They were the light of my darkest days.

I wiped away the tear that slid down my cheek. Why was I crying? It had been a long time since I cried. Then I realized where I was. Shit. I was standing in front of a graveyard. There was a rusty dark metal fence that wrapped around the property. An old creepy mansion stood right in the middle. It was a dark gray colored brick house covered in dead vines. It wasn't even close to the gate, but the mansion looked huge from afar.

"You look sad." A guy's voice suddenly creeped up next to me.

I looked over my shoulder and saw a dark-haired guy smiling at me. His hair was a little longer, just past his ears. I admit, he looked really cute with his set of dimples and light blue eyes. He had a white shirt on and some dark jeans splattered with white paint.

"Hi, sorry about that," I extended my hand for a handshake. "The name's Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn Peralta. But my friends call me Wendy."

He shook my hand. His hand was cold as ice. "Hansley Crawford. Nice to meet you, Wendy."

Hansley took out a key and started opening the old iron gate. "You must be new here. I haven't seen you before."

"I'm just here on vacation with some friends," I tuck a lock of hair behind my ears. I didn't know why I did that. Was I trying to be cute or something? "We're only here for two weeks. We live in San Diego."

"San Diego," he nodded as he pushed the gate open. "I've never been there. I heard it's close to the beaches."

"Yeah. You should come visit sometimes. It's really nice over there."

"I've been thinking about it," he motioned for me to enter. "You wanna come in?"

"Wait, you live here?" I asked, smiling. Graveyards and creepy houses fascinated me so much since I was a kid. They might be nightmare fuel to some, but not for me. I suddenly felt like a kid in a candy store.

"Nah, I'm just the caretaker here," he picked up a brown sack and a wooden box with some tools in it. "I clean up the tombstones and make sure everything else here is taken care of."

My eyes swept the graveyard. Tall dried grass and weeds adorned the tombstones. They all looked unkempt to me. You'd think the graveyard would look a little cleaner than this. But who was I to judge? A chill crept up my spine as soon as I stepped inside the gate.

"How long have you been working here?" I asked, stopping at a large tombstone. The words My dear Maria. Till death do us part were engraved on it. A spray of dried red roses sat on top of the tombstone.

"A little over a year now," he said, collecting the old roses and stuffed it in a sack. "By the way, aren't you afraid of graveyards?"

"Me? Afraid of graveyards?" I laughed, throwing my hands up in the air. "I love graveyards! I'm honestly happy to find this gem here. I thought I was going to be bored out of my mind. Turned out I was wrong."

"Well, I guess we have something in common then." Hansley said, ripping out the dried weeds around the tombstone.