Page 27 of Grave Stone

WHITNEY

The moment I could no longer see him, I ran inside and locked the door behind me. Then, I sprinted to the front of the house so I could watch him leave. I wanted to see for myself that he was gone, and I also wanted to know how he got onto the property without being detected.

He reappeared near the front corner of the house and disappeared into the trees halfway down the property line. I stared at the area, trying to find him again, until I heard an engine crank and briefly saw taillights in front of the house.

That’s when it hit me. The magnitude of what happened. He found me, which meant the others could find me. But there was nothing I could do until Hadley and Stevie got back. Well, nothing I could safely do.

“Fuck!” I yelled as once again I ran around a house checking the locks on the doors and windows. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t leave, and I couldn’t turn my phone on to call Hadley or Stevie.

The panic room.

As if someone whispered it in my ear, I remembered what I was supposed to do if there was an emergency—go to the panic room.

Running down two flights of stairs to the basement, I locked myself in the panic room hidden behind a large deep freezer. Then, I freaked the fuck out. I had hours to wait before they were supposed to be back.

It took longer than I thought, but I eventually calmed down enough to sit and think about everything that had happened.

Did I make a mistake by trusting Stone? I didn’t think so, but what other choice did I have? I couldn’t hide at Hadley’s forever. After just two days, I was already feeling a bit of cabin fever.

Searching the panic room for something to do to burn off my nervous energy, I found a notebook, a pen, and some snacks. Perfect.

When I saw Hadley pull into the driveway on the security monitor, I used the intercom system to tell her where I was.

“What is all this?” she asked. “Did you get spooked?”

I could only imagine how it looked. Her once cozy panic room had become a makeshift war room. Papers were scattered everywhere, and my mouth and fingers were covered in a layer of cheese dust.

“Yes! One of the Grave Prowlers showed up here while you were gone.”

“What?”

“The one who opened the casket. Stone.”

“What happened?” she asked. “No, never mind. We need to leave. You can tell me on the way.”

“Wait! He said they would take care of things with the Wood brothers, and he gave me this ring and that gun.”

“You married a biker while I was gone?”

“Say what now?”

“He gave you a ring and a gun? Isn’t that how they do it? You're like his Old Lady now.”

“No! He didn’t say anything about that. He said it was a show of good faith.”

Hadley shook her head. “Get your papers and your wedding gifts. We need to leave.”

“Where are we going? And where’s Stevie?”

“She stayed at the beach house because she wasn’t feeling well. I came back to get you. We’ll call her and let her know what’s going on from the car.”

As I ran upstairs to once again frantically pack my belongings before fleeing, I cursed the day I met Glenn. I wouldn’t be running for my life if it weren’t for him.

“Okay,” Hadley said once we were on the road. “Tell me everything.

So, I did.

“He just walked onto the property?” she asked in disbelief.