Sunrise/Sunset

The Bell

I gather the courage to approach the bell, tiptoeing around the graves. I have to move eventually, I might as well find out why this bell is ringing so I can sleep tonight with some peace of mind. 

I tilt my head to the sound as my flashlight makes out something peculiar. The bell is attached to a string, and the string leads into the ground. Riley slowly walks closer, and I'm about to stop her from sniffing the string when she begins barking. The noise startles me, and I can't help but take a step back. Riley, so gentle and sweet, rarely ever barks, so I know something is off. I'm not one to get scared easily, but at this moment my heart threatens to leap out of my chest. It pounds so loud I can hear my heartbeat in my ears. And that's all I hear, because the ringing of the bell, along with Riley's barks, have stopped suddenly.

I turn on my heels and begin speed-walking back to my car, but I don't hear Riley behind me. When I turn back around, she barks at me.

"What?" I say aloud, wanting to get home as quickly as possible. I am stuck here, at the cemetery, until Riley gives in and follows me. She's too strong and stubborn for me to attempt to pull her long with me, and I never bring a leash because she typically never leaves my side. But tonight is different. Tonight, of all nights, she decides to stay put.

I trudge back to the gravestone Riley is sitting beside and try to coax her into following me. But she begins whining and pawing at the ground, dirt flying in all directions.

"No! Stop!" I frantically try to get Riley to stop digging, before I freeze.

I hear something so unsettling it makes my skin crawl and my stomach churn. A faint cry for help.

My eyes follow where the sound came from, and I realize I am staring right at the dirt.

"No..." I think, shaking my head, "It can't be..."

I slowly back away, rubbing my eyes as I hope the screaming will just go away. I hope this is all a dream.

Riley continues digging, and at this point I am too shocked to stop her. Riley digs deeper and deeper, going faster than she ever has before. Then, I hear her claws scraping against metal. She's dug all the way to a coffin.

I think I may be sick.

"Help me! Open the coffin! Help! Help me!" It is a girl's voice, she sounds about my age. I hear pounding on the inside of the coffin, and I slowly approach it. All logic has fled my mind, and I am left thinking that helping her is surely the best option.

I kneel down next to the hole Riley dug, staring at the white coffin. My throat feels dry and I think I might throw up. But I bend down, grabbing hold of the top of the coffin. I shut my eyes as tight as I can, lifting with all the strength I have. For a moment, everything is silent. I wonder if I've just imagined this, and when I open my eyes I'll only see the rotting, decaying body of someone who has died a long time ago. Someone who will not come back to life.

For this reason, I hesitate to open my eyes. Until I feel a hand grab hold of my wrist.

I let out a blood-curdling scream, terror in my eyes as I stare at the girl in front of me.

"You heard me. I don't know how, but you heard me... Nobody ever hears me, but you did! I knew that this bell would be the smartest idea! I pulled the string, the bell rang, and you heard me! You saved me!" The girl has no color in her skin, her hair a mess and her eyes wide. She smiles at me, perhaps meaning for it to be reassuring, but all I see is someone who means to bring me harm, and I am terrified.

"How are you alive? Wh-what happened?" I stutter, my breaths shaky. The girl is still grabbing my wrist, as if she's afraid I'll run away at any moment. But I couldn't possibly run away now. I need answers. Because at this moment, I'm confident I'm going insane.

"We're all alive, Melanie." I shake my head as she speaks, picturing my mother, "We're just trapped, six feet underground, where no one can hear us, so no one can rescue us. Most people give up calling for help, or their voices have become tired out, or people simply do not have the ears to hear us. But you heard me, Melanie, and now you can save me."

"Save you?" I barely have time to ask the question before the girl yanks me forward. I lose my balance, falling into the open coffin. I scream, but I know there is nobody else in this graveyard who can help me. The last thing I see is the face of that girl molding into something else... Molding into me.

"My name is Melanie Jane Roberts. I am twenty years old, I have a younger sister and a younger brother, and a dog named Riley. And I'm going home to my apartment before I go to my job as a journalist tomorrow morning." The girl, who is now me, says this with a sneer. Riley goes to her side, looking at her the way she always used to look at me.

"No, Riley! I'm right here!" I scream.

"There is no use. You are someone else now. You are Alice Marilyn Stockford, eighteen years of age. And you are dead."

Then the coffin slams shut, trapping me in. Trapping me underground. The only thing I hear is dirt hitting the top of the coffin, and my own screams.