Chapter 35

The Cullens' sat down to dinner with my mom and me. Unfortunately for my new family mom cooks enough to feed an army. All nine of us were talking and having multiple conversations going at the same time. Luckily, all of the conversation made it so that they didn't have to eat - much.

Mom and Esme were sitting near me and they started talking about wedding arrangements. I sat listening to them offering my ideas every once in a while. Mom is very excited to be planning my wedding and since I am her only daughter, I let her decide on many aspects of the reception. She and Esme talked about colors, china, flowers, how many people to expect, the menu and music.

When the topic of music came up, Edward's eyes brightened and he interjected his ideas from time-to-time. He too wanted to make my mom happy. "Honey, have you two decided on a date yet?" Edward spoke up as he took my hand. "First of all, I insist that I pay for the entire wedding as one of my gifts to Lily, so please do anything that would make you happy. As for the date, we were thinking of July 11th. That isn't too soon is it?" Mom smiled and said, "No, that isn't too soon, but I need to call your father right away to make sure he gets leave."

After mom and I had finished eating, the rest of my family excused themselves thanking mom and I for lovely company. "Lily, I won't be far. Will you be alright?" Edward said. I gazed into his eyes, "I will be just fine. I'll drive over to your house after mom leaves for work." We had walked to the door holding hands. "Oh, by the way, bring some of your clothes to put in the closet, just in case. Although, I am sure that Alice will still take the opportunity to go shopping anyhow," Edward said. I kissed him and laughed as I said, "I fear no shopping expedition."

Emmett had stealthily come up behind me and grabbed me. I shrieked so loudly that the walls vibrated from the sound. "Sorry, Lily, I didn't mean to frighten you." He hugged me and I hugged him right back. "I love you Emmett, but please don't ever do that again. I really don't need a heart attack."

I had finally said my goodbyes and mom and I were alone. She walked upstairs to get ready for work, so I cleaned up the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. I walked into my bedroom and started packing my bag with some clothes. "You will want to grab some of your lingerie." I turned and saw Alice crouching in my window peering into my startled eyes with her amber ones. "Edward will love to see you in that." She pointed to the royal blue babydoll and matching boy shorts. I grinned with excitement and placed it carefully into my bag. Once the bag was full, I zipped it up and placed it on the floor by my bedroom door. "Wait here." Alice nodded and sat on my bed waiting for my mom to leave for work.

I decided to make my mom a strong pot of coffee and entered the kitchen. Once it was finished brewing, I poured it into her thermos. Mom emerged wearing a pair of khaki slacks and a white sweater set. "Honey, I was on my way in here to make my coffee. Thank you. That is so sweet of you to think of me." I hugged her and kissed her cheek as we walked to the front door. "Love you. See you in the morning." She kissed me back and stepped out into the night air on our covered porch. "Lock up, Sweetpea. If you need anything, please call me or Edward." I smiled in reassurance. "Mom, I will be just fine."

I stood in the doorway and waved to her. As I shut the door, I asked, "Alice, when did you know that Edward and I were getting married?" I turned to face my sister, who was right behind me. "I had a vision during the Halloween party. Because Jack was there, I only received a glimpse of the two of you." I made a curious expression and gestured for her to sit down. "I only saw the ceremony when the minister introduced the two of you as husband and wife. I really had no idea when it would be. I really only guessed. Edward wanted it to be a surprise just for the two of you."

I started to speak, but she cut me off by holding her fingertips to my lips, instantly hushing me. "I only figured it out when Edward kept changing his mind yesterday. He never focused on any one thing for very long. He had you two shopping in store after store. He usually would have taken you to a larger city to go shopping, too. He didn't think of the inn until right before you arrived there. It was all of those little clues that tipped me off. I called the rest of the family and told them what was happening. We all wanted to be a part of Edward's long awaited wedding day. Luckily, we made it on time. I am sorry that I didn't figure it out soon enough to help you get ready."

I hugged her and tears were streaming down my cheeks. "You were there, that is all that matters to me, my dear sister." Alice squealed in delight at hearing me call her sister and then she disappeared. As I stood, she was back with my bag placed in her hand and we left after I locked up. We then drove out to her house and started to film our horror movie for our project.

As we drove up to the house it looked derelict, but it was dark. "Alice, what did you do to the house?" She smiled at me and spoke as if she were shopping. "We took a pressure washer to the paint to create an old run down appearance." She saw my confused face and started to speak before I could ask. "Don't worry; Esme thought it was time to repaint the house. It won't take long for us to repaint, we never sleep." After getting squared away, we then proceeded to start our filming.

The next couple of days had gone very well. My finals were easy enough. There were no unexpected questions, so I was confident that I had done well. Today was Thursday and it was time for Alice and me to go into our media English class. Mr. Shields had been taking our projects and now, for those of us who made videos, it was time to show them. Some videos ranged from commercials for different products to a documentary film of guys skateboarding in either skate parks or kidney shaped pools. It was time for our film to be shown and I was really nervous. Mr. Shields had even provided popcorn, which I loved. "Must you eat that while sitting next to me?" Alice's forehead had wrinkled and she pinched her nose so she didn't have to smell the buttered popcorn. I was extremely hungry, so I started to shovel it in as fast as humanly possible. "Sorry Alice, I'm starved."

The lights were turned off and we started to watch our movie. I had not seen the final product. Jasper and Esme had done all of the editing. "I hope it turns out well." Alice just rolled her eyes at me and sat watching with excited eyes. The credits started to roll and the first thing anyone saw was:

"A CULLEN CHRISTENSEN PRODUCTION."

Our family's names had rolled across the screen and then everything faded to black. Slowly fading into focus is a car driving down a deserted back road with three college students inside.

My brother, sister and I were all driving to a friend's wedding. We decided to allot enough time to take the back roads and highways to really get to see part of the country before we arrived for the big day. My brother, Emmett, had been driving the car and I lost the coin toss, so I was in the back seat, but we haven't gotten far enough for me to sulk yet. Alice was sitting up front and we were all talking about school. The topic had been given a major dose of testosterone when we started talking about hot chicks. "Emmett, please, how long are we going to be inundated by hot chick stories?" Alice asked. Emmett made a wounded face and said, "We definitely are not talking about hot guys! Let's talk about my insane workout today."

Before Emmett could talk about how much he benched, the car started to splutter and eventually came to a halt on the side of the road. We had just passed mile marker 126 and Emmett's eyes grew wide with mischief. "Hey, guys do you have any idea where we are?" Emmett asked. When Alice and I gave him blank stares, he started to look excited and wave his arm around as he described our location. "We are near the Greeley mansion." Again, we looked stumped. "Dude, the urban legend, Greeley..." As soon as urban legend flew out of his big mouth, I started to get nervous, especially since it is dark as pitch outside. The three of us got out of the car and we checked under the hood with one tiny flashlight to illuminate the engine compartment. There was no visible reason for the car to have stalled. "Emmett, I don't want to hear about an urban legend."

Alice was always the inquisitive sibling, so when she told Emmett that she wanted to hear the legend, it didn't surprise me. As Emmett was closing the hood of the car, he started his story. "Greeley was a man who lived before modern medicine and he had gotten extremely ill and fallen into a coma. His family thought that he died and buried him, unbeknownst to them, alive. He suffocated and eventually did die. Legend has it that that he came back on the anniversary of his death and buried his family members alive. From that point on, every anniversary of his death, he strikes. Everyone who has ever lived in his house has disappeared without a trace. For the last 80 years the house has been empty and fallen into disrepair." I was so freaked out, I grabbed Emmett's arm as tightly as I could. It made me feel a little better.

"Looks like we are walking to see if we can find help," Emmett said. "I can't figure out what is wrong with the engine." That sounded like a really bad idea. "I think we should stay with the car until help arrives." Alice looked at me and then said, "I agree with Emmett. We need to find help or some sort of shelter for the night. The back roads we have taken are so secluded it could take a day or two before anyone happens by to help us."

"Lily, you are outnumbered so let's get walking," Emmett cracked a huge smile and pulled on my arm to get me moving. While we were hiking up the road, Alice had Googled in the nearest tow truck company on the cell. She was waving her arms all around to get a signal. When her cell had enough bars to get a signal, we all stopped walking. "Hello? I am on route 47 at mile marker 126. Our car broke down and we need to get it towed. Uh huh...uh huh...okay. Yes, it is a red Mini Cooper with charcoal stripes. You will be about two hours. Okay. You have my number. Yes...thank you."

We kept moving and saw a break in the trees about 100 yards away. Emmett took both of our hands and we all headed toward the opening. Once we reached the opening, it looked as if it were a very long drive. As we walked, it seemed to take forever. A gigantic house loomed in the distance. I slowed my pace and started dragging my feet. This house definitely was not inviting. The sound of a twig snapping echoed through the trees. An ear piercing scream flew from my lips. Emmett and Alice both had laughed at me. "Wow, it is so nice to see my siblings taking delight in my deep, intense fear. Way to go with the love guys. I can totally feel it."

As we moved closer, the house looked a mess. It looked like it has been uninhabited for hundreds of years. It was a three-story old Victorian home. There was a wrap around porch with gingerbread that was either falling away or disintegrating from time. Essentially, there was absolutely no paint left from years of flaking off in the baking sun. I walked to one of the windows, there were no curtains, yet it was still difficult to see inside. There was enough dirt and grime to make visibility practically nil. I heard the door knob jiggle and my heart jumped out of my chest. I turned and it was Alice who had tried to open the front door. "Alice, we don't want to go in! Not only is that trespassing, it is way creepy." They both just scoffed and kept on looking.

Alice and Emmett set to work to find an open window while I sat there being a wuss. I had heard a noise out in the trees to my left. I stood and saw a shadowy figure. It never moved and appeared to be watching us. "Emmett, there is something out in the trees." He turned to his left and looked in the direction of the shadowy figure. "I see it, too." When Alice walked over near us, the figure was gone. The three of us walked over to where the figure had been and there was nothing there. "You two stay put." I am going deeper into the trees to see if anything is out there. If you see anyone...scream." I looked at my brother with a look that stated the obvious. He laughed at me and disappeared into the dense foliage.

There was only a crescent moon out, so there was little light to see with. At that moment, I felt a bony hand grip my ankle; it was tight and disturbingly cold as the fingers wrapped around. I screamed and Alice looked at me like I was insane. "Alice, a hand just grabbed my right ankle." Alice looked down and shook her head in response. "There is nothing there. You must have tripped on a branch or a rock." Emmett barreled out of the trees searching with his eyes looking for the offending party. There was nothing there. "It was Lily; she says she 'felt'..." She used air quotes for the word felt. "A hand grabbed her ankle." They both started teasing me, so I stomped off toward the house. Emmett and Alice both trailed behind me unapologetically.

The shadows all seemed to jump out at me. I must be imagining things, this place is so creepy. "Emmett, Alice, I think we should go back and wait for the tow truck. We shouldn't be here, whoever owns this place won't want us here snooping around." Suddenly, the front door creaked open slowly, but very loudly. "Okay guys, as soon as the idiot kids go into the creepy house in the movies, they all get whacked. We need to leave." Emmett and Alice ignored me.

I hope my brother and sister don't want to go inside to check things out. "I am not going in there. I don't care what you guys do; you can't make me do this. This place is so spooky." That is when Emmett and Alice both chimed in, "Ok, we will go in together and you can stay here - by yourself."

I felt like I had no choice but to go in with them. I insisted that I be in the middle, that way I have no chance of being grabbed first or having someone sneak up from behind us. There were cobwebs stretching out everywhere, the paint was almost nonexistent and the furniture, what there was of it, was old and broken. There was a musty smell that permeated throughout the whole house. When I looked toward the fireplace, I saw ivy growing down from the inside. It had grown wild from years of neglect, and had grown up the side of the house attaching it self to the roof, climbing its way down the fireplace. The floor boards were all warped and the floor slanted down to one side.

"Ok guys, we saw it, lets go now. Please? I am scared out of my wits. You can do this another time when I am not here, ok?" They kept walking into room after room just looking and searching for any sign of life. It was so dark outside; it was making this place even scarier. You could hear scratching in the walls. "Guys, do you hear that? That scratching sound means there are rats and you know how I hate rats."

We heard the stairs creaking from something or someone weightbearing on them. Uh oh. What do you do in this kind of situation? SCREAM? Emmett anticipated my reaction and placed his hand over my mouth. He whispered for me to shut up then said, "What or whoever is in here now knows we are here."

A really old woman was standing on the staircase gazing down at the three of us. She was wearing a white tattered nightgown. Her white hair was wild and filthy. Her eyes were cloudy with cataracts and I am not even sure she could really see anything. Unlike her harsh appearance, her voice was soft and smooth sounding. "Who are you? How did you get in?"

I jumped about four feet off the ground, but at least Emmett and Alice did, too. "Sorry ma'am, our car broke down and we are looking for help." She looked agitated and anxious. "You need to leave. It isn't safe here," she said. We all looked at this old woman with frightened eyes. "My name is Emmett and these are my sisters, Alice and Lily. What is your name ma'am?"

She started down the stairs with an unsteady gait. I took a step up to be closer to her in case she pitched over and fell. When she made it down to my level I noticed that she was taller than me, even with her stooped frame. "My name is Esme Greeley." She had put her hand out for us to shake. Her hand was bony, covered in age spots and felt cool to the touch when I shook it in kind.

The front door swung open, "Hello? Is anyone there?" A forceful male voice had called out into the expanse of the house. Emmett had turned and headed toward the front door in the other room. "Hey man, I'm Emmett." I just stood in place and was looking at this old woman, who seemed to be suffering from some sort of dementia, because she was looking off toward a wall across the room. I walked over to the opposite side of the room, the floor creaking with each step and saw a portrait of a man. In the back of my mind, I wondered if this was the portrait of the man who buried his victims alive and a shiver ran up and down my spine.

I heard Alice speaking to the male visitor. "My name is Alice. You are the tow truck driver? Wow, it only took you an hour to get here, that was fast." The three of them walked back into the room and standing next to my sister was the most beautiful man I have ever seen. He was extremely tall with a muscular build. He had messy blond hair and storm cloud grey eyes that radiated sex appeal. He was wearing black coveralls and his hands were dirty with grease, a testament to his hard work. I looked at Alice and walked over to them. I wanted to take him and kiss his full lips, but instead, I stuck out my hand for this godlike man to shake.

"Hi, I'm Lily. And you are?" He took my hand and surprisingly his was soft. "Hi, I'm Jasper." What an odd name for such a beautiful man. I would expect his name to be Michael or something more popular than Jasper. "I came out when we got your call at the garage." His voice was just like melting honey and he had the most amazing smile and brilliant white teeth. I felt like I couldn't look away. Emmett saw Alice and me staring and he must have been a little uncomfortable because he stood directly in between us. "Hi, I am Emmett and these are my little sisters Alice and Lily. How did you know we were here, Jasper? We never said anything about a dilapidated house." Jasper smiled and said, "Well, we get a lot of calls from the area where you broke down and I am a local in town, so I knew where this house was. Also, since you were not in your vehicle, I assumed you would end up here."

Alice grabbed my arm and led me away a few steps and we turned our backs so we wouldn't be overheard. "I saw him first! He's mine. I call dibs! The next guy we see, you can have him," Alice said. Wow, how fair is that? Oh well, there is no arguing with Alice.

Before we could leave, there were noises coming from upstairs and I grabbed my brother with a death grip. "What was that?" Alice asked. I looked over in her direction and she was standing behind Jasper's body clutching onto his arm, hamming up the damsel in distress role. "Is there anyone else in this house?" Jasper called out. Esme, the old woman, gave us a confused look. "You aren't supposed to be here, it is not safe for you. Who are you?" Emmett started telling her who we were again.

She started climbing back upstairs and Jasper started to follow her. Alice, not wanting to leave her boy toy, hooked her arm through his and headed up with him. Emmett and I went up, as well not wanting to stay downstairs alone. The stairs were uneven due to the house settling over the years, so I had to watch my step. When we made it upstairs, there were more portraits hanging on the walls.

Emmett and I stopped and looked at them. One was of a beautiful woman. She had long flowing blonde hair, ice-blue eyes, skin that looked to be made of porcelain and a figure to die for. Her ruby lips were full and sensuous. Emmett just stared taking on the same expression that Alice and I had when we first encountered Jasper. He leaned his face in as close to the portrait as he could get without touching it with his nose. "She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

I grew tired of his infatuation with this woman and moved on to another portrait. It, again, was of the same man in the portrait downstairs. This portrait was different somehow; it looked lifelike, like if I touched it, I could feel the man himself. He had beautiful auburn hair and pouting lips, but that was the extent of his beauty. His face was pale. His eyes were a cold light green color. I got the impression that they had been a vibrant emerald color once and over the years had faded, as if they were turning transparent. They held no warmth or life within their depths. His face was mottled and held no emotion. Getting extremely creeped out by this portrait, I moved on.

Another portrait down a little further was of a beautiful toddler. He had a blond tuft of hair, deep blue eyes and a smile that could melt ice. "Emmett, come and look at this portrait." When there was no answer, I turned back to get Emmett and he was gone. My heart jumped into my throat and for a moment I turned my head all around to see if I had missed his burly body. I stumbled my way back to the top of the staircase and looked down. There was no trace of my brother. "Emmett, this isn't funny! Come on out!" When I received no answer I started to scream out his name. "Emmett! Emmett where are you?"

A door at the end of the hallway had opened with Alice, Jasper and Esme all rushing out to see what was wrong. "Alice, have you seen Emmett? He was just with me looking at the portraits and now he is gone." We all started to look for him calling out his name with no answer. "Emmett, if you don't stop playing games and come out; you are so going be on my shit list!" Alice yelled.

We searched around as a group and entered the last door on the right upstairs. The whole house had no electricity, so it was convenient that Jasper had a flashlight with him. The beam of light had flashed upon an old full length mirror that revealed our own reflections back at us. I screamed out a choice expletive after I realized that our reflections were not an axe murderer or in Greeley's case, a crazy who buries you alive. "Emmett! Emmett, where are you?" There were some pieces of furniture that had white sheets covering them, but no sign of Emmett.

"We need to split up, Lily you and Esme go look inside the kitchen and Jasper and I will look in the library." I turned and looked at my sister like she was insane. Esme started to head out of the room we were in toward the staircase. "Alice, I think we all should stick together!" Alice shoved me out the door giving me a "Jasper and I need to be alone" look so I gave back the "I will kill you later look." Esme was slow enough that she was only halfway down the stairs when I went to catch up with her. It was dank inside this house and as I looked around, I kept getting the feeling we were being watched. Esme hardly spoke at all and that made me so nervous, my hands were clammy and shaking. My breath was coming out in short gasps and my head was starting to pound.

We walked into the foyer of the house and then into the dining room. There was a large farm style table that had been covered with a sheet collecting decades of dust. The sheet flowed down all the way to the floor. Esme picked it up and pulled with all of her might. The sheet had flown up and ballooned out cascading dust into the air and then fell on the floor in a heap. Immediately, I pulled my arm up to my nose to keep myself from sneezing. I managed to cough out, "Emmett, where are you?" Esme bent down and peered under the table – no sign of Emmett. I walked to the other end of the dining room and peered into the hallway. It was deserted, but I found another door that we could check.

"Esme, let's go look down this way." Her quiet demeanor was starting to make my heart jump out of my chest and created a pounding in my ears. I hurriedly ran down the hallway and opened the door to an old mudroom. It too was vacant. I was scared and was beginning to become nonfunctional. My brother had gone missing and who knows where Alice and Jasper are; they could be missing also. Horrible images were running through my mind. A question of whether or not I would come out alive entered my mind.

It made me immobile momentarily, but I managed to hold it together enough to walk and we entered the kitchen area. All we saw was an ancient stove from the early 1900s and some of the cabinet doors were hanging from a single hinge. "Esme, do you see anything at all?" I turned around and saw Esme heading back the way we had come, going up the staircase again. I made a mental note to go back to that pantry door and followed her upstairs. She was headed toward a room that I had not looked in yet. I heard a noise and paused momentarily to see if Alice and Jasper were around, but all was quiet again. When I walked through the open door, Esme vanished. "Esme?" I whispered her name waiting for some sort of answer. I wasn't sure if I should feel relieved that she was missing or worry. She never talked much and has acted strangely since we met.

I walked further inside the bedroom. What little moonlight there was, this bedroom was placed opposite of where the crescent moon was shining, so it was really dark in there. I suddenly remembered that I had a key fob with a tiny light attached, so I fumbled through my handbag picking up lip gloss, mascara and a perfume sample; just about everything, but what I was looking for. I was kicking myself mentally for not keeping my handbag clean. After finally picking it out, I squeezed the tiny light. It emitted a miniscule beam of light. After bending down and searching under the bed, I started feeling around the walls. The pressure that I placed on the wall had pushed open a secret door panel. I had a hard time seeing anything too clearly. I whimpered in fear, but decided to go inside. I had to find Emmett.

The passage had wound around the entire house in a spider's web of twists and turns. My little light created a white glow that enhanced every speck of dust, cobwebs and pieces of rotten wall paneling. Eventually, the passageway had started to go downhill and I think I was on the bottom floor. Somebody or something was walking upstairs because dust and dirt had started to fall from the ceiling above me on top of my dark hair, creating a shroud of white. I brushed the dirt and grime from my hair and then felt around for another door that leads out of this tunnel. I spent about 45 minutes in the passageway wandering.

Finally, I pushed open a door and my tiny light had shone on a fireplace in the large living room. My skin started to warm and I felt like I was standing by a roaring fire, although the fireplace probably has not had a fire in it for decades. "Emmett, Esme, where are you?" I started to head back to the kitchen to look in the pantry. On my way, I saw a door that I hadn't been in yet, so I opened it. It was a small half-bath with a large antique mirror. My light hit the mirror and I screamed when I saw my own reflection. This bathroom gave me the creeps, so I slammed the door and headed for the kitchen.

I tip-toed over to the pantry door and yanked it open quickly. I peered inside the walk-in pantry and it was empty with the exception of old jars of food. When I closed the door to start searching in a new place, Greeley's face was right there. My startled expression suddenly turned to fear. He was very real, solid and livid with rage, a restless soul. His hands were icy cold as they wrapped around my mouth to bar me from yelling out. I whimpered trying my hardest to warn Alice and the others about what was happening. Greeley was dragging me outside through the back door. I had grabbed on to the door frame with my hands gripping as tightly as I could to save myself. He tugged on me and my hands slipped free taking pieces of splintered wood with me. I could hear my feet dragging on the dirt as we went, but Greeley made absolutely no noise at all. I managed to slip free from his grip and ran back toward the house. I was far enough away that he couldn't catch me before I made it inside, locking him out. Greeley dropped his shovel and jumped. His body flew in the air sailing right over me. He landed lithely and then smiled a wicked smile when he saw my shocked face. He grabbed me once again and he dragged me out a ways into the yard and then he stopped.

I looked around and saw two mounds of dirt next to where we were standing. One was a pile of dirt ready to use as filler and the other had already filled a body-sized hole. I recognized the mound and realized that my brother must be in there, buried alive and scared. "Emmett!" I managed to scream it out as loud as I possibly could, hoping that Alice, Jasper and Esme could hear me and make an escape. I started to struggle. I needed to get to him. Greeley jerked my body and I fell into a hole that was at least six feet deep. I stood and was trying to find purchase to climb out, but the dirt kept crumbling away, making my feet slip back to the bottom. I looked up and saw a shovel swinging near my head and I tried to duck for cover. I wasn't fast enough and the tip of the shovel grazed the side of my head. Falling backward flat on my back, the last thing I saw above me was the first shovel-full of dirt landing on top of my blood covered face.

The camera fades away from Lily being buried alive and then opens to see Alice and Jasper in the library together, still searching.

Jasper and I were in the library searching for Emmett, but he was not in there either. It was as if he vanished without a trace. The bookcases were lined with volumes of old dusty books. After pulling out an old copy of Othello, the leather bound cover has stood the test of time, but the pages were becoming yellow and brittle. I was starting to worry; there was absolutely no sound other than Jasper's and my breathing. I had no idea where Lily was or if she had any luck finding Emmett. Jasper took my hand and we walked into another part of the house.

"Emmett!" I shouted his name hoping he could hear me. When no answer came, I started to worry that Emmett's urban legend may actually be true. We ended up walking down the hallway and were looking in broom closets and finally went into a sewing room. There was an antique Singer sewing machine in the back of the room and the treadle was squeaking, like it was being stepped on, but there was nothing there. Jasper called out Emmett's name as I searched the entire room. My back was turned as I searched behind some boxes. I heard something drop and land loudly on the floor. Grabbing my chest with a gasp escaping my lips, I turned to see nothing in the room. A beam of light was shining on the wall opposite me, creating strange shadows. I tiptoed back toward the door and saw the flashlight lying on the dusty floorboards and picked it up. "Jasper? Oh my God, where are you?"

I started running from room to room, only pausing long enough to check for any sign of life. I had run upstairs and checked in all of the bedrooms and bathrooms. There was no sign of Emmett, Jasper, Esme or even Lily. "Lily, come on out. Please, you are scaring me." On my way back downstairs, I momentarily stopped and looked at the portraits that were hung on the wall, and then turned to go downstairs.

As the girl turned her back, a hand reached out of the portrait to grab her.

It took me about fifteen minutes to search the entire house. "Jasper, come out! I don't want to be alone." My pleas had gone unanswered. I ran to the front door placing my hand on the knob, giving it a good turn. The door would not budge. I could not get it to open. Frantic, I ran back through the first floor to the kitchen.

I wrenched the back door open and started to run outside. There was a noise, so I turned and shined the flashlight back toward the house. The beam of light swept from the first floor all the way to the attic and staring out of the attic window was a man. Panic stricken, I ran, turning my head toward the house making sure the man was still in the attic. I never had time to look at the landscape in front of me because I had fallen into a hole. My head hit a rock and I started to lose consciousness.

Everything goes black.

I awoke and everything was black as pitch. A heavy pressure was crushing my entire body. I tried to take a deep breath, but instead of oxygen filling my lungs it was dirt that filled them. I knew that I had been buried alive. I was trying to move, to find my way to the surface, but my body was immobile. Soon after, I was resigned to my horrible fate. My mind must be so deprived of oxygen, that even with my eyes closed, I started to see spots forming and I felt like I was floating.

The handsome blond man had gone to one of the graves getting down on his hands and knees. He started to dig as fast as humanly possible. He needed to find her alive. Soon a hand had come up, grimy, but moving. Jasper grabs the hand and starts to pull with all of his strength. The victim is finally freed from certain death.

I remember waking in a hospital. The smell of bleach filled my nostrils. I usually do not like a smell so pungent. It always burns my nose, but this time it was a glorious smell. A young, blond doctor approached my bedside and started to check me out, asking questions. "My name is Carlisle. Can you tell me what happened to you?" I knew that he would never believe me. He probably would have me committed, but I couldn't lie. When I started to speak, my voice was hoarse and my throat felt like it was on fire. "I – was buried alive." I could barely speak, it was so painful.

"Careful son, you have ingested dirt into your lungs. It will be especially painful for you to speak and eat food." My doctor was kind and appeared sympathetic. The doctor left my room and then started speaking to the sheriff's deputy waiting outside. The deputy came inside my room and sat down on the chair next to the bed. "Son, where were you tonight?"

"My two sisters and I were driving to a wedding when our car broke down. We walked to the Greeley house looking for help. They have been buried alive in the yard. Please help them!" The deputy looked back at the doctor and he stood up walking out of my room. The doctor came to my bedside. "I am going to give you a sedative so you can rest. Don't worry you will be safe." He had a syringe in his hand and injected the sedative inside the IV. Soon, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

A few hours later, I awoke to see the deputy acknowledging my awakened state. He approached me with caution. "Son, you lied. There was no sign of anyone out there and there were no bodies buried out there either." His eyes were boring in to mine. I felt helpless. "What did you do to your sisters?"

"I...I don't know. They vanished. You have to find them." I started to think back for more information to give him. "There were two other people there, an Esme Greeley and a local tow truck driver named Jasper; our car broke down. If you find them they will tell you the truth." He looked like he didn't believe me at all. Tears were streaming down my face. It was so frustrating not to be believed, I didn't even believe what was coming out of my own mouth. It was all so absurd to hear.

The doctor, Esme and Jasper all stood outside his hospital room watching, discussing and waiting.

"I feel really bad for those kids, but it has to happen this way." Carlisle said. Esme looked pained, but determined. "Jasper, why did you rescue him? That was not part of the plan."

"I know that was not part of the plan, but I can't keep doing this year after year. I...I was trying to save Alice. I ran to the first grave I saw and started digging. Emmett was alive, but when I dug up the other two graves, Alice and Lily were dead. I was too late to save them," Jasper said. Esme took Jasper's hand and squeezed it. "Jasper, sweetheart, this family curse was not only inflicted upon Edward's immediate family, but on his brothers, sisters and their families, too. One of your great, great uncles was smart enough to make sure he and his family was not the victims every year, by having some poor, unfortunate souls take their place. It is unconscionable, but that is how we have survived all of these years." Jasper looked like he might vomit. He wanted with all of his heart to save those innocent kids.

The boy was resting peacefully and he turned to look outside his window and Edward Greeley's face was in the window watching him. The lights flicker and then go out and then you hear ear piercing screams echoing throughout the hospital. When the lights go back on outside of the hospital room, Emmett, Carlisle, Esme and Jasper all have disappeared and all that is left is a close-up of Greeley's face, looking into the camera, smiling wickedly at his next victims!

Mr. Shield's class jumped or screamed with the exception of Alice at the end of the movie. The credits started rolling.

THE END.

When the lights had turned on, illuminating the room, I saw Edward sitting directly behind me with a huge grin on his face. "Edward, how long have you been sitting there?"

He chuckled out, "Long enough to know that we scared the crap out of everyone here." I turned and looked out the window and saw Emmett hanging upside down out of a tree waving at me. Alice, Edward and I all waved back at him. "Edward, Alice, how long has Emmett been hanging upside down out there?" Alice leaned in and whispered, "Since the movie started. He wanted to see everybody's reaction." Edward was laughing as he took my hand and we sat quietly for the last 15 minutes of class, before being dismissed.