Page 98 of Switching Graves

“I can’t believe we’ve only got one year left,” Aunt Divina’s young voice muses from somewhere to my right.

Turning my head, I find the younger versions of her and my mom sitting beside one another on a blanket. They’re each looking out at the water with their arms wrapped around their legs and calm smiles on their faces.

“One year, and then the rest of our lives,” Mom replies, closing her eyes.

“We’ll graduate with honors. Get kick-ass jobs and start our careers,” Divina muses, staring off somewhere ahead with a peaceful expression. It’s got to be the happiest I’ve seen her.

“Piss our parents off and marry the Ellery twins,” my mom adds with a smitten smirk.

Divina rolls her eyes, knocking her shoulder into my mom’s. “Of course. Carter and Graysen aren’t going anywhere. My dad will surely have a heart attack when he hears the news.”

Mom laughs, and my chest tightens at the musical sound. It’s breathy and loose and just like I remember. “Graysen is too terrified of him to not ask permission.”

Divina nods. “True. Dad will probably offer him a job. Your dad would rather put Carter in the ground than let his precious jewel marry a boy from the other side of the railroad tracks.”

Mom’s top lip juts out in that stubborn way it always did when she and dad would argue.

It’s so odd how I remember the smallest details. Things that seemed menial back then, but hold so much meaning now. “He’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Absolutely.”

This version of Aunt Divina feels like some sort of doppelgänger to the one we have now. She’s almost . . . likable. How could she have changed so much since then? And watching them together like this, with such a deep love for one another, feels like I’ve stepped into an alternate reality. They’re like me and Poppy. It’s hard to compare this to the version of their relationship that I grew up with.

“Then, we’ll have a whole horde of kids and raise them together on one big property. They’ll grow up as best friends and continue the tradition,” Mom goes on.

Divina nods her agreement, though her smile falters the tiniest bit. It doesn’t look like Mom notices. She holds her hand up with her pinky sticking out. “It’s you and me, forever.”

Mom mirrors the motion with her hand, wrapping her pinky around Divina’s before they each lean forward and kiss their fists, solidifying the promise.

It’s the same thing me and Poppy did when we were younger, but I swear I’ve never seen them do it before.

I’m once again pulled out of the memory, so exhausted that I can hardly open my eyes anymore. The sun is nothing more than a sliver behind the dense foliage of the forest and mountains beyond it, offering little to no light. I have the fleeting thought that I’ll be stuck trying to navigate my way through the dark, or be stranded here for the night. Though, at this rate, I have no idea when I’ll be well enough to stand on my own two legs.

For now, I’ll rest.

48

Sonny

My eyes crack open and the sun assaults my irises, forcing my lids to close back shut. Digging my fingers into the ground beneath me I feel . . . sand?

The grains burrow beneath my skin like tiny shards of glass, and I hiss at the burning pain they send shooting up my arms. Why do my limbs hurt this much?

And I’m frozen to the bone.

I don’t know where I am, or how I got here in the first place.

To my right, I could swear I hear the sound of waves crashing into shore, and while I know it’s near, I’ve never physically seen the ocean around Nocturne Valley or Ravenshurst.

Am I on a beach somewhere?

The ribs on my left side throb with pain as something slams into them three times.

“See? Not dead. Just horribly obtuse,” a male voice offers derogatorily.

I try to open my eyes again, fighting past the blazing sun searing into my pupils and what feels like glass behind my eyelids to squint at the sky above me.

Aunt Divina, Dr. Whitlock, and two other men clad in black suits stare down with stern expressions.

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