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Briana Leigh? Had Briana Leigh forged that letter from Kaitlynn? Was she bringing Ariana here to kill her? What better place to stash a body than a cemetery. Open graves everywhere, waiting to welcome their eternal guests.
"My parents are buried here," Briana Leigh told her.
Ariana swallowed. Of course. Briana Leigh had no reason to kill Emma Walsh. But her explanation calmed her only slightly. Maybe Ariana wasn't in danger, but still she felt as if the headstones were closing in on the car and blocking out the sun. She gripped her arm and tried to breathe.
"No," Ariana blurted. "I can't."
"Can't what?" Briana Leigh asked, glancing over at her from behind the wheel.
"I can't. I hate cemeteries," Ariana said, pressing one hand against the door and the other around Briana Leigh's headrest. Her feet were braced against the floor of the car so tightly she felt the strain in her knees. As if she could stop the car out of sheer force of will.
"Does anyone like them?" Briana Leigh asked, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry. You can wait in the car."
Ariana closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe.
In, one... two... three...Out, one... two... three...
There was nothing outside the car but trees. Trees and grass and dead bodies...
In, one... two... three...
Out, one... two... three...
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And flowers. Flowers in front of headstones. Flowers left by families who would never see their loved ones again. Flowers that the dead, rotting bodies below would never smell or see or appreciate because they were dead.
Dead, dead, dead.
They were judging her. All of them judging her from beyond the grave. Their cold, lifeless eyes glassy and vacant and wide. Judging her for what she had done. Thomas, Melissa, and Sergei had met untimely ends... all because of her.
Briana Leigh stopped the car and opened the door. The bong, bong, bong of the car door singed Ariana's already frayed nerves. "You know, Emma, I've never brought anyone else here before."
Ariana blinked, struggling for composure. She looked at Briana Leigh. "Not even Teo?"
Briana Leigh lifted a shoulder. "I don't want to get all morbid on him, you know? I want to keep him separate. But you... I don't know... I feel like you've been there, so you really understand."
Ariana swallowed hard. Briana Leigh was trying to tell her that she had become a good friend. Little did the girl know that she was actually here to use her because she had believed the stories of her former best friend. The one who had ruined her life.
"Believe me. I know what it is to lose everything."
"I'll be back in a second," Briana Leigh said, leaving the keys in the ignition. "I just want to say good-bye to my parents before I leave for Ibiza." She slammed the car door shut behind her, leaving Ariana alone.
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In, one... two... three...
Out, one... two... three...
There's no one out there. No one watching you. Stop thinking about it. Stop. Stop. Stop. Th
ere is no past, only future. Think about where you're headed. A new life. A new school. A new start. The past doesn't matter. You have a future. You have a future now....
After a few moments Ariana felt her fingers relax and her toes uncurl. The air-conditioning poured over her, cooling the sweat that now covered her skin. Suddenly she felt foolish and wished she hadn't let Briana Leigh see her weakness. She took one more breath and opened her eyes.
The brightness of the day assaulted her. Ariana looked around, trying to see past all the looming headstones, and found Briana Leigh. The girl was kneeling in front of a large, granite stone with two names etched into it, and she was talking. Ariana watched as she held out her hand, showing her engagement ring to the stone as if her parents could actually see it. Then she pulled her hand back and held it, gazing down at the diamond. And just like that, Briana Leigh started to cry. She was still talking, but tears ran down her face and dripped from her nose. Finally, she reached out her fingers and touched the cold stone, doubling over. She really was saying good-bye.