Gomez'

my stomach churned-not out of fea

d. "You'll reall

t cent," h

te beneath the veil, the sickeningly sweet smell, the way the incense had violently

at's not enough. Anyone could make

of proof?

shut tight against the gathering twilight. "Get the P

tatue was tall, but not imposs

e even a new dress for my mom. Enough to make her smile, to

he wouldn't be in such

shaking with a mix of dread and d

wn was asleep, the moon han

light. My fingers fumbled clumsily with the rusted pa

echoed into th

e with a low creak. A single beam of moonlight pierced t

leaving it cracked open just enoug

freezing, stagnant,

e, broken only by the frantic

suffocating weight pressing down on me. But t

onto the pedestal, my eyes locked on the spot

was noth

phet wa

k as a sudden, paralyzing wa

ds gripping the edge of the pedestal so har