I stare at the three unmarked gravestones. Who were they? Why were they here? When did they live? How did they die? None of these questions are made any clearer as I stare at the white marbled granite. The air around me is bitter and painfully quiet. I spend most of my days at the cemetery. For some reason I feel a strong pull to these graves. I just don’t want them to be alone. I want to keep them company, but that isn’t my only reason for spending so much time here; it’s also the only place that they don’t follow us. I’m not sure what they are exactly; they’re whispers, and shadows of what used to be. I can’t see them, I mostly just see the occasional shadow here and there,  but I know they’re there, I feel them, I hear them. They whisper things to me, things I don’t quite understand. The words they speak are mostly undecipherable, but sometimes I can recognize words. They never make any sense though; the words are random.
I stood up and brushed off the dry grass that clung to my pants. I checked my watch and felt a surge of panic as I realized what time it was. Three o'clock, the kids got out of school over a half hour ago. I packed up my stuff and rushed out the wrought iron fence, and into my car. The school was close by, and took me only five minutes to get to. The children were waiting huddling together, I saw the relief flash across their face as I pulled up.
“Mommy, you’re late again.” Gracie, my 5 year old, gave me a slightly disappointed look as she climbed into the car. Grayson, my eldest, being 8 years old, followed in after her.
“Were you at the cemetery again?” He asked as he buckled in Gracie.
“Yes baby, I’m sorry, I lost track of time”
“It’s okay, we don’t mind.”
When we got home, I could already hear the whispers and see the quivering shadows. I let out a sigh and began to make dinner.
“Get started on homework, you two.”
The children sat down and pulled out their assignments. I turned back around to continue to cook, until I felt a gentle tug on my shirt.
“Mommy, Mr. Muggles is hurt, can you fix him?” Gracie held up her teddy bear. It had been ripped into two pieces.
“Of course I can, he’ll be good as new by tomorrow.” I gave her a smile and sat her back at the table to finish her homework. I knew that there was no way that teddy bear was going to be saved, but I knew where I'd gotten the bear originally and decided I would buy a different one that looked the exact same. I took the dismembered teddy bear and walked outside to throw what was left of it away. I returned to the kitchen, ate my dinner, and sent the kids off to bed. I began to realize how heavy my eyelids had become and retired to my room. I could hear the whispers as I lay in my bed, their words, or lack there of, echoed in my head, and followed me into my dreams. I awoke to a familiar giggle. Gracie. I glance at the alarm clock at my side table, 4:06 am. What was she doing up so early? I dragged Myself out of bed and stumbled into her room.
"Gracie, what are you doing so--" I stopped myself when I noticed the object she was cuddling, Mr. Muggles. "Gracie, where did you get that?"
"I woke up when I heard him talk to me, he said he was all better now. Thank you for fixing him mommy."
I felt a sick feeling beginning to form in the pit of my stomach, as a wave of dizziness crashed over me. The bear was in perfect condition, almost as if nothing had ever happened to it in the first place. I lunged forward and yanked the bear from her hands. She yelped in surprise and and various expressions flashed across her face- confusion, anger, sadness.
"Mom what are you doing, give him back?!"
I ignored her pleading, and ran to the kitchen. Matches, I need matches. I tore through the drawers ‘til I found what I was looking for, and grabbed gasoline from the garage as I ran outside. I threw the bear on the street, doused it in gasoline , and set it on fire. I could hear the whispers growing louder, overwhelming my senses, blocking out the cries and sobs coming from Gracie.
“Go grab your brother now, we need to go.” My voice came out harsher than I wanted, but I couldn’t help it. She silently obeyed. They’ve never been able to touch things before, I thought to myself, I need to take the children and get to the cemetery. It’s safe there. The kids came outside, Grayson’s eyes blurry and tired. I grabbed their hands and ran as fast as I could. I could see the shadows growing and taking shape, their whispers became louder, more clear.I could understand what they were saying now. All their voices speaking at once made her head spin. I could hear them repeating the same phrase over and over. It’s time for you to understand. It’s time for you to understand. I felt their cold hands grab and claw at me. Gracie and Grayson felt it too. Their cries and screams only made me run faster.
After what felt like an eternity, I finally reached the familiar wrought iron gate. I ripped it open, and ran inside, the whispers began to quiet, but hadn’t stopped completely, so I kept on running to the spot where I felt the most safe- the three gravestones. Once we were there the voices stopped. We panted heavily and tried to catch our breath. I fell onto the ground, too exhausted to stand, my hand hit the marble gravestones.Something was different; they weren’t smooth; they had lines and ridges. I looked at the stone and felt a wave of nausea pass over me. I trembled as I read the stones; Grayson Aldane 2007-2015 beloved son and brother, Gracie Aldane 2010-2015 Beloved daughter and sister. Finally my eyes rested on the last gravestone; Holly Aldane 1988-2015 Beloved mother.  And then everything went black