Graveyard

The moon was full as David walked through the black iron gates into the graveyard. During the day it was a pleasant gravel space surrounded by lawns. Now in the moonlight the lawns and gravel were almost black. A stiff breeze whipped around, moving leaves on the trees and pushing the dead ones along the ground.

David made his way toward the tall stone tower in the centre of one of the lawns. It was round and tapered and surrounded by a circular trench that looked from that distance like a moat. As he walked over the soft grass that edged the moat he could see the vertical stones of the far wall.

Standing on the stone rim he could see grass at the bottom and iron doors in the outer wall. These doors lead to the bone filled rooms beneath the lawn. From the far side there was a faint rustling sound of leaves and debris being blown about at the bottom of the trench.

There was a single stone staircase leading down. David moved slowly down the granite until his feet were on the grass bottom of the crypt. The iron doors in the outer edge were dull black with some rust at the hinges. The band of sky visible from the bottom showed pin prick stars.

David walked around the trench, away from the steps toward the open door of one of the crypts. The inside was pitch black, but as his eyes adjusted he could see a flat surface in the centre. Carefully he walked around the plinth and turned around. The silhouetted figure almost filled the frame of the door. In one hand a steel shaft was gripped. The other hand pulled the door firmly closed as the figure stepped into the tomb.