"I-I don't know. I can't explain it."

"Try."

"You'll never believe me."

"Sure I would. I'm very open-minded."

"And so am I," Julie chimed in.

I glanced up. "Whoever owns that land is obviously practicing some kind of weird ceremonies out there. Maybe they summon spirits or something, because someone was talking to me in that wind."

"Was it a really creepy voice?" Julie asked.

"No. It was a woman. She just sounded...ancient."

"What did she say?" Fred asked.

"She said I'm in danger but that she'll protect me."

"Sounds like a guardian angel to me," Julie said. "What's so spooky about that?"

"She said she'll only protect me until the new year."

"What? So...after the ball drops, you're on your own?"

"Yeah, I guess it's temporary protection," I said.

"What kind of danger are you supposed to be in?" Fred asked.

I pondered for a moment, thinking long and hard and trying to remember every word the wind-whisperer had said. "I have no idea."

"Why would she want to help you?" Julie asked.

"I have no idea about that either."

"Why didn't you ask her?"

"I don't know, Julie. Maybe because I was a little freaked out!" I said, growing a bit frustrated with the interrogation.

She opened her phone. "We should tell Jesse."

I grabbed her hand. "Please don't! As a matter of fact, let's forget about lunch. I just wanna go home."

"Sure, Taylor."

I glanced at Fred. "Not a word to Jesse, Fred," I said.

He nodded. "Mummy's the word," he joked. "What happens in the satanic campground stays in the satanic campground."

"Thank you," I said.

Back at home, I felt bad for canceling our lunch plans with Jesse, but I was too freaked out to see anybody. I just ran up to my room and locked the door. With trembling fingers, I uploaded the picture of the rock to my computer. Even when I zoomed in on the symbols, I couldn't see them all that clearly, but I scribbled the letters and symbols down on my computer and started searching the Internet for clues.

An hour later, I'd still had no luck. Since Julie had mentioned Latin, I decided to try Google Translate. I carefully entered each letter, then pressed the button, eager to see what the message meant. Instantly, it was right there in front of my eyes in plain English: "Do not tread on this sacred ground. If you dare to walk on the land of our ancestors, you will die."

I swallowed hard as I tried to process the message. Wait...am I gonna die because I stepped foot on some cursed land? I didn't really believe in that supernatural hoopla, and I always turned the channel when those stupid ghost-hunting shows came on, but now my mind was running circles over all the possibilities.

Days passed, and nothing strange happened to any of the three of us or Max, so I decided the whole thing was just a hoax and that there was no reason to get so worked up about it.

When the weed whacker started whirring outside, I jumped up. I peered through the window and saw Fred working in the back yard, so I thought it was the perfect time to tell him my findings and see what he thought.

When Fred noticed me, he turned off the machine. He was covered in dust and dirt, with a pile of decapitated towering weeds lying at his feet.

"How about a drink?" I said, offering him a bottle of water.

He brushed off his clothes and smiled. "Thank you, Taylor."

"You're welcome," I said, staring up into his eyes that were as green as the grass he was trimming.

"I'm just about to take a break. Mind if I spend it with you?" he asked.

"I'd love to. I found out some things, and I'd like to talk to you about them." Fred was cute and a good friend, so I didn't see any harm in sitting outside with him for a few minutes. My dad controlled his breaks, but I didn't see him anywhere around, so I led Fred to the porch swing and sat down with him.

"Taylor," he said, "you really like Jesse, don't you?"

I wondered why he cared, and then it dawned on me that he might have a crush on me. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I didn't want to lie to him either. "I'm not sure where we stand, but yes, I like him very much. Honestly, I have the biggest crush on him."

"I've been watching him...a lot," he said.

That surprised me. "Do you like him too? If you do, I'd totally understand. I mean, he's so hot that guys and girls might both be attract-"

"No! I don't like guys, Taylor!"

"Oh."

"It's just that...well, his whole family has these creepy, light blue eyes."

"Creepy? I think they're beautiful."

"Far from it. They're hiding some deep, dark secret. Something's just not right with those people. You shouldn't be alone with any of them."

"I've been alone with Jesse a lot," I said. "He's the perfect gentlemen, and he absolutely loves animals. How could you think he's..."

"Some kind of sicko?"

"Yeah, I guess."

His eyes widened. "I've, uh...well, I've seen things."

Curiosity struck me. "Like what kind of things?"

He cleared his throat, but not another word came out of his mouth.

"Either you're just jealous of Jesse, Fred, or you know more than you're letting on," I said. "If this concerns Jesse, I want to know what you're talking about."

"I caught him reading a book."

I gasped. "Oh my gosh! A book, you say? I definitely need to stay away from him."

"No, not just any book. It had all these weird symbols and was written in some language I couldn't understand."

"What are you saying?"

He let out a long breath. "I think Jesse and his family are witches."

"Witches?"

"Yes. I catch them in lies, and, like I said, I've seen things-lots of things."

"Care to elaborate?"

His gaze narrowed. "If you talk about these things, you'll end up missing or dead."

"You can trust me. I won't tell a soul."

He sighed. "Well, for one thing, I heard Jesse's sister tell a man to do something I know for a fact he wouldn't normally do."

"Is Jesse's sister pretty?"

"Kierra? Yeah. She's smoking hot."

I chuckled. "There's your answer. Men are putty in a pretty girl's hands."

"I know that, but there's more to it than that."

I touched his hand. "Fred, I think I know where this is all coming from."

"You do?"

"Yes. That weird altar freaked all of us out. You started thinking about witches when you saw those symbols, and now you're jumping to conclusions about Jesse's family."

"I'm not just jumping to conclusions, Taylor, and I don't think Jesse's family are the only ones. I think this town is being run by witches."

My jaw dropped. "Yes, we found a possible site where ceremonies are held, but that doesn't mean the entire town is evil. It just means-"

"It means we need to do a whole lot of digging."

My gaze narrowed. "Do you really think the town is hiding something?"

"Yes, and I'm sure Jesse knows what's going on. Why don't you do some prying? Maybe you can get him to talk."

"I know we've been together a lot, but I highly doubt he's gonna spill all his deep, dark secrets to me. Besides, maybe we're just getting carried away. I mean, Jesse is a bit mysterious, but-"

"I'm just saying that there's more than meets the eye around here."

"Now I'm scared to tell you what I found out."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you'll get carried away even worse."

"I won't. Tell me."

I cleared my throat. "I couldn't identify the weird symbols, but the words are a warning, in Latin, like Julie said."

He arched a brow. "Well? What's it mean?"

"It's a warning not to tread on sacred ground. It said if we walked on the land of their ancestors, we will die."

"If it's just some kind of warning, a threat, why was it written in Latin?" he asked. "How do they expect anyone to obey a warning they can't read?"

"I think it's a curse," I said.

His eyes widened. "Are you saying all three of us are gonna die just because we had to go after your dumb dog?"

"I pray not, and I keep trying to tell myself how crazy it is, but I can't deny the voice that spoke to me. It felt real."

"You know what I think?"

"That I hallucinated it?"

"No, not at all. Maybe the witches are putting some kind of spell on us, maybe using their powers to mess with our heads."

"I don't know. It sounds so crazy."

Suddenly, the door swung open, startling us, and my dad came out. "Fred, I'm paying you to work, not flirt with my daughter. Taylor, please go do the dishes," he said sternly, not one to mince words.

"Nice talking to you, Fred," I said. "I've gotta go, but we'll talk later."

"Okay."

I smiled. Fred was a nice guy, but he had the biggest imagination, and I decided I wasn't going to let it rub off on me. There was no way Jesse and his family were witches and warlocks, and I wasn't even sure if I believed in the Latin curse we'd found. It was all so farfetched, and I was sure I'd probably imagined the entire thing-or at least I hoped so.