Chapter Four. Julian #2
A shadow broke away from the far wall, unfurling like smoke made solid.
A tall, hunched figure stood just across the rippling water, its outline flickering like bad static.
The shadows twisted, and for a split second, Julian could’ve sworn someone was watching him, their eyes glowing like dying embers.
Julian stumbled backward with a choked gasp, shoulder slamming into the lockers. The impact snapped him out of it.
He blinked hard. Was he seeing things?
Then, just like that, the vision shattered—beige walls, buzzing lights, the lingering scent of floor cleaner. But Julian was still gasping, chest heaving as though he’d sprinted a mile.
“What the fuck?” he whispered into the silence, searching for any signs of the cave, but there was only the beige hallway and tiled floor before him.
Julian’s legs trembled under him. His pulse thundered in his ears. Whatever that had been—a vision, a memory, a warning—it had felt too real to be a hallucination. But what else could it be?
“Focus, Jules,” he muttered to himself, still shaky as he leaned against the cool metal of a locker.
He fumbled for his phone, desperate for normalcy, for TikToks, for anything to distract him from the image burned into his brain. Gradually, his heartbeat started to slow. He was mid-laugh at a video of a cat talking in its sleep when his phone buzzed with a message from Yadriel.
You aren’t in class, are you?
A grin tugged at Julian’s lips as he quickly replied.
how did you know?
The notification for the TikTok you just sent me.
Yadriel had him there.
bathroom break
His shorthand for I needed to escape before I lost my mind.
How long’s your bathroom break been?
Julian glanced at the time, shrugging off the question.
time is a social construct, babe, he typed, but before he could hit Send, that prickling sensation returned. His scar throbbed dully but was no longer cold. Julian looked around, half expecting to see something lurking just out of sight, but there was only the hum of fluorescent lights.
“Chill, Jules,” he muttered, pocketing his phone, and tried to tell himself it would be okay.
When Julian finally got back into class, he was just ten minutes late past Mrs. Garza’s bathroom deadline.
Five minutes later, the bell rang, signaling freedom.
Julian merged into the sea of students spilling into the hallway, eager to leave the suffocating classroom behind.
Outside, the sun cast a warm glow across the windshields of cars as he caught up with his friends.
Julian, Omar, Rocky, and Luca joined Yadriel and Maritza on the walk home. Rocky’s and Luca’s skateboards clacked down the sidewalk while Omar rode his lowrider bicycle lazily in the gutter. Julian held his board so he could walk with Yadriel and Maritza.
“We’re peeling off here,” Yadriel declared at the rusted gates of the cemetery.
“I’m gonna go with them,” Julian said. He hadn’t been able to talk to Yadriel and Maritza about the mark on his chest during lunch. And now he needed to tell them about the weird cave he’d seen, too, and he couldn’t do that in front of his friends. “I’ll meet you guys at the apartment!”
Rocky hopped off her board, eyes gleaming. “Can we check it out?”
Julian wished he could include them, but the iron gate of El Jardín Eterno loomed like it was waiting for him to screw up. He opened his mouth, ready to shut her down—
But Yadriel beat him to it.
“Sure,” Yadriel said with a smile.
Julian blinked at him. “Wait—what?”
Maritza threw her elbow into his side.
Yadriel was actually letting them in? Julian’s stomach lurched as if he’d missed a step on the stairs. Wasn’t this the kind of thing Lita or Enrique would blow a gasket over?
Julian rubbed the back of his neck, forcing a grin that felt paper-thin. “Uh, you sure, Yads?” His voice cracked on the words.
Yadriel shrugged, way too nonchalant for how panicked Julian felt.
“Ten minutes. Main path only. No wandering, no photos, and if I say we leave, we leave,” Yadriel said, steady but firm as he looked at Flaca, Rocky, Omar, and Luca. “Sound good?”
Julian immediately broke out into a sweat. Please, please, please don’t let this blow up in our faces.
Rocky gave Yadriel a two-finger salute. “Captain Cemetery, yes, sir.”
Omar raised a brow. “Is there a gift shop?”
Maritza snorted. “No, but I’m the bouncer.”
Rocky smiled at her. “We should hang out more.”
Julian laughed nervously.
Ten minutes. He could survive ten minutes, right? As long as he didn’t look too long at any ghost waving at him. As long as he didn’t slip and say hi back. The last thing he needed was Omar or Rocky watching him chat with empty air.
Together, they all crunched down the main path. Yadriel shifted into tour guide mode. “That’s my family’s house,” he said, nodding toward the squat, tile-roofed home just inside the gate. “And the church. It’s locked unless there’s service or ceremony.”
The small yellow church stood proud against the deepening sky, its white trim sharp at the edges, the bell tower throwing long shadows across the courtyard.
Rocky smiled. “Kinda cute, actually.”
Luca murmured agreement, tilting his head like he was committing the details to memory. Omar wasn’t looking at the church at all—he was watching the headstones.
Julian swallowed hard, pulse climbing. He couldn’t sense the ghosts, could he?
Yadriel kept moving. “Over there is the courtyard where we hold vigils,” he explained, pointing toward the open space beneath the arch of jacarandas. “On holidays, everyone gathers here.”
Yadriel continued offering facts and tidbits about the cemetery and how his family were its keepers. All surface level and kinda boring, but maybe that was the point.
They passed a bench where Senora Flores sat with her wide-brimmed hat, knitting needles clacking. She tipped the brim in greeting. Julian clenched his jaw, quickly looking away to keep his eyes locked on Yadriel’s back instead.
A moment later, while Yadriel showed off some newly painted nichos, a boyish giggle cut across the path. Dieguito, no older than seven, zipped in front of them and reached for Julian’s sleeve like he always did.
“Let’s play hide-and-seek!” he demanded.
Julian jerked his arm away, pretending to cough as he forced a grin at Omar.
Dieguito’s face fell, hurt flashing across his features before he disappeared.
Julian’s face twisted, frustrated and disappointed in himself. He felt like a complete asshole for ignoring Dieguito, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. He’d just have to make it up to the ghost boy later. If Dieguito forgave him.
Maritza drifted closer and nudged Julian with her elbow.
“Hey,” she whispered, letting her pink-and-purple curls fall so the others couldn’t see her lips move.
“Relax. Yadriel’s been keeping brujx secrets his whole life.
He can handle a couple nosy questions from your friends.
You don’t have to look like you’re about to pass out. ”
“Easy for you to say,” Julian muttered under his breath.
After a slow loop past the churchyard, Yadriel shepherded them back to the gate. “That’s all for today.”
“Boo, short field trip,” Rocky grumbled, but her eyes were bright, satisfied.
“Yadriel’s five-star Yelp review: too strict, no gift shop,” Omar added, pedaling a slow circle on his bike.
Flaca, who’d been quiet, adjusted her bag and gave Yadriel a brisk nod. “Respect,” she said, as if she were stamping her official approval.
“Thanks for letting us in,” Luca added. “It’s … beautiful.”
Julian loved his friends but couldn’t wait for them to leave. “Later, losers! Don’t eat all the leftover pizza before I get home!”
When they finally pushed off on their boards and bikes, Julian exhaled hard. He doubled over, bracing his hands on his knees. “Holy shit, I can’t believe we pulled that off!”
“You mean Yads pulled it off,” Maritza corrected. She slung her arm through Yadriel’s, smirking. “Look at you, tour guide extraordinaire! Didn’t even lose a single tourist!”
Yadriel shrugged, but his grin was satisfied. “It’s not my first time having to cover for the brujx.”
Julian let out a shaky laugh. “Bold move, though! If Lita finds out—”
“I know,” Yadriel cut in, but not defensive.
He frowned as he looked up at Julian. “I don’t want to keep your friends out, Jules.
But I also can’t just … throw open the gates, you know?
” he said. “I thought if they got a little look around, it might be enough to keep their curiosity from boiling over. For now, at least.”
Julian wanted to kiss him, so he did. “That was actually genius,” he told Yadriel, grinning like a doofus again. It wasn’t even about the genius plan. It was about the way Yadriel kept choosing him, over and over.
Yadriel gave him a small smile.
Maritza wrinkled her nose. “Gross, you two are gonna start making heart eyes again.”
Julian snorted. “If you weren’t here, we’d be doing a whole bunch of stuff,” he told her, wiggling his eyebrows.
Maritza groaned. “Urgh!”
“Jules,” Yadriel hissed, his face turning bright red.
Julian cackled—he loved getting Yadriel all worked up.
A breeze rustled the courtyard where Dieguito had darted across earlier, catching Julian’s attention. The little boy spirit peeked from behind a headstone, round eyes wide and cheeks ruddy.
“One sec,” Julian said to Yadriel and Maritza before jogging over to him. “Hey, lil’ man, sorry about that,” Julian said, crouching down to meet him at eye level. “Didn’t mean to ignore you, just had to play it cool with the normies around, y’know?”
Thankfully, Dieguito’s smile broke wide, forgiveness instant, before he scampered off, giggling.
Julian straightened, already feeling better. He turned and scanned the headstones until he spotted a familiar shimmer near the wall. He grinned.