Maura layed in her bed, staring at the ceiling. After her friends brought her home, she had been rushed to the ER and now had 9 stitches in the back of her head.

Maura's mother thought Maura had sliced open her head on a rock in Brooke's backyard. It was only for the best; her mother didn't like Maura going to the graveyard.

Maura disregarded this. She felt drawn to the graveyard, and with every visit being away only grew more unbearable. Maura wanted to go back already.

"Maura!" Her mother called, "lunchtime!"

Lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup.

"How's your head doing?" Maura's mother, Mrs. Elliott, asked.

"Better." Maura lied. She then asked, "can I go on a walk?"

"You need to take it easy. I don't want any more injuries." Mrs. Elliott said sternly.

"I'll be careful, I promise."

"Maura..."

"It's really nice out today. Please?"

Maura looked at her mother with the most pitiful, despairing expression she could muster.

"Fine."

After she finished her food, Maura changed into a tank top and shorts and headed out. The entrance to the graveyard was only a few houses away from her own. In order to get to the foliage that enveloped the fence and opening, you had to walk across an old couple that lived next door's well-kept lawn.

At this time of year bees swarmed the flower bushes on the part of the property that sat nearest the road. Their buzzing filled the air along with the rich aroma of ripe flowers and summer heat.

Maura was shaking. She never went to the graveyard alone. She could've turned back right then, but the electric pull of the land already had its grip on her. Maura ventured on.

The graveyard today was calmer and less lively. It was probably the lack of companions or last night's rainfall, Maura supposed.

The bright, uninhabited area comforted her. She forgot the constant throbbing in the back of her head, the nameless graves, and the gaping abyss of the old shed and roamed peacefully beneath the orange sun.

"Good afternoon."

Maura's heart skipped a beat and her body stiffened. With adrenaline coursing through her veins, she spun around on her heel to face whoever had spoken.

Maura nearly collapsed with relief. Before her stood a girl about her age with long blonde hair, adorned in a pastel pink sundress. Her soft blue eyes shimmered when she smiled.

"Sorry if I scared you." She giggled, her laugh like June rain. "My name's Adelaide."

"It's okay." Maura assured the angelic girl. She then added, "my name's Maura."

"Pretty name." Adelaide hummed. She began ambling about the graves.

Maura followed her. "It's not anything special, like your name."

"My name is special?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah." Maura grinned. "I've never met an Adelaide. The syllables leave a taste like lemons in my mouth."

Adelaide stopped walking. "Aren't you thinking of lemonade?"

Maura laughed. "I suppose you're right!"

Adelaide turned and flashed her pearly white teeth. "What brings you here?" She inquired.

Maura was silent for a moment in thought before replying, "Caroline James."

"And who's she?"

Maura stopped walking. Hearing the halt of her footsteps, Adelaide turned to face the girl.

"That's her," Maura motioned to the teddy-bear shaped headstone.

It was quiet for a minute. Then Adelaide said softly, "I'm sorry."

"I wish she were still here- she could've been a grandmother by now, sitting on her porch and sipping iced tea; reflecting on her fufilling life. The struggles, the happy memories, the sad ones..." Maura trailed off.

"But her life was cut short." Adelaide murmured, staring at the firm earth upon Caroline's grave.

Maura nodded.

"You come to visit her?" Adelaide was suddenly in front of Maura and peering intently into her eyes.

Maura couldn't lie to those penetrating blue orbs. She hesitated before she answered, "I come to check on the nameless."

"The nameless?" A crease formed on Adelaide's brow.

"The graves without headstones," Maura explained.

Noticing Adelaide's puzzled face, she continued, "My friend Brooke and I made a promise to come once a week, to check on them."

"Where is Brooke?"

"Brooke and I came yesterday," Maura said. "It hasn't been a week yet, but I wanted to come again. So I came by myself."

"I see." Adelaide's expression was unreadable.

"You should meet Brooke sometime; I think you'd like her." Maura smiled. "She seems cold at first, but she's really a warm person once you get to know her."

"An icy exterior that melts away?" Adelaide asked, rather amused.

"Yeah, you could say that."

A sudden gust of wind blew, sending strands of chestnut hair across Maura's forehead. Adelaide giggled. She reached out and pushed them back.

Her exterior, too, was ice.