Page 152 of A Curse On Black Lake
I automatically go to the left at the fork in the road.
“Grams is on the other side,” Eliana says.
“Sorry,” I mumble, and back up, going left instead.
“She’s up on the hill there,” Eliana says, pointing.
It’s dark now and somewhat hard to see what she’s pointing to. I drive a little farther.
“Here,” she says.
I park the truck, and Eliana hops out, going straight for her Grams’s grave. This is the only graveyard I’ve been around consistently, and the aboveground graves have always felt strange, as if nature knows that the dead should be back in the earth, to return to the place they belong.
Staying by the truck, I give Eliana the space she needs to visit her Grams. I know I should go visit my parents, but I’m angry. I deserved to know the woman who gave birth to me, whether or not she was alive. It doesn’t change the fact that they were my mom and dad, but I should’ve known. I wonder where Victoria is? Why did she give me up? Is she buried here? Has she been forgotten like the others I fought to find?
Unease rolls down my spine, and I check on Eliana. Her figure is shrouded in darkness, and it’s making me nervous. There’s someone out there who wants both of us dead. We’re sitting ducks out here.
Unable to take it anymore, I click on my flashlight and go up to find her. Out of the corner of my eye, I swear there’s a man across the way, but when I turn to look, it’s only tombstones, standing proudly on top of their stone sarcophagi.
She’s sitting next to the raised grave, drawing pictures in the dirt.
“Grams, this is Killian. Killian, Grams,” she says.
I automatically take my hat off and hold it over my heart. “Ma’am, it’s nice to meet you.”
“She would’ve loved you,” Eliana says quietly.
“I have a feeling I would’ve liked her too,” I tell her.
“I wanted you to meet her. I felt like it was time.”
My stomach twists. “Why is that?” I ask, knowing this was a big step for her.
“Because I’ve never introduced a man to my Grams,” she says.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I didn’t have many gentleman callers,” she says, chuckling dryly.
“So what made you want me to meet her? My charm and devilishly good looks?”
She doesn’t answer right away, and I think maybe I said the wrong thing. It’s too soon to joke.
“I’m sorry, I—”
“It’s not that. We need to go,” she says, getting to her feet.
“What? Why?” I ask her.
She remains focused on something behind me, and I turn around, expecting it to be the same man that’s been watching her, but it’s a woman, the long hair my only indicator. Another icy shiver runs down my spine.
“Do you remember when I told you that there are things you can’t kill with a gun? They prey on the vulnerable?”
“Yeah,” I drawl.
“They’re here a lot, but … there’s more. It’s like an imbalance. I can feel it, and we don’t want to be here to find out why.”
“Are the Spirits talking to you?” I ask her.
