Page 144 of A Curse On Black Lake
“Darlin’, I don’t need you to coddle me, let alone protect my feelings. I’m a big boy, I can take it.”
“It’s not that. I just—”
“You know what, let’s table this discussion and get to work. We need to move cattle, and I know you need to go back to your house, open the apothecary, and maybe start putting some things back together.”
I swallow my words, sensing his irritation.
“Yeah, okay,” I mumble.
He dips his chin stiffly and pours his coffee into the sink before stomping out the door.
This is not how I wanted that to go, but how else do I protect both of us? How else do we see if this is real? Am I the only one who feels like we might be dragging each other down instead of setting each other free?
After we move the cattle, and get the goats out. I take care of the other animals, and then we head to my house.
In all honesty, I don’t want to go. I wanted to crawl in bed and hide from it all. But it has to be done. So I ask God for strength and hope I don’t have a total breakdown when we get there. But I’m not holding my breath.
Killian turns the corner and slows the truck down. I start to ask him why, and then I see it.
There are Sheriff’s vehicles all over, parked in front of my house.
“What the hell?” Killian mumbles.
My hands start shaking, and I pin them between my thighs.
Child, prepare yourself. The darkness we saw has come.
I glance at Killian anxiously, trying not to burst into tears. There are too many emotions flying through me, and I can’t handle it all. I’m falling apart at the seams, the darkness threatening to swallow me whole.
Killian pulls off to the side of the street, a few houses down, and grabs my chin, so I’m not looking at the chaos.
“Whatever we find, whatever we’re faced with, I am here. You understand? I’m not going to run the other way. I’ve got you, Eliana. Whatever this is, we can face it.”
“What if it has to do with you?” I whisper.
He shakes his head and reaches for his hat on the dashboard. “If it were, they would’ve come to the ranch. What’s going on has to do with you.”
“That’s encouraging,” I mumble.
He leans across the armrest so he’s in my face and kisses my cheek. “I’m here. And remember, if Wyatt is here, we’re together.”
I nod.
“Are the Spirits telling you anything?” he asks.
“They said the darkness they saw is here,” I whisper, almost as if it’s a curse from my own lips.
Killian stares at me for a moment, his heavy gaze weighing me down, but I can’t look at him. I’ll break, and now is not the time. I have to keep it together.
He gets out of the truck, coming around to my side to open the door for me, and takes my hand to walk us down the street to my house, which appears to be a crime scene now. One of my shutters is still hanging by a thread, and I noticed the windows are peeling. Why does everything that’s not that bad seem to look worse when you’re on the edge of a breakdown?
People are grouped behind the police tape in front of the sidewalk, blocking them from standing in my yard. I don’t miss the glares the observers throw. This town is far too accustomed to murder, but the fact that it’s at the ‘witch’s house’ makes this all the more interesting for them. They’ll be talking about it for months to come because there’s nothing else to talk about.
“Come on,” Killian says, tugging my hand.
We slip into the fray of deputies in the front yard, and no one seems to notice we’re here.
We go around to the back of the house, where it looks like most of the craziness is happening. The Spirits get louder, nearly shrieking in my head, and I try to breathe through it, but it’s making my ears pulse. Vomit crawls up my throat, and I stop, trying to swallow it down.
