Page 48 of My Road Trip with a Vampire: Season One
“Faith, what is your mother’s name?” Dennis calls out.
“Grace. What—why?”
He dashes off without an answer. I turn my head in the direction of the sound of a drawer opening. Dennis is speaking over her bones.
“Grace, your time here is done. This house is in Faith’s name now, and she is the rightful owner. It’s time to be at peace. For your family to be at peace. What Faith does now is none of your concern as you have no earthly claim to this property.”
The ghost—Grace, gives me one more ghastly smile.
“This will be your damnation,” she says, and she’s gone.
“Mother?” Faith cries. “I told you not to touch the bones!”
“Technically, I never actually touched them,” Dennis says.
I tune out their bickering, running to spill salt around the perimeter of the mausoleum. I don’t need any of the ghosts to run off, not when I can feel the veil opening up to receive them.
“Come on, I know you’re tired of this place,” I shout. “You can rest now.”
Beatrice. He’ll come for you, Beatrice. He knows what you have. He wants what you have.
I have to breathe. I have to block out their taunts and remind myself that just because people, or in this case, spirits, see something one way doesn’t mean it’s the truth.
I touch the walls, imagining the bones lodged within, and the bodies that hold lifetimes of secrets and memories.
Let go. I will the spirits to loosen their grip on anything that tethers them to this place. A legacy of vampire hunting doesn’t mean shit when you’re dead.
I place crystals around the vampire-slaying angel and call the ghosts to me.
“Let go. Let go. Let go.”
I whisper the chant, and the bones rattle in their compartments, defiant until the very end, and then all at once, I feel them slip away. Quiet rushes in all around me. I think I can hear birds chirping somewhere outside this tomb.
“Bea,” Dennis whispers, touching my shoulder. I jump. I can’t help it. I feel uneasy after the things the ghosts said to me, even if his eyes are deceivingly soft with their dark depths.
“Is that all?”
Faith is pale, and she fiddles with the belt of her robe to disguise her shaky hands.
Dennis squeezes his eyes shut and moves away from me.
“I think so. Do you feel anything else here, Bea?” Dennis glances over his shoulder but doesn't meet my gaze.
“No, I think that’s it. It’s weird how easy that was for so many ghosts.”
“That was easy?” Faith asks, looking grim.
“Too easy,” Dennis says, and shrugs. “If you don’t mind us staying for the rest of the day, we’ll be out of your hair by nightfall.”
“Oh, you should stay until tomorrow night at least,” she says, perking up. She trails a finger down his arm.
“I don’t think—”
“I insist,” she says, cutting him off. “Beatrice, there’s food in the refrigerator, and you’re free to explore the property. It’s a beautiful day. Dennis will get you when he’s ready to leave.”
I stalk off. I know when I’m being dismissed.
I find my way to the fridge and make a PB&J before setting out for a walk outside. It is really nice out, and I love the way the shoreline wraps around the back of the house. I spend a few hours walking the lonely stretch, letting the cold wind whip through my hair. I’m delighted when Darling shows up, yapping happily near my heels.
