| SEQUEL TO BURY A FRIEND | Strange creature are born and nurtured several floors under the white tower. Even stranger people in masks terrorize the world above ground. All the while two faces, one old and one new, threaten what stability Roman and...
"Mr. Godfrey," a voice calls over the intercom. Roman looks up from the papers scattered on his desk, angry at the interruption. "You have a visitor."
"Do they have an appointment?" Roman asks stoicly. His receptionist was terribly incompetent, but it was his third one of the summer. HR was beginning to keep an eye on him, although there wasn't much they could do.
"Uh... yeah?" The receptionist sounds hesitant. Gripping his fist tight, Roman takes a deep breath before becoming too annoyed.
"Fine."
In a matter of seconds, there's a knock on the door. His receptionist comes in and holds it open. Emma comes in, one arm crossed across her body, the other raised to a small wave. "Hey," he looks surprised. "You don't have an appointment."
"Do I need one?"
"Yes, but I guess I can make an exception," he smiles.
"You look very adult," she looks him over and takes a seat across from him. "Boy-wonder, huh?"
"I don't feel very adult," he admits. "How's school?"
"It hasn't started yet. I go for orientation next week?" She laughs, confused at what he's said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's school. It starts in the fall, ends in the spring, you get a summer off. You've been doing it for thirteen years."
"I guess- yeah... Sorry. Well, what have you been doing? Where have you been?"
"I've been here."
"Here? Hemlock? No," he shakes his head. There's no way she'd been here this whole time, he would have seen her.
"Yeah, maybe if you answered my texts or called me back you'd know." There it is. He realizes that's why she came.
"My mother died," Roman clicks his tongue and puts his elbows on his desk. Clasping his hands together he looks almost intimidating. Almost.
"I know. I had assumed you'd want to celebrate but I guess I was wrong."
"Emma."
"It's fine. You're a busy man- running a company, going to Maui... I just wanted to say goodbye before I left."
"How'd you- Anna?" Emma nods.
"I stopped by when you stopped responding," she bites her bottom lip. "I like that your new house says 'home' on the outside of it. Just to make sure we know it's a home, huh?" She laughs nervously but he doesn't budge. "Sorry, I was concerned."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ignore you."
"You weren't ignoring me, you were avoiding me," Emma corrects him.
"Aren't those the same things?" She shakes her head. "Look, I don't know how to handle things, okay?"
"How many times are we going to say that to each other?"
"Probably until we know how to handle things," he shrugs and looks back down to his papers.
"Well, I just wanted to say goodbye before I left. Sooo, goodbye," she stands from her chair awkwardly.
"Em, wait!" He calls out to her. "We can go get lunch or something, I'm sorry."
"No, no," she shakes her head and backs away. "I'd hate to take up more of your valuable time, Mr. Godfrey. I've got to get packed anyways," she turns to leave but hesitates. "Sit up straight. You'll ruin your posture."
At home, Emma's room looks almost perfect except for the three suitcases packed tightly by her door. She didn't have a whole lot she wanted to bring with her and it was too soon for all her bulky winter items. Most things were going to be left behind in Hemlock Grove.
It had been a quiet summer. After Roman moved out, things went limp on his end for the most part. She assumed he was busy. There was taking over the company, and the settling of finances, and a plethora of other legal things Emma wouldn't even pretend to understand.
Then there was the news about Olivia. The official story was health problems, but Emma knew better. Something strange had happened but it didn't matter. She waited to see if he would reach out before she did. Was it possible that he was sad over it? Maybe. She never found out because he never told her.
But she needed to talk to him. After the vargulf had been killed her dreams stopped. Roman had told her everything that had happened that night, about the look on Christina Wendall's face when she realized it was too late. It took until the next full moon for either of them to question what Destiny's predictions had meant- if anything. Without the vargulf to remind her, she let the worry slip away.
When Roman left the nightmares came back. This time only two played over in her mind. The room was exactly like she remembered it. The mill was new. It was so realistic, she could even smell the scent of mold and rust on the walls and ceiling. She's sure she's just remembering the events from the vivid descriptions Roman gave her, but it feels like she is him. She can feel the fear and horror in his gut as Peter smears her blood on his face followed by the bacon grease.
The first time she awakes sweating and nauseous with a stinging in the bridge of her nose. She wonders if he has dreams of her story. If he awakes with the sound of metal hitting bone and blood overflowing and bubbling into Chasseurs mouth. If the feeling of his mother's cold hand touching her skin gives him shivers.
When her mother had found out that she had been "accepted" she cried. And while Emma was happy to go, she had spent quite a bit of time worrying about leaving Roman. He didn't have anyone here other than his uncle- but since Letha's death, Norman had been fading away.
Roman didn't want her around she decided. And if he did, he knew where to find her.
Packing her necessitates into boxes and loading them into her mothers' car left a strange taste in her mouth. Was this really everything? Her whole life broken down into a couple of boxes and suitcases.
First off, I made a meme.
Here's an actual photo of me writing this story:
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Second off: Thank you guys for waiting over my break. I was feeling pretty burnt out at the end of BaF and it felt like any time I tried to write is fizzled away.
Warning for the book: This book will, like the last one, contain a lot of mature themes and content. Some material might be triggering. To prevent spoilers I won't be doing trigger warnings. If you have any concerns or want a heads up please message me and I'm happy to let you know privately when a chapter contains triggers.
I'm not sure how graphic things will be. It kind of depends on what you guys want and what I can write. For sure, it will be no more graphic than the TV show was in terms of violence and sex. Any opinions?
