EPILOGUE
"Oh, did I tell you that last week, I caught Drakon walking home from school with a girl?" I said, dipping my spoon in my yogurt.
The man in front of me raised his bushy grey eyebrow and smirked. "I knew my boy was going to be player."
I scoffed and took the spoon out of my mouth. "In your dreams. I've been teaching Drakon to be respectful of a girl's heart since I came back and so far, he has been acting on it. Or at least to my knowledge." I added under my breath.
The man took the toothpick out of his mouth and leaned back on the crates. He was old and weak, which made Javon easier to possess him without having to kill the person. Possession took a heavy toll on a person's body, so Javon made sure to pick on people who were close to dying so he didn't have to worry about killing someone who still had a whole life ahead of them.
It had been a year since I had come back to the living world and while it had been difficult to adjust to what had changed in the world, it didn't take me very long to catch up.
When I died, Tristian discovered my body. He told me he took Drakon out of the house before he could see what had happened. He lied to Drakon that the shadow monster had taken me and he needed to be somewhere safe before it came back from him. Drakon stayed in Tristian's home all night while Tristian went back to the house. He told me that he never cried more than when he wrapped up my body in some sheets and buried me somewhere in the woods; the same place where I found myself after I was back in the living world.
"It took me all night to bury you." He said to me, squeezing my hand tighter as if he was making sure I was there physically and not some illusion.
Tristian didn't want to keep my death a secret, so he told Drakon after he came home, covered in my blood. He said he never heard Drakon scream or cry that loud before. It took Drakon months before he would get out of bed willingly. It took him even longer for him to talk, to ask questions of that night. Tristian told him everything; about our past life, the deal, the witch. He said he didn't want to keep anything hidden from him, that he had the right to know, to understand so he could heal and hopefully move on.
After some time, Tristian and Drakon decided to move away to a new town. It took Tristian a lot of courage to leave his place he had to call home for decades, but with Drakon encouraging him, he managed to do it. The new town was almost identical to our old one and was only four hours away. When Tristian was enrolling Drakon in school, he was going to disguise himself as his uncle but Drakon called him his stepdad. That part put a smile on my face for days.
On the weekends, Drakon and Tristian would come back to Tristian's old home to find anything that could reverse or break the cruse to bring me back. They found nothing. When I found them in that clearing, Tristian and Drakon were back to the old house to see if they could find anything new. I was lucky to have come back on a Sunday morning.
"We usually head back home around six. Any later than that, you would have missed us." Tristian said, his arms around me tightening. I smiled and buried my head in his chest, listening to his soothing heartbeat.
While it took me a while to hear all the stories and what had been going on in the world, it took me weeks to get over the fact that I was dead for nine years. It certainly didn't feel like nine years had passed. I figured the time would work differently, but I never imagined the difference would be that huge.
"I bet you ten bucks he'll break that girl's heart the next time I come around." Javon joked, bringing me out of my thoughts. I chuckled, running my spoon over the sides to get the last lick of the yogurt.
Since I came back, Javon had only visited two times, this being the third time. The first time, Javon informed me that the witch allowed him to be the one to bring her an innocent soul every month. The second time, he wanted to hear what had been going on and if Drakon was doing okay. This time, apparently he was placing bets on whether Drakon was going to be a player or not.
Either way, it was nice to able to talk to him in a way where there was no arguing and not having that fear of him putting his hands on me. It was hard to forget those angry moments of Javon's, but reminding myself that he wasn't even in control of his body or actions, let alone even be in his body during those times, helped me get past it. These few times we were able to talk has brought me back to the old days where it was just me and Javon, goofing around in the school hallways and talking during our lunch breaks back in high school where there was nothing more than just friendship.
And while I did happily enjoy my marriage to him, excluding those dark months where he was possessed, I find myself enjoying Javon's company more as an old friend. I wasn't sure if he felt the same way and in all honestly, I was afraid to ask. Maybe one day.
"You're on. I need that extra cash for Christmas anyway." I taunted. Javon laughed and pushed himself off the crates, stretching his arms over his head and letting out a yawn.
"I should get going. I don't think this old man has a lot of time left and I should get him back to his son's house before they notice he's gone." The man said, throwing the toothpick on the dirt. I nodded and watched as he left before I could faintly hear my name being called.
I headed towards the back door as the manager of the diner I worked at came out, shivering as a strong gust of wind blew by. I hissed and hurried inside, closing the heavy metal door shut.
"Sorry, I was taking a break." I said, taking off my jacket and heading towards the small break area room. The manager waved it off and stood by the doorway.
"Ah, don't worry about it. I was going to close down early anyway. You know that storm that's heading this way? Coming sooner than the news said yesterday. I can feel it," She paused and placed her hands on her stomach, "In my gut. And I don't want to have my employees stuck in a diner for a couple of days before the holidays begin, y'know?"
"Oh, that's nice of you. I should probably get a head start out of town before the storm hits." I said, putting my jacket back on.
"Oh? Going to see family for the holidays?"
"No, we plan to go to New York for the first time. My son insisted we go this year to see what the city has to offer." I said, remembering how Drakon begged us to go somewhere for the holidays.
"The Big Apple? Not bad. I would be careful if I was you. Beautiful city, but is also dangerous." She warned, stepping to the side.
"I will. Happy holidays!" I smiled and headed towards the front door as I wrapped my scarf around my neck. I wished my other coworkers a happy holiday as I walked through the front door. I headed towards the back where the parking lot was. It started to snow lightly and I glanced up at the dark sky. It was only five and it was already dark. That's something that I never got used to when winter came.
I got inside my car and headed home which wasn't too far from the diner. I would walk, but the sidewalks were covered in ice and nobody was cleaning it off, not to mention the strong winds would sting my cheeks and I had just gotten over a cold.
I pulled into the parking space of the small one-floor house we lived in and rushed inside before another strong wind threatened to knock me over the ice. I scowled as I dug through my bag for my keys and noticed the walkway to the front door still had ice. Tristian should have taken care of this.
I jammed my key and got inside the house. I closed the front door, locking it before breathing a sigh of relief. It was warm and I could smell something delicious coming from the kitchen. I dropped my bag and hung my jacket over the coat rack. I kicked my boots off and headed straight towards the kitchen where Tristian was facing the stove, mixing something.
I smiled as he stood there with a plain white t-shirt and sweats. It took me some time to get used to seeing him so... normal compared to as before. He was more open to showing his body off. He wasn't hiding behind some dirty mask and layers of black clothing. He finally seemed to be... comfortable in his own skin. Not that I'm complaining. In fact, seeing him like this only made me want to jump on his bones.
I walked up behind him and snuck my cold hands under his shirt. He gasped, dropping the spoon in the pot and trying to jump away from me. I warped my arms around his torso and tiptoed to give him a kiss on his cheek.
"Honey, I'm homeee!" I said in a cheerful, deep voice. Tristian chuckled and relaxed as he picked up the spoon.
"Your hands are cold." He stated. I sighed and rested my cheek on his back.
"I forgot to get my gloves before I left for work."
"Speaking of work, you're out early. What happened?"
"Storm is coming sooner than it was reported on the news. If we're going to make it to New York before Christmas, we should head out in a few hours before the roads get snowed in."
"We could wait for Drakon to come home from his friend's house. He called earlier, said he was going to be home at six. We should eat and then head out."
I looked at the time on the microwave. It was only five twenty. I nodded and tiptoed again to look over Tristian's shoulder.
"Pasta? Again?" I moaned, resting my chin on his shoulder.
"It's the only thing I can cook without burning it. It is not my fault I'm a one-trick pony when it comes to cooking." He stated, turning off the stove and putting the lid over it.
I stepped back as Tristian turned around and warped his arms around my waist. I took out my hands from under his shirt and reached up to cup his cheeks. He smiled, his stubble checks poking my palms.
"I don't think I've ever seen you with a beard." I whispered, pushing my palms against his cheeks so his lips were squished. I giggled and Tristian lightly chuckled. I ran my hands down his chest and rested them there. In complete silence and calmness, I could lightly feel the beat of his heartbeat under my palm.
When I told Tristian and Drakon the deal I made with the witch, they were both upset. Drakon, although he didn't have the most pleasant memories of his father after he was murdered and possessed, felt his father shouldn't deserve to be one of those shadow monsters, to be under her thumb. He deserved to rest, like Harry Vale.
For Tristian, losing his immortality and the weird powers that he learned over the years were gone when the witch accepted the deal made him physically sick and feel useless. It took him a while to get used to how to do things normally and learn how to be careful. Surprisingly, he used to walk around without a care for safety until he almost got ran over by a car and Drakon pushed him out of the way. Tristian was scared straight that day. As for his brother, Tristian felt relieved to hear that Harry was finally going to be left alone.
"I didn't think I was going to see you for another hundred years." He whispered, the subject coming out of nowhere. My eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Is it really a hundred years between each new life?" I asked. Tristian shrugged.
"Probably not, but it sure does feel like that."
I hummed and reached up to kiss him. The kiss started gently as I let my fingers rake through his hair and Tristian's hands lowered. He pulled away for a second and looked over at the microwave.
"We have about thirty minutes before Drakon gets home." He said and I nodded, grabbing the hem of his shirt. He slammed his lips against mine as soon as I yanked off his shirt and threw it somewhere over the sink. Tristian reached down, cupping my butt checks and lifting me up. I warped my legs around his waist as he backed up against the wall and started to plant kisses down my neck. I moaned, moving my head back to give him more access. I arched my back to unhook my bra from under my shirt when I heard a pair of keys jingle and felt a gust of cold wind.
"Tristian, you're home?" Drakon called out. So much for the thirty minutes.
My heart jumped to my throat as Tristian put me back on my feet. I hooked my bra back on and Tristian rushed to put his shirt back on. He quickly grabbed a bunch of dishes and put them on the sink. He turned on the water and started to wash them. I scrunched up my eyebrows and his eyes looked down at himself before he focused on the dishes. My eyes dropped down to the tent in his pants and I bit down on my lip to hold in my laughter.
Drakon appeared by the doorway, almost walking by when he noticed us.
"Oh, hey, mom. Aren't you supposed to be at work?" He asked, going straight to the stove and lifting the lid, "Ugh, pasta again?"
"I'm not cooking again. Starve for all I care." Tristian mumbled. Drakon and I laughed.
"Boss let me out early. Looks like we're gonna be heading out for the road trip tonight. If we wait, the storm is going to set us back a day or two." I explained. Drakon shrugged his shoulder and put the lid back on.
"I'll go finish up packing then." He said and left to his room. I waited until I heard the bedroom when I exhaled and fanned myself with my hand. Tristian turned off the water and let his shoulders drop. He started to walk out and looked over his shoulder, hands over his front area.
"I need to pack to and unload some... stuff." He quickly said and rushed to our bedroom. I chuckled and shook my head. I should probably help him unload.
-----------------
I grabbed my bags and left them by the front door. I went to grab Tristian's bags from the bedroom when I noticed the back door was left ajar. I frowned and put on my gloves as I pushed open the door and spotted Drakon over by the tree in our backyard. I put my hands in my pocket and walked up to him. I gently nudged his shoulder with mine and Drakon looked up from the sleeping cat statue he had placed under the tree.
"I miss Tom." He said, his voice wavering from emotions or the cold, I couldn't tell. I nodded, staring down at the cat statue.
Not long after I came back to the living world, Tom had gotten ill. At first, it seemed minor, but it started to get worse when he wouldn't eat or drink water. During the bright warm days, he would come out and lay under the tree to sleep. Drakon spent many hours out here with Tom, either sleeping with him or petting or making sure no one, not even a squirrel or bird would disturb him. One sunny morning, Drakon woke up to take Tom out, but he was nowhere to be found inside the house. When I checked the backyard, Tom was already in his usual spot, but he was already gone.
"He had a happy life thanks to you." I said, clearing my throat. Drakon kneeled down and stroked the statue's head.
"I'll come back soon." He said to the statue and stood up. I wrapped my arm around him and we walked back to the house. Drakon went ahead and grabbed his bags from his room. He turned off everything and closed the door, but not before I caught the pictures he had by his bed on his nightstand. In a plain frame, there was a picture of my step-papa, my mama, Javon, Tom, me, and Tristian.
Drakon headed to the front door and I looked out the backyard, spotting the cat statue peeking from the snow that already started to gather. I smiled as I remembered how much that cat grew closer to me than he did before. I remembered the day I was first introduced to that cat and how attached he was to Tristian.
I swallowed down the lump under my throat and let out a sigh. "Thanks for everything, buddy." I said, locking the back door and turning off the light. I closed all the doors, checked if nothing was plugged in, if the stove was off, all lights were off and all the windows were closed and locked. I grabbed my bag and keys before I closed the door, triple checked if it was locked, and then headed to the car.
I got on the driver's seat and before I knew it, we were out on the road. Drakon laid across the back, listening to music through his headphones. Tristian was looking out the window and I was focused on the road. I went to turn on the radio when I realized I didn't bring my iPod. I groaned loudly and Tristian slightly jumped as if he was deep in thought.
"What?" He asked.
"I forgot my iPod." I whined. From the rearview mirror, I saw Drakon took off one headphone and looked at me questionably.
"Hey, Drakon. I forgot my iPod."
"I've been telling you to put your music on your phone. Nobody uses iPods anymore, mom." He sighed, almost putting on his headphone back on his ear.
"Can we listen to your music?" I asked, batting my eyelashes and forcing a huge smile Drakon groaned and sank lower on the seat.
"Oh, come on! I'm driving here to a state you were begging to go for months." I added.
"You don't even like my music. All you like is AC/DC and Queen."
"Don't forget Bon Jovi, Kiss, The Beatles, and Lady Gaga."
"And Michael Jackson and Shakira." Tristian added. I nodded.
Drakon sighed and unplugged his headphones. He sat up and connected his phone to the car radio. He lowered the brightness from his screen and scrolled through his music.
"Just pick a song, Drakon." I said, after five minutes passed by.
"I'm looking for one where you'll understand the lyrics." He said and then a song played through the speakers. I instantly recognized the drums when Drakon paused it.
"Nooo. Wait, I know that song! It's, um..." I paused, snapping my fingers as I tried to paste the words in my head, "Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz!"
Drakon and Tristian stared at me and I shrugged. "Back in high school, they were the bomb. Everybody listened to them."
Drakon chuckled and let the song play. I hummed along to all the Gorillaz songs Drakon had on his phone, but when Feel Good Inc. came on, that song was on repeat. I had that song memorized when I realized everybody in school was singing it, and me being a teenager wanting to fit in, listened to that song for hours until I got the lyrics right.
After an hour of listening to the song on repeat, Tristian was humming along and was pretty soon singing along when Drakon pulled out the lyrics on Tristian's phone. Besides using it to look at WebMD for every little pain or ache or cough, Tristian rarely used his phone aside from calling us.
By the time it was close to midnight, the snow was getting heavier and Drakon paused the song.
"How far away are we from New York?" Drakon asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes. I shrugged slowly, looking at the GPS.
"Probably a day and a half; depends on how many breaks we take." I replied, driving slower as it was getting harder to see past the snow.
"We should probably look for a motel or something. I don't think we could continue in these conditions." Tristian suggested.
"I'm on it." Drakon unplugged his phone and started to look for motels, as I got off the highway from the nearest exit. I pulled over when Drakon showed me a motel that was ten minutes away. I followed the directions from Drakon's phone and soon we were parked in front of a small motel.
"We'll be right back. Stay here." I told Drakon, grabbing my bag. Tristian put on his hat and we got off the car. We rushed to the front doors and opened them as a big gust of wind started to blow through.
A chime rang as we entered and the door slammed shut. I winced and the old lady at the front desk jolted awake.
"Ugh, sorry about that. Frank!" She screamed, her raspy, deep voice echoing throughout the small lobby. A man sitting on one of the couches with his feet propped up on the coffee table with a newspaper over his face sat up and moved his cap up.
"What?" He responded, snorting loudly.
"I've told you to fix that front door since last Tuesday."
"Ugh, whatever." He mumbled, putting the newspaper over his face. The old lady rolled her eyes and forced a smile at us.
"What can I help you with?"
"Um, we are looking for a room for a night." I said, digging through my bag for my wallet. The old lady nodded, pausing to run her eyes over Tristian, and then looked at her computer. Tristian was too busy looking around to notice. I held back in a chuckle.
It was no secret that Tristian was attractive. I've had to put up with people, mainly women, running their eyes all over him since I've come back and while at first, it annoyed me, I realized he never noticed them back. He was always polite and respectful. It took me some time to ignore it as he did, but there was this one woman, a mother of four in Drakon's school, who had her eyes on Tristian's behind. Drakon told me all about her when I took him to school one day.
"Why is that woman giving me the stink eye?" I asked, looking over where there was a group of women, huddled together by a tree. Drakon chuckled.
"That's Mrs. Beahan. Her husband owns that sports store where you got me that bat for baseball tryouts. She's friends with Tristian," Drakon said, grabbing his book bag from the back seat, "Although I think she wants to be more than friends." He mumbled and opened the door. I quickly grabbed the back of his shirt without tearing my eyes away from her.
"What was that?" I asked nicely. Drakon sighed and closed the door.
"When Tristian signed me up at the school, she and those women were planning the next PTA thing. They were talking to Principle Adams about what to bring for snacks when we got in. She instantly attached herself to him, like, literally, mom. Since then she always comes to see if Tristian comes too. He once went to a PTA meeting because he thought it was mandatory. She dropped him off at our house and she comes around from time to time to drop off cookies or whatever."
Mrs. Beahan quickly looked away when she noticed Drakon and I were looking at her. She flung her curly brown hair over her shoulder and laughed at something that was said among them.
"For the record, Tristian is hella uncomfortable around her." Drakon added. I nodded and smiled when Mrs. Beahan looked over at us again. She looked away again and started to head off to her car after kissing her friends on their cheeks.
"Oh no, I know that look," Drakon commented, staring at my face, "What are you going to do?"
"Pssh, nothing... Yet." I added under my breath. Drakon held my hand and I looked over. I noticed Drakon's eyes glistened and he smiled.
"What?" I asked. He shook his head and cleared his throat.
"Nothing, mom. I should get going or else I'm going to be late." I nodded and kissed his forehead before shooing him away to school.
For the next couple of weeks, I dragged Tristian to come with me to drop off Drakon at school and liked I hoped, she was there every time. I would purposely kiss him and hold his hand whenever she looked over. I had Drakon tell her daughter how madly in love his parents were in hopes that maybe the daughter would pass that information to her mother. Drakon even walked with the daughter to the school in the mornings to make sure Mrs. Beahan saw that they were buddies.
Once, on a school day, I was home, taking a personal day with Tristian. We were in the middle of a movie marathon when there was a knock on the door. Tristian was in the bathroom and I looked through the living room windows, spotting Mrs. Beahan standing there with a trench coat, stockings, and black heels.
I snorted and shook my head. An idea came to my head and I left the curtains a little bit opened so that it was enough to look through the living room if someone wanted to look through. I rushed over to the pillows and blankets we had laid out for the movie marathon when Tristian came back.
Tristian was about to sit down when there was another knock on the door.
"Who's that?" He asked, about to peek through the curtains. I grabbed his hand and shook my head.
"It's those annoying salesmen people again." I lied, waving my hand. Tristian's lips formed an "O" and he sat down, grabbing the remote and hit resume. I scooted closer to Tristian and laid my head against his shoulder and looked up at him.
"Wanna screw around?" I asked innocently, biting down my lip. Tristian's cheeks tinted pink and he looked down at me. I batted my eyelashes and Tristian chuckled, dropping the remote. He cupped my cheek and hovered over my lips until I smashed mine against his. I climbed on top of him, pushing him down on his back. I straddled his hips and took off my shirt before planting my lips on his again. His hands roamed all over my body and soon flipped us over so that he was on top of me.
He started to nibble on my neck and I looked over at the window, smirking when I noticed Mrs. Beahan was looking through the curtains. Her face was red and she sharply turned around to leave. Since then I haven't seen her around Tristian or in the mornings when either of us dropped Drakon in school. Of course, he had no idea she was into him in the first place, but I was glad to have stopped her from approaching him anyway.
"One or two beds?" The old lady asked, bringing him out of my memories of Mrs. Beahan.
"Two beds." Tristian answered. The old lady took out a pen and tapped on the book for me to sign. I handed her my card and I signed before she gave us the keys.
Tristian and I headed back to the car and drove closer to where our room for the night was. We gathered whatever we had on the seats and rushed to the room before the wind threatened to blow us away. Drakon rushed to the bed that was close to the wall and dropped down with a heavy sigh. I dropped my bag at the foot of the bed and yawned.
Drakon took off his jacket and kicked off his boots before climbing in and putting on his headphones. Not two minutes later, I heard Drakon snore lightly. Tristian turned off the lights and sat next to me as I took my jacket and threw it on the floor.
"What time should we wake up?" He asked, setting up an alarm on his phone.
"Um... Eight is good. We should eat breakfast and get some food for the road before we head out." I said, taking off my boots. Tristian nodded and set the alarm. He took his coat and boots off before climbing into bed next to me. I turned to face him, slightly annoyed that the curtains were thin enough to let the moonlight shine through and shine on my face.
"Wanna switch places?" Tristian asked, noticing how strong the moonlight was tonight even though it was snowing outside. I shook my head and pulled the cover over us. I threw my arm across Tristian's back and my leg over his legs. Tristian put both of his arms under his pillow and I rubbed small circles on his lower back. His eyes started to drift shut and I put my arm under my head. I lifted my hand to push his hair off his face and he lightly smiled.
"Go to sleep, Varia." He said sleepily.
"In a minute...." My voice trailed off as the moonlight started to go away. It was dark for a while and I pushed myself up as the snow outside stopped almost instantly. I frowned and grabbed my phone to check the weather when there was a loud bang. Tristian jolted awake and even Drakon jumped, taking off his headphones.
"What was that?" Drakon asked, turning off his music.
"Shh." I whispered as some people from the other rooms go out and ran across our window.
"Sounded like an explosion or something." I whispered. Tristian sat up and Drakon came over to our bed, sitting close behind me. Tristian and I looked at each other and got up. Drakon got up to go with us, but Tristian held up his hand.
"Stay here. Keep your phone next to you. We'll be outside." Tristian said and Drakon reluctantly sat back down.
I put on my boots and jacket and opened the front door. There were a couple of people around the parking lot and in a distance, we could hear sirens. Tristian came out and closed the door behind us. A man smoking a cigarette stood next to us and I shoved my hands in my pocket as the cold nipped at my glove-less hands.
"What's going on?" I asked the man. The man shrugged.
"There was an explosion out of nowhere and—" The man was saying when another explosion came close by. It was so close; I could see the flames coming up from down the road. I gasped and everyone ducked as if the explosion was nearby. Tristian grabbed me and I frowned as I noticed how his hands shook.
"We need to go." He said sharply, heading back to the room where Drakon was coming out.
"Wait, why?" I asked, running behind him when the man cussed and tripped over his feet. He was looking at the sky and I followed his gaze, my eyes widening.
The sky was red. The sky turned from its dark, cloudy mood to a pale red. The stars shined brighter, almost in a yellow light. People around us pointed at the sky, chattering, or taking out their phones to take a picture. I couldn't take my eyes off the sky until Tristian grabbed my arm. Drakon also couldn't take his eyes off the sky, not even when Tristian grabbed his arm too. He led us to the car and quickly opened it.
"The sky is red..." Drakon murmured. Tristian snapped his fingers impatiently in front of Drakon's face.
"Snap out of it and get in the car." Tristian demanded. Drakon blinked a couple of times and slowly got in the car, eyes still glued to the sky. Tristian slammed the door shut and shoved me in the driver's side. He got in the car seconds later and handed me the keys.
"Quick, we have to get out here." Tristian said, struggling to put on his seat belt.
"Tristian, the sky is red." I repeated, not believing what is coming out of my mouth.
"I know."
"Why is it red? Does it have to do with the witch?" Drakon asked, sitting closer so he was between us. Tristian sighed heavily and ran his hands down his face.
"For the past ten years, I have been having these... dreams." Tristian finally said.
"What kind of dreams?" I asked, feeling unnerved as Tristian took a long time to answer, "What dreams, Tristian?"
"Dreams from what looks like the future." Tristian said quietly. Drakon and I looked at each other before looking back at him.
"What are they about?" Drakon asked. I swallowed as Tristian locked eyes with us, his voice cold enough to give me goosebumps.
"Death," He whispered at last, "They're about death."
TO BE CONTINUED...