Page 75 of Tangled Fates

“Ha, ha, ha,” Hudson said as he lumbered up the stairs.

“So, are we digging through the attic?” Levi asked as he rubbed his hands together.

Dean grabbed the string and pulled the door open. “Just let me get the ladder down and we can all head up.”

Levi clapped Hudson’s back. “You think it’ll hold all of us and big boy here?”

Hudson growled lowly. “Maybe I’ll toss you out a window up there if the floorboards start to creak.”

I giggled. “Spoken like a man who feels a little better, yes?”

And when Hudson tossed me a playful wink, a genuine smile crossed my face.

“All right,” Dean said as he unraveled the ladder, “you want to do the honors?”

As I eased my way up into the dusty, dry, dark attic, the smell of memories tugged me closer. The place was piled high with boxes and old clothing that was strewn about, and the one window the attic afforded let in enough light for me to find a string dangling on the other side. I gingerly made my way over and pulled the string down, which effectively lit up a string of lights that illuminated the entire attic.

And when I saw what was before my very eyes, I gasped.

“My God,” I said breathlessly.

“Damn,” Dean said as his head popped up from the opening, “this place is stacked with stuff.”

“Get up there so we can have a look,” Hudson demanded.

I looked down at a box to my right and I saw my mother’s handwriting. I reached down and traced the word “Christmas” with my fingertips as tears crested my eyes. I missed her so much. I mean, we had our differences, sure. But she was my mommy, and she had been taken from me.

Those bear motherfuckers had taken her from me.

“Where should we start?” Levi asked.

I found a rickety chair in the corner and eased myself into it. “I guess… just pick a box and start opening.”

I pulled the box labeled “Christmas” toward me with my feet and ripped it open. Dust popped up, causing me to cough and sputter as I covered my face. But even after the dust had settled, I still couldn’t bring my arm down from my eyes.

“Raven, you okay?” Hudson asked.

He placed his gigantic hand down upon my shoulder and I had to blink back tears. “It’s just… a lot.”

“I know.”

He didn’t know, but I didn’t call him out on it. Fighting would get us nowhere.

“You know what the most frustrating part of all this is?” I asked.

Dean scooted a box over to sit on in front of me. “What’s that?”

I sighed heavily. “I know that I can conjure my father. I don’t know how I did it, but I know that a link exists between me and him. I don’t understand it, I don’t know what’s causing it. But I saw him in that meadow and sometimes I hear him in my head and I just—don’t know why he won’t just tell me, you know? Just tell me what I need to know.”

Levi sat on the ground and drew his knees into his chest. “That sounds very frustrating, yes.”

“Even now,” I said as I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, “I’m trying to open myself up to whatever magic it was that pulled him over that barrier. That brought him back to me. But, because I don’t know what’s happening or how to start it, I don’t even know where to begin.”

“What would you ask him if you could reach out to him?” Hudson asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d just… ask him what the hell is going on. He’d know. He’d know where to step next. He’d have a theory. Dad always had an answer to everything.”

Dean snickered. “Colin was always good about stuff like that.”

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