Page 106 of Moonlit Thorns

“I’m not going anywhere. Get off my property before I call the feds and have you arrested.” I turn and make my way back into the house when I hear the cocking of a gun.

I slow, circling around to Galen.

“Make your way toward me slowly so I can put the cuffs on you.”

“Get off my property. I’m not going to ask you again,” I growl.

He laughs, and he sounds a little unhinged. “You’re not in control. Not this time anyway. Now do what I told you.”

“Not a chance.”

“As much as you’d like to think you’re above the law, you’re not. You and your entire family are a menace to this town. Doing God knows what up here in this place. Do you know how many investigations I’ve tried to open only to be shut down by a phone call from the higher-ups? Even Anabelle’s dad’s death never got a proper investigation because of your interference. Why wasn’t I called to the scene to see the body? You four have always thought you were above the law, but not anymore. Everyone knows your dad was fucked up. Who knows what your mother was like? It’s probably good she was murdered so that she’s not here to see how you four turned out. Don’t worry, I’ll take gooood care of Anabelle once you’re charged.”

At the mention of Anabelle and my mother in the same sentence, I lunge at him, uncaring that he’s holding a gun.

The sound of a gunshot ricochets from both in front of me and behind me, then it feels as if someone has punched me in the chest. I suck air for a second and stumble before falling to the ground. Then I’m looking at the starry night sky.

There’s some kind of commotion going on around me—screaming and yelling maybe? I’m not sure. Then she’s there. My angel. My Anabelle. Her face is over mine, blocking out the sky, but that’s okay because she’s more beautiful than the night sky could ever be.

But she’s crying for some reason. I frown and try to say something to her.

“Shhh, no, don’t say anything.” She pushes on my chest, and that’s when I feel it. My shirt is wet and pain sears through me like a branding iron.

Anabelle keeps crying and saying she’s sorry, but why?

“I love you,” she says when she presses her forehead to mine.

I swear I hear “Dies Irae” before everything goes black.

At first, I’m afraid when I wake up to darkness, but then I see a pinprick of light in the distance, and I walk toward it. I keep walking, and at first it feels as if I’m making no progress, but finally the light gets bigger, and I can feel the warmth radiating off of it.

“Asher, you’re going the wrong way.”

The voice startles me for a moment, its familiarity. It’s been so long since I’ve heard it. “Mom?”

“Asher, turn back.”

I frown, then race toward the light, race toward her. “Mom!”

When the light is so big it almost fills my entire vision, I see her, and tears leak out of my eyes. She looks so beautiful. Just like I remember from when I was a child. Unlike when I was a child though, she looks at peace, happy.

“Mom, you’re okay.”

She smiles serenely, dressed in an iridescent white gown. “You have to go back, son. It’s not your time.”

Why would she try to send me away? I haven’t seen her in so long.

“But I want to be with you, Mom. I miss you.” My breathing is ragged.

She touches my cheek the way she used to do, and a feeling of peace washes through me. “We’ll be together again eventually. But not now. I sent her to you. You must go back to her.”

My thoughts are slow like molasses. “Who?”

“Anabelle. You have to go back to her, son. She needs you.”

Anabelle.

Everything rushes back to me at once. Galen showing up at the manor, Anabelle crying over me, the pain I felt when I sent her away.

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