Page 22 of Missing Moon

“You’re missing the party,” says Dusk as he walks in with Tammy behind him.

I look up at him. “Dusk, do you remember if Mom was always like this? My memories are so foggy.” Hey, don’t judge me. My brain’s been through a lot. Somewhere in the process of being turned into an immortal, having Elizabeth squatting rent-free between my ears for so long, plus the emotional rollercoaster of nearly losing Anthony as a kid… and everything else that’s happened to me—it’s no wonder bits and pieces of my memory have blurred into ‘was that real or did I make that up’ or simply gone missing entirely.

“Umm. Yeah, I kinda remember her being more normal at times, but I was a little kid then.” Dusk stokes his fluffy beard.

“No soul,” whispers Paxton. “Guess that explains why she doesn’t have any real emotions.”

“Or aura,” adds Tammy.

“Emotions?” Dusk glances at Paxton.

“Yeah, kiddo’s an empath.” I squeeze her hand.

“Proof that weird runs in the family.” Dusk chuckles.

Paxton almost glows with happiness at being called family.

Hmm. If Mom wasn’t always like this, then something obviously happened to her.

Question is: what?

Better question is: can I do anything to help her?

Chapter Seven

Home Again

Headlights come out of the woods, washing over the greenhouse.

After the momentary blindness wears off, I spot Rick’s giant SUV. I think it’s a Ford Excursion. It’s ridiculously big. Normally, I’d make a joke about a guy compensating, but he had good reason. Three teenagers. They needed something that big.

Dusk decides to pick Mom up and carry her to the living room. He sets her on the sofa and makes her comfortable with some blankets. Mom doesn’t appear to mind the change of scenery… or even really notice that she’d been moved.

Ugh.

Anthony opens the front door.

In walks Rick, Mary Lou, and all three of their kids. Though, they’re not kids now. Ruby Grace is the youngest. She’s sixteen, two months younger than Anthony. Billy Joe is seventeen and Ellie Mae is nineteen. I assume they are arriving later than us due to having to wait for Ellie Mae to arrive. She’s going to college out of state, so had to grab a last-minute flight back to Cali. The other two are still living at home.

Ruby Grace has her face buried in a tablet computer, reading something. That kid is always reading stuff. Rick likes to joke that Mary Lou must’ve cheated on him to get a kid that smart.

“Hey, you,” I say and walk over to hug my sister.

“Oh yeah, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other.” Mary Lou gives me a back pat and laughs.

“Right.” I rake my hands through my hair. It’s so tempting to just surrender to old ways and let her take care of all the bad things. But I can’t do that now. I’m not a kid anymore.

Dusk glances back and forth between us. He says nothing, but it’s obvious on his face that he’s noticed Mary Lou appears old enough to be my mother when standing right next to me. She’s fifty-one and looks it. I’m forty-five and look twenty-seven. As the kids these days say, ‘the math is not mathing.’ Yes, Mary Lou has an aura. That might be confusing Dusk, since it means under normal circumstances, the ‘women in the family’ aren’t shedding our auras as we age.

“Whoa,” whispers Ruby Grace after looking up from her tablet and gazing around. “People actually live here?”

Billy Joe’s got this ‘let’s get this over with and go home fast’ demeanor while Ellie Mae hasn’t stopped gawking since she walked in. She’s clearly horrified at the condition of the place. Yeah, kiddo. I get it. It’s notthatmuch worse than when I lived here. Didn’t bother me as much then because I’d known nothing else. Adult me would totally call CPS if kids were living here. I really doubt this place would pass inspection for a certificate of occupancy.

We end up sitting and talking in the living room. It’s so damn good that Tammy’s magic was able to purge the stench of cigarettes from the house. Not infallibly, though. Traces still remain whenever someone disturbs the cushioned furniture or ruffles the rug. Still, it’s bearable… and it’s not so saturated that it’s seeping into our clothes and hair.

Dad must’ve had nothing better to do in his elder years than sit in that chair smoking and watching television.

Dusk tells Mary Lou and the others that Dad ended up collapsing in town at the grocery store and they rushed him to the hospital, where he still is. We all agree on plans to go there tomorrow morning and visit him. Obviously time is of the essence. Even though the doctors gave him ‘no more than a month’ to survive, that could also mean he won’t survive the night. I’d like to believe my psychic abilities would give me a poke if that were the case. The idea of waiting until visiting hours tomorrow doesn’t set off any bizarre feelings of urgency.

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