Page 54 of Unholy

If we’re being honest, he’s probably running the show wherever he is.

THE END

Epilogue

Ash

Five months. Five of the loneliest months I’ve ever experienced.

Amy got a new job at some ministry, which I was happy about for her. Me? I was never going back to that life. Not that I don’t believe, I do. I just can’t go back to what I used to be.

Tristan changed me in ways I never knew was possible, and there’s no way I can take that part of myself away again.

“This is for you,” Amy says, passing me an envelope. I look at it strangely and then at her, but she just shrugs.

“Where’d it come from?”

“I don’t know, honestly. It was slid under the door,” she replies. What the hell? Whoever is playing games had better stop. I’m not in the mood and I may just go off the rails today.

I rip open the envelope and find a one-way ticket to Mexico tucked inside and I immediately laugh.

“Yeah, I’m dumb enough to get on a one-way flight to Mexico alone?” I laugh as I pass the ticket to Amy. She looks it over and shrugs, passing it back.

“Who would have done that?”

“Some weirdo, obviously.”

“Are you going?”

“You want me to get killed? Trafficked by the cartel?” I ask her, and she laughs.

“What if it’s an old friend?”

“There’s no name!”

“You should live a little. Besides, if it’s sketchy when you get there, come back. I’ll even buy the ticket back here.” With that, she stands and walks off, making me think she knows exactly what the fuck this is and where it came from. Is she trying to tell me something? That I need to move out, maybe? Have I overstayed my welcome with her?

We’ve never had an issue before, but I don’t know. I glance down at the ticket and see the flight is for tonight. She’s not giving me much time to even think about it. This has to be from her. Maybe she needs a break.

I sigh. Maybe I have overstayed. Maybe she does need the space. Thinking it’s for the best, I walk over and grab my suitcase and pack it. She wants me gone? Fine. I’ll go. But I’m coming back. I’m not just going to stay down there. She’d be insane if she thought that.

I grab my things and drag them upstairs to where she sits in the living room, a smile on her face.

“You’re going?”

“Only if you tell me this ticket is from you,” I tell her.

“Partially from me. Think of it as a gift to you. You can come back anytime,” she says. I smile at her before thanking her and pulling her into a hug.

The next thing I know, I’m on a freaking plane heading to Mexico. There better be cabana boys where she sent me who will run and grab my drinks when I want them. The thought of Tristan sitting next to me while they did all the work makesme laugh. Mainly because I know he’s going to have something smart to say about them.

The plane lands, and I walk off the plane and head to baggage claim to find my stuff. When I grab it off the carousel, the scent of someone’s cologne wafts past me. I spin around and look, swearing that’s the same kind Tristan used to wear, but I don’t see anyone.

Ignoring it, I walk toward the door when it happens again. I spin around once more, but I don’t see anyone out of the ordinary. I must be losing it. I have to be.

I keep walking until I reach the door, and as soon as I step outside, someone says, “Know where you’re headed?” That voice sends a chill down my spine.

I turn and look and there he is standing with a cane. How is this possible? I watched him jump. There’s no way he could have made it.

---