Page 43 of Emergence: Prequel

Looking over the property, I smiled. Dad did good; this was much better than the pictures had shown.

We’d driven through a gate and down an avenue of trees that opened up into a wide parking area. On the right was the barn-like structure that I knew would be our clubhouse; to the left of it, there was a covered structure, and I grinned wide when I saw our sleds parked under the roof. A road carried on past that towards static caravans, which we called mobile homes, and I knew my house was past them.

‘Yeah, this could work,’I thought with a smile, catching my dad’s eye. His next words made my chest expand with pride.

“Welcome home, Pres.”

“Hi, Dad,” I reached out to hug him. “You did good.”

He laughed, and I was glad to see him looking much lighter, “I had help, son. Those Crow Old Ladies are a force to be reckonedwith. Once I explained, they kind of took over. But for now, come and have a look at the clubhouse. The Skulls sent a gift for us.”

My eyebrows rose at the news. I wondered if I’d ever meet the mysterious four. Walking towards the clubhouse, the brothers following, we stomped our boots at the entrance to take off any mud we’d gathered on them.

Walking into my clubhouse for the first time was a surreal experience as I looked around at the brand-new bar that Sam Crow had built, to the comfortable seating, dartboards and pool tables. But what caught my eye was along the back wall in frames. Walking towards them, I smiled when I saw the two framed tapestries of the Queens Wraiths’ history, one in English and the other in a very old language. Surrounding the frames were pictures of strangers through the ages, but if you looked closely, you could see familiar features in all of them. Hanging above it all was a piece of wood with words burned into it:

TIES FORGED IN WAR ARE TIES THAT BIND

THEY ARE NEVER BROKEN

QUEENS WRAITHS & CURSED SKULLS

BOUND TOGETHER FOR INFINITY

THE END

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