Page 23 of Roses and Skulls

No, it’s my mom’s version of hell.

My gaze stops on the black crow I’m standing on. The entire floor is covered with it. The crow’s wings are going up in flames. But it’s what is painted in the reflection of the bird’s eyes that makes me shiver from head to toe. It’s my mom, standing there watching the bird burn. Her face is painted like a skeleton.

Holy shit, what the fuck made her paint all of this? What darkness lives inside her? Maybe Draven was right. I have no idea what she is capable of.

I walk over to an image of a little girl kneeling in front of a cross, her feet bruised and cut. Her hair dirty and tangled. She’s praying. Is this child my mom?

I’m so engulfed in the images painted from floor to ceiling that I don’t hear my Uncle Raffe come in behind me.

He startles me when I turn around and find him standing by the door. I jump back, placing my hands over my chest.

He motions around the room. “Kind of scary, isn’t it?” he asks.

I nod, worried that I’m going to be in trouble for being in here.

“Can I tag along on your walk tonight?” he asks.

Everyone knows I go for a walk out in the trees most nights. I’ve never let anyone come with me. Not since the accident. It’s the only time I can get away from prying eyes.

“She gave me permission to share her story with you,” he continues when he sees my hesitation.

The horror on the walls draws my eyes around the room. She left the door open on purpose. She wanted me to find this.

Why doesn’t she just tell me?

He reaches his hand out. “Come on, let’s take that walk.”

When we leave the room, he locks the door behind us.

“What’s in the sack?” he asks as we make our way through the trees.

I answer him, able to walk and type at the same time. I know this path like the back of my hand.It’s some new chain for my chimes.

His footsteps halt as the trees open to my little fantasyland. The last chime I made is blowing in the breeze by the playhouse dad and grandpa made me.

Pretty cool, huh?I run the bottom of my shoe over the brush on the ground.

He steps out into the clearing. “This is incredible. Did Bill build all this?”

Yeah, and dad.

I head over to my wooden spool table and start laying out the keys in front of me.

He takes the seat beside me. “Jackson told me it was amazing out here. I guess I should have come out and saw it for myself. I’m sorry I haven’t ever done that.”

Shrugging my shoulders, I continue to work on my creation.

“I just figured you needed your privacy.”

It’s fine.I wave my hand out in dismissal.What did you want to tell me?

I’m trying not to be rude, but it will be completely dark in about an hour, and I want to get this done. I’m anxious to see if this one unlocks grandpa’s whispers from Heaven.

He gets up and explores the playhouse as I try to figure out the design I’m wanting.

A crow perches in a tree a few feet away from me but I don’t pay it any attention until another one lands on the table. Raffe stills behind me. The bird drops a bright blue bead from his mouth. No, not his, hers. It’s the crow I saved.

She tips her head as I pick up the bead. It’s beautiful and made of glass. I set it down in front of her, but she nudges it with her beak, giving it back to me.

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