Page 15 of Shadow Running
I slowly lowered myself to the nearest chair.“What year did your sister vanish?”
Konstantine scratched his head, then said, “It was 1983.She called my mother one day and told her she wouldn’t be coming home again, but not to worry.She said there was something she needed to do, and she’d be back when she could.That was the last we ever heard from her.I remember the exact day, because it was my grandmother’s birthday, and we were supposed to go over to visit her.Then Erin called.”
“Where was she?”Penn asked.
“By that time, she had moved out on her own.She didn’t want to go to college, so she got a job and moved into a small studio apartment a couple years before that,” Konstantine said.“When she called, Erin said she was moving and that she refused to give us her address.My mother started to cry.It was September 2, 1983.”
“What did your mother do?”
He shrugged.“There wasn’t much shecoulddo.Erin was twenty-two, an adult.So, we went to my grandmother’s birthday, but Erin’s call acted as a damper over everything.After that, my mother told me she had a bad feeling that we’d never see her again.She was convinced that my sister had joined some cult.”He frowned.“Why do you ask?What’s going on?”
I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.“Okay, here goes.I think your sister, Erin Crow, was my mother, Erin Sarasan.”
Konstantine looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“My sister…” He looked me up and down.“Yourmother?How…” He sounded as confused as I felt.“Are yousure?”
I nodded.“I’m positive.That’s her.I have a picture from that same time, on the same shore, but she’s alone in it.I can tell you why she vanished.My mother was pregnant with me when she called to say goodbye.”
“But why would she do that?Why vanish like that just because she was pregnant?And who is your father?”Konstantine ignored a rumble that set the house to shaking.The ghosts again, but right now, neither of us were focused on them.
I tried to calm down.This was all so overwhelming.“My father is a demon.I don’t know who—she never told me—but she was probably afraid she’d put you and your family in danger by being affiliated with anything connected to the Demonkin.I never knew about you.She told me that her family threw her out.She brought me up as a Sarasan.And she never told me my father’s name, only that he was a demon.”
A flurry of emotions washed across Konstantine’s face, and then he said, “That means you’re myniece.I’m your uncle.”The tone in his voice shifted from sorrow to joy, and he stood, staring down at me.“I’m anuncle.”
I glanced at him.“You still want to claim a connection, even though I’m part demon?”
He worried his lip, then shrugged.“We can’t always choose our relatives, and sometimes the ones who seem the nicest are hiding the darkest secrets.I’ve been alone for so many years.My father disappeared and then my sister disappeared, my grandparents are dead, and my mother died a few years back.”He froze.“Is Erin still alive?You said shewas…”
My heart sank.By the look on his face, I could tell that he still held some spark of hope, even forty-some years later.And I was about to extinguish that little light for good.I didn’t want to answer, but I owed him the truth.
“I’m sorry, Konstantine.My mother was murdered by a serial killer when I was fourteen.”
As I said the words, that light of hope in his eyes faded.He let out a long breath, then nodded.“I think I knew when she died, but there was no proof.And not knowing for sure…”
“Gives you that glimmer of hope to hang on to,” I answered.“I can tell you about her, about my childhood with her.You’re the only relative I’ve ever met, so I’d like to know more about my family and bloodline.”
“I wonder if it was fate that made me come to your office,” he said.“Yes, we have a lot to discuss,” he said.“But maybe not here.The ghosts listen in, and I’m not sure they’re safe to have around when we discuss sensitive matters.”
“We’ll set up a time.Meanwhile, we should go on with our investigation, since we’re here.”Inside, I was cautiously joyful.The thought that I had finally met someone I was related to made me want to rush out somewhere with him and pick his brain.But we had a job to do, and while the ghosts had been benign when he was younger, they weren’t minding their manners now.
“All right,” he said, adding, “I feel like I should give you a hug, but would that be weird?”
I grinned, understanding exactly what he was saying.There was this awkwardness, an in-between space that felt like limbo.“Maybe later?Once we’ve sorted through the timeline?”
He looked disappointed, but then nodded.“Sure, that sounds appropriate.”
“So, setting the family reunion aside for the moment, tell us more about the ghosts and when they began to act up again,” Dante asked, readying his tablet for notes.
Carson and Penn kept quiet, taking everything in.
“They started acting up after my mother died, but even then, it wasn’t anything dangerous.Cupboards opening, doors banging, footsteps in the hall.Then I began to see shadows where there shouldn’t be shadows.As I said, the house was always haunted, but I never felt threatened.But when the shadows started to appear, I noticed that I constantly felt on edge.It was like my body was expecting the worst and I couldn’t sleep very well after that began.”
“Do you know when the house was built?”I asked.
“Yes, actually.It was built back in 1908.My mother bought it in 1968, a few months after I was born.My father abandoned us right after my birth.He didn’t want to be a father, and I was one kid too many.Grandpa—your great-grandfather—Sarasan Crow—was so embarrassed over his son’s actions that he bought the house, and sold it to my mother for far less than market value.He let her pay it out in monthly installments—rent, basically—and it was never more than we could afford.”
I sat back, realizing that every person he was talking about had a blood connection to me.That felt incredibly odd.
