Page 70 of His to Keep

Epilogue

The house burned to the ground it stood on. All that remained were burnt pieces of timber, bricks, and ash when we decided it was finally time to go. Some would question why we didn’t run right away. Why we stayed to watch the house crumble brick by brick, the dying amber glow the only thing revealing our transfixed, ghostly stares.

Perhaps we stayed to make sure Father Aaron was truly gone. That he wasn’t about to spring from the debris with melted, charred skin and red eyes—back from the dead to finish us off. Or maybe it was simply reluctance. Callum, who has never known life away from his psychotic family. And me, wondering how I’ll be able to go back to the mundane things in life without glancing nervously over my shoulder every time there’s a bump in the night.

It was the unknown that made us stay so long. Had our hearts beating fast with fear of the future.Either way, when the faint sound of sirens blared in the distance, we got into the car and drove away, knowing it’d be too risky to hang around any longer.

The car ride to nowhere was silent, the only noise the rumble of the engine beneath me. To be in the same car that brought me to the house a year ago was surreal. Overwhelming. Here I was, driving away from it with someone I’d met in that house, who I wouldn’t have laid eyes on, never have met, if I hadn’t been taken there.

As Callum gripped the wheel, his knuckles whitening, I knew he was going through the same uncertain turmoil I was. What next? Where will we go? How will we live?

Like the door, John had left the gates open. Knowing he was still out there made a coldness settle into my stomach. That there was another Father Aaron out there, possibly far worse than the priest himself. A murderer and psychopath who murdered Maisie, and quite possibly Orla too, given the similar brutality of her death. Callum later revealed he’d imagined John would have gone into one of the bigger fenced communities to become a real member of the Brotherhood himself. Whether or not John has told the truth of Father Aaron’s demise and our involvement, remains to be unknown.

We weren’t hunted. Nobody came to avenge Father Aaron—not that we gave them a chance if they were to come. Paranoia set into us quickly, and we were careful with our lives. When you fight to survive like we have there’s no other option. According to the local newspaper, a gas leak had tragically killed Father Aaron and his family, the blaze so destructive, the bodies could only be identified through dental records. There was no police inquiry, even though there should’ve been if the remains of three people, including Maisie’s, had been discovered. It was as if it’d been brushed under the carpet, the case closed for good, the world moving on.

Going back home was the only option we had to figure out what our next move was. Even with the few hundred dollars John had given Callum, it still wasn’t enough to decide what we were going to do. It was hard pulling up outside the gate of Gran and Grandpa’s house. A house that they left to me. The windows were cast in shadow, and it looked like no one had been inside for a while.

Using the spare key under the frog statue outside the back door, we went inside. A blend of emotions washed through me as I looked around, breathing in the scents that I’d long since forgotten, and seeing the furniture placed exactly as before. As if Gran was about to get out of bed and head into the kitchen for her nightly hot milk to help her sleep. But no one came downstairs, and silence surrounded us.

We never left each other’s side that night. We bathed and tended to each other’s wounds with antiseptic and bandages. I put on a pair of leggings and a long jersey shirt and gave Callum an old T-shirt and jogging bottoms that belonged to Grandpa. It was strange seeing us both in normal clothing. It was even stranger having Callum in my bedroom, on my flowery bedsheets. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking as he looked around. My own emotions were stifled, and I felt like a stranger in my own surroundings. A sense of not belonging.

The moment I did feel any comfort was when Callum and I held each other while we slept. Both of our bodies shaking from the aftermath of defeating Father Aaron and getting away. I cried. I think he did too. There we stayed, wrapped in each other’s arms. We didn’t kiss or touch or talk. We slept.

The days that passed after that night were a blur. We stayed inside, surviving off whatever canned food was left in the cupboards. We knew we couldn’t stay here long term, but we needed a plan. After finding my old cell phone, I called the family’s lawyer about the house and selling it. I was still considered a minor until I turned eighteen, so that meant we’d have to wait.

Where and how we were going to live were the least of my worries. It started with a violent headache that got worse each day. The pain so blinding, I knew there was something wrong when painkillers did nothing to ease the pain. When I collapsed, Callum bundled me into the car and drove me to the nearest hospital. After running tests, they discovered that I had a severe concussion. Which meant I had to stay in the hospital for observation in case any clots formed on my brain.

That’s when the questions began. Doctors were unhappy with my malnourished appearance, the three whip scars on my back, including the many cuts and bruises covering my skin that were still healing. I said nothing, though it was obvious I’d suffered physical abuse.

Callum kept his mouth shut when they questioned him, though I could tell their probing affected him, especially when they asked how I’d gotten scars on my back. They wanted to call the police, but somehow, maybe dumb luck, we managed to talk them out of it if I came in for regular check-ups.

“You’re better off without me,” Callum said when I was discharged, and we went home. “I can’t even look after you, never mind what I did to you.”

“Callum, stop. I’ll be worse without you.”

By then, word had spread through town that Agatha Harrod’s wayward granddaughter had returned. Everywhere I went, even to shops, people stared. They ogled even more when Callum came into town with me to buy new clothes. The stunning black-haired man holding my hand possessively, scowling when any other man happened to look my way. That’s when I bumped into Adam.

He did a double take as Callum and I walked down the street. Tanned and brimming with light, he greeted me cheerfully.

“Ava! Long time no see? Not since the day—” Maybe it was the look on my face that stopped him, or the way Callum shifted to protect me, picking up on my uneasiness. Knowing he was about to saysince you drove away with Father Aaron.“How are you? Sorry about your grandmother.”

“Oh, thank you.” I cleared my throat. “I’m okay. This is—”

“Her boyfriend.” Callum held out his hand, and he and Adam shook hands while my face burned.Boyfriend.I had a boyfriend. How strange but so ordinary to label us.

Adam then revealed he was in a relationship with Vanessa, and they were both moving to California in the Spring. After chatting a little more, he waved goodbye and went on his way. It was strange watching him walk away. Because he didn’t know how much he’d influenced the series of events that happened by trying to be my friend. Sometimes people never know the impact they have on others, and I’m not willing to ever tell him.

After that, Callum was too moody to shop anymore, so we went home to have dinner.

He was distant after that day, convinced I should be with Adam and not him because he had nothing to offer me. We should’ve known life would never be simple. I’m not sure happily ever after exists. It’s just two people trying their best to do life together. It wasn’t easy, and those few months that we stayed in Little Willow were the worst. We needed to leave, or we wouldn’t survive.

But Callum left without me. In the dead of night, he drove away, leaving me a note that said he was going to do what he needed to give me the best life, but would understand if waiting for him was too much.

My heart shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, and I wept for days. He left me, and I couldn’t believe it. After choosing him, he abandoned me.

The enormity of how my life had changed hit me, and I fell into a deep depression.

Scouring the house, I ended up searching Gran’s bedroom, going through all her things, laughing at the fear that still flowed through my veins for intruding on a dead person. I even imagined her cursing me from her grave and cursed her back when I found things that day. Secrets.

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