Page 76 of Prodigal Son

Once they took her to the hospital, all of Juniper’s focus had been on getting out, but she needed an adult guardian to sign the discharge papers since she arrived in an ambulance. As soon as Venus heard, she came to get her. Nothing would ever erase the gut-wrenching cry that left Venus when she learned that Juniper had come to the hospital alone, and Aunt Bel had been taken to the morgue.

It took three nurses and an orderly to calm her down, plus several pills she kept tucked inside her purse. All Juniper could think was this was her fault. If not for her stupidity, Aunt Bel would still be alive. But she was gone and they had nothing. No home, no belongings, nothing.

Beneath her heartache a cold rage slowly boiled. This wasn’t just her fault. It was also that man’s. She was certain she saw him at the fire, and sure he had done this to them. For what? Why did anyone deserve this?

“I have to tell you something.”

Aunt V sat up and wiped her eyes. For once they weren’t covered in black. The tears had washed away her makeup hours ago. “I’m listening.”

“It’s about the man who came into the store a few days ago.”

“What man, honey?”

“The…” Even now, she felt foolish saying the word. “Vampire.”

Venus tensed. “Mabel told me you were in the store when he visited. Don’t worry. She sent him away and made it clear that we were not willing to work with him.”

“I was there. I know what she said.” Juniper forced herself to sit up. “I also saw him after that.”

“What? When?”

“On the trail.” Her throat constricted as shame choked her. “I should have said something, but I had a terrible day. So many weird things have been happening, and I was supposed to be in school, but I bailed when my teacher broke his arm.”

“Slow down. What weird things? Juniper, you have to tell me everything. Did that man speak to you? Did he touch you?”

She was tired of lying, so she confessed everything, starting with how she stole Mabel’s pot and got high in the woods, accidentally hurting Trent and hallucinating the fire moving at her command. Then she explained what happened to Mr. Weckle’s arm in algebra class and how she ran into Jonas on the path.

“He said if I didn’t get you and Aunt Bel to help him, he would tell your secret.” She started to cry uncontrollably. “I’m so sorry, Aunt Venus. I really thought he was just some goth creep with an Amish fetish. Then he grabbed me and I got scared—”

“He grabbed you?” Venus’s expression hardened and she sat up.

Juniper stopped talking. She’d never seen her aunt look so angry. “I got away.”

“Where did he grab you?”

“We were on the trail—”

“No, Juniper, where on your body.”

She closed her hand around her throat. “Here.”

Venus looked away, her face pale and her eyes heavy with worry. “How long did he give you to talk to us?”

“Until midnight last night.”

“And the fire started around one.”

Her stomach hurt. She felt so responsible she feared her aunt would blame her. She deserved the blame. If not for her silence, this wouldn’t have happened. “I saw him last night. He was standing in the crowd, looking right at me as he held a pocket watch. It was like he wanted me to know I was late.”

Venus stood and locked the door. She paced the small living room and bit her nails. “Tell me everything you know about him. What he looked like. How he spoke. I need every detail.”

“He looked Amish, but no beard. He had long black hair and plain clothes. He had a slight accent, but nothing too prominent. He was easy enough to understand.”

“What was his name?”

“Jonas Hartzler.”

She pulled out her phone and typed something in. For several minutes she said nothing then she sat down again. “The Hartzlers are a part of an order in Lancaster.”

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