Page 132 of When Sky Breaks
A laugh bubbles, and I rise to my tiptoes to kiss his scruffy cheek. “I’m good. I promise. Just want a moment to think, that’s all.”
He studies me before nodding. “I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.”
As if I had any doubts about that.
Soon, it’s my turn through the dark house. The door shuts with a sharp thwack behind me, and my eyes adjust to the strobe lights.
Someone jumps out and cackles in my face. A shriek, then a giggle shoots from my mouth, and I skitter further into the room.
Each section of the house offers its own brand of terrifying themes. By far, the scariest is the room full of dolls. That’s it. Just dolls of every shape and size lined up on a table, their eyes seeming to follow you as you walk past. I shudder and rush through the next set of doors.
After nearly screaming my head off when a masked man jumps out at me from behind a swinging pig carcass, I’m panting at the entrance to the last room. When my breaths quiet, I press through the long plastic sheets separating the bloody meat warehouse and the spooky forest.
A disjointed wolf howl blares from a speaker. Wind blows and hollers, the fans from above pulling my hair from my face. Real gravel crunches under my feet. Apparitions appear on the wall, ghosts flit between the trees, and laughter from ghastly-looking statues echoes. No one jumps out—no one is in here at all.
I pause in front of the cemetery, just beyond a short iron gate. Fake headstones all bear silly names of the dead.
Nora Gretz
Doug McGrave
Barry O’Live
Ima Goner
Although I laugh, I’m transported to the real cemetery across town. To the gravestones under the tall weeping willow, its long branches sweeping over Chase’s grave. My biological dad’s. August’s father. My mother, buried somewhere unknown to me.
A small swell of sadness grips my heart. I may never get all the answers I want, but I got what I need.
Closure.
Why Dannie ended her life isn’t up to me to figure out. Life is hard for some, unbearable for others, and pretending to understand the whys will never erase what happened.
One foot forward, one step at a time, like August said, is the only way through life. With loved ones, the steps are lighter, the days brighter, the worries less because you’re not alone. Some aren’t so lucky and lose their footing, leaving behind nothing but memories.
The remaining moments of the haunted house pass with no other thoughts.
Except one.
I’ve found my reason to wake up every day. The reason I spent the last several weeks in a free fall, careening toward a life where all the tragic bits disappear.
That reason stands off to the side once I exit the house. His hands are shoved deep in his pockets, seeking warmth from the chilly Halloween air as he rocks on his heels. His head is turned toward a group of older people who appear to be bickering over the benefits of hosting a bingo night next year during the festival.
The soft smile on his face and the pink on his cheeks bring stinging hot tears to the surface.
The whistle I let loose makes August whip his head. He shifts, and before one foot lifts to move forward, I run to him, seeking safety in his arms.
“What’s wrong? Damnit, I should’ve insisted on going in with you. Did someone hurt you?”
It’s almost comical how much this man wants to fight for me. I grin through the tears snaking down my face, cold in the wind. “No one, I’m fine.”
He brushes away the salt painting my cheeks. “Then what is it? Why did you whistle?” His whisper caresses my skin. “Need to run away with me?”
I shake my head, encased in his large palms. “No. I just wanted to run to you for once. Because you’re my home, August. My person.”
He bends and scoops me up, letting me bury my head in his neck while he tucks his face into my hair, both of us breathing in each other’s warmth and comfort.
“And you’re mine, Shortcake. Forever, this time.”