I wake up in a daze. I don’t know how long it’s been since I collapsed.

I examined my surroundings. I was sitting in a room with no windows, brown walls and uncovered wood floor. In front of me was a wall with posters of “Mulholland Drive” “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” and “Josie and the Pussycats”. Below them was a TV which was not mounted or on a stand, and was currently displaying static. To the right of the TV was an office chair which lay on the floor next to several cans of cherry coke, just down from that was a desk with a computer straight out of 2001, surrounded by more empty soda cans. On the floor just in front of me was a bust, some watermelons for some reason, as well as two copies of “Super Smash Bros Melee”, and a translation of the Seraphic Bible. On the left wall there was an open pizza box with pizza inside stuck on the wall for god knows what reason. This wall and the one in front of me were divided by a small corridor which led to the one door in the room.

Somehow this was all familiar, yet I’d never seen it before.

As I came out of my daze I realized I wasn’t tied or anything to the chair I was in. As soon I was up I started inspecting the room further. The door was, unsurprisingly locked. On the right side of the corridor was a bathroom, which weirdly did not have a door, just an opening. I didn’t even realize until that moment how much I actually needed to pee. The bathroom was surprisingly clean, especially in contrast to the other room.

My curiosity about the pizza stuck on the wall got the best of me. I lifted the top and stuck my head inside, and I immediately regretted it. The putrid smell was enough to make me vomit yet again. What kind of person meticulously cleans their bathroom but leaves… a rotten aged pizza on the wall for who knows how long.

After my nausea finally passed I went over to the computer. The thing was a dinosaur that still used Windows XP, with its default green grass and blue sky wallpaper. And of course, there was no internet connection. There was only one desktop icon, a folder called “New Folder”, awkwardly placed off-center. The folder contained eight word documents, labeled “White”, “Black,” “Blue,” “Green,” “Indigo,” “Violet,” “Yellow,” and “Red.” Each of the documents was a list of names and dates. My suspicion about the nature of the lists was confirmed when I found Grayson’s name on the Blue list. Safe to assume the rest of the names were his past lives. All but the Black and White lists were near complete records of each individual, but both of those only listed one name each. Still, whoever made these lists had either meticulously researched and somehow found all of this out… or they were insane and jammed out a bunch of names. It could probably go either way, though I was leaning towards the latter considering the pizza on the wall.

Suddenly it hit me why this room seems familiar. For months when I was 15 I binged a single YouTube channel over and over, watched and rewatched every video. Looking at the room from this angle the memories came flooding back, despite minor changes, this was the same room from those vlogs.

Leigh LeBlanc’s vlogs.

It was then that the door opened, and in came Leigh, the woman I saw before I blacked out, and a tall bearded man I didn’t recognize who had a pistol holstered. They stayed near the door while Leigh walked into the main area in front of me. Leigh bent down and grabbed the copy of the Seraphic Bible, then lifted the office chair back into a proper position, and sat down. “At last, we meet Kish.” They said. I didn’t say anything back, still unsure how to respond to the YouTuber turned apparent conspiracy nut kidnapper. “No doubt you’re wondering what this is all about, why I’ve brought you here and I promise to explain. There’s a lot of things you need to know first though, about the Seraphs, about history, about us, about everything really.”

I don’t plan on staying as long as I can help it, but until I can get a better read on the situation and figure out a way out, I suppose it won’t hurt to listen.

“You see, we have to go back to the beginning, the real beginning, to understand the true history of this Seraphic world.

<Previous – Next>

I had been undercover as George Blackwell’s nurse for five months, bided my time, gathering Intel, finally got the go ahead to kill the bastard, and now the young woman who had inherited his fortune had passed out in front of me. At first I was worried she might be dying, but her pulse seemed okay when I checked it. At any rate I didn’t have time to waste. She was at least easy to drag downstairs, she was only about 5’2 and was probably under a hundred pounds, and load into the trunk of my car. As I closed it I nearly panicked as I noticed another car approaching the driveway. Thankfully they weren’t close enough to see. I decided to play it casual, I suppose my alias would have its use one last time.

The car parked and one of the relatives from the party the other day emerged from the front seat. I recognized him as one of the grandchildren, but I hadn’t bothered to commit his name to memory. “Hey, you’re my grampa’s nurse?” He said, acting like he had any kind of relationship with the man. “What are you doing here?”

“Mrs. Blackwell asked me to pick up a few of her things she forgot.” It was even true. Last night she called from her beach house, it was pure coincidence, but a lucky one, one I intended to use.

“Need any help?” He said.

“Uh no, I’ve pretty much got everything already. But thank you.” I said. “I was actually just about to leave.”

“Alright.” He said. “Call me sentimental, I just wanted to see the old man’s place… One last time.”

A likely story. At any rate it didn’t affect me, so I left him with whatever it was he was doing and drove off. It was about nine hours from here to Virginia Beach, once there I’d be directed to a remote site nearby considered “safe”, although I wasn’t sure such a thing existed with the enemy we were fighting. Even though I know I’d been absolutely discreet, I couldn’t help but worry that they were watching. Perhaps I’d been fighting this war so long that it was the only thing I ever knew. I’d spent my whole life in the shadows, fighting an enemy almost no one knew existed. An enemy that also had the ability to influence everything.

If my mission was successful, if we were able to turn the Blackwell heiress to our side, we’d finally have a way to find our enemy’s weakness. And maybe, just maybe, finally bring down the Seraphic hegemony.

<Previous – Next>

I watched my brother drive off to do, whatever it was that was more important than driving me home, leaving me in this big empty mansion with nothing to do. Not even grandmom lived here anymore. Almost as soon as my grandfather died she had packed up and left for the beach house that was in her name in Virginia.

Hours passed as I wandered the empty rooms. This place creeped me out. It was the same feeling I had in the Douglas’ basement all those years ago. That feeling of being watched by something I couldn’t see. The lingering souls of my ancestors perhaps, watching me, judging me, from inside the walls.

Why did my stupid brother have to leave me in such a creepy house? The only thing I had to do to occupy my mind besides wandering the rooms was my phone. I texted Laura ages ago that I would be delayed getting home, and she still hadn’t responded. I guess this was a “keep Kish waiting” kind of day.

Outside it had started storming, which only made the lamp-lit house even creepier. Lots of large empty rooms without much in them, a couple of couches in the living room, a kitchen with the bare minimum, bedrooms with dressers and no personal touches. Apparently in these last few years grandfather and grandmother stayed on different sides of the house, almost never seeing each other. The only personal touches I noticed were the occasional photo or painting of them or the family. Grandfather didn’t smile in any of them.

What even did he live for? He obviously couldn’t have cared less about his family, but he didn’t even seem to enjoy his wealth either. It must have been miserable. I had to wonder if his alienating behavior was a symptom of being miserable, or if it was the one thing he enjoyed in life.

His office was the one place where I could see any touch of personality. He had an extensive book collection, including a lot of first editions, Faulkner, Hemingway, and of course, the first English translation of the Seraphic Bible. It was weird having one book, this book, was part of so many key moments in my life. What was once an amusing oddity defined my life now, it was inescapable, inevitable, constricting.

By this point there was only one room left I hadn’t explored. One of the four “children’s bedrooms” upstairs. Which was apparently my father’s. While the room had obviously been changed a bit to make it a more general guest room, there were still a few things which were obviously my father’s. A few old photos, a couple from when he was a child, and one from his graduation, along with some old tapes and early CDs. Apparently my dad really liked Rush.

Towards the end of the room was a closet. One of the werid things about this house was that this particular closet was apparently accesable from both this room and one of the other bedrooms. Basically one long hallway with storage space. I couldn’t say what, but something drew me to that door. I opened it and was greeted with a dark hallway which seemed to extend forever, but I knew logically led to the other bedroom across the house. The closet reeked for some reason, I couldn’t even say what it smelled like… old house? Decaying body? Whatever it was I started feeling nauseous at that point. Not terribly, but enough to be somewhat uncomfortable. I continued on anyway. As I did the light behind me started to fade, but there wasn’t another in sight. My nausea kept getting worse, at a certain point it felt like I was going to throw up.

Then I stopped, and threw up. The smell of the disgusting liquidy remains of whatever I had eaten last made the stench of this place even worse. 

At this point I finally came to my senses, I didn’t know how close I was to the other side, so I figured I might as well just turn around. As I came back closer to the light, I noticed a shape in front of it, which I soon recognized as the sillhouette of a person. I wasn’t even sure if it was real, it seemed to keep fading in and out of existence. “I’ve been waiting for you.” The figure suddenly started talking, though it wasn’t a voice exactly, more like something that resembled my own thought process.

“I told you that we would be meeting soon.” The voice continued in my head. “I have chosen you for a specific reason. By this point you’ve only scratched the surface of the world which has been hidden. You see a truth few others can see, but you don’t have the tools to understand it yet… to understand… what these parasites are doing to the planet.”

Eventually I got close enough to recognize the figure. “Leigh?”

They then disappeared before me. “Not much longer now… until we officially meet.”

I’d somehow gotten even sicker by this point, to the point where I could barely stand. I hobbled out of the closet before falling down on the floor. With what little energy I had left I got my phone out of my pocket. Grayson’s number wouldn’t ring for some reason, so I called Laura next. Thankfully she answered. “Hello?”

“Call Grayson, call someone, I’m at my grandfather’s mansion, I feel like I’m dying.” The phone slipped out of my hand. By then I was starting to fade from consciousness. The last thing I saw before passing out was some woman standing over me…

<Previous – Next>

Over the many centuries I’d lived I had gained a talent for intuition. Human behavior is full of patterns, observe them enough and you’ll begin to notice. This is especially true when you realize that you’re dealing with the same souls over and over again. Thus I knew as soon as Grayson’s cousin was mentioned that this was the person we were interested in. Each call he made asking where this guy was, where each person had less of an idea than we did, only made me even more certain.

My final confirmation came not from a call made, but a call revieved. I overheard the words “where is she?” and “what happened?” spoken frantically with this caller. “Who was that?” I asked when he hung up.

“Laura, she’s a friend of my sister.” He said. “We need to head back to the house, apparently something happened and she’s freaking out.”

The drive to the old house was a brief one, I caught Grayson speeding a couple times but didn’t say anything. It was his sister in danger, and in our kind of life family isn’t something you get to have long.

When we arrived and ran through the front door, I saw exactly what I expected. A young man about Grayon’s age, with short hair wearing a white polo and white khacki shorts, standing arms crossed, as if anticipating us.

“Where’s my sister?” Grayson demanded.

“Would you believe me if I told you I didn’t know?” Christian said, smiling. “To be totally honest, I came here because I wanted to kill her, but apparently someone else got here first. If I had to guess, it was whoever killed dear beloved grampa.”

“So you didn’t kill him.” I said.

“That’s correct.” Christian said. “I’d love to say that I did but there’d be no pleasure in taking the credit for something I didn’t actually do.”

“Since you’re being so forthcoming, I have one last question.” I said. “You aren’t totally human, are you?”

“My, I should have expected your type to be so observant.” Christian said. “In that case allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Christian Blackwell, sociology student by day and serial killer by night, but I am also someone else, a traveling companion I picked up long ago, one who shares my ideals.”

Was this a human willingly possesed by a demon? Such a thing was rare, but not without precedent. Most demons had to maintain at least some control over their host but this… this demon was in perfect sync.

“To be honest, killing normal humans was starting to get old. Killing your kind? Now that will be a challenge worthy of our talents. Christian said. “Oh Jack! It’s time to come out and play!”

Knives spawned in Christian’s hands, his pupils dilated, his body began hunching forward. This was no ordinary demon, this was something more powerful. And now it was lunging towards us.

<Previous – Next>

When I was Kish’s age, I went through a phase where I practically slept all day. Now I was so busy I barely had any time to sleep. After weeks of running around Atlanta on a wild goose chase with that serial killer demon, it was nice to spend some time with my sister and aunt, even under these circumstances.

Unfortunately, now it was back to work. As it turned out my grandfather was connected to the seraphs, so we were supposed to investigate. Of course, I wasn’t told this until right before we had planned on driving back to Atlanta. This meant that instead of driving Kish back to her dorm, as was planned, I instead had to drop her off at the house she now owned, while listening to her complain the entire time, and then pick up Thalia at Charleston International Airport.

Thalia was waiting as I pulled up, wearing a business casual black jacket with matching slacks and sunglasses. I was still wearing a suit from the will reading, so we both at least looked like we could pass for federal personnel.

“Sorry about the late notice.” She said as she slammed the door closed. “I hope I didn’t interfere with your plans too much.”

I was beginning to feel like a taxi driver. Thalia, like my sister, seemingly refused to learn to drive, though unlike her she had about a century’s worth of time to try to learn. “Kish doesn’t have to go back to school until the beginning of the year.” I said. “I don’t know why she was so upset we’d be delayed. I guess friends or something. She’s staying in her new house for now.”

“We may have to visit there later, for evidence.” She said. “I’m sorry about your loss by the way.”

“Honestly, it wasn’t my loss.” I said. “I didn’t even know him that well. I was shocked he left everything to my sister.”

“Well now we don’t have to keep secrets from her.” Thalia said. “At least, not many.” If I was being logical, I didn’t want my sister to know about any of this, but if I’m being honest I was glad she did. I was happy to have someone to talk to about this who was closer to my age.

“So why aren’t we just leaving this one to the police?” I said.

“Well, since the guy was connected its important that we make sure that it wasn’t something that shouldn’t get out.” She said.

“You think a demon killed him?”

“Maybe. It’s not likely though. I’d be more concerned about terrorists, or conspiracy nuts.”

“Or the family?”

“It wasn’t the family.”

“You’re sure?”

“Why? Did you notice something?”

“It’s probably nothing.” I paused, before noticing Thalia’s insistent silence. “Kish was telling me about this cousin of mine, Christian, apparently he was acting weird, hitting on her, and apparently he was cut from the will in favor of Kish. Again it’s probably nothing though.”

“I’d like to talk to him. After we look over the evidence and the scene.” She said.

<Previous – Next>

I found out about my grandfather’s death the morning after. I was laying in the motel bed when Aunt Catherine woke me up to give me the news.

The next few days went by in a blur. We stayed in the same motel killing time until the will reading, which went as my grandfather said it would, with me getting much of his wealth and controlling interest in his company. Predictably the rest of the family wasn’t pleased with getting mere scraps, particularly Kevin, who congratulated me when I was in the room but I heard call me a “bitch” as I was leaving. I’d like to say it didn’t hurt, that it didn’t matter because I planned on never seeing any of these people again, but it did. I never wanted to be a part of these people’s lives, I didn’t care about my grandfather’s money, or “Blackwell-Noble Enterprises”. Maybe that was why he did it, one last way to screw over his children.

Not that I would turn the money down of course though, I could always use the dollar bills to dry my tears, but it was a weird feeling, just becoming a billionaire out of nowhere. What am I even supposed to do with my life now?

After the will reading we decided to bring some fast food burgers to the motel before checking out. Aunt Catherine was of course, ecstatic, both that I would naturally share part of the fortune with her and that she could rub this in her brothers’ faces. She also agreed to help me figure out the financial stuff since I barely knew how to manage the meager funds I had in college.

After we ate she decided to go out and see one of her old friends before we leave. This finally gave me and Grayson the chance to talk privately. I told him everything our grandfather had told me.

“Well I guess it wouldn’t help to deny it.” Grayson said. “I always wondered why your memory wasn’t wiped, but I guess it was for a reason.”

“Yeah, because I’m smarter than you dummy.” Grayson laughed when I said this. “You should have known better.”

“I guess you’re right.” He said. “So who do you think did it? Killed grandfather I mean.”

“Honestly, I don’t care. Probably one of his kids thinking they’d get the inheritance. Joke’s on them right?”

“You might want to start caring. Did it occur to you that whoever killed him might kill you next?”

That wipes the smile off my face. “I guess I didn’t think about that. Guess it’s a good thing I have you to watch my back”

“You may be the smart one, but I’m the sensible one.”

“And who do you think did it?”

He thought for a minute. “Best guess would be Kevin, I mean he’s the one who never shut up about the will. The rest hated him too, but you’d think would at least be content to just wait for him to die on his own.”

“Kevin seems like all talk and no action. Now his son is creepy.”

“Which one, Christian?”

I nodded. “You know, that day he commented on my “childbearing hips.” And then at the frigging will reading he would not stop staring at me.”

Grayson made a vomiting motion. “His own cousin, what a creep. I don’t even want to think about what goes through that guy’s head.”

“No telling.” I said before we both fell silent again. “Some family we’ve got huh.”

“Honestly, you and Aunt Catherine are the only ones I consider family.” Grayson said.

<Previous – Next>

From the moment I woke up that morning, I had a strong premonition. Today was going to be the day I would die.

Perhaps it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, perhaps this was how it was destined to be, all I knew was that I could feel it. In recent months I’d started thinking more about my inevitable demise, planning what would happen to my company and fortune.

All of my own children were disappointments. My two living sons were both idiots, though at least the youngest one didn’t pretend to not be, whereas Kevin was a complete pretentious fraud, the kind of person who thought themselves a sophisticated elite, but would never actually become one. My daughter on the other hand, I could tell had no business sense. She was a bleeding heart, and couldn’t make the practical decisions that had to be made. I’d tried grooming my oldest son, Bryce, for the role, he had potential, he reminded me a lot of myself when I was younger, but again like his sister he let his morals get in the way. And so he ran off to Korea. I was kind of hoping we could eventually find an understanding, but he died before that could happen.

That left the grandchildren, which I narrowed down to two possibilities. Kevin’s son Christian had surprisingly turned out to be much more intelligent than his father, not only being accepted to Harvard, but being top of his class. Bryce’s daughter Kish on the other hand, while not top of her class, interested me for her field of study.

Indeed, the only reason I was even bothering with Christmas this year was so that I could observe the two of them. It didn’t take long for me to make my decision however, as Christian proved himself much too immature for the role. Not a youthful immaturity mind, but a more dangerous kind, boasting about wasting money, laughing at the family arguments. He obviously considered everything a joke. Just Before Kish’s late arrival I’d already arranged for my lawyer to change the will. Then, I embraced my new protégé with open arms, guiding her into my office and, to her future. As we entered I asked the housekeeper, a Greek woman named Zoe, to leave us alone for a while.

“So uh… what did you want to say grandfather?” She said, clearly confused.

“When I was your age my father took me aside in here too. He had something important he wanted to talk to me about, and I want to talk to you about the same thing.” She stared at me blankly still. “I’ve heard you have an interest in Seraphic theology.”

“Uh yeah that’s part of my studies.” She said. “Why do you mention it?”

“It’s only become popular among the masses in recent years, but I can assure you, the Blackwell family has followed the Seraphic theology for generations. You see, that’s what separates us from them. We know where true power comes from.”

“I’m not sure I follow.” She said.

“Most believe it all to be nothing but a myth, but I think the two of us know better. We know it’s real because we’ve seen it with our own two eyes. You know your brother’s one, don’t you?” Her eyes widened when I said that, clearly she did know. “Seraphs are real, and not only do they live among us, they influence every aspect of our lives, government, religion, culture, you can find their influence anywhere if you look hard enough. Only a chosen few even know to look. When My own grandfather’s company became one of the richest in the ruin of reconstruction era Virginia, that was when they approached him, and our family became one among the chosen. And now, the time approaches that I must pass down that company to someone new. And I’ve decided that it should be you.”

“Me? Why?” She said.

“I see a lot of your father in you Kish. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but he was a smart man and… had he seen my point of view I’m sure he would have been a worthy successor. You’re no stranger to the world of seraphs, hell your own brother is one. I’m giving you a chance most can only dream of. You’ll have more money than you’ll ever know what to do with, you’ll have this house, and most of all, you’ll inherit controlling interest in my company, and a chance to make your mark on the world.”

Kish smiled nervously, clearly waiting for some catch. “I… I don’t even know what to say. Thank you!”

“You don’t have to say anything. All that matters to me is that the Blackwell line will carry on after my death. Now why don’t you go back to the party? Enjoy the simple life while you can.”

Kish did as I suggested and walked out of my office. I neglected to mention the target now on her back, from family and otherwise, who would be jealous of her new fortune, but what’s life without a few surprises? As she left I noticed Christian was lingering by the door, no doubt listening in. Let him be jealous I say. Few things brought me as much enjoyment as the misery of lesser men.

---

Later that evening, after the family left (or maybe they were still here, this wasn’t something I bothered knowing), I continued sitting in my office, reading under lamplight, my premonition still strong. It wouldn’t be long before it came true. Someone else walked in the room, silence pistol in hand, and before I could react, the bullet pierced my heart.

My last thought? Maybe I should have bothered to spend time with my grandchildren.

<Previous – Next>

By the time we finally arrived, after Aunt Catherine picked us up from god knows where in northeast Georgia, it was almost 5PM. I was prepared for a drama-filled evening, but what I didn’t know was that within 24 hours my grandfather would be dead.

It was surreal pulling up to my grandparents’ house for the first time all these years. To be honest I’d never expected to ever come here again, not after the way my extended family had fractured, and how my grandfather openly showed disdain for all of my relatives.

The house itself was almost closer to a mansion in terms of size. It was a plantation house that was about four times bigger than anywhere I could remember living. It had been in the Blackwell family for generations. Since my grandfather’s grandfather I think. Despite the age of the building, it was obviously well maintained and the white paint was still pristine. The driveway was already packed with five other cars, two of which, were obviously more expensive than the rest, and presumably belonged to granddad and grandmom.

As the three of us got out of the car grandmom rushed out to greet us, as kind and sweet as she was when I was a kid. From there we were led into the massive house and thus began a seemingly endless parade of relatives. Uncles and aunts and cousins who I didn’t remember and almost instantly forgot the names and faces of. The most distinguishing things I remember are that one uncle was a total redneck and the other was a pretentious “city slicker” as the first uncle constantly pointed out. There was also one cousin, I think from uncle number two, who had a s***-eating grin the entire time and I think tried to hit on me? Aunt Catherine almost instantly bolted for the eggnog, and it wasn’t long before Grayson did the same. For once in my life, I was envious.

It was thirty minutes of awkward tedium before my grandfather finally emerged. His eyes lit up upon seeing me, almost triggering my fight or flight response. The 79-year-old man with a Santa Claus beard and a cane to support himself approached me at the fastest possible speed he was capable of. “Kish, my beloved grandaughter, I’ve so been looking forward to seeing you.”

My jaw dropped. The room fell deathly silent. Everyone in the room stared in our direction. If an extraterrestrial had suddenly teleported in front of me, it wouldn’t be even half as surprising, or terrifying.

For a moment, I’m too stunned for words. “Uh… it’s nice to see you too grampa.” I finally blurted out.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Why don’t you come with me to my office, I have something to discuss with you.”

Honestly, just the fact that he would even acknowledge me was shocking enough, but what happened next managed to be even stranger.

<Previous – Next>

December 24th, 2003

Finally met my husband’s family today. Ever since we moved here from Pusan after Grayson was born I’d wondered about his reluctance to introduce me, even today he seemed reluctant about it. I didn’t understand it! What could be so wrong with them? Ha! One insane day later and I now understand what he was afraid of.

It started normal enough, I was introduced to Bryce’s siblings. Catherine I already knew, she lived not far from us and helped watch the kids occasionally. Turns out she’s the one of the only sane ones of the bunch!

First I met Ricky, the oldest brother, and his wife Grace and two sons, Bailey and Tyler. They were all nice, perfectly polite, but damn if they didn’t all seem like they came straight out of the Florida swamp or something. I don’t think Ricky ever joined in any conversation that wasn’t hunting related, and Tyler was practically nursing Mountain Dew the entire time. Bailey I couldn’t quite figure out… he didn’t really say much of anything the whole time. Standard 13-year old angst or something else? I dread when my kids get to that age. I had a nice conversation with Grace though, and she told me a lot of childhood stories Bryce wold have no doubt been too embarrassed to say.

Bryce’s younger brother, Kevin, was the polar opposite of Ricky, and honestly way worse. Kevin openly wanted nothing to do with the rest of the family and was perfectly content making his discontent known in front of everyone. He also seemed to think very highly of himself, obviously assuming he was the smartest person in the room. When I was telling his wife, Holly (who was nice enough, but a bit cold), about growing up in Pusan, he kept interrupting me with unrelated facts or “correcting” me whenever he thought I said something wrong. Even if he was wrong and I corrected him, he still acted like he was in the right. Smug bastard, I could have punched him. He has two kids, Kinsey and Christian, both almost teenagers and both well behaved, at least while their parents were watching. Christian especially showed a much lighter side when it was just him, the other kids and me, telling jokes and laughing. Even when his father’s back was turned he’d smile knowingly when Kevin went on some pretentious tangent, even winking at me once.

Finally we have Bryce’s mom and dad. The mom was very warm and nice, she’s the other sane one. George Blackwell on the other hand… the father, was easily the most eclectic of the bunch. The came out of his study exactly three times, and each was even more dramatic than the last. First he came out about an hour after we got there. I’d expected he was going to join us, but all he did was walk in the room, look at us without saying anything, and then go back into his study. The second time was when it was time to eat. He again said nothing for the longest time, merely grabbing a large amount of turkey and dressing and nothing else. He sat silently at the table eating until he decided to interrupt one of Kevin’s political monologues by refuting every point he made and calling him stupid. Later he made an odd, creepy “joke” asking Bryce how much he had paid for me in Korea. After eating he returned to his study, leaving his plate on the table. Finally towards the end of the visit he came out to argue with Kevin again, this time over inheritance. I watched the two men argue pettily for almost an hour before George Blackwell stormed back to the study for the final time, declaring as he did that he was leaving none of his considerable wealth to his children. He was practically a soap opera character.

Bryce apologized when we got home, profusely, but if anything he was the one more upset by it all. Catherine was obviously used to the whole thing, laughing it off, and I merely took in the pure dysfunction of all, but Bryce definitely seemed to be ruminating on some memories he didn’t mention, especially whenever his father came into the picture. I couldn’t even imagine being raised by a man like him. He was the complete opposite of my father, wealthy, yet seemingly indifferent to everyone around him. What does a person like that get out of life? I suppose this was something I’d never understand.

<Previous – Next>

“Do you really think holding the phone up like that is helping?” My sister said as we walked on the side of the road. We’d been walking for a good thirty minutes or so now and still there wasn’t even 4G service. “It’s going to take us forever to get back to civilization.”

I lowered the phone and looked at her. It was true. As far as the eye could see on either side of the road was nothing but oak trees and leaves covering the ground. “Look on the bright side Kish.” I said, attempting to be optimistic. “At least we’re getting exercise. At least this will make an entertaining story a year from now.”

“What about the bright side of me kicking your ass?” She said.

“I’m not going to dignify the “bright side” of an impossibility.” I said.

“Sounds more like you’re scared it’s true.” She said, and laughed we traded jabs back and forth as we usually did before she became quiet again.

“Something on your mind?”

She hesitated. “I just… You ever just look at the forest and think, ‘what if I just started running’, and then you kept running into it, further and further to the point where even you don’t know where you are? Hypothetically I mean. Like you’d just disappear from the world, live off the land, nobody would know what happened to you, if you were even alive.”

Kish had changed a lot since that thing two years ago. Before then we were practically inseparable, even when we didn’t want to be. Now we were so busy we hardly had time to talk to each other. In some ways she was still the same crazy girl, but in others it was like I hardly knew her. “What are you running away from? Hypothetically of course.”

She shrugged. “Myself I guess. But I suppose no matter how deep into the forest I was, I still couldn’t escape that.”

Kish was more right about that than she knew. Not even death could allow a person to escape themselves. The body would change, but underneath, the soul was the same, forever.

“You okay?” I said, finally cutting to the heart of the matter.

“Yeah, I’m good. It’s just…” She closed her eyes as she thought. “I’ll tell you after the big family Christmas thing. Promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” I said, patting her shoulder. “Don’t forget, I’ve got your back.”

“I’ve got your back too big dummy.” She said. “Don’t forget, you’d be truly lost without me.”

“You’re right. Speaking of which…” I pulled my phone back out to check again. “Ha! We finally have service.”

“Thank god. I’m ready to get the hell out of here.” She said as the phone rang.

Aunt Catherine answered. “Hey, where are you?”

I laughed.” Hey, so you’re not going to believe what happened…”

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