They grew silent, one by one hanging their heads in defeat.
Within a few moments, they were completely restrained and their chances of getting free without help were non-existent.
“Good luck, fuckers,” Slade called out, laughing as we left them there, the moon watching over them to make sure they never hurt another soul.
Epilogue
CHERRY
Looking around the big round table at my extended family filled me immense joy. I was so happy to be alive, even though I had to live on this side of the veil without Doc, the love of my life.
Once I’d woken up and my head cleared, I knew that my time with Doc had been merely a hallucination, but I still considered that time with him as sacred. He’d always be in my heart, until the day I died.
In the meantime, I had this crew of misfits to keep me company. I was immensely grateful they’d come to take care of me, and if it wasn’t for them, I’d probably still be unconscious, or worse.
We’d all gathered for a party at Slade’s hotel room before they all headed back home. He’d insisted he wanted us to meet his new ghost friends, so there we were having a seance and trying to summon the dead.
“You’re crazy, you know that, right?” I said to him across the table.
He’d found a ouija board somewhere, insisting he needed to meet someone named Zelda. We all knew he was out of his mind, but we loved him so much, we were all playing along.
It almost felt like old times.
Almost.
Grace and Ryder were happily sitting together while Riot and Lacey watched Slade be Slade. Even the kid I had just met, Blade, seemed to fit in perfectly. He sat with Rose in his lap, his arm flung casually around her waist. Maggie and Clem played with Sadie in Lacey’s room, and Maggie was excited about her upcoming graduation trip to Hawaii. Rose had bought a ticket for Tara, too, and they were going together, but definitely coming back home, at least until school started.
“Okay, everyone hold hands,” Slade said.
We followed along, grabbing each other’s hands over the table and exchanging mocking glances, as Slade closed his eyes and began chanting.
“Spirits, come to us tonight under the light of the full moon. We are open to you, opening our hearts and souls to you that you may visit us from the other side.”
He paused, listening before opening one eye in a wrinkled squint and looking around the room. When nothing happened, he continued.
“Spirits, bless us with your presence. We call on you to impart your magical light and um —”
He stopped, then looked down at the book in his lap, reading from a passage in some book he’d bought. “—divine enchantment. We offer you these gifts in exchange.” He let go of Riot’s hand and placed a long, black feather and a small crystal on the table in front of him. “Please accept our offerings and bless us with your presence.”
“Release your hands and place them on the board, please.”
He put his hands on the ouija board in front of him and we all did the same, covering the edges as he continued talking.
The candles on the mantle began flickering and Slade almost jumped for joy.
“You’re here!” He cried out, as excited as a little boy. “Who are you? Please tell us your name!”
He put his hands on the lever, his eyes widening as it began moving. I hadn’t thought this would work at all, but it was amazing to see that lever moving on its own. Slade was barely touching it. We all held our breath as we watched it move down towards the bottom letters.
Slade looked over at us, muttering. “It’s Zelda, I just know it.”
“We’ll see,” Riot said, shaking his head.
The lever kept moving, stopping on the ‘O’.
We all froze, our mouths opened.
“O!” Slade said, just as the lever began moving again. It headed to the ‘L’ and stopped for just a second before continuing to the ‘I’.
“O, L, I…” Slade said, shaking his head.
The lever kept going and we watched in awe. It traveled down to the bottom of the board, stopping at the ‘V’ and then speeding back up towards the ‘E’ and then all the way back down again until it got to the ‘R’ and then it stopped completely.
“Oliver!” Slade cried. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Whoa,” Riot said, shaking his head. “That’s weird.”
“Who’s Oliver?” Rose asked.
“Oh, my god! Look!” Grace said, pointing to the terrace. Our heads turned together and we all gasped when we saw the owl sitting on the iron railing.
“Holy fuck!” Slade said, standing up quickly, his chair flying across the room. He ran towards the balcony, but the owl flew away.
Slade turned back to us with his eyes full of wonder, like a child that had just seen Santa Claus.
“Did you fucking see that?” he exclaimed. We all laughed as he danced around the room. “I told you there were ghosts.”
“That was Oliver, not a ghost,” Riot said. “And come on, we know it wasn’t really him. How could he get across the country? It was just a coincidence!”
“A coincidence, my ass!” Slade insisted. I jumped up to make another drink, giggling, my heart full. I missed these people so much. A good dose of them was just what I needed.
There was just one person missing. It was bittersweet being around them. It made me miss him more.
I walked over to the bar in the corner to refill my glass with whiskey, and felt a slap on my ass. I jumped, then heard a familiar voice whisper in my ear.
“How’d
