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“Don’t worry about it, in fact, don’t go out there tonight, okay?” I say in a much-too-calm voice that has all of them watching me with concern. “Just take us home please.”
The sheriff doesn’t question as he drives us back, but I have a feeling if we don’t hurry this task up, he’ll figure it out.
But I’ll go to jail for desecrating a grave if it keeps my Raven safe.
As soon as he parks in front of the house, I’m moving, skipping the house altogether and heading for the barn. I can vaguely hear them reassuring Leo I’m fine.
But nothing is fine.
They reach me the moment I find a few shovels, grabbing them and our jug of gasoline, and heading for the car, loading it all in the trunk before going into the house to grab our matches and salt.
“Jayce,” Lucien cautions, but I slide behind the wheel, refusing to listen.
“In or out,” I warn them as I start the engine. Everyone dives in. It’s not like my plans aren’t obvious, they simply have to choose to join or not.
When the doors close behind them, I head out. It’s a small town and I vaguely remember a cemetery behind the old church in town.
“Someone use those fancy phones of yours and find this man’s last name. I won’t go to hell for burning someone’s sweet uncle’s bones,” Lucien mutters.
If I hadn’t shut off my emotions, I might have laughed. At present, my logical side is running on autopilot.
I park the car in the back of the lot, out of the view of the street before climbing out and grabbing the supplies, the others jumping in quickly to help me.
If anyone were to see us, we’d look like grave robbers, shovels and matches in hand.
“The last name is Carter. Daniel Carter,” Eli supplies. I nod in acknowledgment before hurrying off into the bulk of the headstones. My eyes scan each one, stopping anytime I see a Carter and scanning the stones around it before moving on.
In the back corner of the cemetery, we find the stone. It’s eroded with moss and unkempt, a forgotten corner. He was just as hated in death as in life it seems.
Lucien and I start digging in silence, Eli and Raven keep watch. Years of being underground have helped the grave rise, the local flooding from years back aiding in the dig, making it quick work to reach the eroding coffin underneath.
Lucien and I climb from the hole we’ve dug and I slam the blade of my shovel into the top, the old wood giving way after only a few hits, exposing the bones underneath.
“He’s here,” Raven says, voice quivering. “Hurry.”
Eli jumps into action, pouring gasoline into the hole quickly. Raven is there a second later, throwing matches into the now wet pile of wood and bones.
The flames catch quickly and we step back, watching the inferno take hold. A cold wind howls and bites at our skin. The last attempts of Daniel Carter to save his soul from oblivion.
Footsteps have us turning, guilty looks on my family’s faces though I know mine is a mask of indifference.
“What the hell are you doing?” Leo hisses as he approaches. “I got a call about someone out here.”
“Making sure he can’t possess anyone else,” I explain. “It had to be done. We’ll bury it again when it’s over.”
Leo starts to say something but trails off, unable to fight the truth there. Daniel caused the woman he loved to die, nearly killed us, and did kill countless others. What could anyone say to refute that?
He walks away then, leaving us to do our job and return to his. There is likely a mountain of paperwork waiting for him at the station.
The flames burn on for longer than I expect but when the bones have turned to ash and shards, we cover them in the remaining salt and bury the coffin again.
As we walk away from the cemetery, there is a lightness in the air. A sense of calm I can feel reverberating through my bones and into my soul.
We are finally free. So is Pandora.
Raven
Six months later
