“Dangerous how?” I asked, keeping my voice soft. “You keep saying things like that, but you never explain. It’s just a bonfire, Mom.”
She exhaled slowly. “Nothing in this town is‘just’anything.”
I blinked, absorbing the weight of her words. “Okay… what does that mean, though? Are you saying this full moon thing is more than just s’mores and bad acoustic guitar music?”
Her lips twitched in the ghost of a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I know it sounds ridiculous. And I know how it looks. But this town… it has a history. Our family has a history here.”
My breath caught. “You mean you and Dad?”
She hesitated. “Before that, too. Before I met your father.”
“But why? He hasn’t done anything—”
“He doesn’t have to,” she snapped, then caught herself, softening on the exhale. “Listen. Bolton Sharpe’s family has been part of this mountain for generations. They know things. They do things. Things I left behind a long time ago.”
I swallowed hard. “But… you came back.”
Her lips twitched, not into a smile, but something closer to defeat. “To protect you. Not to get tangled in their world again. After so many years of running, this was the one place I thought they wouldn't look for us—because they’d never believe I’d be foolish enough to return.”
I stared at her. “Running from who, Mom? The Sharpes? Or something worse?” My voice dropped, but the edge in it remained sharp. “You act like they’re dangerous, but you never say why. What are you not telling me?”
She didn’t answer at first. Just looked down at her hands, as if the truth was buried in the lines of her palms. “So you were part of it?” I asked, quieter now. “Whatever it is the Sharpes are involved in?”
“I was part of something once,” she said slowly and carefully. “And it cost me everything.”
The air between us shifted like the silence itself had leaned in, waiting.
I didn’t want to argue anymore.
I wanted to understand.
“Was Dad part of it?” I whispered.
Her eyes filled, but the tears didn’t fall. Her voice trembled at the edges. “Your father had a heart bigger than this entire town. He believed in things I couldn’t. In people I was taught not to trust.” She looked at me then. “It got him killed.”
I stood there, heartpounding.
Not just because of what she said.
But because, deep down, I already believed it.
AND NOW, I had to find out what else she hadn’t told me.
I stood frozen, the words echoing in my chest like a dropped stone in a deep well. “People you were taught not to trust? Who? What people?”
Her gaze dropped to the floor, but I saw her shoulders stiffen, like she was bracing herself against ghosts. “People whose lives don’t look like ours. Who live by different rules. Who come from old traditions.”
“You mean the Sharpes,” I said, my voice low.
Her silence was confirmation enough.
“You’re not just talking about their wealth or their status, are you?” I stepped forward, my heart thudding. “You think they’re dangerous.”
“I know they are,” she whispered.
“Because of who they are?” I pressed.
She looked up again, and this time her eyes searched mine, as if she was trying to measure whether I was ready for the truth. “Because of what they’ve sworn to protect. Because of the power they answer to. Because once you step into their world, Maya, it doesn’t let you go.”
