Page 189 of Serenity Falls

‘If you want to give it to Davey, you should,’ I say.

He nods. ‘He’s a good young man.’

‘He is.’

‘I’m so thankful God brought him back to me.’

I stare at him. ‘God didn’t bring him back. Serena did. You should thank her.’

Sadie isn’t in the house when I get back. Momentarily, panic swamps me. And then I realize the sliding doors are open and I can hear noises from the pool. I walk outside and find her, floating on her back in the aquamarine water.

‘Wow!’ I stare at her in shock. ‘You’re … in the pool.’

She swims lazily over to the side. ‘Yeah, I thought I should finally give it a go, before we leave.’

I raise my eyebrows. ‘It’s come through?’

She nods to a brown envelope on the patio table. ‘Frances brought it over this morning, after you left.’

I wander over and open the envelope. Inside, all the legal documents and the deeds to the house.

I turn. ‘It’s ours. We can sell. We can leave.’

‘Apparently so.’

We’re free. I smile. And in the corner of my eye, I see a figure. Long dark hair in a ponytail, a slightly sad smile.

Perhaps we’re never entirely free. Of our past. Of ghosts. Seems like they often find a way to tell their stories. Miller will learn that too.

Epilogue

Rain spatters the window of the bus.

It’s stuffy and hot, damp bodies crammed against each other, wet brollies and macs dripping on the grubby floor. There’s a ripe aroma of sweat, stale alcohol and the inevitable McDonald’s that someone, somewhere, is eating.

I catch the Number 61 home a couple of evenings a week from the city-centre apartment where I’m currently tutoring a student. Most of my private tutoring is over Zoom, but some pupils benefit from seeing me in person. Parking is bad around this area, and the bus is generally quicker, although possibly less comfortable than driving, at rush hour.

Besides, Sadie has my car. Now she’s passed her test she takes it to her part-time job at a trendy bar/diner. She doesn’t finish till 2 a.m. and taxis would eat away at her meagre wages. Plus, I feel less worried if she has her own transport and she usually drops her best friend home on the way.

I quite like taking the bus, despite the crush, the smell, oh, and there it is – the sound of someone listening to loud bass music on their headphones. There’s something comfortingly mundane about a bus trip. And mundane is my new happy place.

My stop is up next, so I ring the bell and worm my way out of the crush of wet commuters. I hop off the bus straight into a puddle. It’s a five-minute walk – or squelch – down the street from the bus stop to our home, a handsome, bay-fronted property in a posh suburb that we could only dream of living in before Serenity, or ‘before insanity’, as I sometimes joke. Although not often. Even three years on, it’s still a little too raw. Sadie and I don’t talk about Serenity Falls much. We’ve both attempted to leave it in the past, like the rotting entrails of a bad nightmare. Gone, but not quite forgotten.

Surprisingly, the house in Serenity Falls sold in just a few weeks. It’s funny how many people want to buy a place in the notorious town where the people running it tried to kill the residents. That was the official story. Killing people for their money. The Mafia might have been involved too. They usually are.

The Conservators, the Hub, ‘the Flood’ were all contained. Lorraine and Freya will spend the rest of their lives in a secure facility (no mention of a trial). Somewhere with fitted jackets and nice padded walls, I imagine.

I doubt the truth will ever come out. The people involved are too powerful. The implications too devastating. The whole thing too fucking nuts. For now, Serenity is just a town again. A pretty town with a not so pretty history. People love that shit.

Sadie has stayed in touch with Ellis, who’s remained in Serenity with her dad. Lockhart is head of a new council that is running things now, transforming Serenity Falls into the place it always should have been. Quaint, quirky, imperfect.

Sadie and Ellis talk most nights via Zoom or Facetime. I’m not sure if it’s a romantic relationship or if they’ve settled into just being friends. There are mutterings about Ellis coming to visit at some point next summer. But then, she was also supposed to visit last summer, and the spring before that. I’m not holding my breath, but I don’t say this to Sadie.

Sadie has a new bunch of friends, at university and work. She’s studying media and communications, and she seems happy, settled and remarkably unscarred by our experience. However, I know she doesn’t sleep well, and sometimes I’ll catch her staring absently into space, an odd look on her face, and I know she’s revisiting. I do the same.

For my part, I occasionally receive a text from Hailey or Davey. He moved in with his cousin and grandmother. He helps Hailey care for May, and Hailey says his presence has helped her condition.

‘She knows who he is – and she knows she isn’t crazy.’