Page 50 of Carter

I close my eyes.

There’s an eerie whirring noise and now they’re chanting, Love lives on. Love lives on. Love lives on.

Chill bumps rise on my arms. Their voices are softly rising. I’m not sure I should join in. I kneel quietly, Carter’s hand in my left, Mary’s in my right. I open my eyes just a peek to see where the strange noise comes from.

Rising from the earth in the center of our circle where Bronson had been standing is a huge stone monument. Gray and brown and as old as the Bachmans, it rises up, up, up. My eyes widen, astonished as it comes to its full height of over ten feet, then stops.

Bronson goes to Tess, helping her up, placing his arm around her. He extracts her from Rockland—whose jacket and shirt are wrinkled and damp—and takes her to one of the stone walls. A red-eyed John stands, walking over, the black chamber now in his hands. He stands by Bronson. Bronson removes a stone from the monument, placing in on the ground.

He looks to Tess and waits.

With shaky hands, she tugs at the chain around her neck. The necklace she wore every day since she’d been inducted to the family is now bunched up in her fist. After her wedding to Brett, there would have been the special Bachman-only ceremony where Brett placed it around her neck. A tiny diamond sword signifying his pledge to lay down his life for her.

I can’t imagine her pain as she places it onto the box John holds. With a wail, she releases it, screaming, “Damn you, Brett! How dare you leave me. How dare you—” Her words turn into a choked sob and Rockland appears by her side.

His arm firmly wraps around her waist. She turns, beating her fists on his chest and he takes it.

He doesn’t even flinch.

When she settles, Bronson gives him a nod.

Rockland takes something from his pocket.

A necklace.

I swallow hard.

The hierarchy.

Rockland is Brett’s younger brother. And now, Tess’s guardian if Bronson chooses to enact the hierarchy.

He reaches up, clasping it around her neck.

Tess’s eyes flash. She gives him one dark look, then yanks the chain from her neck, throwing it to the ground.

His face a mask of indifference, he picks the chain up from the ground. Slips it into his pocket. Grasps her arm, hard. She’s wincing. He whispers something into her ear, then pulls her into the crowd. They disappear.

With heavy grief clearly etched on his face, John places the box behind the missing stone. Bronson replaces the stone and the two of them stand there, hands clasped behind their backs as it lowers back into the ground from which it came.

My mind is filled with so many, many questions.

But I push them aside, instead focusing on those next to me. Two people who truly loved the man who’s passed, a man I didn’t know very well. I give both of their hands a loving squeeze.

My knees are starting to ache. My face tight from crying. Of all the inappropriate times to get hungry—damn! I feel a growl rumbling low in my belly.

The family is having a moment of silence.

A fly buzzes by and it’s so quiet the sound of its wings seems like chaos.

No, no, no!

I feel it growing. Rising.

And there it is… a loud rumble.

All eyes fall on me.

The one that’s not supposed to be here.