Escaping Darkness (Book 6): The Shadows

by Richards, E. S.

  “About an hour,” Mia replied with a smile on her face. “We’ve been lucky with the roads this morning. Shouldn’t be long now.” She didn’t look back at the boys behind her as she spoke, the smile on Mia’s face giving away exactly how she felt. She was excited. For a woman her age, she didn’t often feel like this, but driving along the final stretch of road before her house made her feel like a child again, waiting for something big to happen. Her spirits were high, and she was forcing herself to believe that she would find everything in good condition, her parents and her adopted children sitting happily around the kitchen table or playing games upstairs in the den. Those were the thoughts she entertained as she continued to drive, focusing on happy memories and making herself picture a good future in her head.

  It wasn’t long before that picture started to become a reality.

  “Oh, wow…”

  “What?” Jadon asked, looking over at Mia and then peering out of the windscreen ahead of them. “Is that it?”

  Mia nodded. Ahead of them, at the end of the dirt road she had taken just over a mile back, was the house she’d grown up in. The farmhouse looked a lot worse than she remembered, the roof having visibly collapsed at one part and the exterior looking battered and beaten by the wind and weather. She gripped the steering wheel tighter as she drove toward it, her mouth filling with saliva and forcing her to swallow as a mixture of anticipation and nerves filled her stomach. There was a light on in one of the downstairs windows so she could tell that someone was home, but for some reason that didn’t make Mia feel any better. The excitement was gone and all of a sudden, she felt an overwhelming urge to just stop the car and put off her return a little longer. What if everything wasn’t as she imagined it? What if everything had changed?

  “Hey,” Jadon smiled at her from the passenger seat, touching her arm gently and distracting Mia from her thoughts. “Are you okay?”

  “Mmhmm,” Mia replied absentmindedly, glancing over at Jadon and flashing him the fakest smile he’d ever seen.

  “It’ll be okay, Mia. You don’t need to worry.”

  “You sure about that?” Mia answered slowly, narrowing her eyes as she saw the unfamiliar P. J. Wilson Construction truck parked up along the side of the farmhouse, pulling the Jeep to a halt between it and the barn. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Jadon tried to reassure her, seeing how Mia’s hand shook as she turned the engine off. “Trust me.”

  Pursing her lips, Mia forced out a nod. She was grateful to be back home, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad had happened, that there was something big she had missed. Inhaling deeply, she knew there was nothing for it but to go inside and find out for herself. She’d been traveling for weeks to get to this moment. All that was left was for her to seize it and find out the truth.

  “Are we all going in? Or do you want to do it alone?”

  Marcus’s question hung in the air, Mia uncertain how to respond at first. Eventually she pulled her gaze away from the familiar plot of land and looked at the three boys instead. They had stuck by her side since the very first day, helping her through moments when she didn’t think success was possible. She wanted them by her side when she opened the door to the farmhouse again. She needed them there.

  “Let’s go together,” she replied with a smile. “Pass me one of those filtration masks.”

  It only took a few seconds for the four of them to be ready, even Jesse gritting his teeth and moving without complaint as they exited the vehicle, Mia leading the small group to the front door. The fact that no one had come out to greet them spoke volumes to her, but Mia didn’t have the energy to guess why. She didn’t want to come up with any more theories or possibilities, she just needed to walk in and see what was going on for herself. Putting her hand on the door handle, she twisted it and attempted to walk inside, finding the door locked. Frowning, she lifted her hand, knocking and waiting like a visitor instead.

  “Who is it?” a male voice sounded out through the door a moment later, a voice that she didn’t recognize. “Who’s there?”

  “Who are you?” Mia barked back immediately, quickly on the defensive as she had been expecting to hear one of her parents’ voices. “This is my house. What are you doing in there?”

  A fumbling sound resonated from inside the farmhouse, a few things being moved around and scraping along the floor. No one replied though, which made Mia feel uncomfortable. Remembering the weapons they had in the Jeep, she quickly wished they’d thought to bring one with them. Standing outside in the cold, Mia started to feel very vulnerable.

  “Hello?” a different voice called out from inside now, a softer, more familiar voice that made Mia go weak in the knees. “Who’s there?”

  “Chase!” Mia blurted out his name like a desperate plea, his voice filling her with such sudden emotion. “It’s me. It’s Mia. Let me in.”

  “Mia!” The fumbling on the other side of the door became exaggerated, the sound of someone struggling to quickly move things out of the way and get the door open carrying outside as Mia waited in the cold to see her adopted son again. She was already over the moon to hear his voice again and to know that he was still safe at the farmhouse. Seeing him was almost too much for her.

  But as the door pulled open and Chase’s face was revealed, Mia felt like she might explode. Throwing her arms around the teenage boy, she buried her face in his shoulder, holding him tight and squeezing until there was no breath left in either of them. He felt like home. He felt like happiness.

  “Jeez, Mia,” Chase breathed, barely able to process that his aunt was back home. “Where have you come from? How did you get here?”

  Mia didn’t know where to start. Jadon and Marcus quickly followed her inside, Jesse supported between them as the injured boy was still weak and woozy from the medication he was on. Looking past Chase, Mia noticed two older men—closer to her in age—standing at the back of the room. She analyzed them quizzically, curious how they ended up in her house.

  “Where’s Riley?” Mia asked, ignoring Chase’s concerns and questions about her. “And Mom and Dad?”

  Chase bit his lip. He paused just long enough for Mia to know something was wrong. She knew this boy better than he knew himself sometimes, and Chase Clarke had a very obvious tell. He didn’t make eye contact with her, faltering just for a second but still enough to give the game away.

  “What’s happened? What’s wrong?”

  “Mia,” Chase started, no idea how to tell his aunt that her father had died. He looked up at her with big, apologetic eyes and tried to convey what had happened without words. He just couldn’t bring himself to explain it. He didn’t know what to say.

  “Mia? Is that really you?”

  Turning around, Mia faced the direction of the new voice, seeing her mother standing in the doorway, looking upon her like a ghost. Much like how Mia had reacted when she first saw Chase, Linda was now in awe of the sight before her, struggling to believe that her daughter had found her way home.

  “Mom!”

  The embrace between the two of them was blissful. Mia felt like she was fifteen again, wrapping her arms around her mom when something went wrong and absorbing the older woman’s strength, love, and power. She held her mom firmly now, knowing that she couldn’t be a child. She had come back home to help her family and she was determined to see that through.

  “What’s wrong?” Mia whispered as her mother pulled away from her, silent tears rolling down her wrinkled cheeks. “Mom, what’s happened? Please. You’re scaring me.”

  “Oh, Mia,” Linda sniffed, her voice barely audible as she confessed the truth to her last remaining child. “It’s your dad. He didn’t make it.”

  Mia stared at her mother with wide eyes, hearing her words yet not quite believing them. “What?” She asked, shaking her head. “What do you mean?”

  “He’s dead, Mia,” Linda replied, the words physically causing her pain. “Jerry is dead.�
�

  Now Mia believed them. She didn’t know how to react, wishing the floorboards would swallow her and everything would disappear, allowing her to wake up and discover that this was nothing more than a horrible nightmare. But she wasn’t going anywhere. This was real. Her father was dead.

  As her bottom lip started to quiver and her eyes grew wet, Mia managed to utter one more word. “When?”

  “Yesterday,” Linda replied after a moment. “He held on as long as he could, darling. He knew you’d make it home eventually.”

  Mia felt like she had been punched in the throat. Yesterday. If she had been just one day earlier then she would have found her father still alive. She might have been able to make a difference; she might have been able to help save him. But she was too late. After everything she had gone through—everything she had done—she was still too late. It was heartbreaking and Mia didn’t know how to react. Despite everything she had done to return home, now that she was there, she felt like she had failed.

  Chapter 12

  Standing outside in the falling snow, with Riley and Chase on either side of her, Mia wished they could’ve been reunited under better circumstances. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the hole in the ground they had spent the last three hours digging, the frozen ground proving a challenge to all of them, everyone agreeing that the hole needed to be dug nonetheless. The grave needed to be dug.

  Jerry Clarke deserved a proper burial. His family stood and watched as Blake, Vic, Leo, Marcus, Jadon, and Jesse worked together to carry his body out of the farmhouse in a respectful and gentle manner, marching the body bag made crudely out of blankets and an old shower curtain over to the freshly dug grave and lowering it inside. The process was over quickly, but that didn’t make it any less painful as the man of the house was laid to rest just a few feet from the front door. He had loved the farmhouse; it was at least poetically justified that he would be with it forevermore.

  With Jerry’s body out of sight, Mia knew that now was the time for someone to say a few words about her father. Looking over at her mom, Mia could see right away that Linda wasn’t able to talk. Tears slid silently down her cheeks as she stared into the grave, the woman broken in two over the loss of her husband. Clearing her throat quietly, Mia stepped forward slightly. Words needed to be said, and they needed to be said quickly. Not only was it incredibly heartbreaking being outside for the funeral, the temperature was also dangerously low, and Mia didn’t want to put her mother, Riley, or anyone else in any danger of getting sick.

  “Dad didn’t deserve to die like this,” Mia began, drawing everyone’s attention in her direction as her words cut through the icy, silent atmosphere. “He was a proud man, and a successful one too. He loved his family with all his might, and he did everything within his power to make life easier for those around him. He will be sorely missed.”

  Pausing in her eulogy, Mia realized she didn’t know what she wanted to say next. Nothing seemed adequate all of a sudden, the volcanologist never having a special way with words and worrying that she might say the wrong thing. Feeling a strong hand on her shoulder, she turned to her right and saw Chase giving her an encouraging smile. He squeezed it and nodded very slightly, showing his maturity and understanding even in this incredibly difficult time.

  Mia smiled back at her adopted son and opened her mouth to speak again, his support giving her the will to carry on. “I wasn’t there at the end, but if I had been, I know what he would’ve wanted to say. Mom,” Mia paused, waiting for her mother to look up from the ground and make eye contact with her. “You were the light of his life. He loved you more than anything I’ve ever seen before and you meant absolutely everything to him. I know he would’ve hated to leave you, but I know he would’ve died believing that you were strong enough to take care of yourself. You’re more than just his wife, Mom. You’re a mother and a grandmother, and a fantastic one at that. We’ll miss Dad every day, but I know that we can keep on living—keep on surviving—because we still have you with us. Together, we can get through this.”

  Linda swallowed back a sob that threatened to escape from her throat, her eyes now watering for another reason. Mia’s words truly touched her, and she forced them to sink in, processing them and believing them. Her daughter was right. Jerry may be dead, but there were still other people she loved who were worth fighting for. She couldn’t just give up now and let her sorrow consume her. Linda had to keep fighting and make sure that no one else in her family went the same way as her husband.

  “Thank you,” she mouthed to Mia, appreciating the kind words.

  Mia returned her mother’s smile, bringing her to the end of the short eulogy and the close of the little ceremony. Turning her head to Blake and the others standing by the grave, Mia nodded in their direction and those of them with shovels all solemnly swiveled and started to shovel dirt back into the grave. Jerry’s body was slowly covered by the earth, returning the small patch of yard to a relatively normal appearance. None of them would ever be able to forget who was buried there though. They planned to erect a gravestone in the coming days. For now, the raised mound of dirt was evidence enough. There lay Jerry Clarke, husband, father, grandfather, and hero.

  As the family and friends made their way back inside, Chase hung back to enter the house again with Leo, Vic, and Marcus who brought up the rear. The non-family members had all volunteered for their part in Jerry’s burial, happy to help out and make the process easier for everyone else. Still, Chase saw it as his responsibility to thank them. His grandfather was dead now, just like his father. By default, that made him the man of the house, and even though he was only sixteen, Chase was determined to act appropriately.

  “Thank you.” He bowed his head graciously to the three of them as they stomped the snow from their boots and entered through the kitchen door. “I really appreciate your help, guys. I know Mia and my grandma do as well.”

  “Please don’t thank us, my friend,” Vic replied with a shake of his head. “It is an honor to be a part of your family’s goodbye. We are all just happy we could make the process a little easier on the four of you.”

  “Yeah, don’t mention it,” Leo added, his response slightly less eloquent while bearing the same exact message. “We’re here for you, man, anything we can do to help.”

  “Anything,” Marcus echoed, not as close to Chase as the other two were and so taking the three shovels and returning them to the mudroom while everyone else went into the front room to warm up by the fire.

  “Do you want me to brew a pot of coffee, Grandma?” Chase asked, concerned about the chill that had likely sunk into the old woman’s bones from standing in the snow.

  “Good idea,” Mia replied to him. “I’ll give you a hand.”

  While everyone else found a seat in the front room—though leaving the area where Pop used to lie untouched—Mia and Chase worked beside each other in silence in the kitchen, brewing some coffee and finding some food for the ten of them to eat. The pantry was growing scarcer by the day, their limited food rations not going unnoticed by anyone. Pretty soon something was going to have to change, or they were going to have to find more food from somewhere.

  “We’ve got some things in the Jeep that can be brought in,” Mia remarked, she and the three college boys having stopped off several times when the saw appropriate places they could stock up from on the drive over. “Though I imagine they’ll need a fair bit of it for their journey up to Philly.”

  “When are they planning to go?”

  “I’m not sure,” Mia shrugged. “Jesse’s shoulder is still pretty bad, so I think they’ll rest up here for a couple of days first. I’d like them to, at least. They’re all good guys, Chase. They can help us out here.”

  “I know,” Chase nodded. “And we need all the help we can get. I’m not sure how we’re all going to survive this, Mia.”

  Mia regarded the sixteen-year-old boy in front of her with a cautious gaze. She had yet to catch up with the kids or her moth
er about what had happened to them during the time she’d been away, though she had quickly learned that her family hadn’t been together the whole time. She needed to gather more information about that time, but Jerry’s death had quite rightly taken precedence. Thankfully, they now had nothing except time to talk and grow closer as a family. It was time Mia had been waiting for and time that she was determined to make the most of.

  “We will,” she replied confidently. “Think of everything we’ve been through Chase; think of everything we’ve all accomplished. If we can do that apart, there’s no reason why we can’t do even better together.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Chase decided. “Man, I’m glad you’re back, Mia. I really missed you.”

  “I missed you too, kiddo. Every single day.” Wrapping her arms around Chase, Mia squeezed him tight and hoped that she was offering some level of comfort to the boy. She meant exactly what she’d said to him: there was no reason why her family couldn’t get through whatever was thrown at them now. As a unit, they were already very well equipped to deal with loss following the death of Brogan and Lauren. Losing Jerry was never going to be easy, but Mia knew they could all take it in stride and not let it hold them back.

  “Sorry there’s not much,” Mia declared to the room as she and Chase entered the front room a few minutes later and put down the pot of coffee and small pan of pasta and canned tomatoes that they’d cooked up. “That pantry has definitely seen better days.”

  “It’s cool, Mia,” Jadon replied with a smile. “I’ll go out to the Jeep in a bit and get the stuff out of there. That should help for a few days.”

  Mia smiled at her friend, knowing how sorry she would be to eventually see him and the others leave. “Thanks,” she replied, “you guys will need most of it for your drive though., We can’t take too much. Speaking of, how’s your shoulder, Jesse? Do you need any more painkillers?”