Anathema by Vesper Brooks

Author:Vesper Brooks [Brooks, Vesper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-12-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Amy

I couldn’t think straight. Couldn’t do more than put one foot in front of the other. So far, no one but Merigwyn knew about my mother’s death. If the town found out—I didn’t even want to think about what might happen. I’d seen their reaction when they simply thought she lost control of Anathema. Their reactions upon her death might range anywhere from panic to riot, and I knew without a doubt I’d come under fire. Afterall, I was her daughter. They’d all expect me to do something about it. To fix this. That’s all I amounted to in their eyes anyway. The cleanup crew when the creature made a mess. The handyman who made new sacrifices magically appeared at the wave of a phone.

We used my car to drive to city hall. Normally I’d walk the distance. I preferred walking everywhere on a nice day like this. Our town didn’t span very far, regardless of the direction you took. We didn’t exactly welcome newcomers, considering our dirty little secret. Today, however, I felt safer using my car. I knew the Anathema would come out of the woods during the day now, and though he’d violated the rules of being enclosed, maybe I could still outrun him with a car.

The temporary resident—Merigwyn—sat silently next to me, her lips pursed as she flipped through some sort of journal in her lap. Her hand fiddled continuously with the tree necklace she wore as she read passages and let out little noises. Whether they indicated frustration or interest, I couldn’t tell.

The parking lot appeared pretty empty today, but my heart raced anyway as I tried to go over what I would say to Mrs. Margaret. I needed access to the hidden archives and I didn’t know if I was supposed to use a particular phrase or some secret code to get to them. Mom never taught me that, at least not yet. I only knew they existed and she always said I wasn’t ready for more than that. My mom… Oh God, my mom. I fought the fresh wave of tears that burned my eyes, put the car in park, and took a deep breath. I couldn’t let anyone know that something happened or the whole town might go into a panic.

Merigwyn looked up and glanced around as if waking up from a trance. “It’s very quaint,” she said quietly. “The quiet and small traits of this town appealed to me, when I first applied. If the people here didn’t have this curse hovering over them, I’m sure it would have been a kinder, homier place.”

“When we have festivals or its high noon and it’s been a few weeks since the last death, there’s a nice routine the people here fall into,” I admitted. “They stop avoiding making eye contact with me and just treat me like I’m Amy. Like I’m a girl who grew up here with them. Not like the caretaker of a monster.” I let out a shaky sigh and turned off the car.

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