Fetch (In the Pines Book One) by Meredith Spies

Author:Meredith Spies
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: queer horror, queer paranormal romance, gay romance horror, gay paranormal romance, folk horror, lgbtqia+ paranormal romance, nonbinary horror, nonbinary romance, trans paranormal romance
Publisher: Meredith Spies
Published: 2024-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

I STUMBLED OUT OF MISS Abby’s shack and into a thick fog creeping down the hillside. When I was little, Mom told me ghost stories about miners coming down, searching for their bodies lost in collapses or their homes washed out of valleys when the WPA built dams and shit. It was her way of trying to make me afraid of going up on the hillside alone, I think.

See how well that worked, Mom?

The stench of blood followed me as I headed back the way I came, clutching the calico bag tight, so tight Eli’s finger bones dug into my palm through the fabric. I made it several yards into the dark before my racing thoughts settled, and I was able to take a full breath.

“Stop, Silas,” I muttered. “You’re better than this. You’re not powerless. You’re not some toy for these people to fuck with.”

Looking around, I found a flat, bare patch of earth between the thick roots of a tree and went to crouch down, swinging my backpack off my shoulders. I drew out a little plastic baggie of graveyard dirt labeled Dial M for Murder in Holly’s curling script. Another baggie with nails pried from an old coffin, one with red dust, and another with a dried-out wasp nest were carefully tucked nearby. It was the work of several minutes to make up a bundle with the necessary items I needed, and once done, I hefted it gently in my free hand. I didn’t have time to do a full dressing on it or even let it sit and soak up my energy for a bit, but this would have to do.

Setting it aside, I hesitantly opened the calico bag and looked down at Eli’s finger bones. They were smooth and yellow, those markings on them faint but definitely not a factory original feature. She must have been using them for years, I realized, wondering how she kept them hidden from Eli when he was near. If he could feel the pull of his sundered body down in the mine, why couldn’t he feel those finger bones whenever he’d go to Miss Abby’s?

I set the bones and calico down beside my pack and rummaged for a moment before I found what I was looking for. A little bit of iron filing, a little magnet, one drop of oil from the tiny vial Holly had included, and it was done.

“Eli,” I whispered, holding the pouch in my hands, breathing over it as I spoke. “Eli, come to me.”

And like a fool, I waited in hopeful expectation for a minute or two, wishing magic worked like on those teenager shows where someone just waves a hand or says a word and bam, done.

I knew better.

The magic would work—I had no doubt about it. But it wouldn’t summon Eli out of thin air like some stage show. It wouldn’t be some inexorable pull that forced his feet to turn my way.

He’d find me. The old bones would call to him.

In the meantime, I had to get moving.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.