Evenfall

Hooked

Today (Late Afternoon)

The cemetery was very large. Theo clutched the paper with his aunt's directions in his hands and sat tense in the passenger seat, leaning forward to look over the dash. Wide expanses of grass were dotted with marbled gray headstones, matte for the most part but sometimes glossy and flashing beneath the hot afternoon sun. Among them were bright spots of color from wreaths, bouquets, and striped American flags that hung limp in the dead air. A few old, lumbering oaks and mausoleums towered over the rest of the residents.

This was a place of silence. Theo was not sure if he was afraid or not. The dead were quite different from demons, who shrieked and moaned and begged for attention at all times. They were silent and often forgotten. He had pushed his parents right out of his life and had not heard a peep from them since. Even his memories were hazy save a few select moments. Silent.

But every single gravestone had a shadow. The sun no longer hung directly overhead but was nearly halfway through its descent. So, the shadows were stretching ever longer. But in such a vast open space, they did not seem as intimidating as in the alleys between tall buildings. Besides, demons would not want to come here. They do not wish to possess decaying, silent bodies.

"Do you think that there are any demons here?" Theo asked for Abel's opinion.

He did not answer right away, instead focusing on pulling the car to the side of the gravel driveway because they had apparently arrived. Abel knew this without having to look at the directions slowly being crumpled in Theo's hands because he was the type of person who could hear instructions once and remember them perfectly. Capable.

The car slowed to a stop, and he put it into the park. Then, with his lips pressed together, he looked at Theo. It was the look he had whenever he was deciding how to word what he was going to say because he thought it might upset Theo. Who so very often was easily upset.

"It just would be nice," Theo said by way of explanation, which would probably make him look even crazier, but Abel never got mad at him when he rambled, "if after we died, they would leave us alone."

Abel hummed. "Are you worried that demons are bothering your parents?"

Theo swallowed. He did not know. Even when Abel popped open his door and got out of the car, he stayed frozen in his seat. When Abel knocked on the passenger window, he stared straight ahead and ignored him, heart hammering in his chest. The passenger door opened.

"If you don't want to do this, you don't have to," Abel crouched beside him, shoes crunching in the gravel. "I can just put the flowers on their grave for you."

"I should..." Theo started and stopped, then started again, "I never..." Then blew out a frustrated breath. "I should say goodbye."

Abel was chewing on his lip. Theo watched him out of the corner of his eye as he carefully reached forward, telegraphing his movement, to place his hand over Theo's. The paper instructions now lay shredded all over his lap.

"Okay," Abel said in his low, soothing voice, which meant he wanted Theo to trust him implicitly, even if Theo did not feel like he could. "I think that when you visit your parents, you should have the right mindset, or you might regret it, so I just want to check in with you. You know that the demons are not real, right?"

Theo did not. But he understood what Abel meant. He wanted to make sure Theo knew they were in his head and not real to other people. That he was not having one of his episodes where he was more in his head than in the present and was liable not to remember much of what they did.

He nodded.

"All right," Abel continued in his soothing tone. "Just...we can always come back tomorrow before leaving town if you would rather."