Grim Business

Epilogue

A year had passed since that fateful day. Phoebe had returned to find her friends all panicking, talking about how the Rift had to be sealed and they weren’t sure that she would make it out in time; luckily, she had. Ethan had been waiting for her at the vet’s office. He had still looked pale and weak, but he kissed her and held her for what felt like hours afterwards.

Things had settled down a great deal since then. Her father had thanked her for what she had done, but assured her that she need not continue working at Grim Inc. for the time being; he hadn’t quite retired, and there was no reason she should give up a normal life just yet. Phoebe had been grateful—as happy as she had been to receive the training she had in order to save her father, she still wanted to go to college, to be a normal girl for a while.

She still assisted on occasion, though, and enjoyed the bonding time she got to have with both her father and Hel.

Things with her friends were great, too. Alaina had ditched her old friends and joined the Gay-Straight Alliance in college, finally gaining the real friends she’d always dreamed of; she was heading a campaign against homophobia in schools that Phoebe had a feeling was going to do its job wonderfully—after all, nobody went against Alaina Williams.

Dru and Rambo had a huge argument about what school they would attend after they finished high school and broke up, but it hadn’t been long before the two started dating again; they were still attending separate schools for college, but were determined to maintain a long-distance relationship. Phoebe was happy for them, and promised to create Shadow Portals when they needed to visit one another.

As for Phoebe and Ethan, their relationship was stronger than ever. They both had gotten into Stanford University and spent all the time they could together, though his numerous extracurricular activities put a big dent in that time. Still, Phoebe was happier than ever; she couldn’t believe what they had survived together, and was determined not to let a busy schedule come between them, since the last time it had, he’d followed her into danger and nearly died.

Despite all of that, Phoebe did still miss her mother and brother. They would always be a big part of her life, she knew, and sometimes, she felt them. She wasn’t sure if it was real, or if it was just her imagination, but whenever things got difficult, she felt their presences at her shoulder.

In the end, Phoebe’s life had finally truly become perfect, thank you very much, and she had ended up handling her Grim Business quite beautifully after all.