Part 36 (1/2)

He pressed the machete right through Mattius.

So far that it pushed out of his back.

And then, he let go of the handle, stood up, and walked away.

Mattius tried to move, but he couldn't. He tried to talk, but he was too much in pain, too much in shock.

So all he did was think about his wife, his Ca.s.sandra.

All he did was think about holding her withered hand.

Kesha, resting on her lap.

The pair of them smiling, happy, all over again.

He thought these nice thoughts as the darkness surrounded him and the blood filled his lungs.

But the last thing he saw was the dead eyes of the girl and the woman he'd killed. Chlo. Jordanna.

And as much as he resisted, that terror chased him into the darkness, and...

Riley walked away from Mattius' body.

He felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Not because he'd killed Mattius. Not because he'd got his own revenge. But because he'd settled the score. He'd made things right with Jordanna and Chlo.

And now, when he looked around at Mattius' blood-soaked, dying body, he saw Jordanna and Chlo by his side.

They looked back at Riley, and they smiled.

Riley looked back at them, and he smiled too.

He felt a twinge in his right arm. He looked down and saw he was bleeding from the bite wound. He'd have to get it seen to fast. He wasn't for using Kesha's blood to heal himself. It didn't seem morally right.

But h.e.l.l. He was going to have to survive. Because he had a duty now.

To protect Kesha.

To protect her, no matter what.

When he stepped outside the hatch, he saw Melissa and Carly. Carly had Kesha in her arms, and she was looking down at her with a smile on her face.

But there were two more people, too.

He stopped. Stopped right in his tracks.

One of them was one of Mattius' people. The guy with the dark curly hair. Ricky.

But there was someone else by his side.

When Riley saw her, he thought of the ghosts he'd let go of. He thought of the weight that had lifted from his shoulder when Chlo had disappeared, and when Jordanna had disappeared. He'd felt the finality to that, when he'd killed Mattius. Like they weren't going to haunt him anymore.

But she was still standing opposite him.

”Riley?” she said.

As the seconds pa.s.sed, Riley's heart started racing. Reality started to disintegrate, somewhat. He couldn't process what he was looking at. He couldn't understand what was happening.

Only that this wasn't a ghost in front of him.

This wasn't a ghost at all.

This was real.