The cemetery was deserted by 5 o’clock usually, which was the main reason Fable liked to go at that time. All of the day’s funerals were held between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., so by 5 o’clock mourners were usually gone. Only the occasional elderly widow placing flowers on her late husband’s grave stole any of Fable’s solitude.
It had been her other grandmother, Grandmother Mariner, who insisted Fable’s father be buried at Memory Hills in Tuscaloosa. The Mariners didn’t even live in Tuscaloosa, which made it all the more puzzling to Fable as to why her father had to be laid to rest there. Larry Mariner should have been at Blanchard House in the family plot along with Grandfather Sinclair, David Lane, and all the others. Demitra had given in on her mother-in-law’s request, partly out of guilt for Larry’s time being mostly monopolized in life by the Blanchard family. Demitra and Grandmother Mariner never liked each other, maybe it was the guilt from that which made Demitra acquiesce. Whatever the reason, when Fable Blanchard wanted to visit her father, she had to drive into nearby Tuscaloosa to do it. It had been almost a year since she last visited his grave, but after the Patric debacle, Fable needed to feel close to him again.
“So how are they treating you out here?” she asked his headstone as she sat down in the grass. A cool breeze blew past chilling her nose and ears. She was glad she’d worn a sweater. “It's fall now, Dad. Sorry I haven’t been out here to see you for so long. I’ve been going through some things. I guess you know David died. And little Michael. I know you never met them, but if you run into them or their energy out there, just know they’re family.”
She waited for a maintenance guy to finish driving by on a tractor before she continued her talk with her father. “I met someone too,” she continued. “It was this past summer. I liked him a lot, but he turned out to be an asshole. Actually, Dad, he turned out to be a deranged killer. Oh, guess what? Seth and Yazzy are getting married…to each other! Wedding is in a couple of weeks.
“But it’s my life that brings me out here, Dad. I’ve messed it up again. I’m hurting so much.” Tears streamed from her eyes. “I really thought this guy was going to be special. Not that I loved him, exactly. I didn’t even like him that much. He just had a way of drawing me in. It was like being under his spell or something. He was a monster. Literally, Dad.
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“I wonder what you were thinking when you married into this crazy family full of supernatural things. I guess what I’m looking for is a man who can be the way you were. Someone who will love me for me and accept my family the way you always did. Sometimes I get so lonely I think I might die from the loneliness. Beryl doesn’t seem to need people the way I do. I’ve always had Seth and Yazzy to while away the time with. The three of us were single, usually, and didn’t mind because we had each other. Now they have each other, and I’m the third wheel. I feel even more alone. Beryl says there is someone for everyone, although she shows no interest in love. I feel like whoever was out there for me, has lost his way and isn’t coming anymore. Besides, I think it might be too late for me now.”
Fable leaned her cheek against the cold marble headstone. Desperate for some sympathy, needy for someone to talk to, Larry Mariner’s headstone was all she had. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath inward.
“Dad, I have something to tell you. This man, this monster, he was a werewolf. He is a werewolf, I should say. He’s still out there, and he’s still going to come back for me. I’m supposed to be afraid of him, supposed to want to stop him. But, Dad, I don’t know what’s going to happen if and when he returns. You see, Daddy…I’m pregnant. I found out yesterday. And I don’t know what to do.”
Fable placed her hands on the flat of her stomach. There was no baby bump yet but she knew her child was there. There were so many thoughts racing through her mind all at once. Thoughts she never dreamed she’d ever have to consider. Most of her life had been a series of mistakes. Sneaking out to parties when she was grounded, only to be caught coming in late. Falling for the wrong guy and going way further than she should have just to prove she could get him. Using her sardonic wit as the way to garner attention in a family full of kids she never felt equal to. But this...this was a doozy mistake. A kind of mistake an apology or a shift in attitude could not fix.
“What if this is my only chance to ever be a mother? But if I have this baby, what am I a mother of? An innocent baby? A baby werewolf? This child could be the only thing to fill this hole inside my heart. But Dad, what if my baby turns out to be a killer? Will it be able to stop itself? Is there a chance it can be born human? I don’t know anything about how these things work, and I can’t talk to the people who do. Mother, Aunt Artemis, and even Hecate would force me to have an abortion. What if I want to have this baby? What do I do?”
