Chapter 334: 'Bye, Al

One last grief.

I hesitated in the funeral home parking lot, not sure I could keep moving after all. Mom's hand took mine, squeezed gently and I squeezed back. She'd come, no questions asked, just showing up that morning in the kitchen, and held me while I cried and fought to pull myself together.

I hadn't seen Alison's ghost since the Dumont's attack and hoped her echo moved on. But for now, in the moment standing outside the place of the dead, I felt like the echo.

"You don't have to do this." Mom waited, as patient as ever. "Syd."

I nodded, snuffling a little. "Yes," I said, "I do."

My feet crunched over the asphalt, the small stones poking my feet through my shoes, anchoring me to the ground. My demon hummed softly in her sadness, Shaylee singing a gentle lament over and over again. As much as it could have been annoying, I took great comfort from the two of them and welcomed their pain into mine.

Some things were better shared.

Beth and Simon stood in the entry of the squat