Brave Grave

Chapter twenty-two

Sharon's black four inch high heels sink into the dead grass as she makes her way inside of the gate with flowers in hand. It's been a while... a long while since she has stepped foot into this place that has haunted her for years on end. The gate squeaks as she pushes it open and closes it behind her.

She felt a small gust of wind sneak across the back of her neck. Chill bumps became visible on her skin as she continued to walk down the path which soon led to a gate bordering a grave.

The statue of a little boy made out of stone sat on top of the grave. It looked eroded and covered in dust from the dirt, taking away its original finishing. In some places, there were markings from teenagers sneaking in and drawing on the statue out of spite. Sharon could not believe how poorly the statue was taken care of throughout the years. She began to blame no one but herself.

"Sharon?" A voice from behind says.

"Richard." Sharon replies as she notices it was her husband in her presence.

"What are you doing here?" He asks while embracing her tightly in his arms.

"I came to see you and my son. I missed you... both."

"Oh honey, I missed you too." Richard says hiding his face in the crook of her neck that gave off a floral scent. He inhaled the fragrance in euphoria, realizing how much he missed this smell so much.

They shared a few sweet kisses and stood at the gate to grieve together.

"You were a good mother Sharon, you can't blame yourself for what happened." Richard says.

"I just wish we could have gotten him the justice he deserved. My baby deserved better... much better."

"I promise you, Gregory is going to get the justice he deserves. Don't worry."

**

"How did you find out about this Delanie?" Seth says curling in his lips out of frustration.

"Mr. Micheals told me everything. I don't understand why you never told me this. I— I married a murderer for god sake."

"I am not a murderer. I may have participated in bullying the kid, but I had no intentions of murdering him. "

"You knew how the game worked Seth. You knew it and you left him there to die. How could you guys do that without feeling a wince of guilt? Now our son's life is at stake and you're not doing a goddamn thing about it. " Delanie raises her voice with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"What do you want me to do!"

"Play the game or I'm doing it myself." She says in a vigorous tone. She opens the door and slams it behind her, leaving Seth alone to think about what she said.

"You are not playing the game and neither am I!" Seth yells back. He quickly grabs his phone off of the nightstand and makes a call. He knew exactly what he had to do to save his family.

**

"Mr. and Mrs. Micheals walk through the crowds of people in town. Children in their costumes carrying buckets of candy were all over the place.

"It has been a long time since I've been here. Yet, nothing has changed. Cedarmills is still same old Cedarmills. "

"I have been staying in our old house."

"It's still standing?" Sharon asks with a chuckle.

"Yeah, it's definitely not in the same condition it was when we first lived there, but it's still our house."

Sharon stared off into space in deep thought, trying to remember the house she once lived in with her family.

"You don't have to go see it if you don't want to."