Page 19 of Jacob Michaels is Not Here

I nodded.

“Do you think…everyone will slowly start remembering now that I…did what I did?”

Oma thought on this.

“I don’t think so.” She shook her head slowly. “The first time was a…release…this time, well, it’s all gone now. The river’s run dry—if you catch my drift, Robbie.”

“Got it.” I thought about the fact that the well in the cellar was gone for good—the source of all my family’s magic. No future generation would have to endure what we had—if I ever lived long enough to have kids—if I even wanted them some day. I didn’t let myself think too long or too hard about it for fear of what that might summon. Who that might summon. “You think that pack’s like a Hydra?”

“What the fuck’s that mean?” Oma twisted up her nose.

“Cut off the head…will two grow back?”

Oma stared at me, surprised I would think of such a solution.

“Well,” She finally began to speak slowly, carefully, “in my opinion, Robbie, you can never be too damn careful. Why take a chance that a plan won’t work and you’ll just have to follow through with your original plan anyway? Havin’ said that…it might work. If Jason ain’t around, flappin’ his yap and playin’ Billy Bad Ass, the rest of ‘em may scatter to the winds. Maybe.”

“I’d like to see if that will work.” I was more asking permission than making a statement. “I don’t want to hurt anyone…but if I have to, Jason would be my first choice. Or Andrew.”

Oma frowned at me and waved a hand at me.

“Andrew ain’t done nothin’ but be a goddamn idiot.” Oma chastised me. “He may be a damn fool and hornier than a toad, but he ain’t got nothin’ to do with any of this mess here.”

“Fair enough.” I shrugged. “He’s still a dick. He told Jason about Lucas and me hitting him with a truck, though. He knew what would happen—even if he didn’t know about our history with Jason.”

“Being a dick ain’t no crime. Otherwise, the two of us would done been locked up by now. Agreed?”

I waggled my head for once.

“Don’t you bring no trouble to him!” Oma growled. “Just let that sleeping dog lie. Andrew ain’t no part of none of this. He just ignorantly got involved.”

“Correction.” I held a finger up. “You got him involved.”

Oma started to launch in on me.

“But I won’t bother him unless he bothers me. Let’s not argue, okay?” I stopped her. “We have enough to worry about, right?”

“Fair enough, Robbie.” She gave a firm nod.

“We bought that tiller for nothing, I guess.” I sighed and sat back. “No point in planting a garden anymore, is there?”

“Well…no. I suppose not.” Oma mimicked my actions, saddened by the sudden realization. “Won’t be long before the woods start to reclaim the land anyway.”

My eyes grew wide.

“How long?”

Oma rolled her eyes and waved me off.

“We’ll both be long dead before then.” She chuckled bitterly. “Even if we manage to die of natural causes. But that mag—it’s all gone. All we got is what’s inside us. Everything we done is gonna eventually give up the ghost, I suppose.”

She glanced around nervously.

“The others will be the first to go.” She leaned in to whisper. “Without…that…they’ll slowly fade, too.”

I looked up at the ceiling, willing my eyes to not water as I thought of Ernst—my only real friend throughout my mid- to late childhood.

“But…they’ll probably last as long as us, I’d say.” She sighed. “Everything here will eventually fade, though, Robbie. It’s just a matter of when.”