Joe (31 page)

Chapter
Ninety-Eight

Thank
you

On
Saturday, a candle–lit vigil was held in the area known as the Quad on the main
campus of the University of Midwestern Missouri State. Over fifteen thousand
people showed up to say prayers and remember those who were lost. The night was
warm and the stars were twinkling in the black sky. Candles provided the only
light, and their tiny, flickering flames filled the large box created by the
surrounding stone buildings. They wore t-shirts with UMMS printed on the front
and a jaguar printed on the back. They brought flowers and sang songs and held
hands and hugged each other and cried. Everyone cried.

It was bitterly beautiful thing.

A raven-haired girl by the name of Joe
stood among them with a handsome boy named Michael standing at her side.
Michael had shown up at Joe’s apartment, suffered through a death threat from an
old man named Mr. Landry, and asked her simply if she would attend the vigil
with him. Joe had opened the door then, shooed Mr. Landry away with a smile and
a subtle nod, and told Michael she would go.

Michael had not been expecting her to
agree, but she had. For John.

They stood under the stars that night,
and Michael kept to his word and asked her no questions. Joe offered no
answers, either. They just held each other’s hand and cried together. And that
was kind of beautiful, too.

At the very end, as people were starting
to trickle back to their cars, Michael took Joe in his arms and held her tight.
He was delighted when she hugged him back, and he whispered, “Thank you. Thank
you so much.”

This brought fresh tears to her lovely
silver-blue eyes, and she hugged him tighter.

Not far away, a pretty girl named Claire
sat in a wheelchair, watching the two of them. Even from where she sat Claire
recognized the girl with hair black like a raven. She recognized the
silver-blue of her eyes and the silent way the girl radiated beauty. Claire
tugged on her sister’s jacket to get her attention. Nikki bent down and Claire
whispered something in her ear. A moment later, Nikki was wheeling her sister
over to where Joe and Michael stood in each other’s arms.

“Excuse me,” Claire said when she
reached them.

Joe turned and looked at the girl, her
silver-blue eyes flashing with guilt and pain as she took in Claire’s injuries.
Claire reached out and took Joe’s hand into her own.

“Thank you,” Claire said quietly. “Thank
you so much.”

Nikki came forward and pulled Joe into a
tight hug. Then she pulled back and kissed her on her cheek. She thanked her,
too.

While this was happening, Mina was not
far away. Russell and her boys were standing with her. They were all watching the
little group of people around the girl with black hair and stunning eyes. After
a moment’s hesitation, they decided to approach her as well.

They embraced Joe with no invitation,
just as Nikki had done, and whispered their thanks in her ear.

Then they all cried together, each
survivors of a terrible event, people who had walked the Shadow Lands together
and come to some strange, mutual understanding without ever even knowing each
other’s names. Many things between them went unspoken that night, but thanks
was not one of them. And the tears they shed together were sad, yes, but they
may have been born of a bit of joy as well.

And that was a bitterly beautiful thing,
too.

Afterword

Joe

I
close the notebook in which I’m writing and place it on the nightstand beside
the bed. The story is finished. I have no more to add and nothing left to do.
Mr. Landry had told me that writing it all out might give me some closure, and
I’m starting to believe he is right. It had been difficult to put the words
down on paper, and reliving it through the writing had not been pleasant most
of the time. But now that it’s done, the poison of it all spilled out across
the pages of my notebook, I do feel better. And it’s about time. I’m beginning
to get cabin fever. Literally.

Stepping outside of Aunt Susan’s cabin,
I stand by the lake and watch the moon shimmer off its surface. Soon it will be
time to leave this peaceful place and take my strange spot back in the real
world. I have cried all the tears I have to cry and put to paper all of the
terrible things that have plagued my mind for the past few months. There is no
way to be sure, but I feel that tonight will yield the last tears I will ever
shed for the thing that happened at UMMS. Tonight, I will finally bury it all
in that deep hole inside of me and forget I put it there. I am turning out to
be a fine soldier after all.   

Before I go to bed, I toss the notebook
and all the poison between its pages into the fireplace and watch it until it
burns into ashes that come morning will be dead and cold. As the flames in the
fire die out I make my way into the bedroom. While brushing my teeth, a dreaded
feeling floods through me, and something horrible happens next.

My left hand begins to itch and throb.

My heart sinks to the cold, tiled floor
beneath my feet. And there it stays.

Moving into the bedroom, I take a seat
at the desk that is in the corner. I pull a sheet of paper and a pencil from
the desk’s drawer. I shut my eyes as my left hand moves over the paper, and
curse the Heaven’s right down to Hell.

Five minutes later, my hand stops. A
chill sets its cold feet to my spine and walks its way up. I open my eyes. My
heart confirms that it has followed me in here from the bathroom by thumping
fast and furious against my ribcage. When I am able to pull in air, I look
down.

I hope like hell that the hole inside of
me is endlessly deep, because if I live much longer, it is going to be filled
to the brim with freshly turned dirt and dead, buried secrets.

I stare down at the sketch for a long
time. Apparently, the story is
not
over. Apparently, it is just starting
a new chapter.

A word that would’ve made my mother
shudder comes out of my mouth then.

I am going to need some help.

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

Though this title is my least read, from
time to time I get questions about whether or not there will be a sequel to
this book. The short answer is, yes. In 2014 I plan to write the next Joe
adventure, and though I don’t have a date set in stone yet, you can always look
me up on Facebook or Twitter to receive the latest updates about my next
releases.

Now, if you enjoyed this title, and even
if you didn’t, I humbly ask you to take the time to write a review. As an indie
author, reviews are a huge part of what gets the word out about books and
drives sales, and regardless of how this books sells, I will be following it up
with a sequel, but know that I read all reviews, and take into consideration
which of my titles is in biggest demand before deciding my next release. So,
please, if you would like to see Joe return quickly, do me the kindness of
leaving a review and helping to spread the word. This isn’t just something you
can do for me, but for all authors whose books you enjoy. I can’t tell you how
much we appreciate it.

Anyhow, thank you for reading, and go
forth and enjoy your life. Because you never know what could happen next.
Unless, of course, you’re like Joe.

-H. D. Gordon

To contact me directly, email @
[email protected]
. I read all emails, and do my
best to respond in a timely fashion.

Enjoy this title? Help support an indie
author by leaving a review.

Look out for Joe’s next journey, coming
2014.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my mom for making this book
way better than it would have been. A great portion of this tale came from your
mind, and the readers should know this. Your support has been invaluable.

Thank you to my father for believing
that I could do this and for telling me that everything that is worthwhile
requires sacrifice.

Thank you to Regina Wamba for this
incredible cover. Your artistic brilliance never fails to amaze me.

Thank you to all the folks that
beta-read this and who helped me to clean it up. Producing a good book is like
raising a child; it takes a village.

Thanks to my family. It means the world
to know you’re proud of me.

To my precious daughters, Soraya and Akira.
There isn’t a part of this that isn’t all for you. Not a part.

And finally, to the readers and bloggers
who have supported me so faithfully. I never could have imagined the love
you’ve given my work. Thanks for that.

About H.D. Gordon

H.D.
Gordon is the bestselling author of The Alexa Montgomery Saga and a paranormal
thriller entitled
Joe.
She is a lifelong reader and writer, a true lover
of words. When she is not reading or writing she is raising her two daughters,
playing a little guitar and spending time with her family. She is twenty-four
years old and lives in the northeastern United States.

Connect
with H.D. Gordon:

Website:
http://hdgordon.com/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/hd_gordon

Facebook:
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Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5189455.H_D_Gordon