Page 56 of The Girl on Hallow's Eve

“You spoke to her that night at the mall. You said her name. She remembered your voice from the young business owner’s program. You said she just sent in a video of a presentation, but you were there. You spoke to her group. From the beginning it has been about winding your way back to this land. It drew you in. The evil soaked into it called you, and you did as you were told.”

Keilan looks at Elias in a mask of rage.

“It didn’t have to be this way. You didn’t have to tell them. I promised to protect you. To never let anyone know who your sons actually were,” he says.

“I loved my children,” Elias says. “They were my flesh and blood. They were my reason for being. Even after I found out what they had done. I spent thirty years alone, never coming onto this land, never wanting to know what was here. But I never wanted anyone else to know.”

“And I promised you that,” Keilan says. “If you had only stayed quiet, no one would have ever known.”

“Yes, we would have,” I say. “He didn’t have to tell me.”

“She found out for herself,“ Elias says.

Now it’s my turn to explain. “The tunnels go all the way through the land under where the expansion was planned. You knew that and you’d studied the land well enough to escape easily. The clause in Elias’s contract stated if the mall was to close before being open for three years and completing the expansion, all land rights reverted to his heirs. You knew he didn’t use this land because of what is on it, and as you saw it, you could stop the family secret from ever being exposed. Not because you are embarrassed, but because you’re proud. You want to carry it on.

“You introduced yourself to your family’s business by slaughtering twenty people. In your mind, if the mall closes because of it, Elias will get the land rights back, which means they will come to you. His son will never come back. You’ll make sure of that. And if the mall only becomes more popular because of it, then you’ve earned your wealth and can simply enjoy your days surrounded by your memories and what your family left behind. They started killing for the money it brought, then they became addicted to the power, to the strength they believed it gave them. You played both sides. You fulfilled your sick idea of your family’s destiny, and you almost got away with it.”

Sam moves forward and cuffs Keilan. He reads him his rights as they move toward the squad car. At the last second, he wrenches around to face me.

“You’re wrong about two things, Emma Griffin,” Keilan says.

“What?” I ask.

“Your invitation wasn’t skipped. I wanted you there. I wanted to watch you.”

I show no reaction. “And the other?”

“The evil in the land didn’t call me to it. I arrived and it rose up to greet me.”

Sam shoves him into the backseat before I have to look at his grotesque smile.

When the car is gone, I turn to James again.

“I’m sorry for that,” I say. “I didn’t mean for it to go that way.”

“Don’t apologize,” he says. “I’m glad it’s finally over.”

“Are you ready now?” I ask.

He nods. Our shovels dig into the earth. A few minutes later, Frank and James are reunited.