Prologue III

Miranda, or Mare as most people called her, sat by the phone at Mary's home. Mary Cain was Jake's mother and now her mother-in-law as well. She loved the woman even though she could be intense at times. It was weird to think that she was now part of the Cain family. She had lost her family a long time ago and it felt nice to be part of one again.

The two of them had been staying at Mary's since the funeral a few days ago. Jake had left last night to go to the property to spread George's ashes. She'd been really worried about him and wanted to go with him for support but they decided that it was something that he needed to do on his own so she stayed behind and watched over Mary. The property wasn't too far away, it was only a couple hours out of town in the mountains. He was supposed to call her when he got in last night but hadn't. It was mid morning and she still hadn't heard anything from him and she was starting to worry. The small quakes they had been feeling all morning hadn't helped either.

Mary kept saying not to worry, that he probably was distracted or that he didn't have the service to make the call yet. This was probably the case, but for some reason she just kept having this bad feeling that she couldn't get rid of since she woken up this morning. Taking a deep breath, Mare tried to calm herself and reason it out.

It had to be her overactive imagination caused by the stress and worry about Jake from George's death. There wasn't anything wrong. Some small quakes were not unusual. The worst case was probably just some cell towers going down. She kept repeating this but she just could not get the knot out of her stomach.

She sat there, staring at her phone while frowning and tapping her fingers on the table as she thought about two weeks ago, when all this mess happened.

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In the middle of the hotel room Jake and Miranda were slowly dancing to some romantic music. Small smiles graced their faces as they just enjoyed the feeling of being in each other's arms. The phone started to ring.

"Husband… are you going to answer that?" Mare looked up at Jake with a smirk forming on her face. She liked the feeling of the word.

"I don't think so wife…. It's our honeymoon so if it's anything important they will leave a message." Jake smiled back at her then leaned down and gave her a quick peck on her forehead.

Ring Ring Ring….. The phone rang again.

Who was it that kept calling? This was the third call in a row and everyone knew they were on their honeymoon. Even if it was local this did not mean that they could bug them.

A frown appeared on her face at the constant phone calls.

"It's probably the wrong number or something, let me go turn it off." Jake let go of Mare with a sigh and walked over to the phone. Seeing him frown as he looked at who was calling caused her to worry a little.

"What's wrong babe?"

"I'm not sure, it's my mother. I don't think she would be calling if it wasn't important."

"That's fine, go ahead and answer, a short call isn't going to ruin our honeymoon."

Though she had said that, a bad feeling started to appear once she learned it was his mother. Mary wasn't the type to bother them, especially during something as special like their honeymoon without a very important reason.

Jake answered the phone and her heart sank. Not even a few seconds passed before a look of worry appeared on Jake's face. Then this look of worry transformed to one of shock and disbelief. Jake dropped the phone allowing her to hear Mary crying on the other end of the line.

Running over to Jake, Mare asked, "Jake what's wrong, what's going on, are you ok?"

"My….my father….he's..he's gone"

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Jake and his father had always been close. His father was a good man and she loved him like a father herself. She couldn't believe that he had a heart attack. He had been only 52. She hoped Jake was ok, he had taken it hard. Though he wasn't the only one.

Mare looked away from the phone with a sigh and looked out the window at Mary in the garden. She seemed to be fine in public, but Mare had heard her crying through the walls, and seen the look of sadness on Mary's face when she thought no one was looking. Mary was trying her hardest to keep busy in the garden or cleaning. She had always been a strong woman and Mare knew that she had been trying to keep up a front for Jake's sake. Mare knew Jake well enough to know that he wasn't falling for it either. That is why they had planned to stay with her for awhile. Mare stayed back, not only because Jake needed to spread George's ashes alone, but also to keep an eye on Mary.

They didn't even think of finishing their honeymoon. Only a few days after they had found out about his passing they held the funeral. George had been a jovial man and tutted more than a few times at how dreary funeral processions were. He'd wanted his family to hold a celebration of life instead of grieving over a "fluffy box full of man-meat!" He'd laughed heartily after saying that. Mary, Jake, and Mare had respected his wishes and instead spent the day laughing and crying over stupid jokes and retellings of his favorite funny stories. He would have been happy to see everyone celebrating his life instead of just mourning his loss.

In George's will it stated that he was giving the property to Jake and had wanted to have his ashes spread there. This surprised Jake. His mother said that it had always been the plan to give it to him. Mary had been even more surprised that she was in the will as well. He had given her this gorgeous wood figurine he had carved himself and all of his wood carving tools. Though the figurine was not in the will it was meant to be a gift for her after they were to return from their honeymoon. Mare told him when they had first met how much she loved the sculptures he had around the house, and how that she had always wanted to learn how to make wood carvings. Over the years when she came to visit he would pull her into his workshop and teach her and it had become their thing. She couldn't believe he had put her into his will. The tears came unbidden to her face realizing that she had been accepted into the family and as his daughter..

"I guess I will go give Mary some help in the garden. Jake, you better call me soon, otherwise I am going to kill you."

Sticking the cell back into her pocket, she had stood up to go give Mary some help. That's when everything went downhill. A large wave of liquid-looking energy rushed through the house. Passing over her and Mary causing them to fall to the ground screaming in agony. It felt as if their flesh was melting and then being rebuilt. This only lasted a few minutes but it felt like a lifetime to her.

Getting up slowly she looked up and noticed Mary on the ground.

"Mary! Mary! Are you ok‽"

Stumbling over to Mary and seeing that she was waking up she sighed with relief. That's when she noticed a blinking icon in the corner of her vision.

"What the fuck?..."