Epilogue

Don’t try to figure me out. I’m a puzzle with missing pieces. – J. Rose

Kathryn

13 years later…

“Today is going to be the BEST day ever!” My cousin, Ashley tells me as we start to walk towards the small movie theater that we have in Billings. It’s actually our only movie theater, probably built back in the 70’s or something.

“Kathryn!” I turn around and look back to my dad’s voices. I’m not like the normal kids. Normal kids have one dad, and I have three. Our family is interesting, and in school I get made fun of for it. Usually my cousins, Kade and Zane beat the crap out of anyone who dares to say anything about me, or my mom. A lot of the kids say that my mom doesn’t know who my dad is so she’s with the three of them because she’s a slut. I don’t think that for one moment. When I was younger I wanted to know who my biological father was. I had a hunch, and I asked her. My curiosity got the best of me. It was my mom who told me that it didn’t matter, because they were all my fathers. They each loved me the same, took care of me when I was ill, gave me support any time I needed it. She was right, and I think I’m the luckiest girl on the planet for having as many parents as I do. Some of the kids I know don’t even have one parent that loves them, and I have four.

“Yeah?” I holler over to them, they walk on up to me, giving both me and Ashley the tightest bear hugs ever.

“You have fun today. Okay?” I look up to my dad, his road name is Tex, and I know that today is worrying him more than it should. It’s the first time that Ashley and I have been allowed to go to the movies by ourselves, without a prospect, or one of my dads with us.

“She’s gonna have a blast. Aren’t you, nugget?” Bolt, he’s my other dad, I call him Pops.

“Fuck. She’s gonna live it up, not having us with her. I bet you’re gonna sneak into a rated R movie,” my daddy jokes, his road name is Dracus, and he’s this big and scary man, not many people like him. But his looks don’t fool me, he’s the sweetest out of the bunch.

“We are not!” Ashley huffs, rolling her eyes at the three of them.

“Yeah, yeah. Like I haven’t heard that one before. You two have fun, we’ll be back here around nine to pick you both up. Okay?”

“Aye, aye matey!” I tell him, giving them all a quick kiss on the cheeks. They may be these big, burly bikers who most people are afraid to be too close to. But they melt just from a hug or kiss from their baby girl.

I grab onto Ashley’s hand and run up the side of the street, the heat blazing in this hot Montana afternoon. I couldn’t wait to just get into the cool air-conditioned safety of the movie theater.

We walked in, paid for our tickets, and even both grabbed a pop, some popcorn and way-too-much chocolate sno-caps. They were my favorite, and when you mixed them with the popcorn they were absolutely delicious! The saltiness of the buttered popcorn with the slight crunch and sweetness of the chocolate was to die for.

Ashley and I watched this super cool action movie about aliens who inhabited planet Earth and a group of teens had to stop them from taking over the world. At the end of the day, obviously the humans won, because we’re great and stuff.

We both walked out of the movie theater, waiting in front for my dads to show up. “Oh shoot…” Ashley murmurs.

“What?” I ask her, looking over her to see if I can tell what the matter is.

“I left my wallet in my theater, crap. C’mon, we have to go back in.” She grabs onto my arm, and I pull away.

“No, you go grab it, and I’ll wait for my dads. If they don’t see one of us here, they’ll get worried and make a big ruckus in the joint. You know it as well as I do.” I laugh, trying to prove my point but also hoping I’ll gain a little bit more independence in this moment.

“We’re not supposed to split up. My Dad said …”

“I know what Uncle Fist says, but he didn’t really account for one of us losing our wallet and not trying to give a heart attack to my dads, did he? You go grab your wallet, I’ll stay here and tell them you’re grabbing it. If you hurry, they might never even know we’d split up in the first place.”

“Kat… I don’t like this. We’re supposed to stick together,” she argues.

“All this time while you’re standing here arguing with me you could’ve had it by now, that is if someone hasn’t taken it already.”

“Fine!” Ashley huffs, turning to run back to the front doors of the theater. “I’ll be right back, and you’d better keep your fanny there, missy!”

I chuckle to myself as she disappears into the double doors of the theater behind me. Looking around, we’re in the dark, a few cars sit around main street and I glance around, seeing if I can spot my dads. I sigh, wondering where the heck they are.

Slowly, I lift my wrist to my face and take a look at my watch. It’s just past eight-thirty, no wonder they aren’t here yet. Ashley and I are gonna be waiting forever for them. I pull out my cell and dial my dad, he answers after a few moments of the continuous ringing that meets me on the other end.

“Hey, baby. You alright?”

“Yeah, but Ashley and I are done already. Are you guys close?”

“No, we’ll leave right now. You two stay inside the theater, okay?”

“Okay, will do. I love you.”

“I love you baby. See you in a bit.” With that, our phone call ends. I slide my cell into the back pocket of my jean shorts and turn to walk back into the theater. Suddenly, my arm is being tugged in the opposite direction. I turn and see a man who I haven’t ever seen before. He’s tall, with dark hair, and the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen.

“Uh… can I help you?” I mutter, overlooking his every feature, trying to place him.

“You can, baby. I’m here to take you home. Your momma stole you away from me, never letting me see you… fuck. C’mon baby, we have to go now.” Out of nowhere I see a group of men rise behind him, they all have cuts just like my family does, except theirs read something different.

I squint my eyes, and try to read, once they come close enough the print is crystal clear.

Demons of Hell.