Free The Monster Hunter's Manual by Jessica Penot Page A

that?”
    â€œNo,” Alex said. “This entire thing is stupid. I’m stupid.”
    The sky was definitely getting brighter. It wasn’t just brighter. The color of the sky had changed. It was an odd shade of green. The clouds thickened and a thin mist settled over the ground. The air around us became colder. Clouds obscured the moon and the stars faded. In the dark, I could see a small light coming towards us.
    â€œLook!” I yelled. “You don’t see that?”
    Everyone stopped and looked up. It was Mom and Dad. I laughed out loud. They looked like themselves, but they were luminous like Eleanor. They were made of light. I ran to Mom and tried to hug her and she smiled down on me with love. She was beautiful. I had forgotten how beautiful my mother was. Her long, black hair spilled over her shoulders framing her perfect moon-shaped face and my father looked well. He was tall and square shouldered.
    â€œYou’re really here!” I yelled.
    â€œYes,” my mother answered. “We are here, but you shouldn’t be.”
    I had forgotten what it felt like to be scolded by my mother. It had been so long, I actually liked it. I loved being scolded. Alex ran for Mom and tried to hug her but fell in the grass instead. Mom reached out to him and somehow lifted him to his feet. She put a phantom hand on his shoulder and Alex cried with joy.
    â€œI missed you so much,” he wept.
    â€œI know, baby, I know,” Mom said.
    â€œWhy did you go?”
    Mom leaned down to him and smiled at him with lips that seemed to be made from stars and then she put a hand on my shoulder. “We never wanted to leave you, my beautiful boys. We would have loved to have stayed with you forever, but God has different plans for all of us. We can’t fight our destinies.”
    â€œDestiny?” Alex asked. “I don’t care about destiny I just want you to stay with us.”
    â€œIt is not our place to choose,” my father said. He was smiling too. “We love you so much, but we can’t stay.”
    Tears ran down Alex’s face. “Why not!”
    â€œBecause you and Gabriel have a destiny. You have to be brave now, my two sons, you have to be brave.”
    Mom looked at me with her starry eyes. “Do you remember when I told you the world was older than time and that magic tied it all together?”
    I nodded.
    â€œI wasn’t lying, was I?”
    I shook my head and leaned into her.
    â€œNow it’s time for you two to find the magic in yourselves,” she said.
    My father joined us in our strange embrace. “Find the magic and don’t ever lose hope, we are always with you, even if you can’t see us. We are always with you.”
    â€œReally?” Alex asked.
    â€œYes,” Dad said. “And you should have studied your French like Aunt Perrine told you to.”
    Alex looked down sheepishly. “I’ll do my best.”
    â€œNow listen carefully,” Mom said. “Don’t do this again. This is dangerous. Do you two hear me?”
    We both nodded.
    Dad kissed us both on the cheek with his phantom lips. It felt like a gentle breeze. “Now we need you to run as fast as you can to the castle and close the gate.”
    â€œWhat?” I asked.
    â€œYou woke the dead,” Mom said. “You need to run.”
    Their light began to fade. Alex and I looked around. The soil around the graves was moving. The dirt was shifting as if someone was trying to get out. Alex yelled and ran for the gate. I looked up at the fading image of my mom and dad.
    They spoke together in unison. “We are always with you.”
    â€œTake care of your brother. You are the wiser of the two,” Mom said to me and then they vanished.
    The first ghoulish hand pushed its way through the soil and I began to run after Alex. Roger only smiled and lay down in the grass.
    â€œI’ll catch up with you later,” Roger called