Chapter 12
The cafe had returned to its calm. Star moved among the tables, reassuring people with her steady hand on their shoulders, her pendant now dim but still warm. Nathaniel lingered near the door, watchful, his gaze fixed on the street outside as though expecting the shadows to try again.
Rebecca sat frozen, her pulse still racing, one hand pressed protectively over her stomach. She slid her other hand into her bag and felt the photograph's creased edges beneath her fingertips. The moment she touched it, a chill whispered up her arm yet it wasn't frightening.
A warmth followed, soft and familiar. The smell of Laveder soap and smoke bloomed all around her.
Her breath caught as she closed her eyes. The smell of coffee in the cafe dulled, replaced by the faint scent of lavender and old books, the smell of her childhood summers. A voice gentle, yet strong threaded through her mind.
Can
"Rebecca."
Her chest tightened. She knew that voice. "Grandma?" she whispered, so faintly she barely heard herself.
The warmth deepened, wrapping around her like an embrace. You are not alone. You never were. The Hollow remembers our line and so do the shadows. But you carry more than fear. You carry strength. My strength in the blood.Build your circle."
Tears stung her eyes. She could almost feel a hand smoothing her hair. "Why now? Why here?" she asked under her breath, aware Star's eyes had flicked toward her, but unable to stop.
The reply brushed through her like wind through branches: Because the time has come. What was bound is stirring. And the children you carry are the key.
"The Blood Returns. It carries Forward."
The warmth leaving Rebecca trembling but filled with a strange steadiness. She opened her eyes to find Nathaniel watching her not with surprise, but with recognition, as if he knew exactly whose presence had touched her.
Star placed a steaming mug of tea before her. "Your color's come back some," she said gently, but her gaze was sharp. "Someone's been whisperin' to you, haven't they?"
Rebecca swallowed hard, heart pounding. "My grandmother."
The words silenced the nearest tables. For a breath, even the cafe seemed to hold still.
Nathaniel's jaw tightened, and he lowered his voice "Then the Hollow has claimed you, Rebecca. And now, there is no turning back."
The photograph burned hot against Rebecca's palm, making here drop it in her bag and her grandmother's voice lingered in her ears like an old memory. She blinked through tears, looking to Nathaniel, only to find his storm grey eyes already fixed on her, knowing.
"You felt her too," Rebecca whispered.
Nathaniel inclined his head, a shadow of reverence softening his features. "Not just felt. I saw Tina,The Hollow stirred when she touched you. Spirits that old do not move lightly."
Star's hand tightened around her pendant. Her usual warmth was edged now with awe. "Lord above," she murmured, pulling out a chair and lowering herself across from Rebecca. "I haven't felt that presence since I was a girl. Your grandmother's power was strong, strong enough to hush storms and hold shadows at bay. She's never once shown herself in all these years until now."
Rebecca's eyes widened at the revelation. "Star, you said you've only been here for fifteen years."
Star flushed, shifting uncomfortably. "Yes, dear. I've only been here fifteen years this time. I grew up here, but I left when I was about twelve. I didn't return until I was thirty-seven. I haven't seen your grandmother since I was a young girl."
Rebecca's breath came shallow. "She said the children I carry are the key. That the Hollow remembers our line. She said I need to build my circle."
The cafe seemed to exhale as patrons leaned in, silent witnesses to something sacred.
Star reached across the table, her fingers brushing Rebecca's wrist. "That means she's claimed you, honey. Claimed you and those little ones as part of the fight that's comin'."
Nathaniel straightened, every line of him tense. "The Hollow won't let her presence pass quietly. If the shadows sensed her they will not stop until they break what she is trying to protect." His eyes flicked to Rebecca's stomach, then back to her face. "Which means you."
Rebecca's throat closed around the weight of it. Her grandmother, the babies, the Hollow itself it was all tangled, and she was at the center of it. Yet through the fear, a steady warmth lingered, as if her grandmother's unseen hand still rested at her shoulder.
The cafes fire popped, sparks flaring up like brief stars. Star glanced toward the hearth, then back at Rebecca. "Well," she said firmly, voice shaking but resolute, "looks like Hollows Edge has finally got its matriarch back.
The diners slowly trickled in and out, the conversation weaving between careful questions and guarded answers. Rebecca listened, but her mind kept circling back to Tina's words and the strange connections unraveling around her.
Nathaniel set his hands down on the table, his eyes fixed on Star. "We can't keep circling around this," he said. "Too many pieces point the same direction."
Star nodded carefully as if the action itself steadied her. "I know. It's time." She glanced at Rebecca, then back to Nathaniel. "We need to visit Millie's."
Rebecca felt a shiver run through her, though the air was still. The circle Tina had told her to build was starting to form whether she was ready or not. Ready for a fight she wasn't even sure she wanted to be in. Nothing made sense to her. Hopefully Millie would have the answers she so desperately needed.
Star moved efficiently around the kitchen, pulling out fresh bread, meats and cheeses, and some fresh vegetables she'd picked up earlier at the farmers market. "Okay, sit your asses down. You're both too wound up to think straight, and trust me, food fixes that."
Rebecca sank into a chair, still tense but grateful. Nathaniel leaned against the counter, watching Star with a faint smirk, though even he couldn't hide the relief in his shoulders.
Star whipped up a couple monster sandwiches with fresh herbs, toasted bread, sliced turkey and ham and Swiss cheese, French fries, and a side of fruit. She set plates in front of them and pushed a glass of water toward each. "Here. Eat up. You'll need your strength if you're going to Millie's."
Rebecca picked up a fry and dipped it in ketchup, eyes flicking to Nathaniel. "Thank you Star," she murmured.
Nathaniel merely nodded, picking at his food. "Yeah. Appreciate it," he said, voice softer than before.
Star leaned against the counter, arms crossed, watching them. Rebecca looked at them both and frowned. "And while we are at it, tell me what exactly are those shadows? They're feeding on something, right?"
Nathaniel hesitated, fork mid-air, then glanced at Rebecca. "It's complicated and a long story." he said slowly. "But you'll see soon enough. Right now, just eat. You need your energy."
Rebecca nodded, a little smile tugging at her lips as she finally started to eat
Humor me.
Star chuckled under her breath. "Alright."
Star stirred her coffee, eyes distant, then let the words come slow and low, like something she'd been rehearsing for years.
Star leaned back in her chair, swirling the last sip of tea in her cup. "You've been asking about the shadows, Rebecca. Most folks in town call them ghosts and in a way, they're not wrong.
"They aren't ghosts in the way you think," she said. "They're older. More like the absence left behind when something takes root and never really dies. The Hollow this place keeps its own record. When people hurt, die, hide things, or bind promises in secret, the Hollow remembers. Shadows are the Hollow's memories made."
Nathaniel took up the story. "They feed on things that keep us small," he explained. "Fear is their easiest to get to then panic, and doubt, terror. But they're choosy. They prefer the bloodlines tied to whatever bargains or grief shaped the Hollow. They sip at memories and warmth, the soft places where people are most tender. New life, pregnant bodies, sleep, children's laughter those are rich. They're attracted to what binds us together family, promises, secrets kept in the dark." Although though secrets never stay in the dark.
Star nodded. "That's why they were circling you tonight, Rebecca. Your line your grandmother's left marks in the Hollow. The shadows remember that line like a scent. The babies you carry are potent. The Blood returned.
Nathaniel added, voice low: "They don't only take. They unmake. They unweave memory, stealing names, softening faces, draining warmth so whoever's left behind forgets what was loved. Sometimes they'll feast slowly a chill in a house, doubts that erode someone's confidence and sometimes they strike sudden and calculated they will erase a person completely."
Star set her pendant on the table so the light hit it. "They hate light that's honest and true," she said. "Fire, salt, wind carrying certain spoken names, talismans tied to a family's rites. They recoil from a circle drawn with intent. They can't pass a boundary that's been named and guarded. And they can't consume what remembers them back that's why ancestor work matters. Your grandmother's presence pushed them away tonight. It reminded the Hollow that the line remembers itself." " That the blood return."
Star dabbed at her lips with a napkin, then gave Rebecca a kind but firm look. "We've talked enough for now, dear. You'll have your answers, but not all at once. That's how people lose themselves."
Nathaniel rose smoothly, sliding his chair back with a soft scrape. "She's right. Shadows stir heavier after dark. If we're going to Millie's, we should get moving now."