Chapter Sixty-Six

There was always a profound calm before the storm wasn't there? Except this storm has been brewing for over twenty years. John passed out as he always did after a long drunken stupor. He woke up in a graveyard, he has fell asleep on his own daughter's grave. He didn't remember how he got there but he must have subconsciously made his way there during the early hours of the morning. Yet he still remembered the nasty comments made by Ethan, that was the last thing he remembered from last night. Forcing himself up, he was approached by the local vicar of the parish.

"Sorry Vicar...I must have dozed off" John managed to speak up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah"

"Because last night, you tried to break into the church for some sleep. We almost rang the police but you wandered off and we thought it would be best to leave you, are you aware of that?"

John scratched his head slightly, he didn't quite remember that bit.

"Erm...You must have mistaken me for somebody else. I don't try and break into church's, Vicar"

"Right...Do you know these people's graves you slept on?"

"Yeah, my daughter and my grandson they are. I doubt they would mind, Vicar. Anyway I best be off, let you get on with whatever it is you do"

"Okay but remember you are always welcome in church. Just not at 3am when I'm trying to sleep, Sir"

This made John just give a little chuckle. As he went to leave however he turned briefly back around to the polite vicar. He was tempted to ask a question but something made him stop, maybe he knew it wouldn't be answered. So he just gave a nod instead before making his way out of the churchyard.

...

"There you go" Eric spoke as he passed his son David a cup of tea.

He stayed the night in Jacob's old bedroom. David just thanked him, he slept better last night. Meaning he actually slept and wasn't just tossing and turning the entire night, he thanked his father for the tea. His confession last night though about being upset over the baby Maya was pregnant with really made Eric understand why he's been so off lately. He understood.

"Do you want to talk at all?" Eric then questioned.

"I wouldn't know what to say...It's not even like I saw a scan picture, is it? So, it doesn't feel like I got a right to be upset"

"Of cause you have a right to be upset...I never saw my oldest son Edward as you well know, I never seen his face but it didn't matter"

"I'm sorry dad...I didn't mean to compare this to that, I mean. He was actually born and you knew you were the father, I'm just being selfish"

Though Eric shook his head as he sat besides him. It didn't matter, knowing Maya was about three months pregnant when she killed herself meant the baby was fully formed. He would have been able to see a baby had he got taken to a scan. David was trying so hard to not hurt other people's feelings that he was trying to downplay it. Thinking he had no right because it wasn't like his father's stillborn child or even Nicola's miscarriage. He thought he had no right to compare it to any of that.

"David, it's okay to be upset...Don't think because you didn't know until afterwards that it suddenly means people expect you to feel nothing. No decent person is going to tell you that you don't have a right to mourn what could have been"

"I know it's bad but I look at Leyla and Tracy sometimes and think, how dare they do what they did without asking me first? Leyla scared Maya away so badly and didn't bother to tell me until they found out she was alright...I know they didn't know she was pregnant but why should it matter? Maya was my problem, not theirs"

"I understand...You know I think they made the wrong move"

"You know when we were on the hill? We were trying to get Jacob away from Maya. That policewoman took out a picture of her son and that made Maya give him back. For a spit second, I thought maybe she does have an ounce of humanity but all she really wanted to do was get Jacob away so she could kill herself without anyone stopping her...I believe she knew she was pregnant, dad and she...She cared so little about the baby that she didn't even give it a chance to live"

That's what he took from that yet he still blamed himself as the man carried on, just getting it all out of his system as he continued...

"I was so stupid, I should have lied and said everything was fine with her on the phone. Then I could have spoke to her properly and she would have been arrested. Then Jacob wouldn't be in this state and I could have been a father again. I wanted Tracy's baby so badly when she was pregnant, you know? But I would have taken Maya's if the baby was mine, I would have kept it safe"

"I know you would have" Eric spoke; putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I just...I don't know what to do to make things okay. Jacob hates me and Amba...Well, what chance has she got with me as a father?"

"Hey! Don't talk daft...Amba loves the bones of you, it's always daddy this and daddy that if she's ever round at mine"

"I just wish I had a baby scan picture or something but I don't have anything...It's like I know it happened but I have no way to prove it, even to myself. Every night, I go to bed with this ache in my heart and I don't know what to do with it"

"I could ask Henrietta for you? I'm not her biggest fan but she erm...She didn't mind talking about it before, did she? So perhaps you could speak to her?"

"Yeah, I could do"

Eric was right he supposed, Henrietta was the first person to speak about Maya's unborn child back when it first come out. She kept rather quiet lately but maybe if David finally admits he's willing to talk about it then Henrietta will too.

...

Currently at Ethan's house, a small game was taking place out in the back-garden. Liam sitting outside on the bench while Ethan and Leanna were playing tennis on the grass. How this came to be was that Ethan found some old tennis rackets and wanted to try them out again. Leanna was bored enough to agree! So here they were, currently playing tennis like it was a normal thing to do on an early Saturday afternoon...

"No! You keep hitting a foul ball on purpose!" Leanna chastised. Having to pick up the ball up again.

Before hitting it very hard back and accidentally breaking the old shed window. Making her gasp as she exclaimed..."Sorry!"

"No, don't worry about it" Ethan replied.

Dropping his racket as he opened the shed door. The ball laying on the ground just below the window. The shed still haunted him so going inside it always left him an uneasy feeling, he could almost picture the first time he assaulted Maya and the day when she gave birth aged fifteen. The man just breathed in as he picked the ball back up and returned back outside, sometimes his own actions would freak even him out.

"I think we should stop playing" Ethan spoke; making Leanna slightly confused.

"Why? I was just getting into that too"

"He's just worried you might break a window in the house next" Liam spoke up. Still none the wiser.

That wasn't it, no. The truth was that for a spit second; Ethan could see he was putting in the groundwork and he didn't want to do that. For even he could sense that his sick nature could change what is just playful teasing with his cousin's old family into something more sinister. Even monsters can sometimes control their own demons.

"Yeah, that's right" Ethan chimed in at last; picking up his racket and grabbing the other one from Leanna.

Placing them quickly into the shed he hates so much.

...

TBC