The night had fallen, I thought this will be my last free night. Almost everyone had turned in. The BBQ was a smashing success. Everyone had fun, I had noticed Haley had snuck away. Lory and Rose were talking while swimming, the others were all sleeping. I just sat on the wooden pier with a beer in my hand. While I understood why people went to sleep, I wanted to drag out this final free moment as long as possible.

The moment I walk into Brickton, Bella is going to open the shadow world, and we are expected to fix it. As long as I have Lory, and a chance to get my family back, I am not looking forward to this. After I finished my beer, I decided to check where Haley had gone. It did not take much effort to find her hiding behind a tree, drinking from a bottle. I smirked, “got ya.”

She tried tucking it away, but I held up my hand. “I am not here to bust your chops.”

Haley sighed, “Thank god, I thought you were going to go medieval on my ass.”

I sat down, “What is up with the booze, Haley?”

She sighed, “It just helps me forgot about some bad things.”

I nodded, “It can feel that way, but whatever you are looking for, is not at the bottom of that bottle.”

Haley looked at her bottle and stirred it a bit, “I thought you were not here to bust my chops?”

I sat down and leaned back after putting my beer down. “That is true, just a lesson from your dad, now hand it to me.”

Haley handed it to me, “Sorry.”

I took a swig, “Holy fuck, that burns.”

Haley giggled, “I thought you were going to take it from me, not drink it.”

I handed it back to her, “If you want to drink booze, then you need to do that.”

“If I say, you need to stop, that is not going to make you stop, you have to want to do that yourself.”

She nodded, “I am not looking forward to going back to Brickton.”

She took a swig from her booze. “If we go back on an adventure, people I care about are just going to get hurt again.”

I hugged her, “Oh darling, I know, that is how I feel too sometimes.”

She handed me the bottle. “Ah, fuck it.”

We shared the booze. “Is that why you are not going to bed?”

Haley nodded, “Among other things.”

“What else is keeping you up?”

“Shirley.”

“You miss her a lot, don’t you?”

She leaned against me and cried, “Yes, I do. She would be ashamed of me, drinking booze, falling into bed with another woman that I just saw as a good opportunity to lust for.”

“Woah, that might be too much information, Munchkin. But, I don’t think Shirley would be ashamed, she would see that you are doing your best to push through the pain, even if some of your methods are very unhealthy habits.”

Haley grinned, but I saw the sadness behind her grin, “I wish, she was still alive. I wish, I could get her back. It feels as if my heart has sunken to the bottom of the sea.”

“Look, Munchkin, I know how you feel.”

She stared at me, “You do?”

“Yes, before I met your mom, I was with another woman. Her name was Haley.”

She looked up, “You named me after her?”

“Yes, we did. I loved her dearly. I spent my entire childhood with her, we even got married. She got pregnant, a girl.”

Haley had glee in her eyes, “I have a sister?”

I sighed, “She died, if gods are real, then perhaps she is in heaven. Her name was going to be Naomi. Haley and I used to run a bakery. Now, I can tell you the truth, or would you prefer the kid friendly version?”

“Please tell me the truth, dad.”

“Alright. Haley cheated on me. It did not just break my heart, she crushed me. I went insane, and I shot her, before I realized what I was actually going to do. My heart sank as well, not from what I did, but I tried to hide my feelings, and it made me a depressed dude. I started drinking a lot of booze, getting high, getting a rebound. That would be Abby.”

Haley let out a sad giggle, “That is how you met Abby, huh?”

“Yeah, I threw myself at her. She got the wrong idea. Thinking we could be something, even though it has been over forty years for me, it is fresh for Abby. I gave her the wrong idea. But, nonetheless, she stood by my side. Even when I met your mom and the going got rough. Everyone is different, everyone reacts differently to loss, but it seems we might be more alike than you think. There could be a good reason for that.”

Haley grabbed me tight and hugged me, “Because you are a good dad.”

“Oh, you think so?”

“Even if I hightailed it out of town for a week?”

“Yeah, you and mom had a big fight, I can understand it. I am glad it all worked out in the end. Mom is trying hard to understand, and accept the situation.”

I laughed, “It seems more like she threw herself off the deep end and expects me to catch her.”

Haley smiled, “And we all know you will.” Haley looked at the bottle of booze, she poured it on the ground. “I think, I need to have a serious chat with Melin. Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for not busting my chops, but rather coming with a wise story.”

“Hey it is not a story, it is a life lesson, I just try to do what is right, and every so often we need to wing it and take a risk, then we hope for the best. Don’t worry, all adults do this. That is something Riley taught me.”

Haley looked at me, “Melin told me where the others are.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“She is not sure about Bob. However, we have a solid lead on Valentine and Riley.”

“Can’t we just, let these people be? I know, they need someone to save them, but does it have to be us? Can’t we split up, or just ignore them? I mean, don’t get me wrong, dad, I would love to help them, or start a new adventure. It is just, I want Valentine and Riley to be safe. No matter the price I have to pay.”

I let out a deep sigh, “What if we do split up some day, Haley? What if something happens to your mom, or I? Maybe even worse, something happens to you. There is no easy way to get there, or get out of there.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Haley got up, “I can go there, I can locate them, keep them safe, until the two of you get there.”

“No, Haley, it is too dangerous, the shadow world is more important.”

Haley exhaled, “I know we started this journey, but we got shoehorned into this side quest. Haley, there are dangers you cannot foresee.”

She nodded, “Neither can you. I believe that I can do this!”

“Haley, you need to die to get there. You need to travel through the underworld.”

Haley nodded, “And I might have to work for the Ferryman. If I take Abby and Bella with me, then I can also work for mom and you. There are not many beings that can simply bypass this.”

I shook my head, “I am not so sure about this. You might be stuck down there forever, who knows what else might go wrong. Chances are, very high, I will be there before you finish crossing to where Riley and Valentine are.”

Haley smiled, “Or I will have prepared everything for us all to go together.”

I sighed, “Can’t we just go there together?”

Haley put her hand on my shoulder, “I need you to trust me on this.” She pulled something out of her inventory, some kind of button. “Who knew I would need this.”

I pointed at the device she was holding, “What is that?”

Haley smiled, “This is an emergency button that Bella made. Is there any chance I am talking you out of this?”

Haley shook her head, “Not by a long shot.”

After Haley had pushed the button, we just waited for a moment. After like ten minutes, Bella and Abby came through the bushes. Haley smiled, “Hey, this button works!”

Bella sighed, “Don’t tell me you pushed it for shits and giggles, I woke up for this.”

Haley shook her head, “Look, we found Steve.”

Abby smiled, “It is good to see you, why do you have a new form?”

Bella sighed, “It is clear he ate Rose.”

Haley scratched the back of her head, “No, she just melded into him. Out of free will, Mom is just chilling on the river with Rose. I have a solid lead on Riley and Valentine, I need you guys to back me up when I go there.”

Abby sighed, “Does it have to be in the middle of the night?”

Haley nodded, “The faster, the better.”

Bella hung her head, “Where are we going?”

Haley let out an evil grimace, “We are going to the underworld.”

We all walked over to the lake, Lory came over, “Hey, what is going on?”

Bella smiled, “I see you found Rose?”

She walked over, “I am not sure who you are, but my name is indeed Rose.”

Haley sighed, “Mom, I am going to follow the lead that brings me to Valentine and Riley.”

Lory looked at me, “Did you talk her into this?”

I shook my head, “I have been trying to talk it out of her head, but she is determined.”

Abby hung her head, “Do you really want us to come with you?”

“Yes, I am going to the underworld, some backup would be nice.”

Lory shook her head, “Can’t you wait for us to finish with our journey?”

“No, I want to get things ready for when you guys follow me.”

Bella sighed deeply, “The underworld, huh, I hate that place.”

I took Lory apart, “She is trying to forge her path, by saving our family, what do you say?”

Lory gritted her teeth, “I don’t like it one bit, but she is taking Abby with her, what can go wrong?”

“Yeah, and Bella, she is an angel. We should say our goodbyes, at least for now, until we meet again.”

We both looked at Bella drawing ritual symbols on the ground. I walked over to Bella, “Who will open the portal to the shadow world for us?”

She smiled, “Paul can do that, he has been learning more about ancient symbols and rituals lately. I guess, this is goodbye for now, Bella.”

She nodded, “May we meet on the other side some day, Steve.”

“Yeah, we will.” I hugged her, and then I walked over to Abby.

She shed a tear, “I am choosing my own path from now on, Steve. The time has come, I am not just here to help Haley, I am interested in seeing the underworld.”

She hugged me tight, “Be careful, I am expecting to see you on the other side. This will be a katabasis.”

I nodded, “Indeed, a katabasis. A journey to the otherworld, perhaps beyond that world, and then back to the living. Goodbye, Abby.”

“Goodbye, Steve.”

I walked over to Haley, “Are you sure about this, Munchkin?”

“Yes, I said goodbye to mom, but this is not a goodbye forever, we will meet again dad, probably on the other side, Valentine and Riley will be waiting there.” I put something in Haley’s hand. She looked at the two orbs. “You are entrusting me with these?”

“Yes, Munchkin,” I gave her a kiss on her cheek.

She shed a few tears, “I love you, dad.”

“I love you too, Munchkin. I am trusting you here.”

She smiled and gave me a kiss on my lips. “Goodbye dad.” “She had not done that since she became a teenager.”

I started tearing up, and stepped away, “Quickly go before I am going to pull you away and lock you up.”

Haley giggled, “I will be fine, dad. You prepared me for this.”

Bella seemed to be chanting things, and she gave a coin to Haley and Abby. “Put this silver coin in your hand. We are going to need it soon. After that, lower your defense. Abby, can you slow down your resurrection progress? We need at least an hour of traveling.”

Abby nodded, “That is no problem at all, faster is hard, slower is easy.”

Bella nodded, “We will be reaching the underworld, the ferryman will probably greet us and take us to Hades to discuss what we need to pay. I expect that Hecate will also be there, she goes over the boundaries of the universe. She is an immortal goddess living outside of space and time. You could kill everything, but she will remain. Steve actually taps into her essence when he opens a portal.”

I scratched my head, “Huh, I learned something new. Good luck, all of you.”

Lory took my hand and I felt Rose take my other hand. She seemed to be scared. Haley nodded towards us and put the coin in her mouth. Bella finished her ritual and put the coin in her mouth. Black and blue spikes came from the ground, and cracks formed in the surrounding ground. The blue spikes killed all three of them, they got skewered and dragged into a dark pit. Once the energy faded, it was like nothing had happened.

Lory looked at me, “What do we do next?”

“We go back to Brickton, and kick the shadow world’s ass, that way we can get to Haley as soon as possible.”