76Epilogue
A good play needs no epilogue. Everything's all wrapped up in a pretty bow by the end, and you can walk right out of the theatre feeling accomplished and complete. Life isn't always so simple. We rid an entire town of demons. We destroyed the Unit like cutting the head off a snake. All of the high-ranking members are dead, the younger and more junior members have scattered. A war that started decades ago has finally ended. Even the local papers have reported a significant drop in the crime-rate. I feel like our job is done, and it's time for the credits to roll.
But it's not done. It's a weird, lost sort of feeling, mixed with a heavy dose of giddiness. No one knows what to do with themselves anymore. Not a hundred percent true. Markus lost no time in finding a job. He's working as an apprentice to a mechanic. I didn't know that apprentices still existed. I thought that was a middle-ages kind of term. He's not too good at understanding how people work, but apparently he's got a knack for machines, so it's going well.
Joel and Margaret still have their jobs, though Margaret is on break until school starts in the fall. They've started going out on weekends to dance, something they could never do with the Unit watching. I haven't said a word, but Joel asked me to help him pick out a ring for her. He said he needed, "Female help,"
Will is being a perfect cliche by volunteering at the local fire department. He hasn't got an actual paying job yet, though he's running the rounds with me, turning in applications everywhere. Will, Markus, and I are also teaching Jackson all the things that he never got to learn at school. Joel used a pretty sketchy connection to get faked records, so that Jackson can sign up for eighth grade in a few months, but his mother never even taught him how to read, so we've got a lot of work to do before September.
Patrick has started helping Joel with his computer business. Last night I asked him if he wanted to meet my parents, and he turned white as a sheet. He's had the easist adjustment, I think. The rest of us have needed time to wrap our heads around how things have changed. Normal feels foreign after enough insanity, but not for Patrick. He runs around all over town, just because he can. He walks down the street, just happy in the fact that no one is watching him from the shadows. He does need to get better about not talking to Tony and Frank in public, because half of Columbus probably thinks he's crazy at this point, but it doesn't bother him.
If I can get a job before the summer's over, I'll have enough money to finish school before spring. I've called my parents at least twice a week since we took out the demons, and they're slowly getting over how pissed they were at my dissappearance. They thought I was going to move back in with them, but Joel told me I can stay at the firehouse, and that's exactly what I'm doing. My little sister Rachel is refusing to talk to me, but she'll come around. It's difficult to lie about where I've been, but it's easier than telling them the truth.
Even after nearly a month, I have to remind myself that it's all over.
We did it.
Author's note: The last two chapters or so I was using a very old computer with no spell check. I'll update these with corrections as soon as my laptop gets out of the shop.
p.s. A huge thank you to everyone who read this, a bigger thank you to those who commented. Your encouragement pushed me to finish this, and it wouldn't have been completed without your help!