Chapter 14: Epilogue (2 Weeks Later)

Exactly two weeks later, I sat at a small, formica table in a rented studio apartment three miles away from what used to be my home. The apartment was unremarkable, a single room with a tiny kitchenette, dimly lit by a single window facing an alley.

I sipped cold tea from a chipped mug, the cheap ceramic rough against my lips. Unpacked cardboard boxes were stacked against the walls, filled with the remnants of my life. Unread mail from credit agencies lay beside my mug, detailing the final liquidation of the Higgins estate.

Brandon was gone. Sierra was gone. The house was gone.

My gaze fell on a framed childhood photograph of Brandon, placed carefully on the table amidst the chaos of my new reality. He was seven years old in the picture, missing a front tooth, his arm slung around a golden retriever. A happy, innocent boy.

I traced the edge of the frame with my finger. I had spent five years waiting for my son to come home, only to realize that when you pull too hard on a ghost, you end up holding empty air.