Chapter 17 – Unearthed
Ariel
“This is a weird day for me,” Tony murmurs, standing with his arms crossed at the side of his grave, watching Jesse and Jackson wrestle with his coffin, getting one corner of it up and out of the earth.
I stand on his left, Juniper on his right, both of us looking worriedly up into his face.
“At least it’s all solid,” June says softly. “So, no worms.”
“June!” I gasp, horrified at the idea – horrified that she’d say that!
“Oh, Anton came up with it!” she snaps back, glaring at me. “It was his gross mind, not mine!”
Anton huffs a short laugh that quickly fades, keeping his eyes on the coffin as Jesse gets beneath it, pushing it up with his shoulders and then with his hands. “God damn it,” he growls. “Tony, did you gain weight down here?”
I glance quickly at Daphne, wondering if she’s finding all of this manly labor as fascinating as I am. I find the little smirk on her face quite satisfying as she watches each and every one of Jesse’s movements, but I quickly turn away, not wanting to draw attention to it.
“Okay, now…lift more!” Midnight calls, standing by the side of the grade and directing as Jackson and Jesse give a few final heaves. “And put it up and – yeah! Now put it on the ground!”
Jackson flashes a half-frustrated, half-entertained look at Mids, grinning, neither he nor Jesse needing her guidance but not disrupting her.
“Nicely done, kids,” Roger calls as the casket comes to rest on the grass. He toasts Jesse and Jacks with a flask from his pocket, taking a long sip.
“Roger!” Cora snaps, smacking his arm.
“This is stressful, Cora, honestly – one needs to dim the edges of one’s nerves before one opens a newly unearthed coffin –“
I laugh softly at my uncle as Jackson reaches a hand down into the grave, clasping Jesse by the wrist and hauling him out.
“Oh man,” Jesse says, panting a little and grinning widely as he glances down into the empty gave, clearly kind of having a great time. “I miss Rafe so much in this moment.”
“Aww,” mom says, pressing one hand to her heart, her other arm wrapped around Marigold, who sits happily on her hip. “That’s so nice. Yes, he would have wanted to be here for emotional support, even if he is busy in the North.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” Jesse says, grinning wickedly. “Rafe would hate this – it would have been amazing watching him try to deal with this chaos – trying to come up with procedure and rules –“
Mom huffs, offended. “Oh, he would not!”
“He totally would, aunt Ells!” Jesse says, laughing and grinning at her. “Your Meatball has many fine qualities, but he loves him some protocol and there is absolutely no right way to dig up your friend’s grave to see if his body is still alive – all of this is complete unpredictable chaos and he’s way too square for that. Meatball is a Meatcube, which makes him fantastic to watch in situations like this –“
“All right, all right,” Juniper says, huffing and stepping forward, I think picking up on some of Tony’s anxiety. Jackson laughs and grins at Jesse as Tony sighs and dips his face into his hand, tension radiating all through his transparent form.
I frown as I look up at my friend, worried for him in turn.
“Can we just…do this?” Juniper asks, gesturing towards the coffin.
“All right, Daphne, it’s all you!” Midnight says, gesturing towards the box. “Bring forward those sharp nails –“
“Oh my god,” Daphne whispers, stepping back, eyes wide. “She – was she serious?”
“Why don’t we let the boys handle this,” Laila says, stepping to Midnight’s side and nodding conspiratorially to her. Midnight looks between Daphne and Laila with a confused frown but then shrugs, stepping back to stand with Lai.
“I’ve got it,” Jackson murmurs, lifting one of the shovels from the ground and then – faster than I think we’re all ready for – swinging it through the air and deftly wedging the sharp edge in the crack between the lid and the body. I blink, impressed and pleased with my big wolf boy, unable to help my grin as he leans on the shovel’s handle, cracking the casket open like a walnut.
He takes a deep breath, wedging the shovel further in and beginning to lean again when Tony steps forward, his form flickering slightly. “Whoa, whoa!” Tony shouts. “Can we – can we pause for a second!?”
Everyone goes very still, turning towards him. Pity and hope race through me as I study my friend, seeing how worked up he is. I clench my jaw and curl my hands into fists, hating that there is nothing I can do to help.
“June,” Tony says, swallowing hard. “Do you want to…step back?”
“What?” she whispers, eyes wide. It is very apparent that this is the last thing she wants to do.
“Juniper,” Tony says, his voice cracking on her name. “If what Life said isn’t true…and I am not as…whole in there as I thought I’d be…I don’t think I want you to see it.”
“Tony,” she whispers, reaching up towards his face, her fingers so clearly desperate to touch him. “It’s all going to be fine –“
“Please, June,” he whispers. He stares down at her with such intensity that it makes me blush and I look away. My eyes fall on mom and Cora, who watch Juniper and Tony with their mouths circled into little surprised o’s, clearly putting together some very important facts.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Roger murmurs, taking another swig from his flask. “Ghost boy got game.”
Jesse grins and looks back at his dad but I turn back to Junie and Tony, who continue to just stare at each other, oblivious to the rest of the world.
“Come on, my little Junepiper,” mom says softly, stepping forward to take Junie’s hand and tugging her back a few steps. “You come stand with me.”
A little worried sob breaks from June’s throat as she stands with mom, completely tense, her hands clasped tight to her chest. I swear her eyes don’t blink as she moves them back and forth between Tony and the casket.
I stay tight at Tony’s side, glad he hasn’t asked me to go yet, hoping that he won’t. Jesse steps close too, exhaling a long breath, both of us standing as near as we can, supporting him.
Jackson looks around at everyone before his eyes land on Tony. “You good?”
Tony takes a deep breath and nods once. “Yup. Let’s do it.”
Jackson doesn’t reply. Instead, he pushes down hard on the shovel, wrenching it so that the seal on the coffin creaks and then busts. He tosses the shovel aside and slips his fingers beneath the lid, hauling it up on its hinges and revealing the contents of the coffin to the open air.
We all stay perfectly still for a long second.
Until Tony steps forward and peers down at his corpse.
Juniper
I’m basically trembling as Tony leans forward, looking into his own coffin, inspecting the state of his dead body. I stop breathing, every single one of my muscles tense.
“It’s going to be fine, baby,” mom whispers, her voice thin as she tightens her arm around. “It’s…it’s all fine…”
But I don’t have the energy to respond – my entire attention, my entire being focused on Tony right now.
Because what – what if – what if Life was wrong – or she lied – that sneaky woman, god I’ll kill her, but I wouldn’t put it past her –
Jackson steps to Anton’s side, murmuring something, the two…conferring or something. I bare my teeth, hating this – because why should Jackson of all people get to know before me!?
“Easy,” mom whispers.
But before I can storm forward, Tony turns to me, his face pale, and reaches out a hand.
“June?”
I gasp and stumble forward, reaching for him as Jackson steps aside. Anton necessarily drops his hand before I can reach it and I lose my footing a bit. He murmurs an apology, grimacing at me, but I just stare at him as I reach his side –
Because I don’t care if I fall right now – all I care about is him – but he – he wouldn’t have called me over here if it were bad…
Right!?
“Are you okay?” I whisper.
He gives me the world’s tiniest, most perfect smile, raising his hand to run his fingers through his dark, shiny hair. “I…think I am, June,” he says quietly. Then he lifts his chin towards the box.
I snap my gaze down, my eyes flashing wide as I see…
Him.
“So,” Tony murmurs, gesturing down into the coffin. “What…do you think?”
I just stare.
And stare and stare and stare.