When Absalom Falls: Southern Magic, #3

By Steven F. Warnock

Absalom Falls, a small town nestled in the mountains of North Georgia, seems like the kind of place where a person could go to for refuge from the problems of our modern world.  At least, that's what Gideon and Jordy Shaw are hoping when they move there to recuperate from their latest adventure.  Assuming the identities of two teachers at Absalom Falls Academy, an exclusive private boarding school, they make friends with Miles Liu and his daughter, Cassie, and enjoy their mundane lives.

However, an unspeakable evil from the distant past is on the move behind the scenes, hidden beneath the tranquility of small-town life, and it is preparing to unleash the forces of hell on earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wordsmith Publishing
• Release date: Sep 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393986485

Steven F. Warnock

The author lives in the not-at-all-made-up town of Covington, GA, which is the stand-in for the entirely-made-up-by-somebody-else towns of Mystic Falls, Sparta, Mississippi, and Hazzard County.  He has never seen a vampire, much less the ones that keep diaries, or met Officer Bubba or them Duke Boys.  Instead he prefers to live in worlds of his own creation where his companions include dragons, wizards, alien cyborgs, space battleships, and snarky heroes.  His main hobby is writing third person biographies about himself born of vanity, personal insecurities, and a twisted sense of humor that has led more than one person to remark to him, "Boy, you ain't right."

Book preview

Prologue

Covington, Georgia , USA

Magee House, Belle Arbor Plantation

November 23, 2017

Is the ex-villain canoodling with your sister? Jordy gasped.

Gideon looked up from the pan he’d been vigorously scrubbing. By now the dish water had gone from hot, soapy, and fluffy with bubbles to slightly greasy with very few bubbles, and this last pan, the one they’d cooked the turkey in, was much too big to go into the dishwasher.

What?

The word contained his profound confusion at being interrupted in this vital Thanksgiving task.

Jordy turned from the back window and gave her husband The Look.

Gideon didn’t need their empathic bond to know that she was questioning his commitment to their relationship if he wasn’t paying attention to as simple a statement of fact as the one she’d just made. Gideon sighed and let the pan fall back into the greasy water in the sink. He vainly attempted to scrub his hands dry on a dish towel that was already damp from earlier drying as he stepped over behind Jordy and looked over her shoulder and out the window.

Behind Magee House was a large, rather impressive flower garden. A little over seven years earlier it had been torn to shreds by Chemosh Magog and his private army of Jaguar Warriors and undead soldiers in their assault on the Belle Arbor Plantation estate. A lot of time, effort, and money had been put into restoring the flower garden to its former glory. Gideon was rather fond of the garden, especially the gazebo at the center. He and Jordy had exchanged their vows to one another there, under the officiation of his father, who was an ordained Presbyterian minister. Among other things.

It was pretty late in the afternoon. Thanksgiving lunch had taken the better part of an hour, served in the grand dining room. Then, various post-lunch family activities had ensued. After a few rounds of card games with the younger members of the family, Gideon had volunteered himself and Jordy to clean up the kitchen, and they’d been almost finished when Jordy had glanced out the window.

So, they had a good bit of daylight, even this late in the year, by which to see his younger sister, Rebecca Shaw, in an amorous clinch with Kolya Zaroff, former manager of the Dangerous Games Club and admitted criminal, in the shadowed interior of the flower garden gazebo. Gideon placed his hands on his wife’s shoulders and steered her away from the window. Jordy moaned in displeasure but allowed herself to be redirected.

Isn’t that some kind of conflict of interest? Jordy grumbled.

Maybe, but I don’t really care. We’re married, and we’re partners. That’s a conflict of interest in most organizations, Gideon pointed out. Besides, Kolya is Becca’s, you know, ‘type’.

Semi-reformed bad boy?

Actually, I was thinking ‘weird yet charming’, Gideon chuckled. Her last boyfriend, the twin’s dad, was like that. He was a liberal, bohemian, vegan artist who’d also served with honor in the Army. I guess Paul was more of a true libertarian, a classical liberal.

And Becca is a predatory prosecutor and death penalty advocate, Jordy said. She lifted the pan out of the sink and rinsed it off. Zaroff is pretty different from the way you talk about her ex.

He is, but he’s also much more like Becca in personality and personal ethics, Gideon shrugged. I think it’s pretty brave of him to make a move considering what Dad and I’ll do to him if he breaks her heart, and it won’t involve killing him, either.

Hey, Uncle Gideon!

Morrigan Raven Carmichael was Gideon’s niece and adopted daughter. She was also a Program agent, married to another Program agent, Levi Carmichael. The two of them made a handsome couple. She was tall, blond, and curvy. He was tall, handsome, and possessing a goofy kind of charm. Between the two of them, they’d managed to produce Gideon’s first official grandchild, a daughter they’d named Amaranth in honor of Becca’s mother for whom Magee House was named.

Little Amy Carmichael was just three years old, but she was already as beautiful as her parents, and Gideon was determined to spoil her shamelessly. The proud grandpa smiled broadly when he heard Raven’s voice and turned to see the little family. Amy launched herself at him, and he caught her up in a big bear hug that included raspberries, tickles, and kisses.

We’re about to head out, Raven reported, and we knew you’d want to see Amy one more time before we left.

Of course, but I want to see you two as well! Gideon chuckled as the girl squirmed in his arms and launched herself at Jordy.

Auntie!

Jordy caught the toddler and hugged her tight. Jordy barely looked out of her teens even though she was well into her mid-20s, much too young to be a grandmother. On the other hand, she was married to a man who was well over 500 years old, so having grandchildren before she’d even had her own children was something that she’d had to learn to deal with. Of course, Jordy absolutely loved children, which made being an early grandmother easier. All the same, she’d asked to be called Aunt Jordy instead of Grandma Jordy.

You’re getting big! Jordy told the little girl.

And pretty, Gideon added.

Down, pwease, Amy directed, and Jordy set her back on the floor. From there Amy launched herself at her father.

Sure you guys can’t stay a little longer? Gideon asked.

Dinner with my family, Levi apologized.

How far? Gideon asked.

About 800 miles, Levi said with a grin.

He was rightly proud of himself. Levi was a teleporter. He could instantly move himself from one location to another in an instant. The only limits on his power were distance, the amount of additional mass he could carry, and his familiarity with the arrival location. With two passengers, he’d once only been able to go about a mile or a mile and a half. Then, after a disastrous encounter with an electromagnetic force field, which had rendered him temporarily unable to teleport, Levi had recovered and grown in power. Now, he could easily teleport himself and half a dozen passengers up to ten miles or himself and two passengers over 800 miles. Specifically, he would take himself, Raven, and Amy to his parents’ home in Kansas City, Missouri, in a single teleportational bound.

Then, I’ll be expecting a call in the next thirty seconds letting me know everybody’s okay, Gideon said sternly to his son-in-law.

Will do, sir, Levi said with a serious nod that was immediately undone by the goofy grin that just seemed to naturally sprout from his face.

The back door opened to admit Becca and Kolya into the kitchen. Both of them looked quite... flushed, which really stood out on Kolya’s naturally pale skin. The former criminal had a form of alopecia which left him completely hairless, so when he blushed at stumbling into the middle of a family parting, the red spread from his cheeks all the way up to the top of his bald head, and everyone could see it.

Oh, um, hello! he said in his cheeriest proper British accent.

Aunt Becca, Raven mock-gasped, you have some explaining to do!

You already know how the birds and the bees work, Morrigan, Becca chided with a good natured smile and her own blush.

Gideon’s younger sister was a tall, slender woman with long, dark brown hair and brilliant green eyes. Her beauty could rightly be described as elfin, which was only natural, after all, since her mother had been an Aes Sidhe, and her father was a dragon with an Ard Sidhe mother.

The Ard Sidhe were the high elves of the Faerie realms, a cluster of conjoined parallel realities that surrounded Earth, buffering it from the rest of the multiverse. The Aes Sidhe were their human hybrid descendants who’d remained on Earth when the Veil of Shadows had cut Earth off from the multiverse and driven the Ard Sidhe back to their realms. The Ard Sidhe and other higher realm beings like the Olympians, the Aesir and Vanir, and the Devas were all inspirations for the gods of ancient human religions. The Aes Sidhe, on the other hand, were often the inspirations for demigods and heroes.

From the Aes Sidhe side of her heritage, Becca Shaw had inherited not only great beauty but also a genius level intellect, a natural aptitude for athletics which would have allowed her to compete at an Olympic level, an artistic talent like that of Van Gogh and Rembrandt or Flannery O’Connor and Tennessee Williams, and she was gifted with a talent for working Fae magicks like minor glamours and veils. Her draconic and Ard Sidhe heritage had gifted her the unaging form of immortality. She’d been born in 1831 in this very house, making her well over 180 years old, but she didn’t look a day older than Jordy did.

We were just about to leave. We’ve got to get to Levi’s parents’ place for Thanksgiving dinner, Raven explained as she gave her aunt a hug.

Tonight? Kolya exclaimed.

Teleporter, Levi said by way of explanation, indicating himself with a thumb.

After that meal, you’ll be ready to eat again? Kolya chuckled.

After an 800 mile teleport, I’ll need to eat again, Levi laughed.

And I’m a dragon kin. I have his overactive metabolism, Raven added with a nod and a thumb pointed toward Gideon.

You can blame your birth parents for that, and through them your Papa Shaw, not me, Gideon scoffed.

Bye! Amy declared loudly.

Her Highness has spoken, Levi laughed. He took Raven’s hand. Ready, babe?

Yep. Later, family!

Then, they were gone, only the sudden in-rush of air to fill the void of their passage indicating what had happened. Gideon’s phone buzzed a second later with a text from Raven that they’d arrived safely.

My word, but you do have the most interesting family! Kolya exclaimed.

Jordy spotted you two, and I believe the word she used was... ‘canoodling’, Gideon teased.

Definitely canoodling, Jordy grinned.

Kolya blushed across his entire head, but Becca simply took his hand in her own.

You can both mind your own business, thank you, she declared.

Kolya cleared his throat. Ah, yes, um, about that...

You’re both adults, Gideon said. I just hope she doesn’t get bored with you before she finishes renovating you.

Renovating? Kolya repeated.

Yeah, like a house. Take an old, dirty house, clean it up, fix the bits that are broken, give it some new paint, new decorations, new landscaping, and it’s like a whole new house, Gideon said.

Have you been letting him watch HGTV again? Becca asked Jordy.

I can’t stop him, Jordy sighed. Besides, we both agree that Joanna Gaines is kinda hot.

As are the Property Brothers, Gideon added.

That’s... just weird, Becca frowned.

Yeah, weird side effect of the empathic bond, Gideon sighed. Our likes and dislikes kind of... bleed over into one another.

I actually enjoy haggis now, Jordy said. I never thought I’d ever say that, but it’s true.

I grew up eating the stuff, so it’s like comfort food for me, Gideon said with a shrug.

It’s gross, Becca said.

Indeed, Kolya agreed.

Oh, like borscht is any better, Gideon scoffed.

Darling, I think your brother is picking on me, Kolya sighed melodramatically to Becca.

Yeah, maybe you should be glad, Nikolai, because it means he likes you. Otherwise, he would’ve just popped your head off when he had the chance, Becca said. Then, she blushed and giggled, but I did like hearing you call me ‘darling’.

Okay, before this grosses me out, who wants coffee? Tea? Cocoa? Gideon bustled around the kitchen, fetching clean mugs from a cabinet.

I’d love an espresso, Kolya said.

You’re lucky I have an espresso machine, wise guy, Gideon chuckled. Lattes?

Yeah, sure, decaf, Becca directed.

Same, Jordy chimed in.

They took seats at the kitchen table while Gideon began steaming milk and readying espresso shots.

For a guy who claims to prefer tea to coffee, he sure seems like he enjoys that machine, Becca observed.

It’s a steam toy, Jordy said. He’ll play with it until he gets bored, and then, he’ll play with the box.

So, are the two of you on a new assignment? Kolya asked. I mean, if it’s something that you can talk about...

Not exactly, Jordy said. We are, according to Steamboat Willie over there, back stopping new identities.

I’ve been Gideon Shaw for too long this time, Gideon said as he deposited lattes in front of Becca and Kolya.

I don’t understand, Kolya said.

Well, that’s because you’re still very, very young, Gideon said. Relatively speaking, I mean.

At least, I’m not the youngest person in the room, Kolya said. No offense, Jordy.

None taken, but you’d be surprised, she said with a sly grin.

Oh? Kolya raised an eyebrow as he took a sip. I say, old chap, this is excellent!

Thank you, Gideon chuckled as he set another latte down in front of Jordy. Why don’t you tell our new friend about our honeymoon?

We took a ground tour of the realms of Faerie, Jordy said. Getting there from here required an effort, of course, but it was worth it.

How long were you gone? Kolya asked, leaning forward in interest.

Depends on your perspective, Jordy replied. We went to Gideon’s ranch in Wyoming and came back here a month later.

But we were in Faerie for about ten years of our subjective time, Gideon said.

What? Kolya exclaimed.

Travel through the Veil comes with some weird temporal distortions, Jordy said. The path we took through the various realms and their... time zones, I suppose you’d call ‘em, effectively allowed us to travel through time, in a manner of speaking. We were able to compress a decade into a single month of being gone.

And since neither of us age, really, nobody noticed that each of us was ten years older than we’d been a month earlier, Gideon said.

Okay, that’s fascinating, but other than being extremely exotic, why did you do it? Kolya asked.

To find me proper magic tutors, Jordy answered. I spent ten years in Faerie learning proper Fae magic from Gideon’s grandmother while he spent time with his grandfather learning dragon stuff.

And that’s not the craziest vacation that we’ve taken, either, Gideon chuckled as he settled down with his own latte.

No, that would be the ‘graduation’ trip that we took my little sister on to the Asgard Cluster, Jordy snorted.

So, you’ve traveled beyond our immediate little corner of the multiverse, Kolya gasped. Incredible!

Oh, wait until I tell you exactly how weird that trip was, Jordy said. You see, to get there, you have to take a portal from a specific location on Earth and a specific time of the year during a specific year in a nine year cycle using a ritual that only an immortal can perform because the magical cost of it would, literally, kill hundreds of people otherwise.

Well, actually, the cost would be nine warriors, nine virgin maidens, nine bulls, nine cows, nine boars, nine sows, nine billy goats, nine nanny goats... You get the picture, nine sets of male creatures, nine sets of female creatures... Just, a big ole mess of blood, Gideon said.

Frightful, Kolya said.

The neat thing, though, about it is that the portal that opens has a Narnia effect to it, Jordy said.

Kolya frowned in confusion.

Like in the C.S. Lewis books, Gideon explained. Whenever the children returned from Narnia, no matter how long they’d been there, they returned to Earth in the same instant and the same bodies as when they’d left. The bifrost portal to the Asgard Cluster works like that. We took an eighteen year old girl with us, lived there for fifty or sixty years, and when we returned, she was still an eighteen year old girl, but she had the memories of a 80-ish year old woman who’d had some pretty amazing adventures hanging out, training, and fighting alongside the Einerjar.

So, from my point of view, even though I’m only twenty-six, I have the memories of a ninety-six year old woman who’s spent most of her life so far not on Earth, Jordy concluded.

Therefore, Kolya, you are the youngest person in the room, the former criminal told himself.

Which brings us back to me being ‘Gideon Shaw’ for too long, or I should say this version of Gideon Shaw. See, every eight to twelve years, I make a habit of moving and assuming a new identity so that people don’t notice how little I age. I can use glamours and shapeshifting to make myself appear to age, but I can only do that when I’m awake. It might freak a mundane out to see me go unconscious and de-age by a decade or two.

It’s just easier to move on, Kolya mused. Or use glamour enchanted accessories like some Fae.

Indeed. I don’t mind moving on, of course, because I can still re-visit old haunts later, where I can pose as my own son or grandson, which is who this version of Gideon Shaw is. My cover is the grandson of Dr. Gideon Shaw, M.D. who once practiced medicine in Covington before moving away to Africa to be a medical missionary. Before this I was Gabriel Shepherd, and I was Gabe right up until my wife, Aggie, was murdered by the Dark Word, Gideon said.

Coincidentally, by my biological father, by the way, Jordy added. Who we killed seven years ago.

And I’ve been Professor Gideon Shaw, post-graduate instructor and later Ph.D. of Anthropology, all this time, about nine years in total. I am getting to the point where I’m having to age myself to look realistic, which is why it’s time to move on, and moving on means assuming a new identity. The problem, though, in this day and age is the internet.

The internet? Kolya said with a raised eyebrow. I’ve found that the internet makes it easier to create fake identities.

If you have the money and resources, yes, but even then, there’s all kinds of social media, and employers are doing background checks on people by looking at what they’ve posted online, which the government has been doing for years, and kids nowadays are pretty good at spotting faked pictures, so I can’t just claim that I went to UGA this year because somebody is gonna get on Facebook and Instagram and look for pics of me at UGA, and if they find faked pics, the pitchforks and torches come out, Gideon said.

Figuratively speaking, Jordy clarified. More like police and news media, first, followed by torches and shotguns and homemade explosives. Worst case scenario.

Thanks to the Program we’ve got access to the combined powers of the NSA and CIA for creating false identities, legends, and we can work from what they create to backstop them by actually living the lives that they’ve created. Ever since we got back from your little island, we’ve slipped into the lives of two people who didn’t previously exist. They’ll become our civilian identities for the next ten, twenty years or so until we need to become someone else entirely again, Gideon said.

The nice thing is that we’ve got ties to this community built into our new lives to explain why we came down here for the holiday, Jordy said. I can stay in touch with my sisters by introducing them as sorority sisters while I was going to college here.

And my new identity is from down the road in Social Circle. We met at Mercy, fell in love, and now, we’re shacking up together, Gideon said with a grin. Oh, did I mention we’re playing good little Millennials?

He’s taking it a bit over the top, of course, Jordy snickered. He’s doing yoga and Tai Chi, wears Birkenstocks...

They actually make a really comfortable hiking boot, Gideon interrupted, and I rock the socks and ‘stocks.

He wants to grow out his beard and wax his mustache, Jordy laughed.

Bro, Becca winced. You do not go full hipster!

You don’t have to worry about that, Gideon assured her. I can, however, now text with my thumbs as fast as I can type on a full sized qwerty keyboard. Mad skills, yo.

He got that from me, of course, Jordy giggled.

Yeah, pretty much everything ‘millennial' about me is from Jordy, and one great thing is that I can crack open some of the trunks of old clothes I’ve got stored away. They’re all ‘vintage’ now and back in fashion, Gideon said.

Well, if it’s vintage you want, Jordy, you’re welcome to raid my old clothes trunks, Becca offered.

I will take you up on that, Jordy agreed.

So, if you’re playing the part of two young Millennials fresh from college, are you still publicly government agents? Kolya asked.

No, not the way you mean, Gideon replied. This legend backstopping sabbatical really is a sabbatical for us. Chasing down the Dangerous Games Club last year took a toll on us both.

Jordy reached out and caressed Gideon’s shoulder before taking his hand and squeezing it. I still have echoes of the Randall twins in my head, which has given us both some nightmares.

Not to mention Roxton’s come-apart on the island, Gideon sighed, and the results of that.

I shall never cease apologizing for my part in that, Kolya sighed.

And we shall never cease to forgive you for it, Jordy replied, assuming Kolya’s own accent for a moment. No, seriously, you’re making amends, and you may be a criminal, but you’re an honorable criminal.

The conversation was interrupted by a crowd of people coming into the kitchen. Matt Einarsson was animatedly re-enacting the game winning touchdown while Knobs, the family’s Wild Hunt goblin butler, was shaking his head in chagrin. Apparently, his team had lost to Matt’s. Ivan the Ogre followed in their wake, silently laughing at the two of them.

It seems my two stooges and your one stooge have formed a trio, Gideon said.

So, it would appear, Kolya agreed. He checked the time on his phone. I believe my curfew is about to be up soon, and my escorts will soon come to fetch me back to the safe house.

Oh, I think that since you’re under my supervision, it’ll be acceptable for you to stay a while longer, Becca said with a smile.

Yeah, we don’t want to break the New Three Stooges up, do we? Gideon chuckled. I’ll call the agent on duty, have them send your belongings here, and we’ll set you and Ivan up in the old slave quarters.

Where the estate’s security team lives, Becca glared at her brother.

Exactly! Father will like that, and you’ll have the opportunity to sneak around to see your new boyfriend right under his nose! Gideon said.

Boyfriend! Matt bellowed. He turned to the ogre. Welcome to the family, Ivan!

My deepest condolences, friend Ivan, Knobs added with a sigh.

Ivan was mute, so his reply was done with sign language.

Master Gideon, friend Ivan wants to know if you’re offering gainful employment, Knobs translated. Oh, I see. Since his master is no longer employed one of them needs to earn a paycheck in order to woo the lovely Mistress Rebecca.

How does ‘assistant butler’ sound? Gideon asked.

Ivan grinned broadly and nodded his head. Then, he made another sign.

Oh, I’m afraid we can’t eat the children even when they’ve been naughty, Knobs sighed.

Ivan frowned, placed his meaty fists on his hips, and glared at Knobs.

Sheesh! Can’t a goblin have a little fun? Knobs groused. What about Master Nikolai? Shall he be a butler, too, sir?

No, I’m thinking ‘consultant’ will be his title, Gideon chuckled. There. I feel good about leaving Belle Arbor behind now. I know that the family that I leave here will be the best protected that it’s ever been.

You’re leaving Knobs here? Becca asked.

Of course. I mean, what self-respecting millennial has a butler? Gideon said. Shah, as if!

That’s the 90s, honey, Jordy sighed.

Chapter 1

Blue Ridge, Georgia , USA

Home of Ernest and Thuy Pope

December 23, 2017

Twelve, almost thirteen, hours in a car with her dad had left Cassie Liu even more depressed. They had left their home in Newark, New Jersey a little before nine that morning. Dad hadn’t wanted to drive that far in Christmas Eve traffic, but he’d been willing to have a go at Day Before Christmas Eve traffic, she thought with a sigh. At least, only the two of them were in the car. The maroon Nissan Pathfinder was brand new, purchased specifically for this trip, as was the boxy white cargo trailer they were towing.

This was not a typical holiday trip for their family.

Cassie thought back on the events that had transpired to bring her and her father to this point in their lives. Cassie was half-White and half-Asian, but she didn’t have one White parent and one Asian parent like other mixed kids. Both of her parents were mixed race. Her father, Miles Liu, had a Chinese American father and an Italian American mother. Cassie’s mother, Amber Pope Liu, had a Scots-Irish American father and a Vietnamese mother.

Miles and Amber had met in New York City where he’d been an up and coming member of a financial firm’s Cyber Security department, and she’d been an aspiring singer and actress working as a receptionist at the same firm. Cassie shook her head when she thought about her mother’s aspirations. Amber couldn’t carry a tune with a handle, as Grandpa Ernie, Amber’s own father, would say. She was only slightly better as an actress, but she was really too lazy to memorize her lines, which was kinda sad because Amber’s IQ was rated 125, above average to brilliant. The main thing Amber Pope had going for her was looks. She was an exotic beauty who’d won several amateur pageants as a teenager.

On the other hand, Miles Liu was moderately good looking, and he tried to keep himself in good physical shape, but his mind was brilliant. His IQ was rated between 140 and 145, genius level. He was especially gifted at math, pattern recognition, and problem solving. Despite his beautiful mind Miles was also quite empathetic. He could be charming, had a wonderful, open sense of humor, and he had a natural ability to not only lead other smart people but to translate technical jargon into language that anyone could understand.

Amber latched onto Miles’ rising star. She’d had no problem becoming his trophy wife, and Miles had not only fallen in love with her, but her entire family, too. His parents had both passed away while he was in college, and his in-laws filled a void that he hadn’t realized needed filling. Miles would have packed everything up and moved down to Georgia as soon as they’d gotten married if Amber would have allowed it. She loved New York. She had wanted to live in The City, as she always called it, but just starting out, they couldn’t afford it, which was why they’d moved to Newark. The City was just a short train ride away.

About the time that Cassie had been born, Miles and another member of the Cyber Security department had left the financial firm to start up their own independent information technology support company. Miles’ partner, J.T. Abruzzi, had been the face of the company. He was a decent programmer and engineer, but Miles was the genius behind their company’s success. Miles personally didn’t care about the money. He kept his family in the same home they’d always lived in since moving to Newark, while Abruzzi had spent his portion of the profits to buy a mansion and a summer home in the Hamptons.

Amber, of course, wanted her husband to spend his money the same way. Growing up, Cassie had been convinced that her mother wanted to be a Real Housewife, like those morons on TV. Eventually, when Miles wouldn’t satisfy her material needs, Amber had started an affair with Abruzzi. He wasn’t married, and his moral compass had never worked like a normal person’s. Amber packed up her clothes and jewelry and moved out of the Liu home just before Thanksgiving with absolutely no warning.

Miles had been devastated and confused. Cassie had seen it coming. She’d always noticed the way that J.T. had looked at her mother, and the way her mother returned those looks. Cassie wasn’t as book smart as her dad, but she was significantly smarter than her mother, and she’d inherited her father’s empathetic nature, too. In fact, she was practically empathic in her ability to pick up people’s moods and feelings. She’d been the one to have to explain things to Dad.

The divorce was shockingly fast. Dad wanted nothing, except for his daughter. He’d sold his share of the company to J.T. for a quarter of what it was worth, sold the house for half its market value and gave half of that to Mom. Dad wasn’t hurting financially, of course. He had enough in his savings and checking accounts that he technically qualified as a millionaire. With that money he’d purchased the Pathfinder and the cargo trailer, and he and Cassie had loaded everything they’d kept from the house into the trailer and headed south.

The irony of the situation was that they were fleeing to her maternal grandparents for comfort and support. Ernie and Thuy Pope had practically disowned their daughter. They’d always loved Miles like a son, and as far as Grandpa and Grandma were concerned, the sun and the moon both rose and set with Cassie.

Cassie stifled a yawn. Before Mom had betrayed everybody, the family had made frequent trips down to Blue Ridge, Georgia for holiday visits and summer vacations. However, they would normally fly into Atlanta, rent a car, and drive the hour and a half north into the mountains. This was the first time they’d ever driven the whole distance. Cassie was only fourteen, a high school freshman, not old enough to help her father with any of the driving. Miles was a trooper, though. He hadn’t complained about the long drive. In fact, he’d barely spoken for much of the trip. He’d just followed the GPS directions on the console screen and listened to country music, which was not one of Cassie’s favorite genres.

She hadn’t complained, either. Cassie figured that Dad had needed the drive to think, to mull over the problem of his broken marriage. At least, he’d have a job waiting for him when he arrived. Dad had always been on the lookout for job openings in the North Georgia area because his heart’s desire had been to move closer to his (now ex-)wife’s parents. When the drama with Mom started, Dad found an opening that was really close to Blue Ridge and accepted it as fast as he could. Dad’s CV was so good that his new employers had been satisfied with a Skype interview. Come a week from Tuesday, Miles Liu would become the Director of Information Technologies at the Absalom Falls Academy in Absalom Falls, Georgia.

Cassie had googled the place. It was a small municipality north of Blue Ridge on the Georgia state line just below where Tennessee and North Carolina touched. The town was named for it’s primary tourist attraction, Absalom Falls, an underground waterfall in one of the largest cave complexes in Georgia, if not the United States. Legends had it that the water from the falls