One by one the three guys in the cave woke up. Paul took on the task of informing each about what happened. He told that story three times and each time it was harder. They picked up the bodies and carried them out of the tunnels. No one wanted their friends to be left to rot in a random cave.
Next thing on the agenda was informing the others. Quinn went to tell Melissa and Aiden. Zane and Noah were the obvious choice to tell Delilah. Paul volunteered to be the one to break it to the Benoits because Beatriz completely shut down. Thalia went with him so he wouldn't have to do it alone.
Paul decided to wait to tell his mom. Let her finish her work shift. When she got home he would tell the story one last time. He couldn't make it all the way through it. Thankfully his mother didn't require all the details. She just comforted him. He was so thankful she wasn't there. That he had lucked out. Guilt immediately set in. Maybe he was related to a leprechaun. Were leprechauns real?
The Benoit family decided to hold Mr. Everald's funeral with Tyler's. Fergus had no family and frankly no one wanted to go to another funeral. They had too many this year already.
Everything went back to normal for Paul. That sounds callous, but that's life. College acceptance letters started to come in. Everyone got excited and started planning for the future. Paul remembered one specific day at lunch where even Beatriz got excited and mentioned a film class she wanted to force her brother to take and then she remembered. That look on her face was soul crushing to Paul.
Thalia stuck around. Paul was pretty sure she didn't really have anywhere else to go. Eventually Thalia decided to let her sister properly die. Allowing the town and her parents the chance to grieve. That was the final funeral Paul attended his senior year.
There was a discussion about what to tell everybody. Everyone decided that they couldn't just tell the whole town what happened. The group came clean with The Historical Society. Noah and Zane met with them and told them everything. The council was shocked to be so unaware that they were all so close to slaughter. Paul would have loved to have been there when they learned they let a vampire into their club. Fortunately The Historical Society was really helpful with covering supernatural incidents.
Eventually prom and graduation came. They were fun for Paul and the group. Melissa did in fact win prom queen and Paul himself won king. He did not see that coming. Part of Paul felt guilty the entire time. Zane explained it's called survivor's guilt. Paul hated it.
It was after graduation and everyone went off to celebrate. Paul took a moment to think. He still had no idea what to do with his future. He was hoping for a moment of clarity when a friend sat next to him.
“Shouldn't you be off having a last hurrah?” Noah asked.
Paul turned his head. “You came to our graduation?”
“Yeah well I feel like I was crucial to your guys’ graduation, so I should come. Especially since I had to compel the principal to pass Beatriz and Quinn.” Noah responded.
“That tracks.” Paul admitted.
“Zane told me about your talk.” There was an awkward pause. “You know the only one to blame is Ethel. That's it. Her choices caused all that death. We can all play the what if game for days, but it won't change anything. The lesson we should learn is when Murphy's law happens you gotta move on.”
“What's Murphy Law?”
“What did they teach you?” Noah joked.
“The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.” Paul quipped back.
“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Life is full of worst case scenarios. If you can't move on you'll end up like Ethel, willing to kill hundreds because you can't cope or accept the present. That's the problem with the supernatural world, everyone thinks they can sidestep death. Hell, I've done that for well over a century. At some point you have to accept fate and move on.” Noah said.
There was silence. Paul had no clue how to respond. Noah hated that silence so he asked “So did you decide where you're gonna end up. You know, now that you're no longer a normal high schooler.”
“Yeah. I did just now. I think I'm going to New York.” he responded. The two got up to start walking as Paul asked. “What about you? What's your plan?”
“I don't know. Gotta find my purpose and all that jazz and nonsense. But I do know I gotta step away.” Noah said.
“What about Delilah?” Paul questioned.
Noah sarcastically chuckled. “I don't think that chapter is closed but I gotta give my little brother and her a chance. For that to work I gotta give them space.”
“Wow, that's self aware.” Paul said, impressed with Noah's personal growth.
At least that's what Melissa says.”
Paul laughed. Melissa giving great advice made more sense. “She's usually right “
“Besides, I'm a huge fan of New York. It was my stomping grounds in the 80's.” Noah added.
“Well you can stop by when I get settled for a short, very short visit.”
Summer was fun. Paul split the time between working at The Fireside Tavern and hanging out with his friends. He was a little worried about how expensive it could be in New York. The idea to bring a vampire popped into his head. Maybe he could talk Melissa into coming so she could compel a full scholarship or a free apartment.
Melissa. Summer was ending and it was time to break up like they agreed they would. It honestly sucked. California was Melissa's pick for college so it was a logical decision but still it made him sad.
Paul had another decision to make, should he close his eyes to the supernatural world or open them? He liked doing research and learning about it. He wanted to stay informed about everything. Maybe his college might have a class about it.
No matter what he decided he was definitely ready to take on the world even if he was just some normal guy.