Whispers of Deception

Chapter 38

December 12th, 2022

Mills Creek Cemetery

The cemetery was cloaked in a damp, cold mist as the group gathered around Willow Montgomery’s grave. The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the crumbling tombstones. Dead leaves crunched beneath their feet, the air thick with the weight of the finality.

Lilia stood at the head of the group, her fingers tightly gripping the stem of the white rose in her hand. She couldn’t be sure if she was shaking because of the cold or because of the moment they were about to face—saying goodbye to Willow, once and for all. This was the end of it, their last chance to free themselves from her grasp.

She swallowed, looking at the others. Delilah’s face was set in a hard line, eyes distant as if she’d already started emotionally detaching. Augustus stood to the side, his shoulders tense, hands buried deep in his coat pockets. Sebastian paced slightly, restless energy radiating off him in the way it always did when he didn’t know what to do with his emotions. Eleanor stood silently, her gaze fixed on the grave, the wind tousling her hair.

They had all been bound by Willow’s choices. They had been tangled in her web, but this was it. This was their final goodbye.

Sebastian was the first to break the silence, stepping forward and crouching slightly to drop his rose on her grave. “God, you were a bitch, Montgomery,” he started, voice bitter but tinged with sadness. “You had us all wrapped around your finger, made us into people we didn’t even recognize.” His voice cracked slightly, and he rubbed a hand over his face. “But I hope you’re finally at peace. Maybe wherever you are now, you’re not that person anymore.”

He stood, his eyes lingering on the grave for a moment before he took a step back.

Delilah approached next. She knelt by the grave, he fingers trembling as she laid her rose gently beside Sebastian’s. “I don’t know what to say to you, Willow,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “You made me question everything—my friends, myself. You dragged us all down and for what? But I’m not angry anymore. If anything, I think I pity you.” She stood slowly. “I hope you find peace, but I won’t let you haunt me anymore.”

Augustus shifted, his jaw clenched. He didn’t say anything at first, just stared down at the grave. Finally, he pulled a rose from his pocket, spinning it between his fingers. “I loved you, you know thar?” His voice was barely a murmur. “Even when I knew you were lying, even when you hurt me. I still loved you.” He shook his head, the tension in his voice breaking as he tossed the rose onto the grave. “But it wasn’t worth it, any of it. I let you control so much of my life. You weren’t worth this.” He turned away quickly, wiping his eyes as he moved to join the others.

Eleanor sighed heavily as she approached. She knelt by the grave, placing her rose delicately to the earth. “You didn’t have to go this way, Willow,” she said softly. “There were so many chances for you to change. But you didn’t. You chose this. But I won’t carry your choices with me anymore. This ends today.” Her voice faltered as she stood and stepped away.

Lilia was the last. Her heart raced as she approached the grave. She’d been waiting for this moment, waiting to finally rid herself of the shadow of Willow Montgomery.

She knelt down, her knees pressing into the cool earth. She stared at the gravestone, her hand clutching the rose like a lifeline. “You made us into murderers. Liars,” she whispered, her voice raw. “We let you do that. But I refuse to let you have this hold on me any longer, Willow. I release you. I’m done with you.”

Her words hung in the air, heavy and final. She placed the rose gently on the grave, the white petals stark against the dark soil.

For a moment, none of them moved. The wind rustled through the trees, the only sound in the cemetery. It felt like the end of something—something big, something that had held them all captive for so long.

Lilia stood and stopped back, her chest tight with the weight of her own release. She looked at the others, seeing the same weight lifting from their shoulders, the same mixture of relief and exhaustion.

“We’re done,” Augustus said, breaking the silence. “It’s over.”

No one replied, but they all felt it—the strange, disorienting sense of freedom, as though they were waking up from some torrid nightmare.

One by one, they turned and walked away, leaving the white roses to mark their final goodbye to the girl who had brought them all together—and nearly torn them apart.

Willow Montgomery was gone.

Finally, they were free.