Chapter 160 - Reasonable Doubt

Morrigan finished her last reapings for the day and then made her way to the bus stop. “So…” she began, glancing down at Noir. “You said I’m

Morrigan finished her last reapings for the day and then made her way to the bus stop.

“So…” she began, glancing down at Noir. “You said I’m getting two days off?”

“Yes. I will bring it up to Master, but I am sure he will agree it is best. Though I suspect he may want to have a discussion with you.”

“IT’s not really necessary,” Morrigan said. “Just had a moment, but it’s alright. I’ll get back to business as usual.”

Her last two reapings for the day were simple ones. One was an old person, so she thought at least it was their time; the other was a suicide, so for a moment she thought, at least this one actually wants to die.

Don’t think like that, she inwardly chided herself.

Just because someone takes their own life doesn’t mean they actually wanted to die. She should know that by now.

With that in mind, Morrigan pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a message in the group chat.

MORRIGAN: Hey, how are things going?

EMMA: Your mom’s awake, and she’s sobered up. We let her know you had a job you needed to get to, and that you’d call later.

MORRIGAN: Thanks. How is she?

EMMA: Hung over and a little cranky. But she seems better. Oh, and I think she likes me.

MORRIGAN: Well, you are likeable.

EMMA: Your mom’s pretty cool, too. I hope we can all spend time together sometime.

MORRIGAN: Yeah, hopefully while things are in a better place.

EMMA: Well ,she’s still cussing out Evelyn.

MORRIGAN: Yeah, I kinda want to as well after what I heard today.

Morrigan exhaled as she made it to the bus stop and sat on the bench. Then sent another text.

MORRIGAN: I don’t want to live with her anymore.

EMMA: Why’s that?

Morrigan frowned at how long it took Emma to write those two words.

MORRIGAN: I feel stupid for letting her win me over. It makes total sense the kind of person she actually is now.

EMMA: What do you mean?

Morrigan exhaled even heavier, practically collapsing on the bench and looking to the sky. The sun was mostly down, but the sky was turning purple with the slightest hint of a few stars beginning to emerge.

What did she mean? It could be that she could imagine Evelyn having tea with some other old rich people, while she tells them all about how hard things have been and how her granddaughter is a good girl but just needs a little help and if only she could have stepped in sooner. But she is doing much better now. If only it wasn’t for her poor broken Anna making a mess of things; she always was such a troubled girl, after all.

Morrigan did her best to put her thoughts into words.

MORRIGAN: I mean, why is she really doing all of this? Why did she step in out of nowhere all of a sudden?

EMMA: Maybe because she thought she was the only one who could?

MORRIGAN: Or maybe she just saw an opportunity.

EMMA: Opportunity for what?

MORRIGAN: To act like the hero who is stepping in to fix everything.

EMMA: Well, is wanting to fix things so bad? And you said she’s been treating you good, right?

Morrigan felt even more frustration. It felt like Emma just wasn’t getting it.

MORRIGAN: You heard what my mom said about her. She even tried to take me away, apparently.

Emma once again took a long time to send the last message. Morrigan looked up when she heard the heavy whine of the bus from further down the street and watched as it approached. Emma finally responded when it was squealing to a stop in front of her.

EMMA: Well, there are two sides to every story. Maybe you should keep an open mind.

The changeling rippled under her skin. She didn’t want to be mad at Emma. She understood that she was just the type to always try to see the best in a situation. And of course, she meant well.

MORRIGAN: Yeah, I get it. Thanks for looking out for my mom while I had to leave. Tell Hilda too.

EMMA: Yeah, of course.

Morrigan figured if it came to it, she always had the option of just leaving again. This time she’d stay in contact with her mom; she’d let her know that she’s going to be off making her way but she’d come by to visit once in a while and promise to show up for Christmas and other holidays.

She made it back to Evelyn’s house, coming through the door to hear, “Morrigan? Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” She could smell food cooking and peeked into the kitchen. Evelyn was taking something out of the stove, setting it on top, and slipping off the oven mitts as she turned to face Morrigan.

“So,” Evelyn smiled. “How is Anna?”

Morrigan shrugged. “Pissed.”

And I don’t blame her, is what Morrigan wanted to add, but couldn’t quite bring herself to fully open the door to that confrontation yet.

“I thought she would be. But is she okay?”

“Yeah, like I said. She was just at home, fuming a bit, but she’s fine. We just talked until I had to go to Mr. Crowley’s.”

“I see. Well, what did you talk about?”

“Things…” Morrigan sighed. “You.”

Evelyn gave a tight smile. Surely seeing how she had become as distant as her first day here again. Morrigan could feel her eyes on her, and she figured it might be best to excuse herself.

“Uh. Thanks for cooking. I’ll have some tomorrow,” Morrigan said, turning away.

“Wait a moment.” Evelyn said, stepping after her. “I just want to say. I’m sure Anna has her own perspective on what happened back then, but I have mine as well.”

“Yeah? Well, that’s between the two of you. I don’t really want to be in the middle of things.”

“Well, I would like the chance to explain.”

“You already did,” Morrigan snapped. “Remember? And it turns out you left out a few crucial details.”

Evelyn paused and carefully asked, “What did she say, exactly?”

Morrigan scoffed. “The fact you didn’t only try to take her house but tried to take me from her as well. You know, it sounded bad enough already even before that. I don’t blame her for not wanting anything to do with you.”

Evelyn winced. “You don’t understand.”

“Well, I understand your mom left it to my mom, and she at least had some faith in her. Unlike you.”

“Morrigan. That’s not fair. Listen to me,” she said, raising her voice. She seemed to struggle with something for a moment, then took a deep breath and said, “Your father overdosed. And Anna herself has always been… Prone to depression… and reckless behavior. I think my concerns about the whole situation were justified.”

“But your solution was to try to take everything from her? What would have happened to her after that?”

“It’s not as if I never wanted her to see you again. I just wanted to know you were in a stable home.”

“Yeah, well, nice going. She lost my dad, and to top everything off, she had to fight for what little she still had. You’re going to try to say you thought that was making things easier for her?”

“I was hoping she’d eventually come to understand that I was just trying to help.” Evelyn raised a hand to stop Morrigan from cutting her off again. “And let’s be honest, are you going to try to say it was a perfect situation that I was butting into, and you can’t see any reason why I would do that? You ran away last summer, and I’m sure that wasn’t for no reason.”

Morrigan growled and turned away. She had left during the summer because she had to. Because she died and became a reaper. It was frustrating that she couldn’t tell Evelyn she was wrong.

“Morrigan,” Evelyn called after her as she made it to the stairs. “Just please don’t think the worst of me.”

“Well, the problem is I just don’t know if I can trust you. If you never did anything wrong, why did Mom run away in the first place when she was a pregnant teen? Then why would Gran take her in if she was just being so unreasonable? You even said yourself you thought Mom was taking advantage of her, so that kind of shows me where your head was at.” Morrigan sighed, letting her voice lose some of its aggression. “Mom’s not exactly explaining the whole story, but neither are you. So how can I trust anything?”

That was the real problem. Something wasn’t adding up, and she didn’t know what. To give Evelyn some credit, she was right about her mom. She wasn’t a responsible adult. There were times she tried, but so many other times throughout Morrigan’s childhood that she completely failed to keep things together. Staying away from drugs, making sure Morrigan had everything she needed. Sometimes it wasn’t clear to Morrigan that she cared about anything at all.

“I get that you want answers, but it's difficult to explain everything that’s ever happened and where our falling out began…”

Morrigan looked back at her. That almost sounded like some sort of confession to guilt.

“If it makes you feel better, I know there are some things I did wrong. But worrying about the house and worrying about your safety as a young child isn’t one of them.”

“What about my mom? Did you worry about her, or was she already too far gone in your eyes?”

“Like I said. I’d hoped she’d come to understand me in time. And also forgive me.”

Morrigan let out a breath. She just didn’t know how much she could really trust Evelyn. There was a whole mountain of other things she had to worry about, between being a reaper, Alice, Lorelai, the changeling on her back…

Maybe Noir was right. There wasn’t enough room in her life to be a reaper and live this human life. It was all too complicated. Going to school in a couple of weeks would only add to things.

The changeling purred comfortingly.

“Look, I’m going to bed. It's been a long day.”

“Alright, Morrigan. I’m here to help. Whatever happened in the past, I’m here now, and so are you, so please let me do my best to help you.”

Morrigan tensed slightly. “Yeah. Okay.” The changeling’s soft purring didn’t ease her tension. She didn’t feel like this should just end with that. But Evelyn had a way of just sounding so reasonable. Yet, she could still hear the way her mom talked about Evelyn earlier today.

Oh no, you have no fucking idea. You have no idea how fucking happy she is right now. She finally got everything she wanted.

Her mom was drunk and not in the best state of mind when she said that… But Morrigan couldn’t just deny what she was implying either.

“Goodnight, Morrigan,” Evelyn said cautiously as she was halfway up the stairs.

“Yeah. Goodnight.”

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Chapter 161 - Inheritance