Re: James, Gabe and Open
"We met once." James leaned against the tree from which he'd hung the three ribbons, each with an inscription. "Right before Mabon." In the fall, the autumnal equinox had begun on September 21, the day that Fern came to his shop and just before they visited the El Dorado Valley cemetery to raise a horde of creatures from the dirt.
He didn't say anything for a moment. James remembered that afterward, Gabe had asked him about the creatures, if that sort of thing happened often. He had told him no, and nothing more.
James crossed his arms and ankles, the way he often did when he was deep in though. "She didn't tell me to do it. I was just angry. I saw what she was capable of, what's past all this," James said, gesturing at the world around them. "Underneath. And I looked around and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We were all asleep at the wheel." He looked at his drink. "I know what I did. I can't undo it, but I can take accountability."