Sweet Harmony

by A. M. Evanston

  ****

  Time oozed by. Annamarie stared out the window, her mouth sour. How many minutes had it been since Lee had called Daniel? Five? Ten? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that every second that went by made her stomach ache. She hoped that Daniel had called the cops and wasn't dumb enough to just come on his own. Even the thought of that had her stomach cramping.

  As she chewed her bottom lip, she saw a silver car pull up beside the warehouse. It was Nathan behind the wheel of the car. She lost all remaining feeling in her legs. She officially had the worst luck in the world. With her hands bound, she was as helpless as a drowning cat.

  "He's coming," she whispered.

  Lee nodded, his face paling.

  A second later, Nathan opened the door of the warehouse and stepped inside. To her shock and horror, she saw that the guy was drenched in blood. What the heck did he do? The psycho made eye contact with her. Since his nose was broken, he had two black eyes. It only made him all the more terrifying.

  "You're much smarter than I thought," Nathan said. "When I was following you, I thought you were on the slow side. I was wrong. You turned one of my own men against me."

  "Evan," she whispered, eyeballing the blood stains.

  "He's gone now." Nathan cracked his knuckles. "It doesn't matter. I just needed him to help me capture you. He was disposable. Too bad he didn't know that when he came after me."

  The color drained out of Lee's face.

  "What about you?" Nathan pulled a gun out of his pocket and leveled it at Lee. "Are you going to give me trouble too?"

  "No." Lee shook his head wildly. "Please don't, man. I have a sick brother who needs me."

  Nathan let out a cold, cynical laugh.

  "That doesn't matter to me," Nathan said. "Help me kill the girl."

  Though Lee's eyes bugged out of his head, he didn't say anything.

  All hope she would survive was gone now. Daniel was too late. He'd probably arrive just in time to find her dead.

  "What are you going to do to me?" she whispered.

  "Hmmm." Nathan walked in a circle around her, his eyes glistening evilly. "At first I thought about throwing you off a bridge or something, but that's been done too much. I've decided I'll burn you alive. It's painful and I'll get to watch."

  Angry wasps crawled in her ears as she shivered. No. This isn't happening. She'd never tasted true terror before this moment.

  "Finally, there's the expression I wanted to see all along." Nathan's eyes glistened with excitement. "Genuine fear."

  She tried to compose herself. Even if she did die, she didn't want to give Nathan the pleasure of seeing her fall to pieces.

  "You can bite me, Nathan," she said.

  "Wow." Nathan chuckled. "There's that anger of yours again. I must admit I admire your spirit. Evan didn't fight nearly as hard as you at the end."

  Lee cursed.

  "You have something to say, buddy?" Nathan trained the gun on him again.

  "No." Lee shook his head.

  Is he really going to let this happen? Annamarie stared at Lee, desperate. The guy was avoiding eye contact at all costs.

  "Grab all the old wood that's lying around and stack it around her." Nathan nodded at Lee. "I'm going to light her on fire before I burn down the building."

  Nathan left the warehouse. While he was gone, Lee grabbed the stacks of old wood piled in the corner. As he piled the pieces around her feet, his eyes reddened.

  "I'm so sorry," Lee moaned, sounding close to tears.

  She couldn't say anything. Her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth.

  Nathan re-entered the warehouse holding a container of gasoline. Her skin covered with goosebumps at the sight of it.

  "You ready for a shower before you burn?" Nathan asked, approaching her.

  She glowered at him, even though she felt more like weeping.

  The guy unscrewed the top of the gasoline container and poured the flammable liquid over her head. The gasoline was cool and filled her nostrils with an awful, pungent odor. She squeezed her eyes shut as she fought down the tears. I've got to get loose, she thought, attempting to free her hands again. Her efforts were futile. This was really how she was going to die—trapped in a chair in front of a psycho. She couldn't believe she didn't even get to live to see her eighteenth birthday.

  Daniel, I really wish I could see you one last time. She stared down at her damp clothes, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. No crying, she chanted inside of her head. Even though she'd always believed she was tough, she knew she would scream once she was on fire. She'd once read that burnings were one of the most painful ways to die. Nerves flared, skin melted off. It wasn't pretty. She'd never thought she would be the victim of a burning in the twenty-first century.

  Lee slowly walked over to her and placed wood beneath her seat. When she tried to catch the guy's eye, he avoided her gaze again.

  "I think that's enough," Nathan said. "The gasoline should do the trick."

  "I don't know." Lee shrugged, his whole body shaking. "Maybe there should be more wood."

  He's trying to buy me more time.

  "Get over here, you numbskull," Nathan snapped. "When I say it's enough, it's enough."

  Once again Lee's conscience took effect. He stopped. Nathan trained his gun on him again. As noble as it was that Lee was going to die for her, she couldn't let that happen. Nathan would kill him and then light her on fire anyway. Even if she couldn't save her own life, someone else shouldn't take a bullet for her.

  "Help him burn me, Lee," she pleaded.

  "Huh?" Lee stuttered.

  "Don't you get it?" she asked. "It doesn't matter whether you live or die, he's going to kill me anyway."

  "She's right, you know," Nathan said. "My patience with you is already at the breaking point."

  Lee groaned, but he still walked over to Nathan's side. Nathan dug in his pocket and pulled out a pack of matches. She was so scared vomit crawled up her throat.

  With an evil smirk, Nathan struck the match. An orange flame glowed at the end of the wooden stick. She stared at the flame—her enemy—and shut her eyes. In just a moment, her body was going to hurt more than ever before. She was prepared to be overwhelmed by searing flames.

  An engine roared and tires screeched.

  "What the heck is that?" Nathan yelled.

  A Lamborghini came crashing through the wall to Nathan's right. Though he hadn't been hit by the car, the guy was knocked to the ground. The match fell from his grasp and the flame went out. One more chance, she thought. I'm getting one more chance. It was all thanks to Daniel who'd driven his car through the wall.

  "Lee, grab his gun!" Annamarie yelled.

  Lee rushed at Nathan who was already struggling to his feet. Even though the guy was bigger and operating on sheer craziness, Lee had the element of surprise and tackled him to the floor. They wrestled for a moment before Lee staggered to his feet, shaking and holding the gun. Somewhere mid-tussle Daniel had gotten out of the car and now rushed toward her. He'd brought Jaiden with him and the guy stumbled out of the passenger seat.

  "Daniel." A tear trickled down her cheek. She couldn't contain her emotions anymore.

  Her face must have looked a lot worse than she thought because the color drained out of Daniel's face when he reached her. Of course, it could have been the fact she was soaked in gasoline and tied up to a chair too.

  "What did Nathan do to you?" Daniel touched her chin.

  She shook her head, unable to respond. The sound of sirens filled the night.

  "The police are coming," Jaiden said.

  "About time," Daniel said. "I called them fifteen minutes ago."

  "Wait a second, Nathan," Lee said. "What are you—ugh."

  She looked up just in time to see Nathan ram Lee with his shoulder, sending him flying. Nathan fled from the warehouse at a full sprint.

  "He's getting away!" she yelled.

  "Like hell." Daniel turned his gaze from her. "J
aiden, untie her and take care of her until the ambulance arrives."

  "What about you?" she asked.

  Instead of answering, Daniel tore out the door after Nathan. No. This can't be happening. I have to help Daniel. She struggled against her ropes, sweat mingling with gasoline as she squirmed. Jaiden rushed over to her, his face red and blotchy.

  "Oh, Annamarie," he said, his eyes filling with remorse as he gazed at her.

  I must really look like crap.

  "Get me out of this chair." She stared at Jaiden, her teeth chattering despite her efforts to make them stop. "Please."

  Jaiden examined the ropes.

  "These are really tight," Jaiden said. "We're going to need a knife or something."

  No duh.

  "I've got a pocket knife," Lee said. "Move out of the way."

  Lee laid the gun on the floor and pulled a pocket knife from his pocket. The blade glinted in the dim light.

  "Wait a second," Jaiden said, stepping in front of her.

  "He's had more than enough opportunity to hurt me," she said. "Let him cut the ropes."

  Even though Jaiden ground his teeth, he nodded. Lee bent down and sliced through the ropes on her wrists. When she examined them, she sucked in air. It was no wonder her skin burned when she tried to get free. Her efforts had made the ropes eat through her flesh to the point that her hands were covered in blood. Jaiden sucked in air and groaned. Lee cut through the ropes on her ankles too. Though the bindings had caused a bloody rash from her squirming, the injuries weren't as bad.

  "You're really hurt," Jaiden whispered. "We've got to get you to an ambulance."

  He should see my mental scars, she thought bitterly.

  "No." She stared at Jaiden. "I'm going to help Daniel."

  Police cars screeched to a stop outside of the warehouse.

  "You're too badly injured." Jaiden shook his head.

  "I don't care." She staggered to her feet and fell straight into Jaiden.

  She pulled away, trying to ignore the fact her aching head swam and her wrists throbbed. The adrenaline and her quick moving thoughts gave her strength despite the physical pain. She could suddenly understand why superhuman power was reported during emergencies. She shouldn't have been able to stand, but she could. At that moment, the police came crashing through the warehouse door, guns drawn.

  "Nathan is already gone," Jaiden said.

  She was either really stupid or really brave. While Jaiden was distracted, she darted past him and rushed through the hole in the wall caused by the Lamborghini. The police men yelled for her to stop, but she didn't care. She had to get to Daniel to help him.

  Now that she was outside of the warehouse, she saw several other abandoned buildings. She thought Nathan had run to his car, but it was still parked on the street. Daniel must have reached him in time to stop him from getting in. Before she was able to deduce anything further, the policemen left the warehouse and approached her. To the right it is, she thought, making a sudden decision. She sprinted, her ankles throbbing.

  "Hey, stop!" a man yelled from behind her.

  Yeah, right. Considering she was the victim, she doubted he would shoot her.

  As the policemen gained on her, she became desperate. Just then, she heard the sound of angry grunting and yelps. She headed down the street between two buildings and came to a stumbling stop when she saw a pair of struggling figures.

  Daniel hadn't needed her help. The guy had Nathan pinned to the ground as he threw enraged punch after enraged punch. Nathan was trying to cover his bloody face, but Daniel kept on issuing blows. The policemen cried out and soon she was overrun by an ocean of people in black uniforms. The authorities pulled Daniel and Nathan a part.

  "You hurt Annamarie, you bastard!" Daniel yelled, still struggling.

  Two of the policemen hauled Daniel toward her. At the same time, Nathan was pulled away by three guards with guns. The guy wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. She looked up just as Daniel shook off the policemen with his face pink with anger. Everything was fine now, she realized. She wasn't going to die.

  Suddenly, her head hurt a heck of a lot more than it had when she'd first woken up. Maybe she'd been repressing the physical pain to stay alive. She was really cold too, even though it was a warm spring day and the chill shouldn't have affected her. She felt the color drain out of her face and the strength leave her legs.

  As high pitched buzzing filled her ears, she fell to her knees.

  "Annamarie!" Daniel yelled.

  Daniel knelt down in front of her. She reached for him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  "I thought I was going to be burned alive," she said.

  Her vision was blurry. Why was it so hard to see?

  "We need the EMTs over here!" a policeman yelled.

  "Hold on, Annamarie," Daniel said, looking more scared than she'd ever seen him. "Be okay. Please."

  She laid her head against his shoulder and everything went black.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Annamarie opened her eyes and saw a bunch of alien faces staring down at her. After a few seconds, she realized she wasn't on a foreign planet being probed. The people standing over her were Daniel, Jaiden, and surprisingly, her dad. The only person in the room she didn't know was a tall, blonde-haired woman in a white coat. Where am I and what am I doing here? Her brain was in such a fog it was hard for her think straight.

  Suddenly, she remembered what Nathan had done and flew into the sitting position. Unfortunately, that made her head hurt so bad she wouldn't have been surprised if her cranium exploded.

  "Agh." She grasped her head, tears in her eyes. "My head hurts."

  "You're awake," her dad said. "We thought…we thought that you… "

  "We thought that you might be in a coma," Jaiden finished for him. "You've been asleep in the hospital for two days."

  Two days? She couldn't believe it.

  "What happened?" she whispered.

  "You don't remember?" Jaiden asked gently.

  "That bastard Nathan took you and hurt you," Daniel said. "That's what happened."

  "No. I remember Nathan," she said. "I want to know what happened after I blacked out."

  It was so darn hard to think straight. She must have been given a heck of a medication because she felt as though her brain was filled with lint.

  "You passed out in the alley. The doctor said you went into shock." A vein throbbed in Daniel's cheek. "I rode in the ambulance to the hospital with you and Jay called a taxi and followed. Mrs. Carmichael called your father and he booked a flight to come here right away."

  She sought out her dad's aged face. Even though his hair was greasy and his face was pale, seeing him put her more at ease.

  "Sorry." She groaned. "You missed your concert."

  Her head throbbed again.

  "Don't worry about trivial things like that," her dad said, smoothing back her hair. That was a first for him. "The concert doesn't matter. When I got the call from your principal, I was terrified. I thought I was going to lose you. I told my manager to shove it and boarded the first plane to New York City."

  She grabbed her dad's hand, touched by his words, but then glanced at Daniel.

  "And what happened to Nathan?" she asked, trying to repress a shiver.

  "That guy is never going to walk free again," Daniel muttered darkly. "He's looking at murder and attempted murder charges. I hear he's going to try to plead insanity, but either way, he'll be locked up somewhere."

  The thought of Nathan made her recall everything that had happened at the warehouse. Still she tried to maintain a strong facade even now when she felt as menacing as a newborn puppy. Unfortunately, her emotions must have shown on her face because everybody appeared concerned.

  "Let's not talk about this now," Jaiden said. "She's not ready for it."

  "I'm not weak," she mumbled.

  Gosh, why was her head so foggy?

  "Nobody said you were," her dad said.

  "Good.
" Her tongue felt as big as a slug. "And you…"

  She gazed at Daniel again, her brain swimming.

  "Why did you take so long to rescue me?" she muttered, although weakly. "If you were one second later, I would have been extra crispy."

  Her dad began, "That's no way to talk to the person who saved you—"

  "You're always so ungrateful," Daniel said, although affectionately, like he was whispering words of comfort instead of arguing. "It's twenty miles from the school to the warehouse. I burned rubber all the way. I couldn't have been any faster."

  "Hmph." She licked her dry lips, trying to pluck words from her jumbled mind. "If I was feeling better, I'd…I'd…"

  "You'd beat the crap out of me, I know," Daniel said.

  Her mind was swirling again. She fought to keep her mind on track—and failed. But boy was she glad Daniel was at her side. Suddenly, she felt more sentimental than angry, which was unusual for her.

  "I thought I'd never see you again." Her eyes prickled with tears. "When I was about to be burned, I remember thinking that I wanted to see you."

  Oops. She shouldn't have said that out loud. Stupid medicine. She may have been blushing, but her mind was too fuzzy for her to know for sure.

  "I came for you." Daniel touched her cheek. "If you'd died, I don't know what I would have done."

  Her dad coughed on his own spit as Jaiden swayed in discomfort.

  "My head hurts," she muttered.

  Daniel sighed but didn't remove his hand.

  "I think that's my cue." The woman in the white coat stepped forward. "Ms. Chadwick, I think it's time we get you some more medicine."

  More medicine? Her head was blurry already.

  "I don't want any," she muttered.

  "It'll help," the woman said.

  She swallowed and nodded. Everyone but the doctor stepped back, watching mournfully.

  ****

  Annamarie awoke sometime later, her heart pounding. She must have had a nightmare, but she couldn't remember it. Unfortunately, her sense of time was as vague as her dream. It could have been the same day or the next. She wasn't sure. All she knew was that her head still hurt but she could think a little better. She groaned.

  "Is everything okay?" Her dad, who was sitting in a chair by her bed, shot to his feet.