The fire caught a hold of my coat and started to burn its way through my clothes. It wouldn’t be long before my skin was reached.
There was no way Oliver would be able to help me out of the ropes now. I was on my own – in more ways than one. As he cried at my feet, I desperately looked through the flames, trying to find a way out.
“Everly, I’m so sorry,” he sobbed.
I couldn’t even speak to him. If I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop until everything was said. I didn’t have time for that, I needed to survive. I couldn’t be dead like he was, I still had a chance.
“Oliver, stop. Please, I just need…”
I couldn’t talk as the smoke gripped me by the throat and threatened to take my life right then and there. It wanted to pull me down to the dark depths of Hell and never let me go again.
There was no way that was going to happen.
There had to be a way out of the ropes. Out of the fire. Out of the room. I just had to find a way.
My leg seared with scorching pain as the flames found their way through my coat. The pain shot through me like a hot knife, making me shriek in agony.
Somewhere in the factory downstairs, I thought for sure I heard Taz laughing his head off.
The beams of the roof started to crack, warning me they wouldn’t stay in place for too much longer. I looked up, instantly wishing I hadn’t. One beam was burned almost right through, the glowing orange embers taking up a larger area than the remaining wood.
“Oliver, I have to get out of here,” I spluttered. My throat was so sore my voice barely sounded like my own. An eighty year old woman who had smoked her entire life had taken my place. The thought almost made me laugh in the midst of my hysteria.
Something loud banged behind me, sending a wave of flames my way. My back started to heat up, probably covered in stray embers ready to work their way into my clothes. Perhaps if I was lucky, I would die of the smoke before the flames really took hold of me.
If I was lucky my death would be swift.
There was so much I wanted to say to Oliver but I guessed it didn’t really matter anymore. Soon, I would join him on the other side and then we’d have all the time in the world.
I wondered if the spirits would still haunt me if I was one of them.
They’d probably finally leave me alone.
Perhaps death was a sweet relief, like the poems said they were. Perhaps the afterlife would be a better world than the one I currently lived in. Maybe I would be thankful not to have to really live anymore.
No more struggling.
No more pain.
Just lightness. Or darkness. I wasn’t really sure what awaited me. All those spirits and I’d never thought to ask even once. I could have known all the universe’s secrets but I was always too busy to ask the ghosts.
The idea was absurd, I knew that but I didn’t much care. The pain in my leg was so unbearable I wanted to die. I wanted for it to be all over. There was no use prolonging the inevitable. At least it would stop Oliver’s constant sobbing at my feet.
“Come on, help me out here.”
That voice. I knew that voice.
I couldn’t quite place it. All I could see were dancing flames surrounding me like they were having a party. I couldn’t feel my leg anymore. It was either numb… or gone.
Someone tugged at my ropes.
For a moment, I thought it was Oliver and I had dreamed he was dead. But he was still at my feet, it wasn’t him. Whoever it was, he wasn’t happy with the ropes. He cursed under his breath, his hands yanking with every movement.
And then release.
I could move again. Not that I was actually in control of my body. My hot leg wasn’t feeling anything and the blood was still rushing toward my other limbs.
The boy lifted me, bustling me about like I was nothing more than a ragdoll. I was thrown over his shoulder as he held onto my legs. He swore again as we rushed through the flame wall. The heat flew around us, an inferno that was surely burning us both to a crisp.
He almost lost his grip on me twice when we hurried down the stairs. My head was over the side, giving me a blurry view of the ground far down below. It was a fatal stop at the bottom if he did drop me.
My hands found his back and I gripped on tightly to the material of his shirt. I couldn’t see his face but I could feel his strong muscles as they held me there.
He wouldn’t drop me.
If he had walked through fire for me, he wouldn’t let me fall to my death.
Perhaps it was Oliver after all. Had I really thought he was dead? It was so stupid of me. It was silly to have those thoughts. Oliver wasn’t gone, he was right here, saving me. Just like I thought he would.
A loud crack echoed in the vast expanse of the factory as the roof gave in on the mezzanine level, showering us in biting embers. The boy hurried that much quicker to get away.
I bounced along on his shoulder, my fate given away to him. The flames sent shadows over the factory floor, making it unrecognizable as the place I had walked in only a little while ago.
Now, it resembled Hell.
A jolt to my leg sent out a shooting pain. Bile rose to my throat as I tried to swallow it down again. Breathing wasn’t easy in the quickly spreading smoke but the last thing I needed to do was vomit. I had to hold on, just until we got to safety.
“Are you okay?” the boy asked.
My jaw was set too tight to answer. “Hmmm,” I mumbled. He kept running through the aisles, keeping up a steady pace even though I doubted whether he could see very much. Between the smoke and the dark shadows, it would have been impossible.
Sunlight finally assaulted my eyes as we ran through the doorway. I gasped for fresh air, hearing the boy do the same thing. He didn’t stop until the factory was a block away.
He let me down, holding me steady while I gathered my footing before stepping back.
It wasn’t Oliver.
I was facing Jet.
He was covered in black soot. His eyes travelled down my body and back up again, surveying the damage. For the first time since I had met him, I didn’t feel naked under his intense gaze. I felt… safe.
“Your leg’s burned,” he said.
I looked down, seeking the damage myself. My jeans had a hole, the fabric sticking to my skin around the edges. The patch in the middle was a red raw mess, the skin blistering. When the feeling returned, it was going to hurt like hell.
Oliver came up behind Jet. He didn’t have a scratch on him, he looked exactly as he had every day since I entered the city. He was already begging for my forgiveness again. “Everly, you’re okay, thank goodness. I’m so sorry.”
I ignored him, keeping my attention on Jet. “Tell me you can see him.”
His brow wrinkled. “See who? What are you talking about? Did you hit your head?”
My finger pointed toward Oliver as he stood still, his face grief-stricken. “Him. Oliver. I need to know you can see him. Please, you have to be able to see him.”
Jet’s eyes darted everywhere.
Oliver didn’t say another word.
He couldn’t see him.
Jet turned back to me. “Everly, I have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s only us here. Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Maybe you’ve got a concussion.”
He reached for me but I flinched away. My hands rubbed at my eyes before my fingers twisted in my hair. I needed it all to be nothing more than a nightmare. I needed to wake up and realize I was merely sleeping. It couldn’t be happening for real.
Maybe I had really died upstairs, burned to death tied to an uncomfortable chair. This was certainly a form of hell, maybe I was being punished for something.
“Everly, calm down,” Jet urged.
I continued to shake my head, pinching myself to wake up. Nothing was working, nothing was going right. I wasn’t waking up.
It was really true.
Oliver was really dead.
“You can’t see him,”
I whispered to myself.
“See who? Everly, breathe. You need to calm down.”
Oliver just stood there. He outstretched his arms toward me but then let them fall back to his sides. He couldn’t touch me, even if he tried. He knew that just as much as I did now.
“I’m so, so sorry,” he said. There was regret in his eyes as they burned into me.
It wasn’t right that he was gone. Oliver was a beautiful human being, he was generous, funny, loyal, and kind. He didn’t deserve to be dead. He shouldn’t have been taken. It just shouldn’t have happened.
I didn’t know what to do. There was nowhere to go now, I was all alone. My leg needed a doctor but it would never get that opportunity. If I returned to the apartment, it would only remind me that I was there alone.
The thought of collapsing where I stood was more than tempting. I could fall to the ground and let whatever come what may. I could die there, haunt the rest of the world like it did me.
“You’re scaring me, Everly,” Jet said. I had forgotten he was here. “Let me take you underground. I’ve got bandages, I can find something for your burn.”
I wasn’t going anywhere with him.
He was with them. He let all this happen.
My head continued to shake as I stepped backwards, making it clear I didn’t need anything from him. His gang had tied me up, they tried to kill me. He was the reason I knew I didn’t have Oliver anymore.
His eyes moved from me to over my shoulder. His mouth twisted into a frown. I spun around, terrified about what I was going to see.
All my fears were justified.
Taz and the rest of the boys were coming for us. Coming for me. Coming to finish me off.
“Stay here,” Jet ordered me. He raced toward the guys, his fists flying before he reached them. Within seconds, they set onto him.
Now was my moment.
I ran.
My leg hurt every time my foot touched the ground, my lungs burned like they were still on fire, and my heart ached worst of all. I didn’t know where I was going, but it didn’t matter. As long as I was far away from Jet, Oliver, and the rest of them, I didn’t care.
I didn’t turn around to see if anyone was following me. I couldn’t see Oliver so I knew he wasn’t keeping pace with me. Hopefully the boys would be too busy to notice I was gone.
Soon, the only sound I could hear was the pounding of my own heart and my feet on the road. I was running blind but the pain was good, it was distracting. While I focused on the ache, my brain couldn’t process everything that had happened.
Adrenalin spurred me on, driving me like nothing else. I had never run as far or as fast as I did then. The kids I passed were nothing but a blur. I probably looked a complete mess, covered in black smoke with my clothes half-burned off.
They probably thought I was the monster of their nightmares.
I hoped I wouldn’t haunt their dreams tonight.
My legs continued on, my lungs gasped for air with each step. I needed water more than I needed anything else but I wasn’t going to stop. I couldn’t be far enough away from Jet and his gang.
I didn’t realize where I was until I looked up and saw a white picket fence that I had stood beside for many hours. I stopped abruptly, coming to a halt at the gate.
My house on the hill.
It looked exactly the same as when I had left it. The windows were perfectly symmetrical, the mahogany front door was beckoning me inside, and the pathway was leading me into solace.
There was no hesitation as I opened the gate and went inside. I was home again. I had yearned for this moment and it was exactly what I needed. I should never have stepped outside of the property in the first place. Oliver was proof of that.
The front door wasn’t locked, it didn’t need to be. If anyone dared to cross the threshold, they would have felt the full force of the forty-three spirits that called it their permanent resting place.
I closed the door and leaned against the cool wood for support. For a moment, there was nothing but silence and the sharp intake of my breath. It was like the world stopped for just that moment so I could catch up.
It didn’t last long.
“She’s back.”
“She’s injured. What’s happened to her leg?”
“It looks like she’s been in a fire.”
“Did she burn something down?”
“Why would she do that? It had to be someone else.”
“Maybe she’s changed. She’s been gone for a long time. We don’t know her anymore.”
“Nobody changes that much.”
“It’s only been a few days.”
“More than a week.”
I closed my eyes, trying to drown them out. It was comforting hearing those same voices, the ones I had heard chatter about nothing for almost a year. On the other hand, they were also a stark reminder about why I had left in the first place.
But I hadn’t left because they annoyed me. Even though they did.
I had left for Oliver.
I thought he was hurt, I worried about him being in the city alone, without a friend. A laugh escaped my lips, despite the horrible feeling growing in my gut.
My fears had been right. He wasn’t safe in the city. Oliver had died. Without me. Without anyone. He was all alone when he perished without his best friend. I didn’t know how I was going to live with that guilt.
“Ah, it’s the boy.”
“What boy?”
“The one who used to visit all the time.”
“Oh, the one she wouldn’t let in?”
“That’s him.”
“Everly…” Oliver said. He was here. I would recognize that voice anywhere.
My eyes flew open and I saw him straight away. He was standing in front of me, the other spirits giving him some space. He looked just as sad as he did when I left him outside the factory.
I took a breath as I tried to steady my voice. I needed to say some things to him and I couldn’t do it if I was in a puddle on the floor. Now was the time to be brave or I would regret it for the rest of my life.
“Oliver,” I started, finding my voice not too terrible after all. “You lied to me.”
“I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“It was going to hurt no matter what you said. I deserved to know. You let me fall-” I cut myself off, unable to finish. He let me fall in love with him, knowing full well I could never have him.
The image of our almost-kiss flashed in my head. Now I understood why he had pulled away so suddenly. He knew my lips would go straight through him. All I would have felt was coldness as I passed through his spirit. He didn’t want to give his lie away.
I should have been able to work it out sooner. A part of me knew I was also to blame for being kept in the dark. I never considered he was no longer with the living. I had fooled myself despite what my eyes had seen.
He never touched anything. I never saw Oliver eat. He hadn’t been beaten up by the guys in the alley. He disappeared and reappeared on a daily basis. He had gone unseen by Jet’s gang when they tied me up the first time and he helped me escape.
There were no spirits in the underground and Oliver knew that. He hadn’t insisted on coming down to see Jet with me. I thought he was helping me. But he was really concealing his secret. I had let him get away with it.
All the clues were there.
I was just too blind to see it.
“I didn’t want to hurt you. The thought of having to tell you… it was making me ache,” Oliver said.
I wanted to stay angry with him. I desperately wanted to hold onto the rage that had helped me run all the way to my house on the hill. If I could just hold onto that, the pain and hurt couldn’t take over.
But I couldn’t.
Oliver was dead. I could never bring him back. He would never get to live the life he deserved. That opportunity was taken away from him. Too soon. Far, far too soon.
“How did it happen?” I asked quietly. I was still
holding onto the door behind me, using it for support. I swear, it was the only thing stopping me sinking to the floor and curling up into the fetal position.
“I was walking back from the shelter one night, I’d just helped them close up, and I was attacked. Two guys jumped me, I didn’t even see it coming.”
“They killed you?”
He nodded and it was so like the Oliver I had known my entire life that I almost lost my composure. “One guy held me down and the other… he hit me. Hard. My head hit the concrete and I was gone.”
“Did you see who they were? Have you seen them again?” I hated them. Whoever they were, I wanted to hunt them down and hurt them just as badly as they hurt Oliver.
I wanted them dead.
“I haven’t seen them since.” He took a cautious step closer to me, like I was an illusion that might vanish at any moment. It was hard to believe this was my best friend, the one I had shared so much with over the course of our lives.
“How long?” My voice hitched in my throat. “How long have you been… gone?”
“It happened a few months before you came into the city.”
“That’s how you knew I could see ghosts. I could see you,” I said, it wasn’t a question but a statement. His head nod confirmed it was true. “You said you always knew I could.”
“I’m sorry I lied,” Oliver confessed. “I wasn’t ready to tell you yet and there was no other way to explain how I knew about the spirits.”
He had lied a lot to me. I never thought that was possible.
But I didn’t think my best friend would die either.
“I forgive you,” I said, really meaning it. I didn’t mean just for that particular lie, but for them all. It must have been so, so hard on him going through the crossover alone.
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, I should have been.”
He shook his head, taking another step closer again. I could have reached out and touched him if my hands wouldn’t go straight through his body. “There was nothing you could have done. It happened, I’ve accepted it.”
Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 292