Layla
Death is cold and empty. It’s silent. It’s lonely.
I feel weightless, like I’m being carried. But there’s no sound, no feeling in my body. Just a faint, flashing light.
Everyone talks about seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Follow the light--into death.
Whenever people talk of the light they follow into heaven—or in my case, it’s probably hell—I always imagined it would be bright white.
Not flashing red and blue like this light.
“Come on, darling. That’s it, now. Breathe deep.”
Air fills my lungs–cool and rich, and my body explodes back to life. My eyes fly open, the flashing lights of half a dozen police and fire vehicles filling the space all around me, blurring my senses.
“Big breath for me now,” Robert Wilson says, one of his hands cupping the back of my head as the other keeps an oxygen mask fastened to my nose and mouth. “Come on, Layla. Another breath. Big breath this time.”
I suck in, my eyes going wider as my senses creep back to life.
Robert’s eyes crease with joy and relief. He turns his face toward someone nearby, his voice unintelligible as it bleeds with the sounds of sirens and rushing water. I painfully turn my head to the side. The house comes into view–or what’s left of it. The fire continues to burn despite the firefighters. The upper levels have caved in on the first floor. Heat wafts toward me, stinging my eyes.
A familiar muffled voice nearby catches my attention, and I crane my neck toward the sound. It’s Bailey, wrapped in a blanket and sitting in the bed of a pickup truck stamped with “Hahnville Fire Chief” on the side. A gorgeous man fully decked out in fire gear talks to her as she sips from a water bottle, her eyes misted with shocked tears.
I shove Robert and the oxygen mask away, coming to my senses fully. “Aunt Penny?”
“She’s fine,” Robert says, securing the mask to my face again. “Everybody’s fine. Bailey drove like a bat out of hell to my place. Penny is with Helen, and the police chief right now, back at my house.’
“How–how did I–”
“You’ll never believe it,” he laughs heartily. “Remember the day we came to meet you, and we talked in the dining room about the wallpaper? An artist came down from New Orleans for the job some time ago. I guess he came back tonight to start on one of the other rooms.”
“What?”
“He pulled you out. I got here just as the fire department came blaring down the driveway. That man walking out on the porch with you in his arms was quite a sight, I’ll tell you what.”
“Where is he?” Hope, and terror, nearly stop my heart.
I’d stabbed him. I’d stabbed Dalton, knowing I’d die in the fire. I couldn’t let Amos have him, even if it meant taking him into death with me.
Maybe that’s what all of these women were doing all along. Maybe they knew about Amos, and he gave them no choice but to kill the men they loved to try to rid them of the demon that took over their bodies.
“He’s getting patched up right now by the medics. We got an ambulance coming for you, don’t worry.”
“I don’t need it. Where is he? Please?”
“He got stabbed in the arm by some debris on his way out of the house I heard. Don’t worry about it now.”
In the arm? Had my aim been so poor? I had been suffocating.
“Why is Bailey here?” My head feels heavy.
“She basically dumped Ms. Penny in our driveway and screamed at us to call the fire department before hauling ass over here again. I guess she went in after you but got knocked off her feet by a wall of fire. Tanner, the fire chief, is taking care of her while his boys try to put out the fire…” he tapers off. “Listen, darling. The house is a total loss.”
Thank God.
“Ms. Penny, however, was the most lucid I’ve ever seen. Real apologetic, too. Said she lit a candle and walked to the window to look outside at the moon. Her eyes aren’t working too well these days, you know, thought the candle would help her see what she wanted to see but she lit her old lace curtains on fire instead.”
A delirious laugh works its way up my throat. Robert smiles down at me, concern showing clearly on his face.
“That’s… that’s a shame.” I want to say something else—that it’s glorious. Now, Amos will have nowhere to do his bidding. We’ve won.
Overhead, the night sky gives way to the first hints of morning, the clouds parting enough to see the faint outline of the stars as the sky goes from an inky black to deep violet.
I look up at the stars, tears rolling down my cheeks.
And then a shadow passes overhead, blocking my view of the heavens.
Dalton looks down at me as he kneels, his hand warm against my cheek. I realize with a start that I’m lying in the back of one of the volunteer firemen’s truck, the metal hard and solid against my spine.
I lock eyes with Dalton. My chest strains, but I’m unable to breathe.
Is this Dalton?
Or Amos?
“Angel,” he whispers, his voice ragged and choked.
“Well, I’d say you were her guardian angel tonight, sir. You got here just in the nick of time.”
“I’ve got it from here. The ambulance is on its way down the driveway, finally,” Dalton says softly, not providing any more explanation to Robert. His eyes don’t leave mine for a single second. Robert moves away with a nod, giving us a moment.
I reach up and grip his wrist, finding it warm to the touch. His clothes are scorched and hanging off his body, and his back is covered by another one of those shiny silver blankets like Bailey’s.
“Is this real?” I ask as he removes the oxygen mask from my face and leans down. “Are you here?”
“You did it, Angel.”
I close my eyes as his lips brush mine, tasting of ash and salt. Warmth spreads through me, waking up the numb parts of my body as I slowly crawl back to life.
* * *
It’s gone.
The fire spread to the garage and outbuildings despite the fire department's best efforts. Nothing but the foundation remains.
Everything is all black–tendrils of smoke continuing to rise in soft wisps in the warm summer breeze.
My Toyota 4Runner is nothing but a shell of scorched metal.
Everything is gone.
Including Amos.
I watch as Dalton and Curtis walk back toward where I’m standing in the driveway with Bailey. They’re taking their time. I wonder what they’re talking about.
“He seems nice,” Bailey says softly, her arm linked in mine. “You should have told me about him sooner. You didn’t need to sneak him into the house, you know.”
I shrug, smiling to myself. I lied, of course. What good is the truth now, after everything that happened? To Bailey, I just had a secret lover.
“It’s been a while since I had a boyfriend,” I admit, because that’s definitely the truth.
“Me too,” she breathes, chuckling.
It’s been three days since the fire. One of those days was spent being poked and prodded at the hospital, and the others were spent shacked up at a bed and breakfast in town with Dalton. We waited for the worst, for Amos to reappear to torment us further, but were met with peace–and time to really get to know each other.
We didn’t leave our room for two whole days. We were too busy living, and fucking, of course, without the watchful, vengeful gaze of a demon peering at us from every angle.
“But guess what? I have a date next weekend,” Bailey says slyly, giving my shoulder a little nudge.
“With who?”
“The fire chief.”
“You dog,” I grin, nudging her back.
We smile at each other, then laugh, our joy lifting toward the unrelenting sun.
Curtis calls Bailey over, and I watch as she passes by Dalton, who is on his way over to me. They smile at each other, saying something I can’t hear in passing, but Dalton’s answering laugh ignites something deep in my heart.
He’s been so happy lately. He smiles nonstop. He still fucks me like a god, despite his new disposition. That bitter cold edge to him has loosened, leaving room for this.
“Hey,” he says before pressing a quick kiss to my lips.
“Hey,” I reply as his hand grazes down to the small of my back.
“Ready to get out of here? Curtis is going to drive Bailey over to the Wilsons’ for lunch.”
“Yeah, we’re going to be late if we waste any more time.”
He knits his fingers in mine as he walks me back to the SUV we rented since both of our vehicles are now piles of twisted metal.
“It’s a pretty nice place,” he says over the soft sounds of the radio as we drive across town closer to New Orleans. Eventually, a small hospital comes into view in the distance, gleaming in the sun. “She’ll be safe here until she’s ready to go to her new place. It’s a community, you know. They have their own restaurants, entertainment centers, and nurses on staff twenty-four-seven.”
“She showed me the pamphlet this morning,” I reply, my face tilted toward the open window. “I feel a little uneasy about sending her all the way to Florida.”
“It was her idea, Layla,” he laughs, his eyes on the road ahead.
“Still, Florida is far away.”
We pull into the parking lot, and Dalton cuts the engine then rests his hands in his lap. “I have a job down in Miami. I confirmed it this morning. I’ll be close by. Your aunt won’t be alone.”
I bite my lip, rolling it between my teeth.
“What if you came with me?” he asks.
I steal a glance at him. “Are you sure?”
“Are you serious, Angel?” He leans toward me, taking my chin between his thumb and forefinger, and plants a kiss to my lips. “I want that more than anything.”
I smile, knowing I’ll be able to find a job in Florida. There are always older people needing help down there.
We spend the rest of the day with Aunt Penny, who is recuperating at the hospital before she’s transferred down to the retirement home of her choosing in Florida, where the sun always shines, and no demons walk the halls of her new home.
If she ever had dementia, no one would be able to tell now. It’s like a fog has been lifted all around us, allowing the sun to touch our skin for the first time in weeks, and in her case, years.
Bad things happened in that house. Dark and twisted things. Something imprinted on my heart while I was there.
But it’s no longer with me and no longer plagues Aunt Penny–or Dalton.
I turn to him as we walk back out to the car. He stops walking, swirling the keys over his finger.
“I’ll go with you,” I tell him.
His smile lights up my soul.
I love him. God, I love him.
We drive out of Hahnville that very night, and as I fall asleep with my head lulling against the window, I swear I hear a faint melody playing somewhere far, far away.
“So sweet, so cold, so fair…”