“Why?”
“I missed you. Every day of my life for the past fifteen years, I fucking missed you,” I tell her as another tear falls. “I didn’t know how to get you to notice me after that day that you walked by me without stopping. I … One day I was watching the news and I saw that you had been made the new Fire Chief of Ventura County so I knew that the only way to get your attention would be to start fires. Did you like them? Were they as beautiful as you are? Have I made you proud?”
She nods again, then gently reaches down to pry my hands from her ankles, but I don’t relent. The white is burning now and there’s nothing to stop the destruction it’s craving. I have to feed it before it’s too late.
“I’m sorry for all of the trouble I’ve caused you. I’m sorry that we never got the chance to grow up together, and I’m sorry that those girls hurt you so deeply that your family took you away from me. But we’re together now and … I have one last thing to show you, okay?’
She doesn’t look up at me. She simply nods as she goes back to gently attempting to pry my fingers away, and I give her a little bit of leeway because I need to reach into my pocket for the grand finale.
“Makena?”
She looks up into my eyes and I smile at her.
“Can I have one more kiss?” I ask her hopefully.
She doesn’t look afraid anymore.
She doesn’t understand that now that she sees me, now that the fire is raging inside of me, that I have to feed it, and it’s better this way.
Makena reaches her hands up and places one on either side of my face, using the tips of her fingers to wipe my stray tears away before she leans forward and gently presses her lips against mine.
“I missed you too, Xander,” she admits when she finally pulls her mouth away from mine. I’m breathing heavily as my mouth hangs open and Makena uses her forehead to caress mine, “But what you’ve done … It’s not the way.”
I pull back from her like she’s just stricken me with her words, my eyes becoming cold as another tear rolls down my face.
Makena may see me now, but she doesn’t understand.
“It’s the only way. I’m sorry,” I tell her as I tighten my grip on the one ankle I’m still holding onto and toss the match she didn’t see me light onto the carpet.
As the fire begins to quickly take shape all around us, I quickly drop my body down onto hers, to hold her into place. I’m amazed that she didn’t smell the accelerant when she walked into the house, but I think that deep in her heart, she’s as tired as I am.
I’m doing this to save us both from a world where monsters hide in plain sight, where the nice guy always finishes last, and where your past cane haunt you in ways you can never imagine.
A world where people speak evil things to those that look different from them, that would never understand how one person could love another so deeply and see the beauty in the chaos.
As I clamp my mouth down over her mouth to muffle her terrified screams for help, I smile thinking of how they’ll find us when the fire of white, hot rage has finally been subdued.
Together forever.
How we were always meant to be.
About the Author
Yolanda Olson is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author. Born and raised in Bridgeport, CT where she currently resides, she usually spends her time watching her favorite channel, Investigation Discovery. Occasionally, she takes a break to write books and test the limits of her mind. Also an avid horror movie fan, she likes to incorporate dark elements into the majority of her books.
You can keep in touch with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
