Rugged Lace

Chapter Twenty-Nine

*Ocean so blue, sky so gray, I lied and said you cared, like we could anyways*

The world is dark and light, the two dancing around like quarreling lovers. Tyler watches the light without thinking, her eyelids fluttering as the sun pushes its way around the clouds that threaten to swarm it. Colors touch the sides of her eyes, adding volume to everything. Something big and square, something round, something blonde...a chair slowly filters its way into her vision, followed by boxes. Lots, and lots of boxes. They're all different sizes, most of them large with blurred lables on them. Finally, she notices a figure sitting in the chair, going up in flames.

Flames?

Tyler pushes herself up, eyes wide and heart skipping beats before she realizes that it's just a man smoking. Oh, she slumps again, her head falling against her arm. The skin is cold against her scalp. Oh, just a man smoking.

"You're up," he remarks. His voice is cold and icy, like water hitting blocks. It sends chills through her. "Good. Now, you're going to do exactly what I tell you to and nothing else."

Tyler doesn't move, holding her breath as she waits for him to talk again.

"Sit up."

Her back stretches against her, but she sits up as straight as possible. Something cracks in her stomach, red hot pain pulsing through her body. She ignores it, though she can't ignore the grimace that cuts through her face for a second, showing her weakness. Don't show fear. Don't show you're hurt. You're fine.

"Does your stomach hurt? I'll get you a painkiller," he says. Don stands, blowing out a ring of smoke as he walks away from his chair. Ash falls onto the floor, and she watches the embers burn as he walks away from her line of site. She can't even think as he comes back, his footsteps melting into the back of her mind as he nears her. "Here, take these."

Holding out his hand, Tyler looks at the two little white pills. Slowly, she reaches out and takes them, a grimace of pain on her face as the muscles clinch together. They're nasty tasting, but she doesn't actually swallow them. She moves them up to the tops of her teeth and hold them between her gums, mocking a swallow.

Don laughs, "Don't try and fool me, Tyler. I just want to help you." Roughly, he grabs her chin, prying open her mouth. The pills stick up there though, and as he checks under her tongue and between her bottom teeth and the gums, he nods. "There's a good girl. Just like I wanted."

She nods.

"Now, I'm not going to lose all my money here. You're going to get me out of this, Tyler. You know this, don't you?" Unlike before, he's calm down, his eyes slightly red around the rims. She tries to ignore the unease rising in her stomach. "They're going to find us here eventually. We're going to set this place on fire. I have a dummy to fill in for my body, the fire will be so hot all they'll find is ashes. You've already failed me, but here you have a chance to redeem yourself. We're going to set this place so high they'll never know what hit them."

His words are perfectly placed, each rising and falling so naturally, just as if he was telling her how they were going to do some science project.

"Now, of course, there's always the chance they'll find us before I can get this set up. So we're starting now. Get up, grab a tank, and start spilling."

Tyler rises to her feet, her stomach throbbing painfully. She looks down at it, noticing the makeshift bandage that's on it. A little bit of dried blood is in the very center, but nothing fresh. Her body feels old, as if she's been there weeks, but she knows that she couldn't have been out that long. Could I?

The tank is heavy in her hands, at least seventy pounds, and she can barely tilt it over to let some of the liquid inside seep out. It reeks like a gas station, pure kerosene oil. Like the stuff you buy for lamps...but a whole lot more of it.