The Flames that Engulfed Us

Chapter 12: Why I Don't Go to Gyms

There wasn't anything to see in the hallway immediately outside our door. I made a careful note of which one it was and paced past the lines of identical doors. I went back and forth, bored out of my mind, but not quite willing to leave. If something went wrong, I could be cut off from Lincoln. But things probably wouldn't go wrong. I was nigh invincible, after all.

I moved down a flight of stairs. It was exactly the same. Down some more steps to more of the same. I kept going down, barely tracking how far I'd gone until it started to change. The one floor held exactly the same monotonous contents as the floors above, but this time they were labeled.

They said things like Gym, Pool, Dining Area, etc.

I could try the gym. Did I just say that? What was happening to me? I pushed open the door. Lights automatically turned on, the fluorescent brightness slapping me in the face. Equipment sprawled out. I was already super strong. I didn't need any more practice.

I turned to leave, but I could feel a presence in the doorway. It wasn't that any of my senses picked up a clue that it might be there, but I just felt it. It felt cold.

I turned to face it. It was Gary. In a moment of deep reflection, Gary seemed a poor name for that creature. Gary sounds dull, and the fear he instilled was anything but. Gary seems nondescript, but this thing in front of me didn't need description. All he needed was the way he made me feel terrified, depressed, hopeless, sick, and just generally bad at one time.

This was bad. I didn't know exactly why, but I knew that meant I was screwed.

We meet again, Angel.

It was all in my head. He didn't have a mouth, so he couldn't speak, naturally, but the way it echoed and reverberated in my head made me want to scream.

"Don't call me an angel."

It came out so weak. It was soft and quiet like I had been seized by remorse for some horrendous crime. Like I was still defending myself with the knowledge I had already lost. I was strong, but he made me feel like I wasn't. I felt too weak to even hate him.

Gary cocked his head.

How should I refer to you?

There was that echoing. I needed it to stop.

"Don't."

It came out with a slight amount of authority. Not enough to make an impression, but enough that it almost seemed conversational.

His laugh filled me. I couldn't entertain myself with anything else. That's all there was, his degrading laugh. This was all going so wrong.

A clock hung above him. 1:25. I didn't want Lincoln to wake up without me. It was seeming more and more probable that he would as Gary started to advance. I shrank away from him.

I won't harm you. I couldn't.

My head was about to split open. I would have made some sarcastic remark about how reassuring that was, but it all consumed me. I was absorbed in those six words. I couldn't reply. It was as though I was out of breath, but mentally, if that makes any sense.

I am not allowed to damage you.

My vision started to swim. Wasn't this damaging? I couldn't stand anymore. I sank to the ground. My head was between my knees. It all hurt so much.

He seized my arm and cold burn spread up from his touch. I made some noise, cried out, but he only pulled me up. He dragged me out of the room, supporting me back up the stairs. He was taking me back to my room. His touch hurt so bad.

I closed my eyes. I felt him toss me casually over his bony shoulder. It hurt less that way, but I still heard pounding drums that didn't exist. I felt little thrusts of movement that weren't there. I lost track of time and direction. I was awake, but only so in that, I could feel when we were going up and then when we turned and started to advance down the hallway.

Gary opened the door and dumped me on the bed. I didn't move, but I felt it when he was gone. He'd thrown me down so I was on my back with my limbs sprawled around me. Lincoln was awake. Crap.

"Sky. Sky, are you ok?"

His voice was so full of concern and caring. And fear too. A terror that I was broken.

I groaned in response. I groaned in a way that wasn't helpful to the question but showed that I was alive. Or still dead or something like that.

He relaxed a little, but I still felt his concern drilling into me.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, "just tired."

That wasn't the right thing to say, but he accepted it. He just hugged me as I curled into him. His nose was in my hair, and I didn't think much else as I closed my eyes again. Blackness took over. I was asleep. That shouldn't have been possible.

My throat was dry. My eyes flew open as sunlight streamed into the room. My body twitched with an energy I'd never felt before. Lincoln's arms still circled around me. He was breathing deeply, running his fingers through my hair.

"I thought you agreed you'd wake me up before you did anything dangerous."

"I didn't think it would be dangerous."

He looked me in the eye. "Sky," he reminded me seriously, "everything here is dangerous."

"I know."

"What happened last night?"

I broke eye contact. I explained everything or at least the extent of what I understood.

"For a moment last night, I saw him holding your limp body, and I was scared. I was scared that I wasn't good enough to keep you safe."

"I promise," I shivered, "I won't leave your side for something like that again."

He wrapped his hands around mine. "I love you more than I even knew I could. If I lost you, I would die all over again."

"Lincoln, you know how much I love you. That's enough for me."

We both lay there, unwilling to break the moment by pushing ourselves out of bed. I looked over at him.

"What's going to happen to us now?"

"Nothing pleasant."

He wasn't being dramatic. He was being honest.