The Flames that Engulfed Us

Chapter 53: Life and/or Death Plans

No one dared speak. The Devil, or Death, or whoever the hell he was, had already burned himself out. It was as though he'd had a quota of lies and a quota of truths, and he'd used both until there wasn't anything left to coax out. Lincoln put his bare arms around me, his skin feeling cold to the touch. The blanket was around our waists, leaving his chest out in the cold air.

"My Gran..." I struggled eventually.

"Yes, Skylar."

"I actually went insane," Lincoln whispered. "I thought that was the kind of thing I would know."

"It wasn't lunacy, Lincoln. It was something that humans haven't termed because humans don't know about it."

"Did she—"

"No."

"C.C. is my—"

"Yes."

"Caleb had a—"

"Yes. Lincoln knew, though. The drunken confession. Humans do have a certain charm to them."

"Well, Gran was always good at making things," I muttered.

He laughed, and he seemed like he meant it. I looked at him strangely, and he answered it. "I didn't hate you. I just was so afraid of the truth, that even a bit of it was," he paused, "terrifying."

Lincoln pulled me into him.

"Are you going to try to separate us again?"

My voice was high and pitched with fear. I could feel the way both men immediately reacted, him putting his lips on top of my head and planting a kiss that did reassure me. My great, great uncle, I suppose that's what he'd be, sat down in a chair, his face suddenly looking gaunt with years that'd suddenly appeared there, his breath trembling like an old man's.

"No." He wheezed.

I felt bad for him. My hands slipped so that they were resting on Lincoln's, his breath shaking in my ear. I didn't know what I needed from him, but he gave it to me.

"What are you going to do with us?" I asked.

"Nothing, I guess. You could stay here or go. I want to make up for this whole mess. You can go wherever you want. Heaven, hell, in shadows, to whatever time and place to meet whatever people. Skylar, you like the classics. You could meet the authors. Lincoln, you could get your whole family here. There are children down here. You could adopt one and start as close to a family as you want."

"But we'd still be dead," Lincoln interrupted.

"Or you could go back and live life like that too. It'll be hard, but I could do that for you. Go back to the exact moment that you died, or any moment you want really. I could be a mysterious man a few states away who called the fire department, so they show up just in time. The world is my sister's oyster, and you are every bit as worthy of it as she is."

"We could, un-die?"

"Yes," he said, and the age must've been an illusion because he looked as young as ever. I'd have to get the secret of him and buy whatever lotion he uses. I mean, he was immortal but didn't look a day over two hundred. Sorry joke. He looked about mid-thirties.

"Really," Lincoln asked, sounding so unbelievably relieved.

"Yes, but it's time for lunch. Change your clothes, get a shower, and then come down and eat. We'll discuss it all later."

I looked down and sniffed my clothes. He had a point about the showering thing. Death left the room. I didn't want to move, but man, I did need a shower.

I smiled and said a few lines to Lincoln and then hopped under the hot water. Lincoln was waiting for me, sitting on the bed looking unhappy. I frowned. That's not how it was supposed to go. That was the happily ever after, Lincoln. He was missing it.

"Why do you look so sad?"

"It's just so weird. I hate feeling like this. If we were alive again, I wouldn't want to be like this, but I wouldn't want to forget it all either."

"Why don't you get a shower," I soothed, "and we'll keep talking."

He let me lead him to the bathroom, and I heard the water turn on.

"What do you want to happen, Sky?"

"I kind of want this to have never happened. I want to forget. At least the bad parts."

"But you had a fit over your memories."

"I changed my mind. I don't want to remember your pain. Mine, I'm fine with, but yours. I don't want it, Lincoln. I want to be a teenage girl with teenage girl problems."

"We can talk to him. What if we just remember the good parts? The actual death. The talks we had at night. Those things. The things that made me, if not you, happy and warm inside. Not the tears. Just the highs."

"Lincoln. We'll figure it out."

"Sky. Do you want to be alive again?"

I thought about that. "I guess. Why?"

"I guess isn't an answer. Ideally, what would happen for you?"

"We'd get a little beach house. Your mother could get one right by us, and we'd be a family. Me and you. I wouldn't even want the bad memories gone, really. We could talk late into the night until we forget it all. We could get a dog and name it whatever you want. Or a cat. Whatever you want. I don't really want to be alive again. If I'm alive, there's always a chance of death, and I don't want to be afraid of losing you. A beach house, Lincoln."

"You don't miss our friends?"

"I guess."

"Your family?"

"Yeah."

"Your life?"

"I don't miss that."

"Why not?"

"Why would I? I have the only thing that made it worth living at all right here with me."

"Sky—"

"See. You call me Sky. I love that. The way it sounds on your lips, amazing. Imagine what the seaside air would do to that beautiful voice of yours."

"We could get a beach house after we graduate."

"But then there'd be hurricanes and sand everywhere."

"Ok. So, we stay where we are. Like we planned."

"Lincoln. Everything I ever really wanted out of life is down here."

"Ba—"

"I have family down here. I have a family that I want to get to know. Everyone up there, that you miss, is going to die, Lincoln. They'll come to visit us. We'll have a guest room for anyone who wants to stay."

"You don't want to live?"

"I don't want anything else to change, because of this. If it's all real, it's perfect. And if it's not real, both plans are done."

"You don't want the adrenaline from knowing that every step might be your last? You don't want to have a life?"

"I'm sorry."

"No. Don't. If you want a house on a beach, I swear, you'll get a house on a beach."

"You don't want that."

"I want you. And if that's where you are, there's nowhere I'd rather be."

"We'll go back. We'll have kids and I'll beat Ashley to having grandkids. They'll be little boys and I'll practically be living in the principal's office because they'll get into so much trouble."

The water shut off. "Towel please."

I handed it to him, and he stepped out, wrapping his arms around me.

"We don't have to decide just yet."

"I know."