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.”“FUCK!” he roared in frustration.“Don’t move!”I sat.Blind to everything.My hands planted firmly on the cold ground, sending wave after wave of chills through me.The sounds I thought were nothing began to grow all around me.My heightened sense sharpening the small pieces of noise tunneling into my ears.Somewhere ahead of me, I heard the revving of a diesel engine sputter to life up the hill.It groaned.The squeal of metal stretching in forward movement.And then a SNAP! So loud and foreign, it raised every hair on my body to attention.A symphony of uproar kicked in, overwhelming my ears.Cars were honking.Breaks were squealing.The few people still milling around began to scream.I sat helpless, with no idea where danger lurked.“Quentin!” my voice screeched out.I tried to place the noise — the spinning whine of an engine set in motion but not started.The screams grew, gears grinding against themselves.“Get her out of there!”Get who out of where? “QUENTIN!”“CEECEE!” I heard him.Faintly.Above the chaos.The only picture in my head was of him reaching into the flames.Trying to get to me.But it all came to a screeching halt.Silence.Nothing.But.Silence.For one.Single.Breath.Until metal ground against the iron pergola, consuming me in an ear-splitting explosion.I was thrown back and the crackling of fire heated my once cold skin.And soon it began to rain.Shards of tiny glass rained down, piercing my bare legs.I curled up.I focused on my mom’s face.And I waited.I was not afraid to die.I hovered in darkness, circling with Quentin in a pool of silver light.There was no noise.No nothing.Just us.Together.Dancing our silent dance.On and on we spun, Quentin’s shadow reaching out, and pounding back the threatening danger.It was peaceful.Beautiful.The moment deliriously euphoric.Pools of deep emeralds twinkled down at me.Here I was happy to remain.Forever.With him.“Cee,” he whispered in my ear.“Please.”It was his “please” that caused my foot to falter.It was sad.Inconsolable.I touched his cheek, reassuring him.“Please.Look at me,” he said again, his eyes of pleasure not matching the sorrow in his voice.“You have to open your eyes.”But they were open, I wanted to say.Forever open.Drinking in the brightness.“Please, CeeCee.” Rawness rattled from his throat, pulling his shadow tight around us.“Open your eyes.”The encroaching darkness was persistent.Pushing in.Battling against our small pool of light.Quentin’s shadow was no match for the eternity of darkness that waited patiently for us to step into.He mumbled something I couldn’t hear.I leaned closer.A whooshing pulse rattled loud in my ear.He spoke again.I watched as his lips moved, but the sound was muddled, unformed.Another voice joined in, projecting through the darkness.And another.And another.I could no longer distinguish Quentin’s from the rest.They morphed, they blended, bending time and space.My arms tightened around him.Squeezing.Refusing to let go.Clinging tight to nothing.Nothing but a shadow.Beep.Beep.Whoosh.Beep.They were constant, invading every crevice inside of me.Beep.Whoosh.I couldn’t place them.Beep.I crested up from the dusky shadows, landing in the SAM, every square inch of the room filled with Picasso.One on top of the other.Not a sliver of wall to be seen.“I am her grandmother.You will let me in.”Beep.Whoosh.Beep.I spun.Looking for the voice.Looking for Evelyn.“I’m sorry ma’am.Your name does not appear on the guest list.If you could please wait until her father returns, we can speak with him.”Beep.She was here.On the other side of the barrier.I waved.Frantically.She couldn’t see me.“I’ll.Wait.”All was quiet again, except for the beeps.And a whoosh.Beep.Beep.The high-pitched frequency irritated my senses.Beep.Whoosh.Beep.The shadows morphed into a dark forest and I stepped in.Trees.Everywhere.My body bent in unison with their sway.Languishing in their simple strength.“The ticket will be waiting for you at the airport.Your flight leaves at two.”Dad? His voice floated by, bounced from limb to limb, and then burst as it flew away.Wait! Where are you going?Beep [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]