Experiment in Terror 09 Dust to Dust(2)

Then he turned sharply and strode away along the beam, the metal creaking until he reached the walkway.

“Michael!” I screamed after him. “You can’t leave him like this. He’s your brother.”

He shook his head and for once I could see the glow of his skin from the light of the city. It looked burned and red. I blinked my eyes trying to see if it was some color was being reflected onto him.

“No,” he said. “He’s not my brother. And I haven’t been Michael for a very long time.”

He climbed onto the walkway and disappeared.

Suddenly the bridge quaked, jerking from side to side and throwing me off balance. I grabbed onto Dex to steady me and as I did so a terrific crash rang through the air. The bridge deck began to split from the end, a crack racing toward us in one dark, jagged line. Flames began to lick up through the split and the suspension cables along the bridge began to snap and fly out, whooshing through the air with a metallic noise.

Everything was still shaking, the bridge splitting right in two. It was heading right for us, right for Dex. The flames were higher now as they shot out of the crack and from the corner of my eyes the world was slowly starting to become lighter, the East River turning from inky black water to a living floor of fire.

“Dex!” I yelled trying to get him out of the way.

But he wouldn’t budge.

The damn man wouldn’t budge.

And the bridge continued to crack.

I had two choices and in that I had no choice. I was either going to go down with him and be swallowed whole by the inferno that was about to devour us or I could step aside, save myself, and let him die.

There really was only one choice.

I grabbed onto his stiff body, wrapping my arms around him from behind and buried my face into the back of his neck.

“I love you,” I whimpered. “Always. Beyond death.”

My legs started to wobble. The fire got hotter. The crack seemed to split my world.

But before I was sure the ground beneath us would fall, Dex suddenly moved.

He spun around to face me and kissed me, quick and searing on my lips, making my heart flutter and my body ache with need and love. When I opened my eyes, I saw his eyes brimming with intensity. Here he was, right before the end.

Then he pushed me backward. I stumbled and fell back on the deck just as the crack was split seconds from taking him away from me.

“Don’t let him in, kiddo,” he said gravely, his gaze freezing me. “Don’t let him in.”

I screamed, “No!” and tried vainly to get to my feet. “Dex!”

But the split rocked under him, the ground opening up with a deafening crack.

Dex slipped away from view, swallowed by the flames.

He was gone into a fiery hell while the embers continued to fall from the sky.

Turning to ash.

Turning to dust.

Just like my heart.

***

I awoke to something tickling my face. I groaned and moved my head. It felt like something was inside of my brain, pinching at different sections, impeding my ability to think. I couldn’t think – it was just all blank. All dull and grey.

I decided to keep my eyes closed and go back to wherever I came from.

Something wet swiped across my cheeks. More tickling.

Finally I opened my eyes, wincing at the bright light from the sky and yellow fur that was in front of my face.

“Kayla!” someone yelled from far away, a woman’s voice.

Suddenly the licking stopped. I slowly pushed myself up on my elbows and watched as a shaggy golden retriever ran away and into the bushes.

Where the hell was I? I looked around, feeling stupider than ever, like my mental ability had regressed back a few decades. What had happened?

“Oh my goodness,” came a voice above me and I looked up to see a middle-aged woman stop a few feet away, the golden retriever at her side. “Are you okay?”

I blinked and tried to get up but could barely get to my feet. The woman was at my side and helping me the rest of the way.

Her eyes peered at me inquisitively. “Do you need me to call an ambulance?” she asked, her dog sticking its cold nose into my hand.

Though I was dizzy, I knew I was okay. Physically, anyway. “No,” I said slowly, trying to step away from her grasp. My mind raced, trying desperately to hold onto the fragments of memory that were whizzing past.

I had gone for a walk by the river.

A man had been here.

He’d talked to me.

He knew my name.

“Are you sure?” the woman was repeating, while telling her dog, Kayla, to leave me alone.

I stared at her dumbly, absently noting how silver her hair was, as shock hit me with a million pin pricks.

Michael O’ Shea, Dex’s brother had been here. He knew my name, he’d mentioned my blood. He said he’d see me in New York.