Page 53 of Burning for You

With the rain becoming torrential, the ground I’m lying on gets more than a good drenching.

I pull hard, sending the chains to clatter against the wet concrete floor. I can’t even lift my head high enough to fully escape the puddles around me.

The leaking water from above drops at my temple relentlessly. Meanwhile, the puddles have now formed a pool. With the hardness of the surface, and no drainage, I can feel the water rising steadily.

As if a switch has been flicked, my brain seems to put aside my nyctophobia—perhaps realizing that the darkness won’t kill me, but the water might.

The way I’m restrained, I can only sustain my head above the floodwater for so long. My neck is numb and painful at the same time. After struggling for what seems like an eternity, I can’t prop my head up anymore.

I weep for the first time in a long time as I start swallowing the debris-filled rainwater. I choke on dust and loose grass, making it even harder for me to breathe.

Levi—he was being kind to me. He was, compared to his monster brother. Has Jesse done something to him? Or has Levi washed his hands of the situation and let his brother kill me? I’m sure he wouldn’t let me suffer like this. If he wanted me dead, he would just shoot me.

As the water rises above my nose, my cry turns into a gargling shambles. I was scared when I was lying hopeless in that ditch along the Mohawk Towpath Byway, but I wasn’t afraid of death itself; I was scared of the way I thought I was going to die—alone in the darkness. This time, I’m afraid of both. For I will be awake, every second leading to my last breath, and there will be an abounding number of torturous seconds to get there.

“Levi!” I cry out his name in my last few attempts to keep my mouth and nose above the flood line.

There’s no way he can hear me. The main house is at least half a mile from here. What with the rain, there’s zero chance of anyone being able to hear me.

All I can hope for is a miracle. It’s not something I believe in, because in life, you make your own miracles. I’m praying for some kind of connection, one that triggers Levi’s intuition. Just like what I experienced on the thirty-fifth floor meeting room that day. I was arguing belligerently with Josh, but something told me to turn my head and look out the door. Then I saw his face—it’s the face that I’m desperate to see again now.

I draw all my energy to scream Levi’s name one more time—maybe for the last time in my life.