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I want to scream, “I will. I will. I will.” I will burn anything for her if it means belonging somewhere. I’ve spent my entire life alone, and I can’t be alone for a second longer. Before I can say anything, she disappears into the dark, leaving me alone with Tommy.
I turn to face him, then he pulls my mask up so he can see my face. His soft eyes bear down on me. “You don’t have to do this to be with me, Didi. I told you before, we can make it work. We can run and leave this town behind.”
I blink at him a couple of times, reaching up to cup his face. “I want to do this… I want to stay here. I can’t run away with you, Tommy. I can’t leave Remy.”
He lets out a deep sigh, his eyes darting to Talia, then he kisses me so hard and deep I feel it between my thighs.
“Okay,” he whispers against my mouth as Talia walks toward us. “I love you, firefly.”
“I love you, too, Tommy.”
I place the mask back on, adjusting my eyes to the sinister darkness that engulfs me. “I’m ready,” I call to Talia as the field lights die, and the group begins to sing along with the song blaring from the speakers.
Spirit in the Sky.
I walk onto the field, and Tommy grabs Talia’s hand. They hold back as I take the final spot on the eastern side. Reaching into my pocket, my fingers brush against the box of matches, and I wait for Bax’s signal. It doesn’t matter if they see me now.
They must smell the kerosene, as they all stop in a hushed whisper and glance around. The music stops. But they won’t be able to escape this…it’s already too late for them.
Bax raises both arms and bows his head, mimicking the pose of Jesus. It’s the signal I’ve been anticipating. I strike the match, watching the flame consume it, holding it longer than necessary. As it begins to burn my skin, I flick it away, hoping for a blister to mark the moment.
It’s the least I can do…
The fire spreads rapidly, the eruption of flames causing intense pressure along the small line of kerosene Bax, Talia, and Remy dripped behind them as they made their way to their spots on the field. Bax was here earlier, leaving faint traces of it near where they are standing.
The other three light their matches, and I watch as the flames spread in a perfect circle, as if an invisible force is willing it and the fire is merely doing its bidding.
I watch, mesmerized, as the fire runs in a straight line at the end of the field and shoots into the center from all four corners, crashing into Cindy’s boyfriend, who must have done a push-up on the kerosene. He bursts into flames.
Chaos breaks loose. Screams echo through the air as the fire rages, trapping those caught in its heart.
A symbol. We made a symbol with fire. It’s so beautiful—the chaos, the fire, the symbol…all of it.
The fire begins to snuff out. The only flames left are the ones burning Cindy’s boyfriend. He withers and rolls and dithers in pain—pain that I caused him.
I can barely register their screaming as I try to make out the symbol of ash Bax created.
My head whips when I hear my name. “Diana.”
A masked face darts toward me, but I ignore him—I can’t take my eyes off the burning man in front of me. I can’t breathe. The mask is suffocating me, so I pull it off, gasping for air, releasing my hair with it.
Tommy nearly plows into me and grabs my hand. “You’ve got to run now, firefly,” he says, out of breath. I don’t move, not as the weight of my actions crush me.
Tommy’s voice brings me back from the brink. “Diana, please run. We’ve got to go, now.”
He doesn’t let me respond; instead, he wraps his arms around my midsection, yanking me away. But I hold strong. “Tommy, I can’t leave him. He’s burning.”
“They will help him. We have to go. Put your mask back on, Didi.”
Shoot. I forgot I had pulled it off. The damage is already done; they’ve seen me. A few of them are pointing while the rest do what they can to snuff the flames on the burning man.
“Didi, now,” Tommy pleads. “They will catch you. And if they do, it will all be over.”
It’s part of my test, I realize, to see what I will do next. Burning the match was the easy part. I glance around and don’t see any signs of the others. Remy, Talia, and Bax fell back when the flames started, and I didn’t see any of them. Each escaped through nearby holes in the fence.
“Tommy,” I whisper, letting out a breath pulling the mask over my face. “Get me out of here.”
Tommy leads me back toward the hole in the fence we came through, and we disappear, running as fast as we can into the forest. Once we are safely out of view, I stop to catch my breath.
