Page 60 of Burn For Me

“Adalyn, I escaped to be with you. I escaped so we could have the life we always talked about together.” I reached for her and laid my hands on her shoulders, and even though she didn’t cringe at my touch, she looked sad and disappointed. “What is it? I don’t understand.”

“What about all the other people?”

“What other people?”

A soft chuckle left her lips before she covered her eyes and shook her head like she was disgusted with me.

“All the other people that died in those fires—the people that never hurt you, the people that were trapped in a terrible situation just like you. Or how about the people that unwittingly died in the apartment fire you set? Did you know that a firefighter died trying to save a little girl from falling debris as the building collapsed? The girl lived, but he didn’t.” She lifted her arm to point in the direction of the fires that, to the best of my knowledge, were still raging. “What about that entire neighborhood of homes with families inside, or whatever it is you torched this time? Why? I can’t even wrap my head around it, Derek.”

“I…I…,” I struggled to explain, but Adalyn stepped back until my hands had to fall from her shoulders.

“First of all, I did love you, Derek. I still care for you but I also always knew we’d never have a future. I never thought we’d actually run off into the sunset together, that was a fantasy. I have a whole other life, and also a boyfriend I’ve been seeing for awhile that I like.” She shook her head.

“But, because I do care for you and know you had a shit deal handed to you, I’m not going to turn you in. I’m going to go home and pretend that this conversation never happened…because, Derek, I can’t be with you. I can’t be with someone that purposely kills people, guilty or otherwise. I also don’t want to move to another state or constantly be on the run from the authorities my whole life.” She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “It’s just not the life I want for myself.”

“I don’t understand. A boyfriend? You just moved on? You never really loved me? It was all a fantasy that I made up? You said you loved me, you don’t just throw words like that around.”

“Love can look many different ways, Derek. It doesn’t always mean that there is a white picket fence at the end of it.”

“Then why were you okay with me killing before? You knew what I did to land me in the hospital, and you didn’t care.” I crossed my arms over my chest protectively as the hope that had been soaring only a few moments ago turned to curdled milk in my veins. A woman walking past on the sidewalk glanced over, and I glared at her until she looked away.

“I wasn’t fine with it, Derek, but I understood what happened. I understood the trauma you’d been through and the lashing out, but I thought you regretted your rash actions. I thought you wanted to be different and that those that worked at the asylum pushed your buttons. I never thought you’d do all this. I just…I can’t be with someone who enjoys hurting others and don’t you try and tell me you don’t. You wouldn’t have gotten more creative with each and every fire if you didn’t enjoy the kill and the theatrics.”

Adalyn stepped past me and slipped into the driver’s seat of her car.

“Adalyn, please don’t do this. I can make things right between us.”

“Derek, I have a whole other life. I want something you can’t give me, and what’s been done has already been done as far as....” She waved her hand in the direction of the fires. “All that is concerned. Now please, step back so I can close my door. I don’t want to see you again, and so that I’m clear, I never contemplated an actual life with you.” She gave me a sad little smile like she was pitying my stupidity and my body began to tremble. “But, now you’re free, it’s what you always wanted. Just go and live your new life, out there, doing what you want. I won’t stop you.” She waved her hand like she was shooing a dog that was begging for food.

I stepped back like I’d been punched in the gut and leaned against the vehicle behind me. I couldn’t catch a breath as her car started. She didn’t even look at me as she pulled out of the parking space.

In a weird fog of befuddlement, I stumbled back to my truck and hopped inside. The confusion was morphing into something else—something dark that was uncoiling in my gut and growing with each breath. I looked up to see Adalyn turn out of the parking lot. The world narrowed in as the anger took over.

I’d done all of this for her—for us—for what we lost. How the hell could she not see that this? How could she not be happy about getting justice? How had she moved on so fast? How could she say she never really wanted a future with me? I’d held her close to my body and told her all my deepest fears and insecurities. I showed her a side to my soul that no one had seen before. How could she simply close her door and drive away like she was dropping off an unwanted pet?

The truck roared to life, and I slammed her into gear and stomped on the gas as I flew toward the exit, almost hitting a man and his shopping cart on the way. I’d have mowed his ass down if he’d taken one more step, but I ignored him as he yelled and gave me the finger. At any other time, that would’ve bought him a one-way ticket to hell, but I had bigger issues at the moment.

I could see the roof of the little yellow car down the road, and the darkness in me gripped the steering wheel and turned the truck in the same direction. By keeping my distance, it was easy to discretely follow her for the five-minute drive to an adorable dollhouse-like home with a robin egg-blue door.

I pulled over on her street and watched her disappear inside the little bungalow-style home, which had matching hanging baskets full of blue flowers framing the front entrance. I sucked in air and breathed it out in long streams like I was a dragon. The engine was still running, with me frozen inside the cab with my hands on the steering wheel and eyes focused on the front door of the home as night descended and blanketed the truck.

Unable to sit there any longer, I pulled the hood low over my face and slipped on the black leather gloves. Blissfully, the street was quiet, and as I jogged across the street and through her yard, there wasn’t a single soul around. Putting my back against the siding, I slid along the side of the home until I could see a window ahead. I couldn’t see anything from that vantage point, but I could hear music playing. Reaching out, I silently opened the gate of the chain-link fence surrounding her backyard.

A lone dog barked further down the street, and a cat was yowling loudly somewhere, looking for a mate. The two animals reminded me of my current predicament. It was like Adalyn, and I were speaking two different languages and couldn’t understand one another.

Drawing closer, I peeked into the next window and ducked as Adalyn walked past a door leading to a room in the back end of the house. I was a shadow as I followed her around her home. My eyes glued themselves to a mirror hanging on the wall as her reflection appeared in it. As she pulled her shirt off, my body shivered with desire. She disappeared once more from sight, and I searched until I found her again behind the mosaic-patterned glass framing the window. The image was distorted, but she was definitely undressing. My cock stood at attention, pissed off that it didn’t get a release earlier.

I looked up as the fan turned on, and the sound of what had to be a shower reached my ears. Moving around to the back door, I looked at the lock and through the small pane of glass. There was no security system, but I didn’t have any tools with me.

No simple door was stopping me from getting inside her home. Marching to the garage door, I tried that handle and smiled as the handle turned. I found a lot of useful tools as I wandered around inspecting the place, which would never fit a car because it was so jammed full of boxes and other items. Tall, towering columns of flowerpots rose toward the ceiling. There had to be at least a dozen boxes marked ‘clothes’ in another pile. She had four bicycles, a pile of tires, two cabinets that looked to be falling apart, a small rocking horse, boxes labeled ‘decorations’ that filled an entire quarter of the space, and every type of outdoor equipment that you could imagine.

I had no idea how she lived with all this shit in here. It would’ve driven me crazy. I hated clutter, and I didn’t like disorganized, and this one room was both. I made my way over to the single table that had a random mess of tools piled on top, and as I picked up what was needed to get the job done, I spied some of my other favorite tools. A roll of tape, a length of rope, and, of course, my personal favorite—a jerry can. I picked it up, gave it a shake, and sighed. It was only half full, but it would do if need be. I grabbed a few more items that looked like they might have potential and made my way to the back door once more.

I’d never understood the obsession with collecting this much stuff. Why did one person need so many things that they never looked at and didn’t touch, admire, or use? What was the point? Was it a competition to see who could collect the most useless crap? The doctor’s house had been the same way. Each room was filled with items that those who’d been living there never paid attention to, never even appreciated, and yet they continued to add to the mass of items with better, newer, and shinier items.

I quickly checked the bathroom window to confirm that Adalyn was still in the shower, which should mask most of the noise I was about to make. Selecting a crowbar, I placed it by the crappy lock and stuffed it into the thin gap between door and frame. The old wood gave easily as I pushed on the end of the crowbar, and the door groaned with the assault. The temperature had dipped lower since the sun had set, and a fresh-smelling breeze off the ocean, which was not far off, cooled off my heated skin as I worked.

One final wedge and push and the lock gave way. I had to jump and grab the swinging door quickly before it banged into the wall, which would most certainly alert Adalyn. I slipped the jerry can and other treasures inside and hid them all in the back hall closet. Doing a quick survey of my surroundings, I found the place to be just as disastrous as the garage. Dirty clothes and dishes were strewn about and the television had been left on but muted.