Page 38
Story: Pyre
"SAY THAT AGAIN ," Ruby demanded, yanking the phone from her ear to check the contact name.
The background was a cacophony of honking horns and distant shouting.
A shrill blast through the receiver made Ruby wince as Kavya cursed furiously, followed by the unmistakable blare of her car horn.
Ruby shifted the phone away from her face, flinching at the screech of metal-on-metal from what sounded like a near collision.
"I'm heading to your hotel right now," Kavya cut through the noise, clipped but firm. "I’m only ten minutes out."
Ruby stood, her nerves firing, only to hesitate in the middle of the room. She glanced around, realizing she had nowhere to go, nothing to do yet. She was a soldier without orders, a waiting duck. Her fingers tightened around the phone as she sat back down.
"How do you know? And no offense, but why isn’t Lucas the one calling me?" she asked, the edge of her words betraying her anxiety.
"I went to visit Jonah in his cell—shitty move, by the way." Kavya’s response was laced with bitterness, punctuated by more honking and muffled, rapid-fire words Ruby barely recognized as foreign curses. "A shit ton of agents were killed, and Jonah’s cell was empty."
Ruby shot up again, her pacing starting immediately, leaving faint imprints in the threadbare yellow carpet. "Is Lucas okay?" Her voice cracked at the end.
"He had a nasty burn on his face, but he seemed okay otherwise."
Ruby’s hand stilled mid-pace, relief flooding her for a fleeting second before a new worry clamped down hard. "And Ellie?"
"Was in a different part of the building. She’s fine. We’re relocating her to a site up north."
Ruby’s throat tightened as she turned sharply on her heel. Relief mingled with the acidic burn of panic rising in her chest. Her thoughts raced. The sheer scale of the attack—what it could mean.
"What makes you think Edward had something to do with this?" She challenged. "Blowing up buildings isn’t exactly his MO."
"He left something for you." Kavya’s tone was grim. "I’ll be there in five."
The line went dead before Ruby could ask more. She stared at the phone in her hand, her knuckles whitening around it. Her mind raced through worst-case scenarios. Edward wasn’t one for subtlety—whatever he left behind, it wasn’t good.
Her stomach churned at the possibilities. A body part? A corpse? She fought down bile as her trembling hand found the remote. The television flickered to life, the hum of static giving way to a breaking news alert.
On the screen, the TCA office—disguised as a sleek, modern “coworking community”—was engulfed in chaos.
Black smoke curled into the sky, backlit by the flicker of fire.
Emergency vehicles clustered like ants around the base, their lights strobing against the charred facade.
Newscasters speculated on the "gas leak" as firefighters battled to control the blaze.
Ruby barely heard them. Her eyes were fixed on the image, her gut twisting. She was still staring at the screen when a sharp knock pulled her attention to the door.
Kavya didn’t wait for an invitation, bursting in with the kind of energy Ruby expected from someone freshly fleeing a battlefield. In her outstretched hand was a single pink sticky note.
Ruby’s heart thudded painfully as she took it. Her stomach dropped. A crude sketch of a zombie hand covered the note, followed by scrawled words:
"Turn or burn, Ruby. Your choice. Give your bf a call."
Her fingers shook as she crumpled the note in her palm. She ignored Kavya as she questioned what was happening and unblocked Jonah’s number with fumbling hands. A voicemail icon appeared almost instantly. She hesitated for a fraction of a second before hitting play.
"Hiya, Ruby. It’s your buddy Edward." He sounded light, conversational—like they were old friends catching up over coffee. "I have your boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend? Honestly, I don’t understand modern dating dynamics. There’s this whole new stage called ‘talking’ where you’re dating but not really, so like courting but less formal? "
In the background, Jonah shouted, spitting creative threats as vicious as they were impressive. Ruby’s lips twitched despite the cold fear creeping into her veins.
"Goodness me," Edward drawled. "Are you sure he’s a good fit for you, Ruby? He’s awfully violent. Anyway, I’m assuming you’d like him alive. And human. If so, meet me at the address I’ll text you at 11 p.m. You’ll have until midnight. Obviously, come alone and blah blah blah."
Edward’s tone shifted suddenly, a darker undercurrent threading through his words.
"I bugged your hotel room. There are little cameras in two of the corners. You’re to throw your phone on the bed once you listen to this voicemail and then sit on the floor until I text you.
If you move, if you use your phone, I’ll take him to his mother’s house and burn him in her front yard. "
Jonah broke through the speaker, desperate but firm: "Ruby, don’t. I’ll—"
His words cut off into a blood-curdling scream. The sound shattered her composure, her hand flying to her mouth as her knees nearly buckled.
The scream was visceral, raw with agony. The sound dragged her back to memories she fought to bury. Andy’s final cries. The old man’s desperate pleas. Her vision blurred, the room spinning.
Edward’s laugh snapped her back. "Anyway," he chirped, his casual tone a grotesque contrast to the horror. "Sit on your pretty little ass for a few hours. I’ll text you. I’m watching. BYE!"
The line clicked dead.
Ruby stared at the phone as if it might explode in her hand. Her pulse roared in her ears. Slowly, she placed it on the bed, her movements stiff and mechanical.
"Get out," she commanded, stalking over to Kavya.
"What?" Kavya’s brows furrowed. "Ruby, you’re not seri—"
"Get the fuck out, now!" Ruby roared, grabbing Kavya by the arm and shoving her toward the door. She ignored Kavya’s protests, the sharp thud of her elbow hitting the hallway wall, the curses she spat as the door slammed shut.
Ruby turned back into the room, her chest heaving. Flipping off the cameras in the corners of the room, she dropped to the floor.
She sat, gritting her teeth, and waited.
Table of Contents
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- Page 37
- Page 38 (Reading here)
- Page 39
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