Page 40
Story: Pyre
“What the fuck.” She ran her hands through her hair and glared at him. “Why are you doing this? I don’t understand.”
“I’m done. I’m ready to go,” he said simply. “Because you’re ready.”
“For what?”
“For what I made you for.”
She laughed, crazed, and looked for accelerants.
RUBY LEFT EDWARD wrapped in the twisted metal remains of three stick vacuum cleaners, the poles stabbed through his wrists and thighs. Even immobilized, his smug grin finally erased, his eyes still gleamed with silent defiance. Without another glance, she turned and stalked off to find Jonah.
She found him exactly where Edward had said he’d be—restrained in a rickety chair in the corner of the employee break room. His arms and legs were bound by three tangled bike chains, and a duct-taped Paw Patrol bib covered his mouth.
The moment Jonah saw her, his eyes lit up with a mix of relief and frustration. Ruby ripped the bib off his face in one swift motion, and his first words were a pained shout.
“You locked me up!” he yelled, wincing as he rubbed at his face, the scream of neck hairs torn out by the duct tape still fresh in his expression.
Ruby shook her head, already exhausted. “I didn’t do this.”
“At the TCA, Ruby,” he snapped, “You had me put in custody.”
She hesitated but didn’t deny it. “I did do that,” she admitted, her tone flat. She bent down and snapped the cables binding him as though they were threads, giving him room to stand.
But Jonah didn’t take the opportunity to bolt.
Instead, he surged toward her, wrapping his arms around her in an embrace so sudden it left her stunned.
One hand cradled the back of her head, the other pulled her tightly against him.
His voice cracked with relief. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Where’s Edward?”
Ruby stayed stiff in his arms for a beat before relaxing slightly. “Indisposed at the moment,” she said quietly. She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, the weight of what she needed sinking in her chest. “I’m going to burn him. And I need to do it alone.”
Jonah’s expression shifted immediately, the relief draining from his face. “What?” he seethed. “Why?”
She looked down, hesitating before she met his gaze again, her own steely and determined. “I need to know he’s dead. But I also need to make sure no one else ever finds out how he turns people into thermophiles.”
Jonah’s brows furrowed. “And you don’t trust me?”
The accusation hit her harder than she’d expected.
Ruby flinched. “It’s not about trusting you,” she said, quieter now but no less firm.
“It’s about the people who might use that information against you.
Against your family. If he spits it out, the TCA would want it.
His followers would want it. Hell, anyone in power would want it.
And I…” She faltered, the words catching in her throat. “I can’t let that happen. Not to you.”
Jonah’s jaw ticked. “He killed my sister.”
Ruby’s face hardened. “He killed my daughter,” she hissed. “And he made me into a monster.”
The air between them thickened with tension, neither willing to look away.
“I’m sorry,” Ruby said after a beat, her tone still sharp, “but I outrank you there.”
Jonah’s hands clenched into fists, but he didn’t argue.
She sighed, softening just a fraction. “I’m not asking you, Jonah. I’m telling you. If I wanted, I could lock you back up in here.” She gestured toward the chair he’d just been freed from. “But I won’t—if you agree to let me do this on my own.”
His expression twisted with disbelief. “Why even bother telling me?” he snapped, throwing his hands in the air.
“Because we’re partners?” she said, her answer weak and unconvincing even to her own ears. She gestured toward a nearby panel of monitors. “You can watch from here. There’s no sound. But the TCA will be here soon, so I have to do it now.”
Jonah looked at her, his anger and confusion warring with something deeper—something like heartbreak.
After a long, heavy silence, he finally pulled her into another hug, his grip tighter this time, as though trying to memorize the feel of her.
Then, without another word, he sat in the chair facing the screens.
Ruby lingered for a moment, watching him, before turning and walking away.
She made her way to the baby aisle, her boots scuffing against the linoleum as she approached the towering shelves.
Grabbing several boxes of cribs, she hefted them effortlessly over her head and carried them back to Edward.
He watched her silently, his head tilted with what might have been curiosity.
Dropping the boxes beside him with a loud thud, Ruby didn’t pause.
She turned on her heel and headed for the seasonal clearance section.
There, amidst a chaotic mix of inflatable pool toys and forgotten summer stock, she grabbed the biggest bottle of lighter fluid she could find.
Her hand hovered briefly over a pack of bendable lighters before snatching one up.
With the supplies in hand, she made her way back toward Edward, her steps steady and her expression unreadable.
“Wanna know a secret?” Edward rasped as Ruby yanked the final vacuum pole away, its jagged edges shrieking against the linoleum.
She didn’t answer, her focus fixed on the crib boxes she tore apart. Wooden slats spilled out in a cascade, and she stacked them into a crude pyre, the movements methodical and sharp.
“I developed a cure,” Edward continued lightly, conversational despite the situation. “Gave it to the government. And they did nothing with it.”
Ruby froze mid-motion, her hands gripping one of the slats tightly. Her head whipped up. She searched his face for any sign of a lie, scanning every twitch, every flicker of emotion.
He grinned lazily, tilting his head as if daring her to call his bluff.
Her jaw tightened as she turned her attention back to the pyre, finishing her work. She dragged him toward the planks and propped him up, tying him in place with the long HDMI cord she’d grabbed from the technology aisle.
“You’re lying,” she snarled.
“I could be,” he admitted, shrugging as much as the restraints would allow.
His posture slumped against the bindings, a mockery of defeat.
“But I’m not. I didn’t start like this, you know.
I found the cure. I gave it to anyone I thought could make a difference—the police, the government, anyone who’d listen. ”
Ruby kept her expression blank, though her knuckles whitened as she tied the last knot.
“They all knew,” Edward continued, his tone dripping with bitterness.
“And they did nothing. Not a damn thing. I thought I could spur them into action—burn a few bodies, infect a few others, get them to see. To use what I’d given them.
But they didn’t care. They just covered up the ones I burned and burned the ones I didn’t.
Made excuses—wars to be fought, soldiers who think their infection is permanent fight harder. So they buried it all.”
Ruby paused, the can of lighter fluid clutched in her hand. She wasn’t sure if it was the venom in his words or the hint of truth they carried that made her stomach churn.
“And then,” Edward added with a small, cruel smile, “I realized I enjoyed it. The burning. The desperation in their eyes. The power.”
Ruby didn’t let him finish. She tilted the can, letting the fluid soak his clothes and the planks beneath him. The sharp chemical scent filled the air as she worked silently, methodically.
Edward chuckled, watching her with that same twisted amusement. “You’re really going to do it, huh? Burn me alive. Poetic.”
She ignored him, flicking the lighter and holding the small flame steady.
“Just think,” Edward said, his tone turning darker, more insidious. “All those people you’ve killed—every single one, including your boyfriend’s sister—they could’ve been cured. If only you hadn’t been so naive.”
Ruby froze, the flame hovering close to the drenched planks. Her breathing quickened, and she fought the urge to slam her hands over her ears, to block out his voice.
“It’s not true,” she muttered under her breath, pressing her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “The TCA would know. I would know. They wouldn’t just…”
She trailed off, her grip tightening on the lighter.
Edward’s eyes lit up with a flicker of hope as he caught the doubt flickering in hers. “That’s it,” he cheered, “Start thinking. Start wondering.”
Ruby shook her head, steeling herself. “Do you think my girls will forgive me for being so late?” Edward asked, his tone softening for the first time.
Her lips curled into a bitter scoff. “You won’t be going to the same place as your family.”
“Perhaps not,” he conceded, his voice suddenly resolute. “But I did what needed to be done. And you? You’re just like me.” His eyes burned with certainty as he delivered his final words. “You and I will meet again.”
Ruby didn’t hesitate this time. She touched the flame to the soaked fabric, and the fire caught instantly, roaring to life with a sharp hiss. She stepped back, watching as the flames crept upward, consuming the wood and his clothing with relentless speed.
Edward didn’t flinch at first, staring at her with a twisted smile that soon faltered into a wince as the fire reached his bare feet. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, acrid and suffocating.
“Guess we’re not that different after all,” he croaked through raspy laughter, choking as the smoke invaded his lungs.
Ruby didn’t respond. She turned on her heel, walking away as his screams rose to a crescendo, echoing through the aisles of the deserted Target.
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