cover everything that made us who we were as we burned with fire.
Chapter Six
Jared
My throat fel t tight as I begged him to let me see her. Where was my momma? Why wasn’t she home? Something inside of me said there was something wrong.
My dad hung up the phone, tears falling from his eyes. He never cried. He was strong. Why was he crying? Dads didn’t cry.
“What’s wrong? Where’s momma?” I screamed, my voice filled with panic.
“She’s gone, son.” Three words that changed my life forever. Pain radiated through my body in a way that made me feel as if I was being ripped apart. I could feel a piece of me being pulled away. That piece being my momma.
I awoke covered in sweat, my hands gripping the sheets and my eyes squeezed closed as tight as I could make them. It wasn’t real if you didn’t see it with your own eyes. That’s what I always told myself as a kid when the memories hit me full force.
It took three to four deep breaths before I released the sheets and popped an eye open.
My brain failed to catch up with my ears because, as I allowed the fear to slip away, a scream broke through the house. I waited a moment to see if it was merely my mind playing tricks on me or if it was Isabella.
When another scream filled the air, this one much louder than the previous, I felt compelled to get up from my bed, hardly realizing what I was doing. My feet stopped just short of her bedroom door. My stomach was in a knot. I didn’t know if I should go in or not.
I went through the motions of feeling her pain, understanding, and knowing the nightmares wouldn’t go away no matter what you did. It was up to you, the person going through them, if they would continue to plague you. My father always told me, your dreams are your biggest fears played on the big screen in your mind.
“No… please, no…” she cried out. Her voice was filled with so much sadness my heart seized, stopping in place for a brief moment. I pushed the door open a little bit, just enough for me to push in through the small opening. My eyes glided over her body, and I knew I had to do something.
She was laying on her side in the fetal position, one of her hands was clutching her chest, and the other was gripping the bed sheets as if they could hold her to this world. An ache formed with me and I found myself walking toward the side of her bed. Knowing that I would never be able to fall asleep with her fighting her biggest fears right down the hall from me.
My body caved, recognizing the pain she was feeling as its own. I looked down at my flannel sleep pants and my naked chest knowing I would regret this in the morning. Lifting her just barely off the bed, I placed her softly against the pillows on the other side of the mattress. The bed was a queen, but looking at it now, somehow it seemed so much smaller with both of us in it.
“Fuck,” I whispered. My body was telling me it was okay to be attracted to her. After all, she was a woman, and she did have a killer body, but it was more than that. I was drawn to her darkness. I craved it.
I slipped into bed next to her without another thought, knowing if I didn’t move now, I never would. The sheets soft against my skin, my body began to calm.
In a moment’s time, I was lying on my back facing the ceiling as she rolled over snuggling into the side of my body. I wanted to sigh into the air above. It was going to be an extremely long night. I was so wrong to think I could fight off her demons by being here, though.
I was about to become the biggest, meanest, realest monster of all of her demons. My fists clenched tightly, my teeth grinding together to keep me from reaching out and touching her. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to feel drawn to someone. Especially her. She had more baggage than American Airlines. Yet I found comfort in her pain, knowing for once, I wasn’t alone in the darkness anymore.
Slowly but surely, my body relaxed, allowing my breaths to come in slower