Break Free The Night (Book 2): Loss of Light (28 page)

            
 “
Emma, no
!”
Andrew burst out, running back into the circle of light. His hair was mussed, as though he had been gripping it, and he gripped her upper arms tightly
.“
You ca
n’
t, this is insane
!
”

            
 “
I ca
n’
t do nothing
!”
she said, twisting herself out of his hold. She gripped herself about the waist, hugging herself tightly as though that would hold her together
.“I’
ll get you all killed. I
t’
s bad enough that I could accidentally sneeze in your face and sign your death certificate! This is something I can control, i
t’
s something I can change, and not one of you is going to take that away from me
!
”

              Andrew's expression locked in shocked betrayal, but he recovered quickly
.“
But i
t’
s so risky. How will we do it? The fire? What about infection
?”
His voice broke at the end
.“
I
t’
s all for nothing if we lose you
.
”

            
 “
Andrew
,”
Kaylee interjected. He was suffering. He spoke as though it was he that would be burned. But he was wrong to put that on her
.“
Do
n’
t make it any harder. Sh
e’
s right."

            
 “
Em
?”
he asked, staring at her, desperation plain on his face.

              She ignored him
.“
Help me set up
?”
she asked Anna, walking away from Andrew. His shoulders slumped in defeat and he turned, grabbing fistfuls of his hair. And Kaylee looked from his retreating back to Emma, and then finally to the fire.

              Bile threatened in her throat again and she beat it down, moving towards Anna to help her prepare.

              It was
n’
t long before Bill and Jack returned. Anna looked up in question, her features unmistakably hopeful.

              Bill shook his head as Jack stretched out his hand, the contents of the glass bottle shone amber in the firelight
.“
This is the best we could do
,”
he said.

              Emma breathed heavily through her nose, understanding at once. She took the bottle and broke the seal, wrinkling her nose a bit at the smell.

            
 “
Well
,”
she offered through a wry grin
,“
botto
m’
s up, right
?”
And with that she took a long swig of the whiskey.

~

              Anna made Emma drink a quarter of the contents of the bottle and she shot some antibiotic into her arm before she settled her down by the fire. Emma's eyes were glassy and her lids drooped. Her movements were jerky and uncoordinated but Kaylee noticed her reflex of straightening her hand and then quickly clenching her fingers in a fist was intact. Emma couldn't seem to stop doing it, it was as though the alcohol induced trembling of the rest of her scared her enough to focus just that one body part.

              Andrew looked like he could have benefited from a swig of whiskey too. Kaylee had never seen him such a mess, his hair stuck up all over his head from where he had been running his shaking hands through and he wouldn't stop pacing. From the porch to the tree line, standing over Emma as she knocked back the bottle, opening his mouth and then shutting it again as he stomped away. Kaylee thought he might hit the trees and run, he looked tortured. But he didn't. And when Anna said softly, "It's time," Andrew raced to Emma's side, kneeling next to her as she willingly stretched out on the ground by the fire. Anna secured a tourniquet to Emma's bicep.

              "Make a fist."

              Emma turned her head as Anna set the I.V. in her arm.

              "I need a belt," Anna said. She had a pair of scissors and was cutting Emma's pants leg off under the knee.

              Kaylee went to unfasten her leather belt but Andrew was quicker. Anna nodded for him to place it on Emma's stomach. Emma was frowning.

              "I could have taken my pants off, you know," she slurred, staring at her cut off jeans.

              "It wouldn't have mattered," Anna murmured, "you won't be able to stand anything touching this leg for a while."

              Kaylee swallowed hard. Emma's leg shone golden in the firelight. She had shaved her legs during that hot shower that they had been offered at the power plant and her skin was smooth, marred only by an occasional freckle and the ugly indentation of teeth marks in the middle of her calf. It wasn't a large area, only a few inches across. But the light scattered across it, cast shadows that made pointed tracks down her leg.

              "What's the belt for?" Andrew's voice wavered, his eyes fixed on Emma's face. She had her eyes closed now and her breathing was deep and even. Kaylee wasn't sure, but she thought her sister may have passed out.

              "For between her teeth," Anna answered. Her back was to them, poking around in the fire. Bill was hovering over Kaylee's shoulder.

              "Budge over Kay," he said, kneeling next to her.

              "I want to help," Kaylee said, staring down at her sister.

              "You will, after," Anna said, all business now. "Right now I need strength to hold her down."

              Emma was stirring again, giggling a little, her head shaking back and forth as Bill settled himself over her knees. Anna fiddled with the I.V. bag she had hung from the railing closest to Emma.

              "Wake her up, get that in her mouth." Anna pointed to the belt still curled up on Emma's stomach.

              Kaylee rose and backed away. She felt Jack's hand rest briefly in the small of her back before he moved past her and knelt at her sister's head, his hands already curling around Emma's shoulder in restraint.

              "Hey Em, wake up," Andrew said, his tone gentle as his fingers prodded her cheek and moved her face toward him.

              "Careful, Andrew."

              Andrew didn't so much as glance up as his father's warning. He placed the leather in Emma's mouth as she frowned up at him.

              "Bite down, Em," he coaxed and Emma did.

              "Are you going to press it right to her?" Bill asked.

              "No," Anna answered, "I don't have anything solid to do that with and the wood would just splinter off on her skin. I'll use one of the logs we already have burning and hold it under her leg."

              "It'll take longer."

              "Yeah, it will," Anna grimaced, but she didn't waver. "Ready, honey?"

              "As I'll ever be," Emma slurred around the belt between her teeth. Anna nodded for Jack and Andrew to hold her arms and then gestured at Bill. Emma's leg, the one with the scarred bite mark, was propped on a log, Anna's hand secure over her ankle and holding it down. Bill took the position over Emma's thighs, locking her knee and securing her completely.

              Without any further warning, Anna brought the flame to Emma's calf.

              Kaylee's stomach seized as she watched her sister's back arch off the cracked wooden boards of the porch. Emma writhed and strained against the men holding her down and tears tracked down her cheeks as she grunted and cried out through her teeth and the leather belt. The crying turned to leather muffled sobs and Kaylee could see Emma's empty fists weakly pounding on the boards, her nails scratching off the peeling paint. Her chest was heaving with the force of her cries and Kaylee tore her eyes from Emma's wincing, tortured face to watch Anna. Because it seemed like more than enough time to erase her scars, it already seemed like hours that she was in pain.

              Emma's skin was bubbling and bright red, the muscle clenching and straining underneath, but Kaylee could still see the bite. How it was surviving the torture she wasn't sure. And then Emma went still, completely still. Her back fell with a thud to the porch floor and her limbs sagged.

              "What happened?" Kaylee shouted just as Andrew screamed "What's wrong with her?"

              Anna didn't answer which terrified Kaylee. Her eyes were trained on the damage she was inflicting and she was staunchly ignoring everything else.

              "She's passed out," Bill grunted, rising to his elbow but still hovering over Emma's legs. "Better for her anyway."

              Kaylee noticed Andrew drag his sleeve over his eyes and she felt the tears tracking unchecked down her own face.

              "Kay, I'm done here," Anna said, her voice low and heavy. "I need the water, please."

              Kaylee took a shaky step forward to pass Anna the bottles of sterile water, the caps already loosened. Anna poured them slowly over the burn, soaking Emma's leg and leaving puddles on the wood beneath her.

              "Get her wrapped up," she ordered quietly, concentrating on the ugly red skin that twisted on Emma's calf. Andrew lifted Emma's limp torso as Kaylee laid a thick blanket down. Together they bundled her up as Anna poured the last of the sterile water.

              "Call me when she wakes," Anna said, standing. "There's nothing else to do now."

              Now that the worst was over Anna looked ill, like she was about to get sick, or maybe like she hated herself. Kaylee didn't hate her. She was in awe. She did what needed to be done and she barely complained about it and still it must be horrible to do something like that to someone you love.

              Because Anna did love them. Very much. And Kaylee could barely stand to watch let alone actually burn her sister like that. Andrew looked absolutely broken. He stared down at Emma, whose sleeping features were starting to distort in pain.

              Anna got up and walked away. She'd be back, Kaylee knew, but now she needed distance. Bill stood and walked after her.

              "We should set up watch," Jack said, his hushed voice loud in the grief induced quiet of the porch. He nodded to Kaylee, letting her know he'd be there as soon as she needed him, and then headed to the tree line. The stain of blood on his shirt looked wet, he must have started bleeding again. Kaylee felt her eyes follow him  watched him perch against the hood of an old sedan parked across the lawn. Then her eyes drifted down. It was just Andrew and Kaylee left to watch Emma sleep off the agony.

~

              "You okay?"

              Andrew and Kaylee were the only two awake. Jack lay next to Kaylee, curled on his side around her as though that could somehow protect her from the pain of watching her sister. It was the first night they didn't retreat to the attic as dawn approached, the group settling on the chairs and floor of the creaky porch to keep watch over Emma instead. Bill and Anna had returned, bringing with them some food. They divided it, leaving a can of peaches for Emma when she woke. The fire had died to glowing embers and neither Kaylee nor Andrew could bear to build it to a roar. Just the sight of it made Kaylee's stomach turn.

              "No," Andrew answered from Emma's other side. She was laying close to him, cradled on one of his arms. His eyes didn't leave her face. She was still sleeping, or still passed out really. She only woke once after Anna burned her. If you could even call it that. Andrew had still been at her one side, Kaylee at the other, and Emma had just started crying: soft sobs that shook her small form only slightly, tears leaked from eyes that were still clenched tightly.