THE SHADOWED ONYX: A DIAMOND ESTATES NOVEL (30 page)

Joy tried to hide her skepticism. Ben sounded smart, but unless he’d already gone through what she was currently experiencing, how could he truly know?

“You’re probably wondering how I believe this. Number one,”—he held up one finger—“all the answers a person needs about God are found in His Word, and I have complete faith that He’s true to His promises.” A second finger shot up. “Number two. There’s not a single thing you could conjure up that hasn’t passed through these doors. We’ve seen it all, and time after time after time, the truth and the power in the Word of God has proven true. Every single time. Without exception.”

So what would it take? What did she have to do? She wanted to ask, but she couldn’t come right out with Silas right there in the room. He couldn’t know what she was thinking. If he realized what she wanted to know, he’d make sure she never found out. That was the scary part.

Ben squinted at Joy. “Was there something else you wanted to ask me just then?”

Wow. He was good. Joy shook her head. “No. I’m just taking it all in. I honestly do appreciate the explanation though.” She wiped her sweaty palms on her legs.

Ben sat back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head. He eyed Joy, the skepticism narrowing his gaze. “Okay. I have one more thing to say, and then I’ll let you go about your day and get more acquainted with Ginny and her practices here at Diamond Estates…. Oh, you start your schooling today, too, right?”

She nodded. What was he going to say? Hopefully something she could use.

“I want you to know that when you’re a Christian, a follower of Christ, when you stand on the promises of God found in the Word of God, you have nothing to fear. In Proverbs twenty-six we’re told that a curse without cause cannot alight.”

Sigh. He’d been getting somewhere, but now he’d lost her again.

“Which means if you’ve circumvented the power, the curse can’t take hold. It can’t stick. Like unplugging a hair dryer …”

Now
that
she got.

“If you unplug it, will it dry your hair?” Ben shook his head.

“No,” Joy whispered.

“The same is true with the power of evil in your life. If you unplug it from the source and remove its power over you, that evil can exist around you without being able to affect you.”

Joy nodded. Good words … hard to believe, but nice to hear.

“Can I give you an assignment?” Ben smiled.

“You’re the boss.” Joy shrugged.

“Okay. What I want you to do is to say this phrase over and over, out loud, in your head, as you walk the halls, as you lie in bed.” Ben raised his eyebrows. “Okay?”

“What’s the phrase?” Only an idiot agreed before hearing the details.

“‘I’m setting my sights on You.’ I want you to say that over and over and over, to Jesus.” Ben sat back and watched Joy’s face.

Was it true? Was she setting her sights on God? She leaned in that direction, but … to say that out loud … even thinking it was scary. Ben obviously had no idea what kind of fire he was playing around with.

“I’ll give it a try.”

I
’m setting my sights on You
.

Ben had said it would take hold eventually. So far … nothing but words.
I’m setting my sights on You
.

Silas shifted on her legs.

I’m setting my sights on You
.

Silas yawned and stretched.

I’m setting my sights on You
.

She didn’t feel any different. But it wasn’t supposed to be a magic trick. How should she feel? She could recite the phrase a thousand times in her head, but it didn’t seem like anything would change because of six simple words. Maybe she needed to say them out loud. But was she ready to make a declaration like that? Especially without knowing what the consequences would be.

Trapped between two worlds. If only she could have the best of both of them.

She watched Silas’s chest rise and fall with his heavy breathing.

I’m setting my sights on You
.

Okay, here goes. Out loud. At least a whisper. “I’m setting my sights on You.”

Joy whispered the words again then waited.

Silas lifted his head. He stared into her eyes.

“It’s okay, boy. It’s all right.”

He let out a low growl and stared with a powerful gaze.

Joy slowly lowered her body, inch by inch, until she was flat on the bed, head resting on the pillow. She pulled the covers up to her chin. She had better be careful. In fact, it was time to think of anything else.

Nice try, Ben, but that was a total fail.

“Fire!”

“Fire!”

The alarm screamed along with the human wails coming from the hallway.

Joy pulled her body upright and found it difficult to focus. And to breathe.

“Joy, get up.” Ginny inched the door open and threw a wet towel at Joy. “Come on. Cover your face with that. Let’s go.”

Coughing and gagging, Joy put her bare feet on the floor and searched for her slippers with her toes. The smoke billowed in through the cracked door. No time.

She pressed the towel to her face and stumbled for the doorway, hacking and gasping for air. Her lungs burned like a fire roared within. Would she make it outside fast enough to douse her internal flames with fresh air?

Ginny stood at the main door. She motioned for Joy to hurry as she shoved Savvy into the snow outside. Massive blue and orange flames licked at Joy as she stumbled past Ginny’s office. She ducked and pressed the towel harder against her face.

“Go out! Don’t wait. I’m coming,” Joy screamed through the smoke at Ginny.

“No way! Come to me. Hurry.”

Joy stumbled about two feet from Ginny—from the promised land. She reached out to grab at nothing … her visibility gone, her eyes burning from smoke.

A hand clamped on to her arm and pulled until Joy was free of the burning building. Her body flopped into the snow like a rag doll.

Air!

Joy gasped and sputtered as she sucked in as much as her lungs would allow. She coughed and gagged. Her stomach … She rolled over to the side and vomited into the bush beside her.

Better.

Her skin tingled. Joy looked down at her body. Of course her skin tingled, she was sitting practically naked in her thin T-shirt and boxer shorts in the snow. She scrambled to her bare feet and looked around for somewhere else to step.

Firemen bustled through the yard, pulling hoses and carrying extinguishers.

People shouted orders.

Alicia clung to Ben, her face buried in his chest, shoulders heaving from sobs.

Ben’s lips moved in prayer.

Ginny rushed over to Joy. “Are you okay? We need to get you some treatment. An ambulance is on the way. For now, let’s get you into the library. Can you walk?”

Joy looked down. Run was a better idea. She set off to jog, but her body couldn’t move more than a few inches. Ginny lifted Joy’s arm and laid it across her own shoulders then placed an arm around Joy’s back. They lumbered as fast as Joy’s legs could carry her. With the smoke inhalation, on top of her bruises, on top of her black eye … she was a mess.

She was losing the battle.

J
oy stumbled onto the deck, her feet numb from walking barefoot in the snow, and entered the library. Ginny helped her to the overstuffed sofa and laid her down.

Wheezing and coughing, Joy’s lungs burned. If only she could grab handfuls of snow and shove them down her throat into her chest to put out the fire.

Breathe. Breathe. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on oxygen airflow.

Ginny leaned close to her ear. “Joy honey, you’re suffering from smoke inhalation. You’ll be fine. I know it’s scary, and it feels like you can’t breathe. The best thing you can do for yourself is to relax.”

Joy looked into Ginny’s eyes. “Can’t you help me?” She gasped. “Is there medicine for this?”

Ginny nodded. “There are things, but they are—or were—in the infirmary. It’s all gone.” Her voice caught, and her chin trembled.

Joy closed her eyes. Figured. Okay, just concentrate on breathing. “I can’t … believe I slept … through it all. I really couldn’t hear … it in my room.” She sucked in air and watched the red lights from the fire trucks outside swirl on the walls.

“Shh. You shouldn’t try to talk. Just let your lungs rest.” Ginny squeezed Joy’s shoulder. “Where is that ambulance?” She wrung her hands together. “This is ridiculous.”

A siren drew closer. It sounded different than the fire trucks.

Ginny exhaled a sigh of relief. “That would be the ambulance.” She sped from the library to the front door.

Joy heard the door open, and boots clomped on the tile floor.

“She’s back here in the library.” The words rushed out of Ginny’s mouth.

Now that Joy thought about it … where was everybody? Thirty girls, you’d think somebody would be interested in some gossip. But no one had come to see if she’d been burned to a crisp.

“Okay, ma’am, is she the only one injured? Where are all the other residents?”

“Other than me, there were only two in the fire, and Savvy is fine. The others were all here in their rooms. This house wasn’t affected. They’re now in the prayer room, praying.”

Ah. That figured. The paramedic knelt beside Joy and placed two fingers on her wrist. He listened to her breathing with a stethoscope. “We’re going to pack you up and take you for a ride, hon. Just hold on for a minute.” He stepped away from Joy and spoke into his radio.

Joy shook her head. “Oh no! Please not the hospital. Anything but that.” There went her never-been-to-the-hospital brag. Up in smoke. Literally.

Ginny patted Joy’s arm. “If you need to go, then you’ll go. Just relax. Lots of people are praying.”

Was that supposed to make her feel better? The way she’d been living, their prayers might make things worse for her.

Joy closed her eyes. Just focus on breathing. In and out.

Where was Silas? He hadn’t been there when she woke up. Why hadn’t he warned her of the fire?

The back door opened, and wet footsteps slapped the floor toward her. She was too tired to find out who it was.

“They’re saying the fire originated in your office.”

Ben’s voice. Talking to Ginny?

The paramedic was at Joy’s side again. What was he going to do to her? She peeked through slits. On second thought, she didn’t really care. She let her eyelids flutter closed again.

“It must’ve been my candles, but I’m positive I put them out. Maybe one of them didn’t go all out?”

Joy’s heart sank. She lifted her head to look at Ginny and parted her cracked lips. “You did put them out. This wasn’t your fa—” Her lungs clenched the end of the word. Joy gasped for air, but she had to let Ginny know. It wasn’t her fault. It was Joy’s. They were after her, and anyone who got in the way was in trouble.

“Shhh.” A second paramedic reached over Joy’s head and put a finger to her lips. “Stay quiet and restful.”

Ginny shook her head. “I know I did,” she muttered to no one in particular. She whipped around to look at Ben. “Will we lose the whole place?”

“I don’t know about that. I doubt it. But there’s definitely going to be some damage.”

It was another warning. What was Joy going to do? Every step she took toward God ended in complete disaster. Someone was going to get seriously hurt. Maybe she should just leave Diamond Estates forever. This was her problem, not theirs.

Where could she go? She couldn’t bring this home to Mom and Dad. She’d be all on her own.

Or …

She could just live with it. She could fake her way through the program and stay put spiritually. Keep the demons at bay—literal ones and figurative ones—by staying as far from God as possible.

Silas appeared at her side and nuzzled her hand.

Joy sank back in her beanbag, exhausted from her trip down the mountain to the ER. An inhaler tucked safely in her pocket, along with the order to consume tons of fluids—she would bounce back in no time, they’d said.

Now what? So … she’d decided to fake it. She’d have to let Silas know so he didn’t get angry when he saw things he didn’t like.

Ginny paced from one side of the prayer room to the other. The other girls were long since in bed except Savvy. She had her eyes closed, her face black with soot except for white rings around her eyes. She wiped her upper lip with the side of her hand and created another white streak. Why hadn’t she showered already? Surely someone would loan her some clothes.