Her foot lifted, and she smiled as her hair whipped around her face. The soft brown locks slashed against her cheeks.
Wake up, they screamed,wake up.
Delores smiled and closed her eyes, seeing Anabel’s face in her mind.
Seeing Owen.
Seeing Michael.
Seeing Elijah.
And then she let go.
Chapter Forty-Five.
Delores
…
…
…
Chapter Forty-Six.
Elijah.
“No!” his voice echoed out against the night.
He had gone up the stairs, the breeze of the night trailing down to him in warning like a soft rope left as a clue for him. He followed the trail and listened to his heart, his head, and his instincts. His cop’s gut that insisted on being heard. He followed those stairs. One at a time, at first. Then two. Then he was running, his feet pounding the hard steps as fast as he could as he moved higher. His arms pumping as he reached the roof.
The door was open, swinging back and forth lazily on creaking hinges. Whispering its secrets to the warm night air. The only truth in this dishonest, ugly place.
“No!” he called again, his single word getting lost in the sky as if it had never been uttered.
The devastation hit him like a rock as he ran forwards.
He was too late.
He was too slow.
He gripped the back of her nightshirt as she stepped off the ledge. His knees slammed into the ground. His waist hit the side of the ledge, and he thrust another hand out, scrambling to find an arm or a hand. Something that would have more strength in it than a cheap cotton nightdress.
His fingers grappled for her, threading their way through hers, and he looked down. Her pale, upturned face smiled at him.
“It’s okay, Elijah,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”
There were no tears as she let go of his hand. No sadness embraced her broken mind. She was happy, glad to be rid of this world and this misery. Glad for it all to be over.
But Elijah was not. He gritted his teeth and reached for her wrist, a grip as hard as steel clinging to her.
“No, Delores, it’s not,” he breathed heavily, his heart thumping six beats for every one it should be doing. Sweat poured from him, trailing down his face and back. “They’re alive, Delores, they’re alive.”
She shook her head, her body dangling into the thin black void of sky.
“They are, Delores, listen to me. I can show you. I can prove it!”
She shook her head again, her forehead creasing in pain. “Please,” she begged with another shake of her. “Please, Elijah.” She wasn’t sure what she was pleading for anymore; for him to let go, for him to stop lying, or for his words to be the truth.
