Title: The fire lingers
Author:
discover_sarah Contains : Homosexual material
Summary: Two lovers, falling in and out of love. Love turns to hate and remorse. How do they deal with it?
The light from across the street shun through the bedroom window. The empty street that was once filled with kids laughter and vehicles roaming about during the day. Now filled with silence as other people fall deep in their slumber.Amy took a deep breath and sat on the floor next to the bed. She looked around the room and felt the walls were closing in on her. The memories that they shared echoed from every inch of the cold hard surface of the room. She leaned her back on the wall and then a flashback of Isabelle's laughter rang in her mind.
“I love you Amy,” Isabelle said as they both lay on the floor at the same exact spot almost a year ago. The words echoed in her ears. Both of her hands were covering her ears. I love you, the three words that had poisoned her mind and driven her to insanity.
She wanted to leave the room but an image of Isabelle was standing at the entrance door, another flashback. Isabelle was filing her nails, her semi curl red hair dropped over her shoulder. Her deep green eyes shifted her attention from her nails towards Amy's direction. Amy was mesmerized by her beauty and felt her body frozen in time wishing that the fragment of her imagination was real. Just like a ghost, the image of Isabelle disappeared into thin air just as she was getting nearer to Amy. She fell to her knees and weeped for her lost lover.
The air was thick and the windows were closed shut. The lack of fresh air in in the room was choking her and she was grasping to breathe. Amy's heart was beating really fast, sweats began to appear on her face, her lips were dry and she felt that the room was spinning around. Could this be another one of her panic attacks? The content of her stomach was churning inside her. She ran to the bathroom and knelt next to the toilet vomiting out everything. Turning on the tap water at the sink, she washed her face trying to calm herself down. Her hands were trembling. The sound of the water going down the drain was the only thing that broke the silence of the empty house.
“ There's nothing wrong with me. I just need time to think and deal with this. Just give me time and I'll be fine,” the voice of Isabelle took Amy back into the past again. Isabelle was sitting in the bathtub staring hard at her hands that were fiddling around with the bubble foam floating on the surface of the water.
“I just wish you could tell me what's been going through your mind. You have been acting weird lately. Have I done or said anything wrong?” The sound of Amy's own voice startled her. Standing at the corner of the bathroom was an image of herself looking frustrated while talking to Isabelle. Amy saw herself walking towards where Isabelle was and grabbed her arm.
“You don't even make love to me anymore. Why can't you tell me?” she heard herself raising her voice and then started to sob. Isabelle ignored Amy's plea. Her eyes were full of emptiness.
Amy ran out of the bathroom. The memories were vivid and felt fresh as if it they only happened yesterday. She couldn't bear to be in the bathroom as she felt like a child trapped in between her parents fighting. She opened the medicine drawer of the side table next to bed and frantically searched for her container of Valium. Hoping to regain a grip of her sanity, she took out two pills and swallowed them.
The night grew darker and Amy was consumed by fear, insecurities and betrayal. It had been two hours since the incident and she had not left the house. She picked up the phone and wanted to dial the emergency numbers but she hesitated. What would people think of her? How could she explained why it took so long for her to call someone?
She lied on the bed and started to wonder when did this all had happened. Three weeks ago, she discovered that her life was not as beautiful as it seems. The rain drops fell on her skin like shattered glass cutting her up to the bone. She stood outside their house watching her unfaithful lover with another man. The cold treatment, the hesitation and the secrets started to unravel. Unfolding themselves to bear the painful truth.
Isabelle was standing outside their door begging for forgiveness. Amy had packed Isabelle's belonging and threw them out the front door. Isabelle tried to explain that it was a mistake and it was Amy that she ever wanted and loved but Amy didn't want to hear any more lies and excuses. She had enough and couldn't bear the heartache anymore.
“I'm sorry. I love you,” Isabelle cried on the other side of the door. Amy sat on the other side reminding herself that she needed to be strong. Isabelle's cries soon stopped and then a sound of a moving car. Even then she refused to open the door. Afraid that the reality might hit her sooner than she expected, Isabelle was longer there to hold her near.
Amy sobbed as she stared at the ceiling. She turned to look at Isabelle's lifeless body next to hers. The bed was soaked with blood leaving the sheet damp and tainted. She hold Isabelle's cold face in her hand and gently kissed the lips. She didn't want to carry the guilt throughout her life of what had happened. A note left on the bed side signed with Isabelle's name on it. Sorry seemed to be the most simplified explanation for everything.
Amy searched through the house for any flammable liquid and poured them all over the house. Making sure that almost every inch of the house was covered by it so everything would be engulfed by the flame. She lit a match and threw it on the floor. Flame started to burn everything in it's path as Amy made her way back into their bedroom. She took a last look around trying to reminisce all of the good memories they shared together. She held Isabelle's lifeless hand and picked up the gun next to her lover's body.
The smoke grew thicker and Amy could feel the heat of the flame on her skin. She can hear the crackle of the burning house and it was getting harder for to breathe. At least this way, both of them can spend eternity together. It has always been Isabelle's wish to be cremated. Amy smiled. She took the end of the gun and put in her mouth and whispered I love you too. Her grip on Isabelle's hand grew tighter. One last deep breath, she pulled the trigger and her lifeless body fell next to her lover's. The fire burnt down the house as the lovers lied next to each other.