Brightly Burning Bridges by Ivy Wild
The smileon my face vanished as I took in the sight of my half-brother. He was panting, his pupils were dilated and he looked on the wrong side of bat-shit crazy. He stepped inside the room and I immediately stood, as did Connor and Trevor, each of us taking a defensive position in front of the women sitting on the sofas.
“Well, isn’t this the most heartwarming sight?” he drawled, his speech slightly slurred, making me think he’d been drinking.
“Vartan, why don’t we talk about this outside?” I asked, making my way towards him.
His hand moved from his back pocket and a flash of metal had everyone gasping. He gripped the silver handgun loosely, pointing it right at me.
“Nah, I think right here is good,” he said. He looked around the room and everyone stayed deathly silent. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Connor’s hand move in his pocket, and I prayed to a non-existent God that he’d figured out a way to dial 911.
“Alright,” I said, putting up my hands, trying to draw the gun back to me. “What is it you want to talk about?”
He laughed. The sound was crazy and eerie and everyone stayed deathly silent.
“Now you want to talk?” He looked at me expectantly, but I stayed quiet. “What, wouldn’t you rather just call my employer and get me fired?”
“Vartan, if this is about the money, I can still—”
Anger lit up his features and he bounded towards me, pushing the gun right up against my chest. I heard Skyler shriek, but Trevor was there in an instant, holding her back and wrapping his fingers around her mouth.
“This isn’t just about fucking money, dearest brother. It’s about how you have everything in this world and I have nothing. It’s about how everything was given to you over me and how even now, you still find delight in taking things from me.”
I felt the cold steel seeping into my chest and I tried to stay calm and think through my options. Counting myself, there were three rather capable men, one elderly woman, one very pregnant woman and Skyler. Six against one was pretty good odds, but our chances of getting out of this totally unscathed weren’t very good considering we had zero plan and no way to communicate with one another.
“Vartan,” I said calmly. “That’s not true. Let’s talk this out. I told you, I never knew. I hated the bastard, too.”
He spit on the floor, still holding the cold metal against my chest.
“No, you didn’t. You couldn’t have hated him as much as me. He gave everything to you. Everything. Did you know he raped my mother? Did you know that’s how I was brought into this world?”
My heart sunk at his words. If Vartan loved his mother even half as much as I loved mine, I’d be sick with rage over the situation, too. But he’d never told me and Skyler hadn’t mentioned that detail either, so I had to believe she didn’t know.
“No, I didn’t,” I said, still keeping my voice even and my hands up. “Brother, let’s talk about this.”
I learned in that moment that I had zero future as a hostage negotiator. Apparently, my voice and my words just made him angrier, because I felt the cold metal touch my temple. And then the world started to move in slow motion.
Skyler screamed and wrestled her way out of Trevor’s grip. Connor tugged his wife and Skyler’s mother behind the sofa to protect them and Vartan turned the gun away from me and at Skyler in surprise.
I watched her push his shoulder, watched him pull the trigger and heard her scream as she went down.
As soon as she hit the floor, my world sped back up, everything moving faster to compensate for the distorted time frames.
Vartan cursed and ran out the door, and I ran to crouch down beside Skyler. Bright red blood leaked from her shoulder, looking even more intense against her pale skin. She was breathing heavily, her eyes open wide and full of unshed tears.
“Sky, Sky, angel,” I said. She looked at me and I breathed a sigh of relief that she was still with me.
“Si,” she whimpered, and my heart broke for her. This was my fault. She was hurt again, because of me.
Trevor came over quickly with a towel and looked carefully at her shoulder. “She’ll be okay, but we need to stop the bleeding,” he said, pressing the towel against her shoulder. Skyler screamed in pain and Trevor grit his teeth and said, “I’m sorry, Skyler. But you’ll bleed out before the paramedics come if we don’t keep pressure on it.”
“Emergency services are on their way,” Connor said from the corner of the room and I nodded my head. I looked out the door to see Vartan running across the parking lot.
“Maria,” I barked at Skyler’s mother. She looked at me with shock but responded to my direction and came over. “Hold this here firmly. Don’t let go until the EMTs get here. Trevor, you’re with me,” I said. “Connor, stay here in case he circles back.”
Connor nodded and Trevor and I both stood. Skyler reached her good arm up to me and shook her head. “Don’t leave me, please.” Her voice was a whisper, but it was all wrapped up in pain and sadness.
I knelt down beside her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You’ll be okay,” I promised her. “But, I have to finish this.”
She clutched my shirt with failing strength and I tore myself away from her, cocking my head to Trevor to follow. It took everything in me to run out that door and leave Skyler behind, but there was no way I was going to sit back and let Vartan get away with what he did.
Trevor and I sprinted across the parking lot, following Vartan’s path. He was fast, but I was faster.
Not because I was more in shape.
Not because I’d run track or some shit.
But, because I was running for a reason.
Whereas he was running away from his.
I saw the glint of metal hit a nearby bush, and I knew he was trying to ditch the weapon. I grabbed it and checked it as I continued sprinting toward him. Five in the magazine and one in the chamber. I dislodged the one in the chamber and expelled the magazine, tossing it back to Trevor.
He caught it without saying a word and stuck it in his pocket and I stuck the unloaded pistol into mine and we continued our pursuit. I watched Vartan sprint down the escalator to the Tenleytown metro station. The escalator was long and at this hour, not many people were making their way there. The ones that were quickly moved out of the way for us, and I slid down the siderails to the first platform to try and make up some time.
Vartan was halfway down the second, much longer escalator by the time I reached the top. I steeled my nerves and grabbed the siderails once again and began to slide. The escalator down to the platforms was long and I was picking up speed fast, but I was gaining, which was what was important.
I couldn’t have the bastard getting on a train and getting away.
I saw him hop the pay station and no one stopped him. The metro guards were never around when they needed to be, but I was okay with that. Because, I wanted to be the one to get to him first.
I reached the bottom of the escalator and dug my elbow into the railings hard enough to do some serious damage to my shirt, but it slowed me down enough that I was able to hop off without too much trouble. I jumped over the pay station the same way Vartan did and all but sprinted down the last set of steps to the platform.
The place was empty, which was perfect. I didn’t want any witnesses for what I was about to do to him. He sprinted to the end of the platform and I watched him duck under the set of stairs that led to the elevator. Even more perfect.
I looked up at the monitors and slowed my pace down to a walk. The next train wasn’t for five whole minutes. That was plenty of time to get to him. He had nowhere to run and I knew where he was hiding.
Trevor came up behind me and I turned to look at him and he nodded. He understood, he was going to keep watch.
I made my way into the shadows where I knew Vartan was hiding. His back was pressed up against the cold metal of the elevator control panels.
“No, don’t,” he called out, but I was on him in a second. I slammed him into the locker, my hand wrapping around his neck. I pulled the gun out of my pocket and pressed it against his chest, just like he had done to me. Difference was, this time it wasn’t fucking loaded. But, he didn’t know that. And I still had one bullet in my pocket.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t end you, right here, right now?” I seethed.
I could see the panic in his eyes. Sweat rolled down his face and for a moment, he didn’t look like a man, he looked like a scared boy who had never been shown any love in his entire life.
I grit my teeth and tried to steel my resolve.
It was one thing to hurt me. It was another thing to hurt Sky. And that’s all he’d done for as long as I knew him.
“I just hated you,” he gritted out, almost unable to breathe.
I let out a sinister chuckle. “That’s fine. But you used her to get to me,” I said. “You hurt her to get to me. And that I can’t forgive.”
I pressed the gun to his temple, just as he’d done to me and I felt him quake.
“One reason,” I said, “not to pull this trigger, right here, right now.”
His breathing was ragged, but he finally pulled his nerves together enough to respond. “Because we’re the same.”
His words hit me and for the briefest moment, I thought about them. Were we the same? Maybe at one time, I was the same as Vartan. So filled with venom and poison and just plain hate for the world.
I hated a world I thought had wronged me.
A world that had taken my mother from me.
A world that had given me a shit father.
A world that had kept me apart from the woman I loved.
But now, I realized that I’d changed and I wasn’t filled with so much hate anymore.
Sure, the world had still wronged me.
It had still taken my mother from me.
And I still had a shit father growing up.
But, the world had given me back a woman that, by all rights, I shouldn’t have.
And she’d drained me of the poison I’d held in my body without me even knowing it.
I looked at Vartan sadly. “No brother, we’re not the same. But I can understand why you’d think so.”
“Silas.” Trevor’s harsh voice made its way through the hum of the metro tunnels. “Company.”
I stared into Vartan’s eyes. They were dark brown like mine. Full of fear and hate and self-loathing. The very traits mine used to harbor.
I pitied him.
And I had a decision to make.
I heard the horn for the train blare and Vartan looked at me frantically. I sighed, knowing what was about to happen. I hated it, but I knew it’s what Skyler would want. And right now, that was more important than anything.
I switched my grip so my forearm was on his throat and I pulled a wad of cash from my wallet. I shoved it in his front pocket and he looked at me with surprise and confusion.
“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” I said, my voice low. “You’re gonna get on this train and ride it to Ronald Reagan International Airport and book yourself the first flight back to Brazil with the money I just put in your pocket. And if I so much as hear from my private investigator that you’ve sneezed in the direction of this country, I’ll have the cops on you in a fucking instant.”
“Why?” he asked as I released my hold on him slightly. He made his way to the train doors that opened in front of us and I shook my head.
“Because you deserve the same chance to start over that I got. So don’t fuck it up.”
He nodded and entered the train, sitting down in the first seat available. I watched the doors close on him and Trevor came up behind me, his hand outstretched and I handed him the last bullet in my pocket.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said.
I nodded. “So do I.”
The cops showedup as the train was pulling away from the station and Trevor and I gave them our statements. Our official story was that the unknown assailant had managed to get away and we weren’t sure which train he was on or where he was headed.
It took a whole fucking thirty minutes for them to collect our information, for us to hand over the weapon and ammunition we informed them the criminal had ditched that we’d picked up in our pursuit, before they finally let us go.
I called Connor as soon as we were above ground and he informed me that Skyler was in the hospital and that she was stable and that her mother had left when visiting hours ended. Sophie was thankfully okay and so was the baby and he had taken her home to help her escape the excitement, despite her insistence at wanting to be with Skyler.
I thanked him and asked him to get his private investigator, Gus, on the trail of Vartan. I was serious about wanting to know if he made any moves back towards this country. Unless he somehow was able to prove that he’d redeemed himself, I wasn’t letting him near the U.S.
I grabbed a cab to the hospital and just before midnight, I made my way through the halls that I’d promised I never wanted to walk again. Of course it had to be the same hospital where my mother had passed. Security tried to tell me that visiting hours were over and I was about to make a scene, when one of the nurses approached us.
She was older than she had been, but I recognized her.
“She’s stable. Come on,” she said, gesturing with her hand and the security guard let me pass.
“Thanks,” I muttered and we made our way down the hall. It had the same smell of bleach and human misery attached to it, and every step I took felt heavy. I hated knowing that my actions had put Skyler here.
“The bullet grazed the top of her shoulder and didn’t impact the bone, thankfully. They’ve given her pain medication that knocked her out. She won’t be fully conscious until tomorrow morning,” the nurse said, opening the door a crack. “But, I’ll let you stay with her if you promise not to get her excited or cause a raucous.”
I gave the nurse a small smile. “Not really my style anymore, ma’am.”
She gave my arm a small squeeze. “Glad to see you all grown up, Silas. I knew you’d turn out alright.”
I just nodded and ducked inside. The lights were thankfully dimmed and Skyler was sleeping in the lone hospital bed in the room. I think Connor had something to do with making sure she got a nice set up. I seriously owed the guy.
I placed a chair next to the bed and looked at her. The edges of her silver hair were stained red with blood on her left side and her shoulder was wrapped up in a tremendous deal of bandages. But otherwise, she looked okay and her breathing was even.
I sat down quietly and reached out to grasp her hand lightly, trying my best not to wake her. She stirred and her fingers curled around mine. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her palm as tears began to gather in the corners of my eyes.
This was the second time I had to sit next to a woman I loved in a hospital room, helpless to do anything.
Three monthslater and Skyler had finally regained all of the movement in her left shoulder. The bullet had clipped the top of her muscle and after some extensive physical therapy, she was back to her old self, minus some odd tingles when the weather changed drastically.
After some extensive negotiations, she’d agreed not to file a worker’s compensation lawsuit against me. I’d ensured that her benefits package included more than ample time off to rest and recuperate. Besides, it had given her some time to have serious discussions with Sophie about helping out with her new music label.
That next morning, when she’d finally become conscious again after all the pain killers they’d given her, she woke up and I told her everything that happened. I told her that I’d let Vartan go and sent him back to Brazil. She’d told me that she was proud of me and my heart swelled at hearing her words.
Deep down, Skyler wanted to see all broken things put back together. She was the sort of person that would nurse a sick creature back to health if she found it, even if it tried to bite her in the process. It was the same with Vartan. I knew that putting him in prison would pain her. She had a soul that was meant to be free and someone else being locked up would tear at her from the inside.
“Hey,” she said, startling me out of my daydreaming. “You ready?”
I nodded my head and clasped the urn close to me. She’d convinced me to put the Potomac house on the market. After all these years, I finally felt like I was ready to let go. But, that meant I needed to find a new resting place for my mother’s ashes other than the library window they’d been sitting on for the last decade.
We’d agreed on a place that meant a lot to both of us, but Skyler wasn’t aware of what I had planned.
I still loved teasing her, just to watch her reactions.
I stepped out of the car and followed her as we made our way through the brambles and low hanging branches behind our old high school. King padded silently behind us.
“It’s been ages since I came back here,” she said and I nodded.
I’d been here just yesterday, but she didn’t know that.
The tree line broke and she stopped in her tracks. Her breath caught in her throat and I watched her as she took in the sight in front of her.
This little area had seen three life cycles all within our own. There was the old, splintered bridge, which she loved the way she loved broken and tattered things. There were the ashes of our friendship, that had been washed away by the cleansing and continuing waters of the brook. And there was what stood before us now.
Something I had built.
Something for us.
“Si,” she said, turning around with tears in her eyes. “It’s beautiful.”
It was.
I’d designed it myself.
The platform arched gracefully over the brook, sitting higher than the previous bridge. The handrails were made of solid posts connected with ornate lattice work and the whole thing was stained a beautiful cherry red.
“Do you like it?” I asked.
She took my free hand and squeezed it. “I love it.”
I beckoned her over to a place near the bridge where I’d already prepared a fairly deep hole. I knelt down beside it with her next to me and together, we placed my mother’s ashes into the dirt. I pulled the lid off and took a packet of seeds out of my pocket.
I handed it to her. “Will you do the honors?”
She turned it over in her hands and smiled back at me. They were seeds for a weeping willow tree. She nodded and laid a few seeds in the ashes and a few next to the urn and we both used our bare hands to cover the little object up.
We both stood and she hugged me tight as I stood there. I didn’t mark the spot with anything. I didn’t need to. I knew those seeds would take root and my mother’s memory would grow with each passing year into something beautiful and strong that would watch over our special place.
“Come on,” I finally said, taking her hand and leading her to the bridge. She smiled and followed me willingly. I sat down first and she followed and she leaned into me, just like she had the day she’d first shown me this place. King meandered his way to us gradually, finally laying behind us on the bridge.
It was as if the world had brought us around full circle. It kept trying to show me that there was some good in it.
And fuck, I was starting to believe that there just might be.
I touched my fingers to the velvet box I’d been carrying in my pocket since that night three months ago before wrapping an arm around her. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pressed “send” on the message I’d prepared earlier.
Her phone dinged and I nudged her. “Aren’t you going to get that?”
She shrugged and I nudged her again. “Could be something important.”
She turned and narrowed her beautiful lavender eyes at me but fished her phone out of her purse all the same. I watched as she opened the Instagram app and pressed the upper right hand corner, where a single message notification was waiting.
Her eyes widened as she read it and she looked at the screen in confusion. And then she looked at me.
I was holding the velvet box open and she gasped.
I chuckled. “Don’t act so surprised, angel. There’s no way you didn’t see this coming.”
“You’re . . . I don’t . . . You’re @dontaskmyname?”
I nodded my head.
“But how?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I answered her honestly. “Maybe we really are just victims in a series of accidents,” I said.
“You mean victors,” she replied.
“That depends on your answer,” I said, giving her another nudge.
“Aren’t you supposed to say something sweet and charming at a moment like this?”
I pressed a kiss to her temple. She’d let her silver hair dye fade and her beautiful natural shade was showing through. I loved it.
“Nah, that’s not really my style.”
She giggled and picked up the ring. It was a three carat amethyst surrounded by a halo of pure white diamonds. It was Skyler reduced down to a ring and I couldn’t wait to see it on her finger.
She slipped it on and of course it fit perfectly, because I’d lifted a few of her cheap costume rings and brought them in for sizing. I’d gotten a lot of things wrong in my life, but this was one thing I wanted to get absolutely right.
“So,” I said. “You in or out?”
She smiled and turned her head. I pressed a kiss to her lips and I smiled against them. My heart beat against my chest and I knew she could feel it.
She pulled back and her purple eyes looked up at me, shining with genuine happiness. “All in, Silas. Forever, all in.”
