Karen lied.
Sometimes these things don't burn themselves out.
You still love me.
After all this time. You still love me.
I know you still love me, Matthew. If you didn't love me you would not have picked me up off of the street and locked me in this room after it happened.
You locked me away in the seclusion of this room.
You locked me away from the world.
And away from her.
The one who did this to me.
I know you still love me, Matthew.
If you didn’t love me you would not have stopped her when she found me.
The red haired girl I bumped into on the street.
Hannah.
She found me in this room a few weeks after it happened.
She looked at me with such hatred and fury. And she screamed that she would destroy me.
I couldn't move.
I just watched her as she moved towards me with the sledgehammer.
She had this scary look on her face. And she was smiling.
"He was mine and you took him from me," Hannah said. "The next time he sees you you'll be dust! A pile of worthless dust! I am going to destroy you whore!"
I couldn't move.
Even as Hannah was running towards me with the sledgehammer raised over her head and cold murder in her eyes, I could not move.
And then you came.
You saw her and you stopped her.
I know you still love me, Matthew.
If you didn't love me you would not have taken the sledgehammer away from Hannah and did what you did.
I can still hear the screams.
Her screams.
And the cracking sounds.
The noises stopped and there was silence.
You scrubbed the room with bleach afterwards.
You did not weep then.
But I can still see the blood.
Her blood.
There was so much blood.
Oh Matthew…
Chapter 8
I long for the day when it burns out.
When what you think you feel for me ends.
I hope Karen was right when she told me that it would. But I don't think that she was.
You see Matthew; you started loving me after I stopped loving you.
That's the way these things are sometimes.
I wonder what would have happened if you cared for me the way I cared for you before.
Before all of this.
Before that day on the street.
When I found out that your girlfriend, Hannah, was a witch.
A very powerful witch.
I wish you had not done what you did.
Hannah was the only one who could have saved me from this.
This life if you can call it that.
And now she is gone.
Matthew, my dearest, I only wish that you had loved me truly before she turned me into stone.
So here I am.
And here you are.
I am bored as I look down at you.
And you are weeping at my feet.
Find out what happens to Penny and Matthew.
Read Scorched: Book Two of the Burn Series
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Scorched: Book Two of the Burn Series
Chapter 1
I don't know how long I've been here.
All I feel is cold.
And all I see is you.
You are wearing a suit today.
You are holding a broom and sweeping the pile of dried rose petals that lay at my feet.
You are humming a tune I faintly recognize and then you stop.
You look up at me with a sad smile.
"How are you feeling today?" You ask.
I could not respond if I wanted to.
I am stone now.
"You're looking a lot better," You say.
You gaze at my face for a few moments. Your shoulders sag as your blue eyes fill with tears.
Your eyes are very pale.
And they shine like glass as you look at me.
The broom drops from your grasp.
It falls to the floor with a loud crash.
The noise it makes disrupts the silence of the dark space around us.
You move closer to me.
You are silent.
Your lips are trembling and you are gazing into my eyes.
"You are so beautiful," You say. "And I promise I will never let anything happen to you. We'll be together like this forever. Just you and me. It's so peaceful like this don't you think?"
No! It's not peaceful at all! I'm a damned statue Matthew! And you! You are certifiably insane! This is hell for me pure hell Matthew. I can't move, I can't speak and I can't even cry for myself! And you. I'm more afraid of you than ever. Although there's not much you can do to hurt me. I can't feeling anything anymore. Not physical sensation anyway. I am stone now.
You move away from me slightly. Your brows wrinkle with worry.
"What's wrong Penny? You seem upset," You say.
I’m more than upset. I'm desolate. This is my life now and I can't stand it. Why did you have to do that to Hannah? She was the only one who could undo this thing. This monstrosity of rock that I have become. And now because of what you did no one can save me. No one.
"You're still mad about what happened with Hannah aren't you?" You ask.
If I could gasp I would.
But I am stone now. I can't move, speak or cry.
I am rock and rock does not move.
I cannot move. I cannot speak. I cannot show how I feel.
I am stone.
But my mind still works. I am thinking alot. I am worried too.
Matthew can somehow sense what I am thinking. And this is a dangerous thing. I don't know why, but this is dangerous.
I look at him.
He is so handsome and crazed. And if I could speak to him. Really speak. These are the words that I would say to him.
Matthew what have you done? By removing Hannah you have doomed me to a life of stone. And yet you don't seem to care.Everyday your ability to guess my thoughts are feelings gets stronger. More acute. More precise. And more and more you have been able to guess what my lingering feelings are. And it frightens me Matthew. You frighten me. How do you know these things? How strong was the spell that my best friend cast?
"I had to do it Penny," You say.
You move closer to me and examine my mouth. "She was going to destroy you and if I had let her we wouldn't be together right now. And we wouldn't be happy."
I’m not happy! I want out of here! Get me out of here!
"I can't let you leave Penny. No matter how much you scream at me," You say.
At this moment, I force my mind to become clear. I think of the faint traces of places I used to visit and enjoy when I was truly human.
Fields of red poppies, clear streams filled with hopping fish, and flower filled gardens flash in my mind.
I am at peace for a few moments before your words shatter the solace I have created for myself in my imagination.
"Those places are wonderful Penny. I think the place with the stream is the most wondrous," You say.
I give up on the recollection of imaginary places I may never visit again. And instead I think of things I will not have again.
I think of food.
I really enjoyed food when I was human.
So I think of food.
Lots of food.
Pink frosting covered cupcakes, shiny chocolate brownies with nuts, huge plates of meaty spaghetti.
You blink a few times, and if I believed in the love that you think you feel for me, I would think that you feel the desolation I feel.
Despite my body of stone, I still yearn for the warmth of my stolen humanity.
Make me human again! I want to be human again!
"I can't do that Penny," You say. "This is how it was meant to be. You and me. Together like this. I love it here
with you. Don't you like it here with me?"
I try to refrain but a flood of nasty obscenities explode in my head.
You wince and stumble back. You raise her hands and grab your head. Your grit your teeth and slap your hands on your ears.
Its one of your headaches.
And I feel a twinge of guilt when I discover that my words were the cause of this one.
Immediately you recover.
You look at me with bright eyes. Your hands drop from your head and you blink slowly.
You stare at me with those glassy blue eyes.
Your eyes remind me of a doll's eyes.
A creepy porcelain doll with eyes that shine and never close.
You smile at me and blink slowly.
I wonder if your headache is gone.
"I’m fine Penny. It was just another headache. And yes its gone now," You say.
You rub your temples with the tip of your fingers slowly.
And all the while, your eyes never leave me.
Your glassy doll eyes.
How they shine in the light.
"My eyes are fine," You say.
Your hands fall from your head.
"My headaches. They're becoming more and more frequent. And to be perfectly honest, I don't think they're really headaches at all. Not the usual garden variety headache anyway. I think they're migraines. I'll have to see my Doctor soon. To confirm but I'm sure that's what it is," You say.
No doctor can save me. I am stone and will be stone forever. And you don't seem to care.
"You know I love you Penny and I care for you very much. I love you," You say.
Matthew you don't love me! You are under a spell!
You laugh as if I've told the greatest joke in the world.
I am sad and desolate.
"I can make you happy Penny. If you'd just let me," You say.
You close your eyes and wince. "My head. It's starting to throb a little. But don't worry. I have a cure for this."
I wish there was a cure for me.
A cure that would turn stone into flesh.
You laugh weakly and shake your head.You reach inside your jacket and pull out a small bottle of pills. You open the bottle and shake a pill into your palm.
The pill is small, round and white.
You lift the pill and pop it into your mouth.
And then you swallow. You grimace. You put the cap on the jar and slip it inside your pocket.
Those pills.
You take too many of those pills. Matthew. You take too many of those pills and I'm starting to worry about you. If anything happens to you then…
"I'm fine Penny and I'm not an addict if that's what you're thinking. These pills are just ibuprofen. The only thing I'm addicted to is you," You say.
You move closer to me. And you stare at my face.
Those glassy doll's eyes are on me.
You have gazed at my face thousands, no, maybe millions of times since you brought me here. And I have never seen you look bored when you stare at me.
"How can I ever be bored with you Penny? We belong together. And I'll make sure that we'll stay together forever. No one will disturb us or try to take you away from me. If anyone tries to take you away from me well. I'd do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Whatever it takes," You say.
And that's what frightens me the most.
"We're safe here. After what happened with Hannah I knew it wasn’t' safe at the other house anymore. That's why I moved us here. To one of my family's country houses. Its the biggest one and its really nice. Its not really mine yet. It still belongs to Grandpa but when he dies, and it may be soon yet because he's very old you know, it and everything else will be mine. I'm his favorite grandson and his primary heir. He's very wealthy. My Grandfather. And I will be a very rich man. I have money now too you know. My trust fund is very generous. But I won't bore you with talking about money. So how do you like this house? You like it here don't you? Its big. Spacious and no one knows we're here. It wasn’t' safe at the townhouse in the city and I had to burn it down after...well. We won't talk about that. So we're here now at this house in the country. This place is very secure. Its remote. And its old. It was built over a hundred years ago. And it's very safe. This place is like a fortress. Tell you what. When you're feeling better how bout I take you around and show you the place? I think you'll love what I've done. I've been doing some redecorating," You say.
And how am I supposed to move around!
You laugh and say, "Penny. I'll just wheel you around on the trolley that I used to bring you here. You remember the trolley right? Oh maybe you don’t'. I had to cover you during our trip here. For safety reasons you know," You say.
Safety? I am a damned statue!
"You're the love of my life. And you are more alive now the way you are than in all the days that I've known you before. Penny. You have no idea how much I love you. I love you very very much. And I'd do anything for you. Can't you feel it darling? How much I love you?" You ask.
All I can feel is your insanity and my sadness.
Your glassy eyes lose a bit of their shine and you look really really sad.
You look at the floor.
"Oh well. I'm sorry you feel that way Penny. But we have time. Lots of time and I'll wait for you. I know you still care for me despite what happened."
You look up at me. And you are smiling. "I can feel it you know. The way you feel for me."
What you feel isn't real.
"That isn't true Penny. My love for you is the most authentic thing I've ever felt in my life. I love you Penny. I love you so much. And I will spend the rest of my life taking care of you. No matter what you say," You say.
I make my mind go silent.
You are standing there looking at me and waiting.
What you are waiting for I don't know.
"Well. I have to go to work now. I don't have to work but right now its necessary. I have to provide for us. I have the trust fund yes but I need to work. I want you to have the best things. So I'm going to work now," You say.
Fine go to work.
"I have a lot to do today but I'll be thinking of you all day. Will you think of me too?" You ask.
There is rarely a time when I'm not thinking of you Matthew.
"Good. I'm happy to hear that. Well I'll see you in a few hours darling. And don't worry. After a few weeks I'll be able to telecommute for this job. You know work from home. Using my computers and things. That way I can always be close to you. Won't that be wonderful darling?" You ask.
Yes. That would be wonderful.
"Good. I'm glad you think so. It always pains me to leave you."
Pains you?
"Yes. I get well. My head hurts and I get dizzy for a few minutes when I leave you but when I see you again I feel okay."
Oh.
"Don't worry about me darling. I'm fine. So will you miss me when I'm gone today?"
I am silent and I feel guilty for it.
"You won't miss me at all?"
I'll miss all of our one-sided conversations.
"You're being mean Penny. You told me you missed me yesterday."
I did miss you yesterday. And when you leave me here and I'm here alone in the dark, I'll probably miss you again too.
"Oh. Well I'm glad you'll miss me darling but tell you what. Today when I leave I won't turn out the lights like I usually do. Just for you, because I love you and want to make you happy always, I'll leave the lights on. I'll have the lights in here running so that you can see. Would you like that Penny?"
Yeah. That would be great.
"Good. I want you to be happy and comfortable here. After all you are the mistress of this house."
What?
"You are. And I know. I'll leave your favorite podcasts running. Now would you like to hear your talk radio shows or would you just prefer to hear your music playlist?"
It doesn't matter.
"It does. I want you to be happy. And I'll be gone f
or awhile today."
Just put it on some music.
"Great. I created another playlist for you. I think you'll like it. I'll just put your iPod in your docking station over there."
Good.
You move away from me.
Soon you are out of my limited field of vision. And I can't see you anymore.
I hear a few clicks and then classical music plays.
Then you return.
You are standing in front of me. And slowly you move closer to me.
Your eyes are shiny like glass again.
You are staring at me with a happy grin.
"I hope you like that selection. I hope you are enjoying the music," You say.
Its fine. Thank you Matthew.
"Oh you're welcome. You know I'd do anything for you. I love you so much," You say.
I see a mixture of insanity and passion when I look into your blue eyes.
"Some people believe that love is a form of insanity," You whisper.
I couldn't agree with you more.
"It’s the most wonderful insane state there is. If you believe in that sort of thing. Which I don't. Love is a wonderful thing that makes you stronger and makes life worth living. You said that to me once. A long time ago," You say.
Yeah I said that.
"Do you still believe that?"
Yes.
"Good."
You should hurry Matthew. You'll be late to work.
You wince and grit your teeth. You cry out.
I know it's your head.
"I'm fine. I just need to up my dose of ibuprofen. I'm seeing this new doctor. He's very good. He'll help me. I need some more meds. And he'll help me," You say.
Matthew.
"Yes Penny?"
Don't take too many pills.
"I won't," You say.
Your features relax.
And I can tell by your face that the pain in your head is gone.
"I’m leaving now. I'll see you later Penny," You say.
Goodbye Matthew.
"Don't say it like that," You say.
Like what?
"Like you'll never see me again. It makes me really sad."
I'm sorry Matthew. I'll see you when you return from work.
"That's better. I'll see you soon. I love you Penny."
You move closer to me and before your lips touch mine you close your eyes.
Burn (The Burn Series, Book 1) Page 3
