Buried in Sunshine (16 page)

Emma stares into the room intently. It is much
like the first room—large and mostly empty. However, this room is a
little different. A large pile of stone fills the center of the
room.

“Well it’s not exactly a pile of gold or
anything,” Ethan says, his voice sounding slightly disappointed.
“Looks like just…busted up concrete?”

“Why is it here?”

“I guess when they were working on the tunnel,
maybe making it parts of it—the stored whatever they tore down in
here.”

“So it’s just broken concrete from
construction?” Emma asks, she is rather disappointed—she did not
know exactly what she had expected to find here. However, why would
Elizabeth want her to look for something that had no purpose?

“Yeah,” Ethan says as he places a hand over the
rough, large, broken pieces of concrete. “Sorry to disappoint
you.”

“I’m not disappointed.” Emma says, hiding the
truth from Ethan.

Ethan draws close to Emma. “Not even a
little?”

“Maybe this much…?” Emma says as she raises her
hand and spaces her pointer and thumb to less than an inch
apart.

Ethan reaches his hand around Emma’s back and
draws her close to him. He spontaneously places his lips against
hers.

Emma is taken aback by the action, however does
not hesitate nor draw back. Instead she allows his lips to linger
against hers. She then places around her arms around his body and
begins to kiss him more passionately in return.

“I hope this…” Ethan says as he pauses and looks
to Emma. “Makes up for some of that disappointment.”

“It definitely does,” Emma says as she allows
herself to fall away.

“I’m not trying to be too forward,” Ethan says
softly as he allows his hands to linger against the small of Emma’s
back. “But, I don’t have to be at work until later—I could
stay.”

Emma has a flashback to the nightmare she had
the night before, the sight of Ethan as he waited for her with a
sledgehammer in hand. She shakes her head and she backs away a few
steps.

“I’m sorry,” Ethan adds as he shakes his head.
“That was way too forward…”

“No,” Emma says as she attempts to recompose
herself. She places Ethan’s hands in hers and smiles. “I’m just… I
don’t think I’m ready for that. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to.
It’s been a while actually…” Emma adds, as she allows her
embarrassing speech to trail off into a whisper.

“I am completely okay with that,” Ethan says as
he squeezes Emma’s hands in his. “I mean—I kind of forgot that we
were on our first date. It just feels like I’ve known you longer.
Is that odd?”

“I don’t think it is,” Emma says as she nods.
“I’m just a little bit of a basket case. Has it really been a year
that you’ve liked me? I mean you just saw me…and heard about
me?

“I was fascinated,” Ethan admits. “I can’t quite
place why. I suppose it’s just one of those things—out of my
control. Just don’t go thinking I am some kind of stalker or
something. I was just drawn to you, but circumstances
were…bad.”

“I’m flattered,” Emma says. “I felt the same way
when I saw you—I really did want to know what was on the other side
of that brick wall, but I’d be kind of lying if I were to say that
I didn’t have another motivation.”

“Well I’m glad we’re on the same page at least,”
Ethan says as he lets out a sigh of relief. “I really do have to
get up at like five in the morning tomorrow—I was just kind
of…”

“Hoping to score…?”

“I just really like you—and you’re really hot in
that dress,” Ethan says as he laughs. “You can’t blame a guy for
hoping…at least I hope you will not in this case.”

“So you were lying about not needing to be up
early?”

“Well sleep—“Ethan begins, as he shrugs his
shoulders. “It’s terribly overrated. I’m sorry though, really.”

“We should head back up,” Emma says as she turns
to the door and begins to leave the empty room. “It’s getting
pretty hot down here.”

“Right,” Ethan says as he follows Emma’s
lead.

*

“Well, thank you again for another adventure,”
Ethan says as he smiles to Emma and places his hand upon the
door.

“So you have to be up at five?”

“Yeah,” Ethan replies as he looks down to his
watch. “It’s eleven now, so… maybe four hours of sleep after a
shower.”

“Sleep is terribly overrated,” Emma says as she
places her hand into Ethan’s and tugs him away from the front
door.

“It is…” Ethan adds as his eyes widen.

Without another word, Emma leads Ethan up the
spiral staircase—all the way up to the attic room. She takes
Ethan’s other hand and pulls him to the bed, allowing him to be
atop her.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Ethan asks
as he runs a hand through Emma’s long hair and brushes it away from
her sparkling blue eyes.

Without a response, Emma gently pushes him away
and sits up against the bed. She pulls up her dress and giggles as
it gets caught for a moment against her chin. She then tugs up on
Ethan’s shirt until it is completely off and tosses it upon the
floor. She runs her hand against his well built chest as she places
her lips against his.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Ethan says as he
reaches behind Emma’s back and unsnaps her white and yellow
flowered bra, revealing two small globes of tanned flesh and small
pink nipples.

Emma shudders as his hands cup her breasts as he
lays her down and begins to press his lips against her nipples
alternatively. She lets out a sharp, short little moan as he takes
one of them fully into his mouth. Emma reaches down and fumbles
with his belt. With a little help from Ethan, it is off and she
begins to unbutton his jeans. Ethan slides to the side, keeping his
attention on her breasts, to allow his jeans to slide off the side
of the bed.

Emma pulls him against her body. She can feel
the hard form of him through his thin boxers. She grinds herself
against it until she can no longer take it. She pulls down his
boxers with one hand while she violently rips down her matching
yellow and white panties with her other.

Completely exposed and on her back, Emma can
feel his erection fumbling between her legs, sliding rhythmically
against her wetness. With a heavy, delighted, moan she glides him
inside of her with a helping hand. He responds with a groan as he
pushes the length of himself deep inside of her.

“You are so beautiful,” Ethan whispers as he
begins to kiss her neck as he thrusts himself in and out of her in
a slow, full motion.

“Thanks…” Emma whispers awkwardly, as she lets
out another quiet moan of pleasure. She can feel herself tighten
against him as he continues to press himself harder and harder into
her. As Emma’s mind slightly wanders to whether or not ‘thanks’ was
a good reply, as she has never been good for regular conversation,
let alone sexual conversation—she feels a wave of pleasure that
rips her away from her irrational thoughts as she begins to
come.

Ethan can sense this oncoming flood of pleasure
as he quickens his pace and his groaning. He thrusts one final time
as her body shudders and her back arches as she squeezes down hard
against his cock as she comes. Ethan follows shortly after. He
collapses upon her, his breath heavy and his chest covered in a
fine layer of sweat.

Emma lets out one final whisper of a whimper as
he slides out of her and rolls to her side on the bed. An
overwhelming sense of pleasure fills her—however, in the back of
her mind, she finds a bit of guilt. After all, she has been hiding
the fact that their parents were having an affair—hiding an awful
truth about how terrible her father was. She regrets not saying
something. She does not, however, regret this act. After all, if
the other versions of her were correct—she did not have much time
and she was glad that she could spend an intimate moment with
someone who cared for her. After all, life is short—and for her and
the rest of the world…possibly very short.

“Are you alright?” Ethan asks as he caresses
Emma’s cheek with his fingertips. “You look a little sad—was it
alright?”

Emma smiles as she turns to Ethan and nods. “I’m
fine.”

“I’m glad,” Ethan says as he embraces Emma.

“Don’t die,” Emma whispers as she returns the
embrace tightly. She does not completely understand where this
statement, or command, comes from. Perhaps, it is a fragment of a
memory from her past. All of sudden she feels sad and guilty once
more. A few uncontrollable tears begin to stream down from her
eyes.

“Hey…” Ethan says as he wipes away her wet tears
with his hand. “Everything’s alright. I’m not going to die.”

Emma laughs as she wipes away the tears from her
eyes and covers herself up with a blanket. “I’m sorry about that—I
don’t know what that was all about. Remember, I’m a little crazy I
think.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Ethan says as he smiles. “I
like you just the way you are. Would you like me to stay?”

“I would rather sleep alone,” Emma objects, in
all honesty she would not mind the company—but she knows that she
will have visitors in the morning. “I mean, I like you…a lot. I
really do. I just feel a bit more comfortable alone right now. I
would love to see you again.”

“Before I go,” Ethan says as he collects his
clothing. “Can I ask you out?”

“I thought you already did?”

“I mean formally,” Ethan adds. “I mean as a
‘you’re my girlfriend’ kind of thing.”

“Well we already got the sex out of the way and
that was pretty great,” Emma says a she teases Ethan. “So I
suppose, that would be fine.”

Ethan laughs as he nods. “Next time, I’ll shoot
for better than ‘pretty great.’”

Emma, wrapped up in a blanket, walks Ethan down
to the front door. She kisses him once goodnight as he leaves. The
heat from outside enters the cool house as she shuts the door
behind him. Just another reminder that she only has five more days
left—if the other versions of her are correct.

Back in bed, the unfairness of the situation
enters her mind. What is the point of it all? She is finally
happy—she has made a romantic connection. She is doing what the
other versions of herself want her to. She feels that she is
getting better in some regards, but her mind keeps looping back to
the idea that it is all for nothing. There has to be some way to
stop this, especially now that she has something worth fighting
for. As she reluctantly drifts off into slumber—her mind keeps
wandering back to that intimate moment with Ethan.

Day 3

Chapter 4: Bargaining

Emma finds herself back in the brick hallway.
Only this time, her mind is aware that this is another dream. She
can feel the heat, it is overwhelming. She wonders if this is how
it will be when her time ultimately comes. She apprehensively
approaches the brick wall—she knows the routine by now…the charred
bodies, reaching out for her. The screams, the burning touch of
their hands against her skin—worse than any sunburn she has
inflicted upon herself all these years. Emma sits upon the concrete
floor. This time, she simply waits for the end so that she can wake
up.

As Emma waits, a girl rushes past her and runs
down the hall. It is another version of Emma. The girl looks back
once, Emma recognizes the eyes. She quickly gets to her feet and
begins to chase Alexis.

“Stop…!” Emma shouts as she feels as though she
is running in slow motion.

She follows Alexis all the way into the
greenhouse. Alexis begins searching through boxes, tossing them
aside.

“What are you looking for?” Emma asks as she
approaches her clone.

Alexis acts as though Emma does not even exist
and continues to ransack the large greenhouse. Alexis rips apart a
large wooden storage box finding only books, frustrated; she tosses
them aside and kicks the empty box and lets out a scream.

“What are you doing?” Emma presses. However,
just as before, Alexis does not acknowledge her.

“Where the fuck is it?” Alexis says aloud as she
circles the large room. She eyes the bed and approaches it, she
climbs down to her knees and looks beneath the bed. She then climbs
beneath the bed to where only her bare legs are exposed. After a
bit of rustling about, she returns with a large silver knife.

“I know that knife,” Emma whispers as she
nervously looks around the room.

Alexis looks pleased with her discovery. She
attempts to take a few steps forward and collides with Emma.
“What…?”

“Alexis?”

“What are you doing awake?” Alexis asks as she
attempts to hide the blade in the folds of her white dress.

“What is that—that knife,” Emma asks. “I’ve seen
it before. I’ve been…stabbed by it before.”

“It’s not your business.”

“What do you mean? Whose business is it?” Emma
asks as she balls her fists in frustration.

Alexis points upward to the sun that shines
brightly through the trees. “Its business…”

Emma looks up and is blinded by its brilliance.
She shields her eyes with her hands and turns her attention to
Alexis who now holds the blade to Emma’s chest.

“What are you doing?” Emma asks nervously as she
can feel the sharp edge of the knife against her skin.

“You shouldn’t be awake,” Alexis repeats as she
presses the knife against Alexis and draws a tiny bead of crimson
blood from her flesh.

“I’m still asleep,” Emma protests as she
attempts to back away, but finds herself glued to the spot. It is
as though the ground has melted beneath her feet and is keeping her
firmly in place.

“How are you here?” Alexis asks as she raises
the blade to Emma’s throat.

“Sol…” Emma reads from the familiar inscription
on the fancy blade.

With one swift motion Alexis slices at Emma’s
throat. Emma attempts to talk but only manages to gurgle up an
unhealthy amount of blood. She can feel herself falling down to the
floor—instead of a hard surface she is greeted by a soft cushion of
earth. Alexis begins to walk away, wiping the blood stained blade
against the edge of her dress.