Ashes of Twilight by Kassy Tayler Read Free Book Online Page A

and I am afraid that he might shake me. He leans in with a need to read my meaning written plainly on his face. His eyes, the same color brown with the same exact shine as mine, search my face. “Where did you hear that?”
    I close my eyes in hope that it will erase the memory of what I’d seen from my mind. It doesn’t. Tears well up again, or perhaps it’s just that they haven’t stopped. I swallow to keep the contents of my stomach in place. The last thing I want to do is be sick in the tunnels. “From Alex.” It is difficult to form the words. “He’s dead.”
    “You saw it?”
    “I saw him die.”
    A change comes over his face. Where before there had been worry for me, now there is something else. Something I cannot identify. He looks at me as if I am different and he’s not quite sure what to make of me. “You’ll have to tell it.”
    I am different. “I will.” No, not different. Changed. As if the fire that burned Alex touched me too. Only I was lucky. I came through it unscathed. Didn’t I?
    I follow my grandfather down the tunnel.
    *   *   *
    As we approach the entrance to the cavern that holds our village I realize the news of Alex’s death arrived before me, passing from one shiner to the next, traveling faster than our passage through the tunnels. All eyes are upon me as we walk through the portal that leads to the village. Alex’s mother stands at the bottom of the long ledge that leads downward, with his father close behind. Her hands twist in her apron as she stares up at me. I see hope and heartbreak intertwine across her face. Alex’s father does not look up, instead he keeps his eyes downward, upon the ground, and I wonder if he’s thinking Alex should be there, below us, working to bring out the coal. It’s where he would be if he had not decided to make a break for the outside. No, he’d be asleep, as I should be, but no one is sleeping now. They are all waiting to hear the news from me.
    What made Alex run? What was so different about today that made him think he would have a chance on his own? Did it have something to do with the seekers’ meeting? Had someone challenged his belief and he felt that he had to prove there was something outside the dome besides the flames?
    The sky is blue … How long had he been thinking about it? Was it planned? Where did he go? What part of the dome did he decide was the place to try? Did he tell anyone else his plans or was it an impetuous choice? My mind is jumbled, full of things I do not understand. I must not waver. I must be strong because everyone will want to know.
    His mother’s lip trembles when I reach her. Her eyes are moist with the tears she does not want. “Is it true?”
    All I can do is nod. I am afraid that if I give voice to the horror of his dying, she will somehow see it. It is tragic enough that he died. The thought of his body, burned as it was, should not be her last memory of her son.
    She covers her face with her hands. My grandfather places his hands on my shoulders. His quiet strength warms me. I feel I should say something more but Alex’s last words are not something that she will understand at this time. Perhaps later, when the pain is not so raw. I look at his father. His body shakes and I realize he is fighting for control.
    Alex’s mother raises her head and looks beyond me. She lifts her arm and points. “This is your fault!” She screams the words.
    I turn and see Lucy walking slowly and tentatively down the ledge, as if she is no longer sure of her welcome. Her parents break away from the crowd and hurry up to her.
    They had fought, Lucy and Alex. I’d witnessed it. Was that why he ran?
    “It’s because of you that he tried to leave. You broke his heart. You said he wasn’t good enough, that you wanted more, that you wanted a life above.” Alex’s mother charges up the ramp and his father follows. I want to go to them because for some strange reason I feel that I am responsible for the pain