Chapter 29 #3
Aiden’s already scrambling out of the car, leaving the door open behind him.
“Aiden!” I shout, sprinting after him. “What’s going on—?”
“Fireworks!” he yells, making me stop dead in my tracks. “Julian, it’s fireworks!”
I stare at his broad back as he runs on without a care in the world, and in my mind’s eye, I imagine drowning him in a toilet.
I would be quick about it. I would make sure he swallowed a good gallon—I imagine it all as I watch him pick out a hundred and one fireworks with a childish smile between his eager glances at me.
We must’ve offended her, Alex bites out when I’ve finally manage to catch my breath. We must’ve done something awful to Goddess to receive this punishment.
I think you mean you, I reply as I watch Aiden try to haggle with the vendor.
Alex huffs, and I sigh before I finally head back to the car and sit down.
Aiden wasn’t leaving without his stupid fireworks, I know that much already, so I can only wait.
Because one thing’s for sure, my plans are officially on hold until those things are in the sky.
“Look how many I got!” Aiden shouts as he comes running, heading straight for the trunk. I open it, and he piles them in. “He was selling this massive one that’s banned in the U.S.—”
“And you got it?!”
“Obviously,” he retorts as he slams the trunk shut, and I catch his shit-eating grin in the rearview mirror. “It makes it all the more thrilling.”
“Sure, Aiden.” So this is how I die. “Sure.”
Instead of returning to his seat, Aiden sidles up to my window, his smile still in place.
“What?” I ask, already dreading the answer.
“Let me drive,” he half begs. “I gotta find somewhere to light them.”
I have a million questions about whether that is safe, legal, or advisable, but I already know they won’t be answered well or accurately by Aiden, so I save myself the energy and climb into the passenger seat.
Eyes closed, I listen with half an open ear while Aiden rattles on about his fireworks. I hum here and there, exhaustion from the day settling in properly, tugging at my eyes. I let it, knowing I’ve done my part, and Aiden is now free to do as he wishes.
The world rattles in my dream, the foundations of the cafe I’m in with Shakespeare crumbling as a familiar voice booms.
“Wake up, Julian,” Aiden calls, and then more shaking. “Come on, wake up.”
Blinking groggily, I find Aiden leaning over me with a mischievous grin instead of Shakespeare.
“Damn it, Aiden,” I groan, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Pushing him back, I look past him at the empty lot we’ve ended up in.
It’s pitch black, much like the night sky now illuminated by twinkling stars, and the only source of light I can spot on the ground is a small fire kindling not too far away.
“I set up everything, come on,” Aiden says, tugging my still-waking body from the car.
I groan lazily and try to fight him off. I’m in no mood to move, let alone leave the car.
“Can’t I watch from here?” I beg as I try to climb back in.
“Nope.” He scoops me up bridal-style despite my protests and carries me towards the fire, leaving the car door hanging open behind him.
In its glow, I spot the makeshift lanes set up a little ways off—about a hundred fireworks standing straight up, each one bigger than the last until they tower into a dinosaur-sized monstrosity that I do not remember him buying.
“Jesus, Aiden!” I exclaim as he sets me down a safe distance away from the arsenal.
He only snickers, wraps a blanket around me, and sprints back to the car, laughing. I watch through narrowed eyes as he opens the driver’s door as well, leaving the engine on before he runs back to me.
“Don’t worry. I checked online—we’re three hours away from the nearest police station, and nobody lives in the area.”
“Nice,” I say sarcastically as he flicks a lighter and heads for the first fuse.
It takes a few tries before he gets a flame to catch at the base of what I assume to be the start of this surely disastrous domino effect. He’s got them all set up, tied together in some kind of chain fuse, and I can’t help but gawk in wonder.
When the first end sparks, he dashes back to me and slips himself into the space behind me, arms wrapping around my waist. I let myself lean back into his chest, resting my head in the crook of his neck, just as the first rocket takes flight.
It whistles through the wind quietly before bursting in the sky in a small red explosion. Another follows, golden and bursting with a wondrous pop. Another, red again.
I gasp as I watch the series of colourful explosions light up the sky, feeling a similar sort of eruption inside of me. It’s not my first time seeing fireworks, only the first time I can remember enjoying them so much.
They come faster, louder, higher, filling the night with thunder and colour.
I can’t help the way I laugh as I settle my hands over Aiden’s.
“This is amazing!” I shout, looking away for the first time to glance at Aiden.
His gaze is trained on the sky, and in his eyes, I can see the fireworks bursting—light in all that darkness.
“It is,” he says, smile wide, “but we’ve got to go soon.”
The words wipe mine from my face. “Why? There’s still four more lanes left. The big one’s coming up.”
“Exactly.” He stands abruptly, throws me over his shoulder, blanket and all, and sprints for the car.
“Aiden!” I yell as I try to keep my face from hitting his ass. “What the hell?!”
He dumps me in the passenger seat and bolts to the driver’s side.
I barely manage to get the door shut before he floors it. I can smell the tyres burning.
“We might be too late,” he says, glancing frantically at the mirror.
I turn to look through the car’s back window—fireworks still streaking skyward—but before I can count how many are left, he swerves down a small dirt road at a frightening speed.
There’s only our pounding hearts, the skidding tyres, and the fireworks exploding behind us, before those too, fall quiet.
The silence that follows is almost terrifying.
“They give you a couple of minutes running time, but the guy told me that’s a scam and you need a couple more,” Aiden says. When he glances at me, he doesn’t look scared. No, it’s rather the opposite with the way his electrified eyes gleam as he takes another sharp turn.
“Why are you like this?” I groan, but of course, Aiden only laughs.
I sigh and press the button overhead. When the sunroof opens fully, I twist and stand so I can see outside properly.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he shouts, tugging on my shorts for me to sit back down.
“Getting a front-row seat,” I reply, kicking him off while I hold on to the car’s roof, desperately praying I won’t go flying as Aiden veers us onto a straight, paved road.
“Take my shades. I don’t need you going blind.” At his insistent patting, I grab the glasses and slide them on before I look skyward again.
“When is it going to—”
A deafening boom cuts me off. An explosion rings through the woods in a deadly warning.
One moment, the sky is dark, and then it’s shredded by a blinding coat of red that blots out every trace of black.
Then comes the wind. It’s forceful, like the backblast I imagine from a rocket launch, and as it spreads out, it almost sends me flying as the car shakes violently.
There’s another explosion, this one louder, and in its wake, the red coat shifts into a blazing blue as the sky is lit up with a million fireworks, stretching for miles.
“… Holy shit …” I whisper. Aiden cackles below me as he pulls onto the highway, and every driver and passenger has a look of shock stretching across their faces. I slide back down into my seat, watching the never-ending explosions from inside the car; they are plenty visible down here.
“Amazing, right?” he asks, still laughing like a madman.
“Aiden … holy shit,” I repeat, as the sky continues to be invaded by exploding light. “Holy shit!” I shout as a laugh slowly bubbles its way up my throat. “What the fuck?!”
Aiden beams at me as we drive down the mostly clear freeway, since everyone with sense has pulled aside to watch the spectacle. I stare at him, wanting to kill him and kiss him and never ever let him go.
This is insane—completely and utterly insane—but I can’t remember the last time I felt this alive.
I lean over, moulding my lips to his, and the car swerves a little as he tries not to let me kill us.
“You’re insane,” I whisper as I kiss his cheek.
“So are you,” he says with a wicked grin.
I laugh, rolling the window down so I can climb halfway out. The wind pushes my hair back and slips into my bones, and I fucking love it. I lift my arms up high and bathe in the glow of the now-yellow sky, and I let it all out.
“WOOAHHHHH!”
I scream until my throat hurts. I scream until I can’t scream anymore.
“WOOAHHHHH!” Aiden shouts, letting out his own cry.
And if I didn’t know it before, I know it now. I was meant to be with Aiden. Not because of some bond, or divine will—but because, in this world, he’s the only one who makes me feel alive.