36. Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Brixon
E vie leans over the middle console giving me a quick kiss. She looks so beautiful with her messy bun, zero makeup, emerald sweatshirt and black joggers.
I watch her hop out of the oversized SUV. She has a bounce to her step as she quickly enters the little market.
I take off, circling around to the back of the church, backing up to the double doors.
I raise the back of the SUV, before getting out and hurrying up to the doors, opening them without an issue. Father Harold had told Evie he would keep them open for her.
I carry the boxes of decorations into the back of the church, only having to make four trips. Father Herald stops me before I exit, halfway shutting the double doors.
“Awe Mr. Blaze, I expected to see Miss Evie today. I’m sure the bride has a million things to still get done. Give her my best. I’ll see you both on Sunday.” The gentleman smiles and shakes my hand.
Unfortunately, the church said no to a Fat Tuesday wedding, so we had to compromise on the date. Evie didn’t even mind.
“Will do Father.” I reply, letting him finish closing the doors.
I hurry back to the SUV so that Evie isn’t waiting on me. I can’t contain my happiness. Everything is falling into place.
I circle back around to Decatur and see a spot in front of the store. That never happens. I pull into the parking spot, not seeing Evie anywhere.
I turn the ignition off and hop out of the car, making my way into the store. The automatic doors slide open, and I can hear yelling.
I rush in to see Evie standing between me and two armed men wearing black masks, and another in front of her at the counter between us, while gaining everyone’s attention. They have her surrounded.
The man at the counter points his gun at me, “About time you showed up, wrong place wrong time man. You shouldn’t have come back here!”
I see Evie move as the guy gets out the last syllable.
She quickly grabs a wine bottle in each hand from her cart, “Fuck you!” she screams before throwing a bottle at the guy behind her, startling the gunman in front of her. The bottle shatters when it connects with his face, dropping him to the floor immediately. She smashes the other bottle over the second gunman’s head in front of her with a blood curling scream, just as he turns his gun in her direction.
“No! Evie, get down.” I yell as I take off towards her, pulling out my gun, trying to get a line of sight on the last gunman standing.
She runs towards me with her arms out, shielding me, “No baby no!” I shout at her as everything happens in slow motion. I hear the shots firing as I try to point my gun at the guy behind her, but she is in my line of fire, and it’s too late.
I watch her eyes widen as her body slows down just as I get to her. I grab her quickly, pulling her body to mine, out of the way, and pull my trigger, hitting the mother fucker right in between his eyes.
I drop to the floor, cradling my perfect little witch in my arms, the world around me fading into a blur of chaos and horror.
“NO! Call 911, now! Please, baby, please! No, no, no! Why did you do that? Don’t leave me!” My voice breaks, a guttural scream tearing from my chest as I hold her tight, desperate to keep her with me.
The blood seeps through my fingers, warm and thick, soaking her green sweatshirt, each heartbeat echoing her slipping away. I press my hands over her heart, but it just keeps pouring out, a cruel reminder of how fragile life is.
“Hold on, my perfect little witch,” I plead, panic clawing at my throat. “We’re getting married, remember? We have so much left to do. Just hold on for me, please.”
Her eyes flutter open, filled with pain yet still holding onto a flicker of light. “Till we are ghosts…” she whispers, her voice barely audible, yet it cuts through the suffocating darkness surrounding us. She smiles, a heartbreaking, radiant smile, and in that moment, I see everything we have ever dreamed of together.
Her gaze drifts, and the light begins to fade from her beautiful green eyes. My heart shatters as the world falls silent, the chaos replaced by the deafening sound of my own grief. “No, no, no!” I scream, wrapping my arms tighter around her, as if I can somehow pull her back from the abyss.
“Stay with me, Evie! I love you so much! Please!” But the weight of her body grows heavier in my arms, and I feel the last flicker of warmth leave her. I can’t breathe; the loss is too much, too vast, too incomprehensible. In that moment, I realize that I am utterly and irrevocably broken.
I’m forcefully pulled from Evie as paramedics take her from my arms.
My gun is kicked away from me, and I’m put face down and can’t move. I can hear what the people around me are saying, but nothing is really registering.
I feel a knee go into my back as my arms are pulled behind my back. Cool metal locks my writs in place.
“No! That man and that poor woman are the only reason any of us are alive, don’t arrest him!” The old cashier shouts as the police officers carry out two men in black. I see their faces and burn them into my brain, knowing that I will have them in a hole soon.
I feel the cuffs release and am yanked up by two officers. Tears stream down my face, but I’m numb. My soul feels empty. This can’t be happening.
“Brixon.” I hear my name and try to find the voice.
Chad. Same guy who helped out with the cunt that tried to steal from Evie.
“Hey, I know this guy. I’ll take him home and get a statement.” Chad tells the officer, who just took off my cuffs.
“Get him the fuck out of here.” The little prick says as I watch them put my wife on the gurney, zipping up the black bag they put her in.
I rush over to her, stopping the men trying to do their job, “I want her body. She is a witch and needs to be consecrated. How do I do that?” I ask, barely able to get the words out as I place my hand over the black bag holding the love of my life.
“Come on man, we will take care of it okay, but we need to get you out of here.” Chad replies, putting a hand on my back, pushing me out the door.
I take my phone from my pocket, calling Liam, “I can’t.” I say, pushing the phone out to Chad.
He takes the phone from my trembling hand, his expression heavy with sympathy. “Sir, it’s Chad,” he says, his voice steady but low. “There’s been a shooting. One casualty... Genevieve LaBlanc. He’s not speaking, just lost in his own world. I’ll bring him to you. Yes, sir.”
His words sink in like lead in my veins. My wife… Gone. My mind spirals into a pool of disbelief and guilt. How did we end up here? How could I have let this happen?
Chad turns the cruiser onto our street, and the familiar sight of our home hits me like a punch to the gut. The place where we dreamed, laughed, and built our life together feels impossibly distant now. It’s just a house without her. A hollow shell.
I don’t remember even getting in the car.
How am I supposed to just walk back into our home.
I look to the bay window, noticing Jinx going nuts about to take the curtains down. He looks as though he is in pure torment.
I rush out of the car and run to the gate, opening it quickly as I sprint up the stairs and open the door to free him from his torment.
He bolts hopping the fence, taking off towards the city meowing out loudly. Her cat feels it and knows. He knows she is gone. I locked him in today, to make sure he didn’t follow us all over the place. He knows it’s my fault.
I stand at the front door, unable to even look inside, knowing that she will never be in there again.
“Brixon!” I hear Liam call out, rushing over from the house next door.
I stand there, unable to move.
Liam and Noah practically carry me next door, my body only moving on reflex down the stairs, then back upstairs and through the front door to the living room.
Emily and Lily sit on the couch sobbing as they hold onto each other.
“Come on man, let’s take him upstairs. I think we need to call the doctor. Is he in shock.” Noah says like I’m not right here.
I want to respond but nothing comes. I just look at him as the tears continue to fall from my eyes. I can’t turn them off. I can’t bring her back. I can’t do anything.
“Let’s get him in the shower. The girls shouldn’t have seen him like this. Fuck he doesn’t need to see himself like this. Help me get him cleaned up, then we can call the doc to at least give him something to knock him out for a while.” Liam replies.
I feel the hot water before I realize I’m in the shower. I look down watching the crimson turn to pink and then clear as my brothers try to wash what happened away.
It’s in that moment that I break again, “No, she can’t be gone.” I sob as my brothers cry with me. They are her brothers too. They love her as much as I do.
“I know brother, I’m so fucking sorry.” Noah sobs, helping me out of the shower as Liam grabs a towel.
They help me dry off as I try to contain the pain.
There is no containing what I feel. I walk into the bedroom, letting the towel fall, and climb into bed. I pull the blankets over my head and let it all out, screaming into the pillow.
This can’t be real. My perfect little witch can’t be gone.
I lay here in the midst of absolute despair for I honestly don’t know how long, when I hear Alexa softly announce, "Playing Evie's last playlist." A flicker of something, a sliver of hope, or perhaps a cruel joke strikes me.
The first notes of Lady Gaga's voice singing, "Always Remember Us This Way" floats through the room as the air grows cool, almost damp with humidity, wrapping around me like a comforting embrace.
I close my eyes, overwhelmed by the bittersweet ache of the moment. Each lyric feels like a dagger to my heart, a painful reminder of our shared memories. I can almost see her, dancing as I twirl her in the fog coming off of the river, showing off her radiant smile and her unbreakable spirit.
The music swirls around me, and for a fleeting second, it feels as if she is right there, whispering to me, urging me to remember the love we share.
Reality crashes back in, and I am left alone, drowning in grief. The echoes of her laughter fade into silence, and I know I will never be whole again. I whisper her name, “Geneveive,” desperate for a connection that has been so brutally severed.
I crumble to the floor, my heart shattering as I scream and curse at the very thought of Evie. My love, my light, taken from me so violently, sacrificed while trying to protect me from the shooter.
The world around me blurs, colors fading into a dull haze as I gasp for breath, each inhale feeling like a jagged shard of glass in my chest. The emptiness is absolutely suffocating, a heavy weight pressing down, as if the very air has turned against me.
Desperation claws at my throat, tears stream down my face as I struggle to comprehend the loss. How could this be real? I promised to keep her safe, to always be there for her, and now she is gone, leaving a gaping void where joy once thrived. The memory of her laughter echoes painfully in my mind, a haunting reminder of everything I will never hear again.
I look at the clock. Three a.m. My mother always spoke of the witching hour.
I listen to the words of the song and let myself break again as I feel my little witch all around me. I can smell her signature scent. I know she is trying to tell me it’s ok.
“I’m here baby. I hear you. I love you so much.” I let the tears fall as I move to my old desk and pull out a piece of paper as the next song starts.
I can’t help but sob when I feel a cold hand softly touch my face. It’s only the slightest feeling, but I know it’s my perfect little witch. She is letting me feel her one last time as the song changes to, “loml,” by Taylor Swift.
I close my eyes, picturing the love of my life standing next to me, “I will love you until the heavens crumble, Genevive Hope LaBlanc.”
“Till we are ghosts my love.” The faint whisper of her voice hits my ear, letting me know she loves me even in the afterlife.
The song ends and the speaker turns off. I feel a cold chill filling the space, pushing out what’s left of Evie’s scent, letting me know she is gone once again.
I relish the gift that she was able to give me of her presence one last time, trying to will myself to do what needs to be done. I know I can’t live here without her.
I finish the letter, letting my tears fall and stain the once pristine, white paper. I address the envelope to Liam and shove it in my jacket pocket, knowing that he will understand, eventually.
I walk back over to the bed and allow myself to crumble, covering myself up once again to shut out the impossible truth.
“Hey Alexa, play, “In The Stars,” by Benson Boone.” I sob, trying to let Evie hear how my soul feels so lost without hers.
“Brixon, ya gotta get up brother. Dr. Cowan was in the neighborhood and came to see you.” Liam nudges my arm.
“I’m not asleep. Give me a minute.” I reply flatly.
I wait until I hear the door shut before I throw the blankets off my head and see it’s still dark outside. I haven’t slept. Every time I close my eyes, I see a replay of what happened in my head continuing on repeat.
I’m numb now. I feel the pain, but I can push through it and somewhat function. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up. That this has to be a horrible nightmare. But time just keep going. It’s not a dream. This is my new fucked up reality.
I will myself out of the bed, put sweats on and head downstairs. I walk into the living room and see Dr. Cowan sitting on the couch where the girls were both sobbing earlier.
Liam and Noah stand by the fireplace, both obviously still upset.
“Can I get a bourbon?” I ask as I enter the room, catching them all off guard.
“Yeah, of course. I’ll get it.” Noah replies, leaving the room quickly as he tries to hide the tears falling down his face.
“Brixon, I can’t imagine what you are going through right now, but I can help. Have you slept at all?” the good doc asks, looking at me with concern. Or maybe it’s pity, honestly, I don’t care.
“No, can you give me something to make the images of my dead wife go away? We were close enough to being married. I think I’ve earned the right to call her my wife.” I look at him expectantly, sounding like a man I don’t recognize.
“You know I can’t, but I can give you something that might help you rest. I can give you something to knock you on your ass if that’s what you need.” Dr. Cowan is as honest as they come and I’m grateful he is the one Liam called.
I nod, “Thank you. Where are the girls? I’m sorry that they had to see me like that. Have you notified Devereaux?” The questions fall out as I peer out of the fog that has become my personal hell.
“The girls are next door. Lily is blaming herself for forgetting the wine, and Emily wanted to feel closer to Evie. She lost it man, we all did. Christian lost his mind. He has some connections in NOLA PD and was able to get both of the men who lived. He has them in his caves. He said that he will give you twenty-four hours before he rips them limb from limb.” Noah replies, handing me a tumbler half full of bourbon.
I sip the spicy liquid, trying to numb the pain, only feeling the burn as I swallow down the urge to scream.
“Evie’s body?” I ask before I take another sip, getting choked up saying her name.
“Taken care of. She will be delivered to the crematory in the morning by six a.m., where the witches will be waiting. They will have full reign with Cami leading the blessing in the cemetery.” Liam explains.
“No. She wants her bones consecrated at her grans in the bayou, not the cemetery. Part of her ashes will go with her mama and gran in their crypt after her consecration ceremony, and the rest will go in an urn on the fucking mantle with the rest of our family. She will have the grandest parade to celebrate the beautiful little witch she is. She gets her parade.” I reply, feeling the lump in my throat grow with every word as more tears threaten to spill over, but I tame it down with another long pull from my glass.
“We will do whatever you want done, just say the word.” Noah replies.
“Take me to the caves.”