Elias sniffs a laugh next to us, and then he tells me again that I have to go. I look despairingly toward the elevators, toward my escape. I hear Daniel swallow loudly, and then I jump forward and hug him, strangling him around the neck.
“I’m going to remember you like this,” I say into his shirt. “In this suit with your hair brushed.” He laughs, hugging me tighter. “Because when I wake up,” I continue, my voice cracking, “you’re going to be on the side of the road, and Daniel, it’s so horrible. I can’t face it. I can’t.”
“You have to,” he murmurs, pushing me back. The crowd around us has gotten louder, growing restless with the scene.
“Daniel,” Elias warns under his breath. My brother looks up, noticing something over my shoulder. He straightens, his expression hardening.
“You have to go, Audrey,” he states, his eyes trained behind me. “Right now. You’re almost out of time.”
“I’m afraid he’s right, Miss Casella.”
A hush falls over the crowd, my fear ratcheting up until it’s got a grip on my throat. I turn and find Kenneth standing in the center of the lobby with a sickening smile and a rosy glow of victory on his cheeks. He’s wearing a black tuxedo, and he folds his tiny hands over the breast of his jacket.
Elias puts out his arm, resting his hand on my hip as he steps in front of me. I appreciate his attempt, but I doubt he’ll make much of a shield. Daniel closes ranks at my side. Kenneth scoffs at the display of protection, laughing at us.
“You are free to go, Miss Casella. No sense in making such a fuss. Honestly, with all these childish outbursts, one must really question your upbringing.”
“Son of a bitch,” Daniel says, his anger getting the best of him. He starts forward but gets only two steps before he whines out a terrible sound and grabs his head with both hands. I scream his name, but he’s staggering, blood racing down the side of his neck. Seeping from the wound in his head. Elias holds me back as I fight to get to him, but when Daniel collapses, nothing can stop me. I move past Elias and kneel at my brother’s side, putting my hands over the crack in his skull, blood rushing through my fingers.
My brother tries to say my name but chokes on the blood filling his mouth and turns to the side to cough it up. His injuries are the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen, and my hands can’t begin to stop the flow of warm blood pulsing over my fingers. I gather Daniel up, resting his head on my lap, telling him it’ll be okay. His body jolts. I’m watching him die, just as he did on the side of the road.
“Shh . . . ,” I whisper, letting the lobby fall away and disappear. My body trembles, emotionally broken. In my mind we’re no longer here. I’m kneeling next to him in the ditch, cold air around us, and wet dew on our skin. The only light shining from the headlights of an overturned car.
“I’m here,” I say. “I won’t leave you.” Daniel continues to struggle for breath, his skin turning gray. He knots his fingers in the hem of my dress, shuddering and in pain. He turns his eyes toward me, and tears leak from the corners. I smile down at him sadly, trying to give him comfort so he knows he’s not alone. “I’m here,” I whisper, brushing his blond hair away from the blood.
“Audrey, what . . .” My father appears behind me, and I look over my shoulder at him. He’s in the lobby with the others, wearing a white tux, smoothed hair. When he sees Daniel, he gasps and covers his mouth. He falls to his knees in the dirt next to me, the lights of the car shining on the side of his face. He takes up Daniel’s hand, gripping it tightly to his chest and smearing himself in bright red blood. “Dan,” he calls. “Daniel, we’re here.”
My brother’s teeth chatter, his eyes wide, and I can see how scared he is, how scared he must have been to die. He did it all alone once, but now we’re here, and he’ll never have to die alone again.
His eyelids grow heavy, his grip loosens. I don’t cry—can’t cry anymore. I’ve lost everything I’ve ever cared about and I have nothing left. All I can do now is be strong, stronger for both of us. Strong like I should have been after Mom died. “I love you, Dan,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss his forehead. His skin has chilled from the night air. “I love you.”
I close my eyes, and when I reopen them, we’re in the lobby of the Ruby. I set my brother’s head gently on the shiny floor in a pool of bright red blood. A crowd has gathered around the three of us, and Daniel is dead. My father is crying next to me, my brother’s fist to his lips.
“Come back,” he whispers, eyes squeezed shut. Still out there on that road. “Come back, Dan.”
Elias kneels, touching my arm. “He’ll be okay,” he whispers kindly to me. “Soon Daniel will wake up again.”
“No,” I say numbly, looking up at him. “Not really. Not in real life. Only here.” Elias leans in to rest his head on my shoulder, sorry for me. Sorry for everything.