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He turned the alarm back on and headed to his car, trying to figure out where to go. He shut the gate and turned the car heading out of town to see if Liv had decided to face her biggest fear alone. The drive took nearly an hour, and it was dark as he pulled onto the lane, seeing the shape of a car parked in the grass near the end of it. He glanced towards cabin, slamming on the brakes as a flash of light burst from the front door.
Fire blazed out of it, and he shoved the car into park, getting out as his heart leapt into his throat. He raced towards the front yelling her name, nearly hitting the ground when he heard her soft reply to his right.
“Will…” Olivia said hearing the panic in his voice. She turned her gaze away from the cabin, her arms surrounding him as he crushed her to him in a giant hug. She ran her hand through his hair resting her head against his, happy he was here.
“Livy, fuck baby…you scared me to death,” Will said, cupping her face seeing the calm in her eyes as the fire began to blaze higher. “Please don’t ever turn your phone off like that again; we’ve been so worried about you.”
“I had to do this myself Will,” she said seeing the fire engulf the cabin. “There’s nothing left of him now…he’s gone.”
“And?”
“And I’m so tired of being scared, being afraid of the dark,” she admitted. “I don’t want it anymore Will. I want you. I want to be happy. I don’t want to spend another birthday terrified of getting gifts.”
“Ah baby, come here,” Will said pulling her into his hold kissing the top of her head. “I never want you to feel that again either.”
“Take me home?” she asked too tired to drive after her afternoon spent in the cabin.
“What about your car…the fire? How did it start?” he questioned looking down at her when she sighed. “You started it?”
“Yeah, it honestly was an accident at first,” she said turning her face to watch it destroy everything Scott loved. “I lit a lantern when it started getting dark, using it to read rather than turn on the power, and one of the things Scott left on a stack of wedding photos…”
“Made you mad?” he guessed hearing the new note in her voice. It wasn’t panic or worry it was more of the old Liv than the new.
“Pissed…I knocked the lantern off the table, and it broke, there wasn’t much fluid in it, but I went to grab the fire extinguisher. Only when I turned back towards it, it’d burnt a hole in his face on the photo and it was as if this weight suddenly lifted. I couldn’t put it out—didn’t want to put it out then so I left it and walked out.”
“Destroying his favorite place, releasing yourself from his hold?” he guessed, and she nodded. “Don’t you think we should call someone rather than let it spread to the woods?”
“Probably,” she agreed, “I just wanted to watch it burn.”
“I know,” he said kissing her temple. “Let me call it in and move your car. You really want to leave it here?”
“I don’t want to drive it ever again. It washis…”
“Let me take care of it then,” Will said moving back to his car, moving it so they could leave easily as he called the fire into the nearest station. He found her purse and keys in the car, moving it back into the grass area before putting her bag into his car and calling Jess.
“You found her? Where?” Jess exclaimed in relief.
“She came out to the cabin,” he answered watching her watch the fire.
“The cabin…Scott’s cabin?” Dan asked in shock.
“Yes, she’s fine…the cabin’s on fire but she’s not hurt.”
“What do you mean the cabin’s on fire?” George asked.
“She was there to confront Scott, even though he’s dead she had to face the ghosts that lingered,” he explained. “She didn’t want another birthday to pass her by with that pain inside her. She came out here to do that and it got late. The power to the cabin is off and she didn’t want to fight opening the box to turn it on, so she got out a camping lantern and lit it. She came across some of the wedding photos Scott apparently had written on and it made her mad. She knocked the lantern off the table, and it caught on fire.”
“But she’s okay, right? She’s not hurt,” Helen asked with worry.
“She’s fine, she said there wasn’t that much fluid in it but when she saw the photo burning, Scott’s image being erased…she tossed the fire extinguisher aside and walked out of the cabin. I got here about the time it was engulfing the place and found her in the yard, far enough away to barely feel the heat just watching it.”
“Erasing Scott further by getting rid of it?” Dan guessed.
“Destroying his favorite place,” Will replied. “She wants nothing of his, of him remaining. She doesn’t even want to take the car home because he bought it.”
“We can’t just leave it out there,” George said. “Dan and I will come get it, see about selling it for her.”
“That sounds good, the keys are in it.”
