Julia Barkey

““Alright, who’s first?” Crystal asked once Carrie was in the chair that she had instructed her to sit in. Everyone was quiet. “Who wants to draw straws?” Matt asked. Carrie hadn’t realized until this moment that the subtle smile on his face never faded. It was as though he found humor in everything that was going on. Will slowly raised his hand, his other hand was left shoved in the pocket of his blue jeans, “I’ll do it.””

“I might’ve found a way to cure them.” Crystal said in a jumble of words. “Cure them? Permanently?” “Yes sir.” He thought about this a moment before speaking, “You’ve got two weeks, can you do it by then?” “That’s plenty of time sir, thank you.”

“The pity in Matt’s eyes was almost too much to bear but she found herself unable to turn away. She had only seen that look once and that was when he almost lost Nichole. The sparkle in his eye burned out as if it was nothing more than a dying ember leaving his brown eyes dark and cold. Like Scott’s.”

“Suddenly the bridge was filled with intense warmth, Will had lit the fire. Everyone immediately scurried over to it, with the exception of Scott. Carrie looked back at him, he was sitting with his back leaned against a stone pillar. The light from the flames danced on his sharp features and reflected in his dark eyes. Scott always wore a half-smile that was suspiciously close to a smirk. She was practically immune to his cockiness and wasn’t at all bothered by it the way that Will seemed to be.”

“There’s someone here.”“I know.” She said, “Where’s Scott?” “I’m not sure,” He said, “I thought you were going to wait outside with Nichole and Matt.”“We decided to come in.”“You mean they’re in here too?”“Yes.”“Okay…” He said calmly, “You stay here.”She nodded as he turned to go.“Oh, and Carrie.”“Yes?”“Could you actually listen to me this time?” He asked with a faint smile on his face.”