Page 26 of Firefly

Cracking heavy lids, she squeezed one eye shut against the harsh mid-day sun streaming through her windows. “Hello,” she croaked, not recognizing her own voice.

Something moved in her periphery, and she blinked, eyes watering. “Who’s there?”

A form stood over her, blocking the light.

“Who… Who are you?” she breathed.

“Hush, child. You need rest. You have been through quite an ordeal.”

A cool hand pressed against her cheek. She fought the encroaching darkness, peeling her eyes open. Light, blindingly bright, burst through the room. She squinted, trying to make sense of the scene. Not one, but two brilliant forms lit the room with their glow.

She tried again to open her eyes, but pain drummed against her skull. She let her lids fall closed, and voices drifted to her.

“We must do something. It should not have entered her body.”

“She exorcised the demon. She will recover, Gabriel.”

“Move aside.”

“You bade me remind you she would be safer if you let her live out her mortal life.”

The voices drifted away, and she was swallowed by darkness.

All was still and dark. Rebecca’s first thought was for Sarah. Some internal clock told her she’d been asleep too long.

Her eyes flew open, and she sat up. The room spun wildly before it settled, and she blinked, staring into an empty crib.

“Sarah,” she rasped. She stumbled out of bed, toppling to the floor, and crawled to the door. “Sarah.” Her voice broke as tears slid down her cheeks. “Sarah!”

She sat against the door, tears falling freely. “Sarah, my sweet girl, where are you?”

A door across the hall flew open. A woman Rebecca had never seen rushed out, wrapping a robe tightly around herself. “Miss, you shouldn’t be out of bed,” she said, pulling Rebecca to her feet and turning her toward the door.

Rebecca wrenched her arm from the strange woman’s grip. “No. I need to find Sarah.”

“Sarah is just fine. She’s sleeping in her room.”

“Her room? No. Sarah sleeps with me.”

The woman dipped her head, not meeting Rebecca’s eyes. “Mr. Graves says she’s old enough to sleep in her own room, miss.”

Rebecca eyed the woman. She couldn’t be more than eighteen and was dressed in nightclothes.

“Has my father hired you?”

“Yes, ma’am. To look after the girl. My name is Thea.”

Rebecca bit back the words threatening to spill from her tongue. It was not this girl’s fault her father had overstepped. She would not take her anger out on her.

“I’ll see my daughter now,” she said, moving past the woman.

She found Sarah in Elizabeth’s old room. It was the room she’d planned to give Sarah when she was older, but she had never been able to part with her. Seeing her stretched out on a crib unused for more than two decades, with nothing but a blue blanket for company, something in her chest seized.

She rushed into the room, scooping her daughter into her arms, and squeezed her tight. Sarah wriggled in her arms, making small grunting noises as she tried to get free, but Rebecca ignored her, hugging her close as she returned to her room and settled Sarah on the bed beside her.

With Sarah nestled into her side, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Bombs crashed into the earth, detonating amidst unsuspecting people and bodies, and their parts were flung hundreds of yards in every direction.

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