I also grab the bottle of Jack Daniels that Richard bought me to help ignite the fires I will set. Once we have everything in hand, I turn on the gas stove and allow the gas to run without a flame. It will help ignite the fire even more when it reaches the kitchen.
“I’m hoping there’s a sprinkler system on the buildings below,” I say, thinking that there may be in some of the buildings.
I’m pretty sure the Forest Department would want that, but then if that is the case, there may also be automatic fire alarms that go straight to a company notifying of a fire emergency. Either way, my intent is to start them all aflame. But first… the fucking mill must burn to the ground.
It’s easier to walk to the mill wearing shoes, even if they are so tight that they border on painful, but at least my feet aren’t freezing in the snow.
“I don’t want to go back there,” Ember says, tugging on my arm and stopping in her tracks. “I don’t want to go anywhere near it.”
I don’t blame her, but this is still something I feel I must do. “Only for a second,” I say with the lantern in my hand. “We’re burning the fucker from existence.”
She nibbles her lower lip and stares ahead as if seeing ghosts I can’t see. Knowing how painful it was for me to watch that couple die in the most gory and disgusting way, I can only imagine all the memories Ember must have of the mill. She had to watch death after death of innocent people, not to mention her precious cat. I’m sure she wants to see it forever vanish from her mind as well.
“We need to do it for all who died there,” I say. “It needs to never exist again.”
Appearing satisfied with my answer, she continues on toward the mill. When we get there, I smell sulfur and other minerals, but I also feel I smell death.
The mill is the shallow grave of many, and it reeks of their sizzled bones. If there is an entrance to hell, then this mill is it, and I feel it my duty to burn it to the ground and allow the poor souls to rest in peace with their ashes being all that remains.
I notice a piece of wood that I feel I can use as a torch that I can light and then throw into the building without having to actually go inside. I agree with Ember on not wanting to have to see the inside of the gut of the Devil again. I don’t want to risk seeing the ghosts of the couple who had wanted to help us. I don’t want to see their eyes looking at me, accusing me of causing their deaths. I don’t want to hear the howls of their misery as the sounds forever haunt the mill.
Tossing the lit torch inside, and then lighting all the spare wood on the outside of the mill, Ember and I stand hand in hand as the structure lights. I take a swig of the last of the Jack in celebration of seeing this building ignite. My face heats from the fire, and I know we must move on to another building. As much as I would like to stand before it and watch it melt before me, I know we have little time.
As we walk to the schoolhouse, Ember shakes her head. “Burn down all the other buildings. But not that one. Leave that one.”
I don’t want to leave a single building of this awful town. I want nothing but charred earth when done, but I have to take Ember’s feelings into consideration. This isn’t just about me. It’s about her. This nightmare is one she has lived her entire life and if anyone gets to make the call, it’s her.
I squeeze her hand that I haven’t released and agree. I tighten the quilt around her to try to ease the shivers I see wrack her body. “If that’s what you want.”
“I don’t want to see it die. Not because of me. It deserves to stand on that hill. It was my safe place. It protected me. I need to protect it now.”
We make our way to the other buildings that are part of the tourist section. I look over my shoulder and see the main house is completely engulfed in flames, and the mill is as well. I have never seen a more morbid and beautiful sight in my life. Even if Richard catches us… there will be no Hallelujah Junction to return to. Nothing but ash. Nothing but embers. Nothing but the ghosts with no place to call their own any longer.
The old wood lights up fast, and I’m pleased to see that the ranger’s office appears to be hardwired to an alarm. My hope is that by now, the authorities have been notified of a fire, and help is coming.