Page 159 of The Drummer

I close my eyes.

Callie’s fingertips dig into my arm again.

Come on, Luke. You can do this.Pleasedo this!

A human breath coasts over the music, a gift from the booth.

Then…

“Mirror mirror, what do you see…”

Air releases from my lungs.

“When you are looking back at me…”

Tears rush my eyes.

I blink them away.

“Mirror mirror, what are you thinking… I see those staring eyes.”

Callie swats at her cheeks in my periphery. I can’t breathe, and when I reach for her hand, all bets are off. She squeezes back, shredding all that’s left of my walls.

“Mirror mirror, what are you saying, it’s always something I believe.

Mirror mirror, you’re a liar, so why do you own me?”

My heart hammers against my ribs. My skin buzzes with anticipation as the drum fill supports Luke’s raspy hold of the note and…

“Hello! Hello! Greetings from the inside.”

Callie chokes on a sob when Luke’s voice explodes around us.

“Hello! Hello! Framed in all your lies.”

Blazing through us and over us, his strong, haunting vocal fills every crevice with the story he never thought he’d be able to tell. The air is saturated with it.

The agony. The beauty.

A month ago, he was ready to say goodbye. He’d given up, imprisoned in his mirror’s deadly, distorted reflection. He’d lost the battle after it stole everything from him.

A month ago, he was ready for his story to end, but one woman said no.

In a moment of exquisite compassion, a stranger stood in the way. Fought, bled, and won to claim him back and share his pain. To turn a tragic goodbye into…

“Hello! Hello! How you love to see me cry. Always so…”

Do I believe in miracles?

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Callie whispers. “That’s what was in your head.”

She twists back a look of awe, and my throat closes around my response.

I see it in her eyes, her smile. She gets it. She finally hears her words the way they’re meant to be heard. The way only the three of us coming together with our own unique stories could stitch them into messy perfection and make them shine.

“That was it,” I say softly.

I shake my head, still in disbelief at what just happened. What’s still to come.

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