her purse over her shoulder. After giving Robbie a quick peck on the cheek, she began her walk home. As usual, she handed Sam about fifteen dollars, wishing him luck on his races.
She had befriended Sam about five years ago and knew that he liked to play the races. Only the horse races were entirely in his imagination. He used to gamble on them, and Heather suspected that he’d made himself homeless from the habit, but he was a nice man otherwise. She had sat with him, while he relived a race once, and it had been eye-opening for her, listening to his impassioned play by play of the event, as if he were actually there.
“Have fun at the races, Sam.” She said to his inert form, before continuing home.
As had become usual, Heather's thoughts turned to Uri to occupy her time on the walk home. As much as she tried to put him out of her mind, he was an ever-present entity, stalking her consciousness. It had been almost a week since they'd had the picnic, and she had tried in the last few days to simply forget he ever existed, thinking that would be easier than harping on what could have been. But his memory wouldn't dissipate, and she caught herself remembering the feel of her hand in his, the comfort that he brought her. His embrace had carried her to a warm serenity that she hadn't felt since her family was whole. He made her feel as if everything could be okay again. And she missed him.
Her mother's and her sister's words echoed in her head. Could they be right? Of course, they didn't know about Uri, and neither one of them were in their right mind. Although when she had spoken to them, her mother had been lucid, and her sister had been clean…But their minds were still damaged, weren't they? Did they really understand what they were talking about?
Heather wanted them to be right. She wanted nothing more than to be with Uri, but she couldn't bring herself to let him make the sacrifice for her. He was so perfect, in every sense of the word, and she was so…not perfect.
Almost stopping in her steps, Heather realized that both her mother and her sister had improved vastly since Uri had come into her life. Was there a connection? Could his presence be causing them to improve? He had said he didn't have any healing powers, but they were both better in her eyes. Although, maybe Uri being here was just helping her deal with things better.
She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't immediately hear the footsteps behind her, until they were close. She increased her pace, trying not to panic. Typically, this time of the morning, she was alone. Even the bad guys had gone to bed by now. The footsteps increased pace with hers, and she felt her heart rate increase. In the three years that she’d been living in her apartment, she had never felt threatened on the way home from work. In fact, when she'd first started living where she lived now, she'd had to fight with Mama for the privilege of walking home. Mama had wanted somebody to give Heather a ride for safety's sake, but she had insisted she would be okay. Tonight, though, she felt the crackle of danger in the air.
As usual, her surroundings were deserted, and she threw a quick glance over her shoulder to see who was following. She didn’t see anybody, but the second set of footsteps continued to plague her. And they sounded close, she should have been able to see somebody behind her.
Heather started jogging to the safety of her home.
Certain that the speeding footsteps behind her weren’t a figment of her imagination, Heather let out an involuntary gasp when they came closer. She increased her pace to a run, breathing heavily. Grasping her bag in both hands in front of her to swing at an attacker, her breath came in ragged gasps as her heart pounded faster. She swallowed down the panic gripping her, reminding herself not to lose it. She needed a cool head.
Suddenly, she was locked in an iron embrace around her neck. Her attacker whispered in her ear, “Heaven, it’s so nice to be near you again.” She was overwhelmed with the smell of burnt matches, the odor, she now knew was brimstone. Damien’s voice came to her again, as he pulled her body against him. “I