TOGETHER FOREVER AND A DAY PART ONE: A Shattered Man

As I rounded the familiar bend toward Syd's house, I couldn't help but feel giddy. Syd and I were going away for the weekend to Santa Barbara, where I planned on getting down on one knee, pulling out the beautiful ring currently burning a hole in right pocket, telling her just how much I loved her (or at least as much as I could put in words), and asking her to be mine forever and a day.

A deafening siren threw me out of my fantasy as I looked for the source. The unmistakable roar of a fire engine grew louder as I neared Syd's street. My palms slipped off the steering wheel, sweating uncontrollably.

"It's one of her neighbors. She's going to be out there, worried, trying to help. It's not her," I tried to reassure myself, but I knew it was hopeless. In our line of work, it was hard to avoid danger, whether on or off duty. Then I turned on to her street and shut my eyes, hoping with everything in me that when I opened them, I wouldn't see her house in flames. I put the brake on and slowly opened my eyes.

I didn't see her house in flames though. It had already burned down to the ground. Without a second thought, I leapt out of my car, locking myself out. I raced across the street to the crowd of horrified spectators, looking for Sydney's beautiful face among them. Instead, I found the horrified face of Dixon. I tapped on his shoulder and he whirled around, knocking me down with flailing arms.

"Oh! Sorry Vaughn. What are you doing here?" asked Dixon. His voice said calm, but his eyes said earth-shattering tragedy. I brushed off his question with a wave of my hand.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? What's going on? Where's Will? Or Francie? And where's Syd? Are they already at the hospital? Dixon, TELL ME!" I practically yelled in his ear as he looked at me with sadness. My heart screamed for answers other than the one my head was giving. I looked back at Dixon and pleaded with my eyes.

"Dixon," I began, a mask of calm in my voice." I need to know what happened to Syd. Please tell me," my voice broke, so I sounded like a pleading 5-year-old. Dixon just shook his head, as if to shake off something. He took a few deep breaths, and then began.

"Vaughn, I came here about an hour ago to drop off some case files about Irina. When I got here, Syd's house was in flames. The fire department was already here, but they didn't have much luck. They're saying someone doused the place in gasoline. They pulled Will out just in time..." Dixon trailed off, suddenly becoming insanely occupied by his tie. I took him by the shoulder and shook him, hard.

"What about Syd and Francie?" I meekly asked, not even wanting to know the answer. Dixon just looked me straight in the eye, tearfully. I let go of him as if he had burned me, and started to back away slowly. Dixon sensed what was going to happen and reached out to me. I took two steps back and rammed into another person. I quickly looked at her, and for too short a second, I saw Sydney. Then someone shook me, and her angelic image faded, leaving behind a stranger. I looked around frantically for an escape, ignoring Dixon's voice.

"Two bodies found...

Unidentified...

Found in the bedroom...

Dental Records...

Syd..."

I shoved him to the ground and ran to my car. I nearly yanked the door off, but it was locked. I pounded, kicked, and practically clawed my door off, to no avail. With one last weak kick, I sank to the ground in a heap, sitting against a wheel in the fetal position, mumbling words I heard from my own lips, but sounded like Gibberish.

"Dead...

Gone...

My Baby..."

With that last thought, I let go and screamed a scream inhuman, so full of pain and anguish. My old self, my now dead self, saw all the frightened people as they began to crowd around me instead. My old self saw Dixon fighting his way through the crowd. Then my old self gave up and fell victim to the new me, the ghost me. No longer real. No longer alive. No longer with Sydney…