Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Did they…” He trails off, his voice cracking.
“N-No,” I assure him, choking on a sob. “You w-weren’t out b-but a minute or so. Renaldo was t-taunting me, asking me who I w-wanted to rape me first, b-but it never got p-past that b-because that guy stabbed him. W-Where’s my dress?”
He jerks his T-shirt off and tosses it over my head. I’ve barely pushed my arms through the holes when he scoops me in his arms.
“The ground is hot and you’re barefoot,” he grunts. “How the fuck do we get out of here?”
Flames have consumed much of the living room. They made sure to block the windows and doors. He backs us into the kitchen. Quickly, he slings open some drawers until he finds some dish towels. He soaks them down and hands them to me.
“Keep your mouth covered,” he barks out.
I hold one to my mouth and then hold the other one over his nose and mouth. He opens the door to the basement and starts running down the steps. It’s cool down here, but it won’t be for long. He carries me to the far end of the basement and sets me to my feet.
“Stay here, baby.”
I tremble as I watch him grab a table. He drags it over to the corner, leaning it up against the cinderblock wall. Black smoke starts to billow down the stairs and the ceiling droops in some places. He soaks down a sheet from the dryer in the utility sink and brings it over to me.
“I’m going to wrap us up in this. There’s no exit in this goddamn basement and no windows. We just have to stay alive long enough for them to get to us.”
I cling to him as he wraps us up in the icy blanket. Together, we crawl under the table, huddling close. Jordy holds me tight against him, kissing my head over and over again.
“How do you know they’re coming?” I croak out.
“We both know they’re coming. It’s just a matter of time.”
I tremble in his arms. Something crashes loudly into the basement followed by a burst of heat.
“Jordy!”
“Shh, Little Hoodlum. The ceiling is caving in. Just calm down. Keep that wet cloth over your face. Breathe shallow.”
I sob, burying my face against his neck. “I’m scared. I don’t want to die, Jordy. I want to stay alive and live with you. I want to get married and have a family. We’re going to die down here.”
He brings his battered face close to mine. “You think Roan is going to let us die?”
Behind the crackling and crashing, I hear it. Sirens. A lifeline. Roan is coming. I start sobbing harder, allowing hope to sink in.
Another loud crash sends more heat rushing our way. Orange glows from behind our table tent. It’s close.
“I l-love you,” I chatter out. “If we die, at least it was in each other’s arms.”
Jordy is trembling, but his voice is steady as he nuzzles me with his nose. “Is poetry always so damn depressing?”
A hysterical laugh bubbles out of me. “Kinda. Yeah.”
“Maybe you should take up a new hobby. Like knitting.”
Tears rush down my face. Only Jordy would be able to make me smile when my life is minutes from painfully ending.
“I love you too, Roux,” he says in a fierce tone, “but we’re not going to die.”
The heat continues to grow closer and closer. It stings. The smoke hurts my eyes. As much as he wants to believe we’ll survive, I know better. They don’t know we’re down here. They won’t make it in time. Jordy must realize it too, because he curses.
“Fuck, Roux. Fuck.”
He lies down, covering my body with his as though he can protect me from the flames. A groan of pain rasps from him at the precise moment I hear sizzling of our sheet. My sobbing is uncontrollable at this point.
We’re going to die.
It’s going to hurt so bad and then we’re going to die.
I won’t ever see my brother again.
Jordy and I won’t have our life together.
And then I hear it.
Yelling. A loud rushing. More yelling.
Roan.
Roan. Roan. Roan.
“Over here!” someone calls out.
The orange glow has lessened around us and I don’t feel like we’re going to burn alive in the next three seconds.
Until the table is flung away from us.
I scream at the top of my lungs when Jordy is pulled off my body. Frantically, I reach for him, but someone is wrapping me in a blanket of sorts. It takes a second for my mind to catch up. Firefighters. They’re here with us.
I squint through the window of the facemask and sob when I realize I know those amber eyes. My brother. My brother came for me. I cling to him, sobbing as he rushes behind the other two firefighters who are helping Jordy along. There are more firefighters pushing a ladder down into the basement.