Page 43 of Destined Chaos
“Good idea,” I said.
Hugh rose and helped me up. I’d taken a step toward the door when I turned and grabbed the Slaughter Bible that contained the picture of all of us.
Hugh turned out the light and swooped me up into his arms to carry me back downstairs.
“You know I can walk,” I said with a smile. Not that I didn’t like being pressed against his chest.
“I know. You’re just slow.” he teased with a chuckle.
We got to the third floor, and he paused, lowering me to my feet. He rested his hand against the wall, and his gaze shot toward the back of the house near the kitchen. A look of panic filled his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Fire,” he said, shoving my crutches against me.
He moved me to the front door and grabbed our coats, shoving my arms into one. He led me out on the porch and handed me his keys. “Go start the truck to stay warm and use my satellite phone to call 911.”
“But it might be something small. I think I saw a fire extinguisher beneath the sink.”
He shook his head. “It’s not small. You remember the house and how they talk to me? Go now so I can try and salvage this.”
He didn’t wait for an answer. He’d turned to run back inside the house when I grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Hugh, no! You’ll die.”
“You can’t know that. I have to try.”
I grabbed both of his arms. “I know that like I know my own name. You go back in, and you die. Please, please don’t go.”
“The fog lifted?” he asked.
I nodded as my heart raced, hoping beyond anything that he realized I was right.
“Please,” I begged.
He shoved into his coat and took the book from my arms, leading me down the steps to where his truck was parked. He helped me inside and grabbed his cell phone from the center console just as fire rose at the back of the house.
My hand flew to my mouth as I watched the flames dance in the night sky. The house that I hated was dying before my eyes, and with it, my memories and childhood would be erased.
I clutched the book to my chest, thankful that I’d picked it up.
There were no words. If Hugh was talking to me, I didn’t hear him. The heat from the truck barely touched the ice in my veins. I should feel something for the place, and yet, I didn’t. Knowing Hugh was safe was enough for me. He was all that mattered. We both could have died.
The returned clarity brought a familiar knowing. Someone was nearby; I could feel it in my bones. “Someone’s out there.”
Hugh glanced at me and then out the window. “Where?”
“I don’t know.” I saw a shadow in the tree line. “There.”
He nodded. “Has to be whoever set the fire. You stay here and lock the doors. I’m going to look.”
Hugh was gone before I could argue. He went running off in the direction I’d seen the shadow.
The little girl ghost from inside the house appeared. She wasn’t smiling or giggling this time. She stared at me and then waved for me to follow.
I shook my head.
She pointed in the direction Hugh had run, and I could hear the little girl’s voice in my head.“Hurry. He needs you.”
“If you weren’t a relative, there is no way I would be following you into the dark forest,” I grumbled and shoved the door open, grabbing my crutch. God forbid I didn’t follow the little girl in the event Hugh actually did need my help.
