There’s a sudden deafening boom off in the distance that shakes the building and rocks the unsteady foundation beneath us. The scaffold creaks in protest as it wobbles from side to side. We see the fire before we hear the screams. A roar of orange and bluish-white flames shoot up into the ceiling spreading quickly outward. Chaos ensues as the crowd stampedes in the direction of the nearest exit. Every single person is trying to squeeze out of the one entrance, causing a bottleneck effect.
“Come on!” He grabs ahold of my forearm and takes off into a run, pulling me behind him. We’re racing across the scaffold in the opposite direction that everyone else is going.
“Wait!” I dig in my heels, causing him to stop. “My friend, Mallory…she’s in the bathroom.” Looking behind me, my eyes widen in horror as I see the entire dance floor now engulfed in flames. “Oh, God…”
“We have to go!”
“But…”
“Now!” He gives a brutal tug of my arm causing me to stumble but I catch myself before I can fall and widen my strides to keep up with his longer ones.
Huge, black billows of smoke thicken all around us obstructing our path. But he keeps going, one foot in front of the other without missing a step, his grip is unrelentingly strong as he pulls me behind him. The air is stifling, so hot that every intake of breath scorches my nostrils with noxious fumes that bring tears to my eyes. It feels like we’ve been running forever and just when I think I can’t take another step, we come to an abrupt stop. He lets go of my hand as he steps forward to try the knob of the door in front of us. Nothing happens.
“Fuck! It’s jammed!” He swings an arm out. “Stay back,” he warns before he lifts one leg into a powerful front kick. It takes three more kicks with the same momentum before the door finally crashes open.
The instant we step outside, I take in great gulps of air with my open mouth. It feels like delicious agony as it skitters down my parched throat. A fit of coughs has me hunching over with both my hands on my knees so I can properly catch my breath.
“Cops are coming.” I straighten up to look at him through watery eyes and sure enough the wails of sirens can be heard off in the distance. I look in the direction it’s coming from and spy the red, blue, and white lights against the night’s background. I know it seems implausible that he should be here considering we were three towns away, but panic takes hold of me at the thought that Tim might be one of the officers in the squad car. “We need to go.” I can’t agree more. No matter how irrational my thinking, Tim could appear this far away from his jurisdiction, and I’d feel better not staying around to find out.
We make our way to the fire escape that’s located on the side of the building. He goes down first and I follow. It’s a pretty easy climb down until I find myself missing a step. Futilely, I reach for one of the metal rungs to steady my balance but I’m not fast enough. I only have time to hold my breath, squeeze my eyes shut, and tauten my body for the inevitable impact of the fall. Instead of the hard, unforgiving ground I expect, I land awkwardly in Maddox’s arms.
“You hurt?”
I shake my head, “No.” I hate he feels the need to set me down on my feet again. But I guess it’s necessary if we’re going to get out of here without getting caught. He reaches for my hand and interlocks our fingers before he takes off again pulling me behind him. In the dirt parking lot, everyone is getting in their cars and scattering. Just as we make a dash for his truck, I see Mallory. Henri is nowhere to be seen. I can’t immediately decide whether that’s a good thing or not but I know I would prefer seeing him with Mallory than the two guys she is currently sandwiched between.
Like before, I come to a sudden standstill, letting go of Maddox’s hand. He halts about a few feet away, mid-run, and turns to me with a frown.
“What’s up?”
“I see my friend,” I say, and then quickly turn away from him to call out to her. “Mallory!” I shout across the parking lot, cupping my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice. “Mallory!” I take a few running steps toward her and stop again. “Mallory!” She looks around for a bit and waves fanatically when she finally sees me. She’s smiling like an idiot as she races barefoot toward me. She looks terrible. Smeared makeup, mussed hair, and her dress is hiked up so far up her legs I can see the lacy material of her panties beneath.
“Oh mygawd, Aylee!” She crashes into me with a giggle. She smells like smoke, bathroom, and sweat. It’s obvious she’s a little high. Nuzzling my neck, she grabs a tendril of my hair and rubs it between her index finger and thumb. “So soft. You have pretty, pretty hair, Aylee.”
I put my arm around her waist to keep her steady on her feet as she leans into me. “Where are your keys? I’m taking you home.”
She pulls away with a frown. “No…no, I’m not going home. There’s an after-party. I’m going to party with these guys.” She swings halfway around and points a thumb toward the two guys who’ve followed her. They’re older, of course. More late twenties, younger than the geriatric crowd Mallory is so fond of. Both long-haired and grungy-looking, with a myriad of tattoos decorating their skin; they look like the sort of guys you’d find at a dive bar that catered solely to the outlaws of a motorcycle gang. It doesn’t take a genius to guess what they want from her. Or maybe they already took it and were ready for more. Neither one of them look like they’re up to any good. “I know you don’t want to come, so I’ll catch you later, OK?”
I don’t see him approach. But I know instantly he’s close, standing directly behind me in fact.
“Eh, yo, Max, man, what’s up?” The one flanking Mallory right steps forward at the same time Maddox does. They do the customary handshake of open palm to palm and fist bump that every guy seemingly knows how to do. He’s next to me now but the way he’s positioned is more like he’s standing in front of me, outwardly blocking me from the two men.
“Not a damn thing.” He keeps his response short and clipped. It’s something I’ve noticed he does when he’s on edge about something. He doesn’t look away from the other two men but gives only the slightest incline of his head in my direction to indicate he’s talking to me, “We’re out of here.”
“Mallory, let’s go.” I hate coming out of the shadow of Maddox’s protection but I do so anyway to reach for Mallory’s arm.
“No!” she screams, pushing me away and stumbling backward. “I told you, I’m partying with these guys. I don’t need you to babysit me; I’m fine.”
I wish she wouldn’t make this difficult. “You can party with them some other time, right now you need to come home with me and sober up.”
“Damn it, Aylee, you’re totally fucking with my vibe right now. Listen, I know you can be a little slow sometimes so I’m going to say this really slowly. I’m. Fine. Leave. Me. Alone.”
“Mallory.”
“This your bitch, Max?” the other one asks with a lewd smirk. He pins me with his stare as he tosses a careless arm around Mallory’s shoulder. “If you’re so worried about your friend here, you’re more than welcome to come with us. I’m sure Max won’t mind sharing you. He’s done it before. What do ya say, Max? We sharing pussy?”
With complete ease, he slides a hand beneath my hair and grasps my nape, smoothly tucking me against his side. “Not hers.” His voice is quiet. Glacial. Those two little words are saturated with clear possession. “I’ll be seeing you.” Retaining his hold on me as we turn to walk away, he replaces his large hand with his arm.
Looking over my shoulder, I say, “But…Mallory.”
