AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ason, Talon, and Gabby stand next to me, waiting for me to tell them what to do.
“I have to go in there and find her,” I state.
Shaking his head, Ason is the first to respond. “I just called 9-1-1. Wait for the fire department to get here,” he tells me.
I look to Ason. My eyes plead with him to understand.To not stop me when I do the unthinkable. Tearing into a mad dash, I race toward the blazing inferno that has taken over Stella’s trailer. A heavy black smoke consumes me and my eyes sting as I struggle to keep them open. I see nothing but darkness around me and all I can think about is finding Stella.
“Stella,” I yell out, but my lungs fill with smoke, and I begin coughing.
Dropping to my knees, I crawl down the narrow hallway on my way to her room. The tiny living room and kitchen are empty, so that only leaves me with a few more options. I still can’t see, but as my hands feel around, I suddenly bump into something and my body stills.
A wet, sticky liquid coats my hand and I fight back to the urge to scream. It’s blood.
“Stella,” I croak out, feeing around until I touch her hand.
She doesn’t move, but I know it’s her. Moving to my knees, I grab her frail, limp body and lift her into my arms. It takes all of my energy to carry her through the smoke and out of the trailer. I go only by memory as I maneuver through the space. Once I reach outside, I finally inhale fresh air and collapse onto the grass.
A fireman rushes to me, pulling a lifeless Stella from my arms. I go to protest, but he slaps a breathing mask on my face. I try to push him away, but my body is weak from the smoke and all I can do is sit in the grass and watch as the paramedics help the fireman place Stella inside of an ambulance.
“Stella,” I try to call out, but it’s not use.
She can’t hear me, and I am so far out of my body right now, that I know I’m a million miles away from her. Hot tears sting my eyes and as much as I know that I should wipe them away, I don’t.
Ally is at my side, screaming and yelling, but I don’t hear a word she says. In fact, I don’t hear anything at all. I’m stunned. For the first time in my life, I was scared. Not just scared, but terrified to my very core. It’s as though my body has become numb and lifeless. A sting cuts through my heart and it takes my final breath away.
Gabby moves in front of me, her arms wavingaround as she points between me and the ambulance. Still, I don’t hear anything, and my body remains frozen in place. My mind is shouting for me to jump up and follow Stella, but I just can’t. I’ve never felt this helpless before in my life. Firemen race around the trailer, their hoses spraying gallons of water on the blaze. Police bombard me with questions, but again, I don’t hear them. At some point, I become nothing more than a permanent fixture on the lawn. Everyone just moves around me as they chaos builds and then quietly comes to an end.
An angry Gabby finally runs toward the ambulance and climbs inside. Every damn nerve in my body is screaming for me to follow Gabby. To check on Stella. She has to be ok.
I have no idea how long I sit in the grass, but at some point, the world around me has grown black and all that’s left is me and Ason. The neighbors left once the paramedics and police did.
“Are you ready to go?” Ason finally asks.
My head slowly turns to face him and I swear, it’s the first time I’ve moved since I came out of the trailer.
“I have to fix this,” I say, through clenched teeth.
Ason nods, his knowing dark eyes staring back at me. Ever since he left for college, we haven't spent as much time together as we should. He’s happy and in love and I finally get why he was willing to give up everything for Scarlette. When you meet someone who you can’t ever life without, nothing and no one else matters.
“We will. You have us, but first, you have to go get your girl,” Ason says.
There is a fierceness behind his words, and he knows that I’m going to do something that I won’t ever be able to come back from. But I don’t care.
First, I will make sure Stella is ok.
Then, I will kill Lucas.
***
“Please, I’m sorry.”
As I stare down at the pathetic excuse for a man, my rage almost blinds me.
My pistol is shoved into his forehead as he kneels before me. Blood trickles down his face and Ason and Talon stand behind him, smug grins on their faces as they wipe Lucas’s blood off their hands.
After Ason drove me to the hospital and I was promised that Stella would be ok, we left Scarlette there to watch over her while security and my parents showed up. Talon called our dads, and they were sure to get Doctor Ramirez to the hospital and then, brought us everything we needed to handle our situation with Lucas.
Each of our methods are different, but the end result is always the same. You fucking mess with ours, we kill you.
