AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My hands move back and forth slowly, trying to get undone without Sophia noticing.
“What’s it going to be, lover boy?” she taunts him.
“The girls, now, Demetri!”
A window blows out of the cabin, and that seems to make the decision for him, as he runs into the building.
Chapter 36: Demetri
Iburstintothefront door, and I discover the house is filled with black smoke. I move my shirt over my nose, but it does little to stop the smell. Black smoke continues to billow into the living room. I turn right toward the bedrooms, when my cousin walks out in front of me. He has a gas mask on to prevent him from inhaling of smoke. His clothing looks like what a firefighter would wear, and there’s blood on them, but it looks dry.
And then it dawns on me.
Eva.
He must’ve been the one who gutted her, then burned the building down.
“Where are they?” I holler. My temple is dripping sweat from the heat. The hairs on my arms curl from the fire closing in. I watch the flames run along the wall, a magical swirl of colors, orange, blue, and white. Part of the roof falls in on the opposite side of the house, and the rush of oxygen intensifies the fire, making it run faster.
Mikhail raises his gun, and it’s so hot in here I’m already worried my own guns will explode in my hands.
He takes off his mask. “The girls are safe in their beds at home,” he says with a cocky grin, and then he slips the mask back on.
Katrina
Sophiawalkstowardme.My hands are now free, but I keep them behind me. All I need is one good thrust, and I’d break the last part of the tape that’s around my midsection.
“Want to know a secret?” she asks, and I stay still, hoping for her to get closer. “The girls are safe at home. Demetri should have chosen you.” She giggles. “I wanted you to hear him die. Soon, the fire will eat him alive, and we’ll be able to smell it.”
Rage ignites within me. She steps closer, and the crackling of wood echoes around us before the sound of the roof crashing in is heard.
I leap the moment it does. Sophia is distracted, watching the house begin to collapse in on itself, and I grab her by the hair and her gun.
“You can kill me, but it still won’t save him,” she mocks, and I shove her away from me.
I cock the gun and aim right at her chest. My hands shake, but I control my breathing before I squeeze the trigger. She drops instantly.
No one threatens my family.
I run into the house, seeing Demetri is coughing and has fallen to his knees.
Mikhail stands in full fire gear. His gun shifts from Demetri to me, and I instantly pull the trigger on Sophia’s.
But no sound explodes from it.
I squeeze again, only for nothing to happen once more. My heart plummets, and my eyes look from my gun up to Mikhail, before the distinct sound of bullets leaving a chamber explodes, one after another. I watch as Mikhail falls to the ground, and Demetri drops his pistol as he struggles to get to me.
I run to him, and he places his hand on my side. Red seeps from the wound I didn’t feel, probably the tape ripping my skin. I pull him as hard as I can. His legs wobble as we attempt to make it out of the house. More of it crashes in on itself, and heat singes my arms. The smoke makes me weak as I try to save both of us.
I’m not strong enough. Even with thoughts of Capree and Charlotte, I can’t keep going. My eyes flutter open and closed. Why does it have to be so hot? One foot. I can’t get myself to move a second one. Demetri is weighing me down.
We’re going to die in a house fire.
I fall to my knees, and Demetri’s body falls on top of mine. This is the end. I’m not ready for it to be over. I can’t even tell him I love him. The smoke is too heavy.
I close my eyes, and my body feels like it’s floating. I’m so light. A rush of fresh air is pushed into my lungs, and I have a coughing spasm. My eyes are watering from the smoke, and it’s hard to see, but the heat no longer burns my skin.
“Katrina!” a voice is yelling at me.
