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There was no doubt I’d heard her little bark. Oh, God. Thank you. Thank you. “It’s okay, baby. I’m coming. I’m coming.”
I shoved my way through fallen debris and up the stairs, shocked how smoky everything had become, how dark. The little voice inside me told me I was crazy for attempting this, but I didn’t care. I would save her one way or the other.
From somewhere behind me, I heard voices, but I was determined to ignore them. When something fell from the ceiling, I yelped, barely avoiding being hit. I ducked, gasping for air, the smoke stinging my eyes. I moved through the darkened room, no longer able to see much of anything.
“Sadie. Come here, baby.”
I fought my way, tripping twice. Smoke was suddenly billowing everywhere. I’d gotten turned around.
Coughing, I dropped down, fighting to get back up again.
My name was being called by several people, but I didn’t care. “Sadie.”
Woof…
The sound was closer but weaker. I was certain I’d heard it. I took cautious steps, swearing out of the corner of my eye I could see movement. When something brushed against my leg, I gasped for air. Then I realized it had to be her tail. “Sadie. Oh, God. I found you.”
Bam!
The sound of something else falling was jarred and I dropped over the puppy, rubbing my hands over her furry body to try to determine whether she’d been burned. Relief flooded through me. “We gotta get out of here.” Breathing was becoming even more difficult, and the way Sadie’s body was shaking was terrifying.
Flames were breaching one corner of the room, blue flames drifting across the ceiling like molten lava in slow motion. This wasn’t good at all.
There was no way to see anything around us and the disorientation had become debilitating. Oh, God. I heard another horrific noise and grabbed her collar, struggling to move forward. “Come… on… baby.”
I managed to move forward by a few feet then heard something else, a horrific noise then another solid boom. A scream erupted from my lungs, and I noticed a light. I kept us crouched low, trying to determine what I was seeing. Whatever it was, it was a way to try to get the hell out of the charred mess.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
I was forced to shove something away then managed to stand. It had to be a firefighter. I shoved something else out of the way, doing my best to keep my fingers wrapped around Sadie’s collar. As I moved closer, I realized whoever was holding the light wasn’t moving. At all. Why weren’t they saying anything? Could they not hear me?
“Hey. Can you help me? I might have an injured dog here. Please.” I felt as if I was suffocating, coughing to the point of almost puking. “Pu-lease…”
I could tell it was someone, a man maybe? What the hell were they doing? When the light suddenly shifted, the powerful beam concentrated on me, I was forced to wince.
“Help me.” The fucker was just standing there. Right there. It couldn’t be a firefighter. A horrible thought drifted into the back of my mind. What if this was the arsonist? What if…
Another part of the ceiling caved in, showering over me and I screeched. Then I heard a dark rumble. Wait a minute. Was the person laughing? My instinct kicked in. This had to be the person responsible for the fire. No. No. No.
“Help me! Help!” My scream was high pitched. Could anyone hear me over the roar of the flames that now seemed so close? So close.
“I told you I’d find you.” The voice was deep and low.
And recognizable.
It wasn’t possible. Not a chance.
The beam was shifted again and for a few seconds, everything stopped as the light presented the man who’d stalked me and killed my roommate. I was as certain of it as I was that I was going to die.
And all I could think about was Francois.
Terror unlike anything I’d ever felt kicked in, my legs wobbling.
Just as I started to issue another scream, the monster raised his arm and…
Francois
“You need to stay out of our way, sir,” a fireman barked as he pushed me aside.
