Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
Present Day
Pennsylvania
I’d been in Northchester for two weeks and unlike the last town I’d stayed in, this one seemed more my speed.
While people looked you in the eye here, they also left you the fuck alone.
I’d gotten a job at a dive bar doing whatever they needed—mostly bar backing.
I didn’t so much have to work as I would go stir crazy without it.
Three years ago, Tennessee passed away. To my surprise, she left me her house and savings. I sold the house, and with the money she’d willed me, I was comfortable. Lonely, but comfortable.
I’d thought her family would have given me a hard time but they hadn’t.
They were good to me, kind. Once I’d explained that I couldn’t stay, that everything around me reminded me of her, they didn’t stop me.
They told me to stay safe, and of course I had all their numbers stored in my phone just in case.
I talked to them here and there but never returned.
I knew Tenny would be upset that I wasn’t putting down roots and making friends, but it wasn’t easy for me.
While it wasn’t lost on me that I’d walked away from her family, finding a new family wasn’t going to happen.
I was a twenty-eight-year-old man who, no matter how many times Tenny had told me I wasn’t, felt like a monster.
I didn’t want to get to know someone only for their smile to turn into disgust the moment they realized what a freak I was. I liked when people thought I was normal…boring.
“Hiya, Penn.” I looked up and saw Mrs. Mayne rolling her trash bin to the curb. I hurried to grab it for her.
“Evening, Mrs. Mayne.”
She chuckled. “You don’t need to do that for me.”
She wasn’t old or frail, but Tenny had always said that manners never took a vacation, and it was the polite thing to do.
“I don’t mind.” After I deposited it by the street, I moved to the door. I lived above a laundromat which Mrs. Mayne owned. She lived across the street in a small house alone. Her husband had died a decade ago, and she was adamant about having no time for anyone else.
“Well, it’s gonna be a cold one this evening, so bundle up.”
“Will do.” I rushed up the stairs to shower and change. I had a shift tonight, and the bar was a bit of a trek.
I didn’t own a car because there were bus stops everywhere. Worst case scenario, I’d hop on one.
I showered, dressed, grabbed a banana and granola bar that I’d eat on my way, locked up, and made my way to Kaleidoscopes.
It was cold, but I didn’t feel the biting pain others did in weather like this.
The coolness on my cheeks was nice. But I had to watch for frostbite, so I pulled my beanie down to cover my ears, yanked up the scarf to cover my nose and mouth, and made sure my gloves were on tight.
I was about to turn left onto Broadway, where I’d have to walk three blocks to the bar, when I heard a shout to my right. From the distance I could see orange flickers and a yellow glow, and a sudden breeze brought the scent of smoke confirming it was a fire.
Without thinking I ran toward trouble, ignoring the tsking in my head that sounded like Tenny.
This was a fancier street, nice homes, but one stood out more than others. It was a cream-colored two-story classic colonial, and it was ablaze.
Everyone on the street was gawking—most on their phones, likely…hopefully calling 9-1-1. My eyes flickered to the front, where a woman was dragging a man’s limp body out the door.
“Help!” she screamed, and I ran to her as fast as I could. I bent and hoisted him over my shoulder and got him as far away from the house as I could.
She then turned and was about to go back into the house. I grabbed her arm.
“What are you doing?”
“The kids! My son, niece, and nephew.” Tears streaked her smoke-painted face.
I glanced up and sure enough, three sets of eyes were on the second floor staring at us, wide and terrified. The tallest child was shouting through the broken window. Where the hell was the fire department?
“Stay here. I’ll get them.”
“What! No, who the hell are you?”
“Please, ma’am. Stay here and help him.” I gestured to the unconscious man with the head bleed. “I’ll get the kids.”
I didn’t give her a chance to argue. I saw one of the neighbors wrapped in a blanket. “I need that, now.”
She didn’t fight me; she handed it to me. I quickly grabbed the hose and drenched it in water, wrapped it around myself, and like the fool I was, ran into a stranger’s house to rescue people I didn’t know.
The stairs were intact, and I raced up them. “Call out!” I shouted.
“Here, in here.”
I made my way down the hall toward the only closed door.
I pressed my palm to the wood—it wasn’t hot—and I kicked it in.
Three kids were by the window. One appeared to be about eight or nine, but the other two couldn’t be older than five.
There was no way they could jump from here, and from the outside I didn’t see any way they could climb.
“Come here.” I ordered. Thankfully, they didn’t hesitate. I looked at the older boy. “This blanket is cold and wet, and it’ll protect you from the flames, but we have to be fast. Wrap yourself and your siblings in it.”
“Cousins,” he corrected as though now was the time.
“Fine, cousins. Wrap yourselves.” I turned to the little girl. “Your job is to hold the loop of my pants. The three of you don’t let go of each other, follow behind me. Don’t stop, keep your heads down, just move. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” the older boy and the girl shouted at the same time while the little boy nodded.
“Good. Let’s get out of here.”
I turned and left the bedroom. The fire was climbing the stairs at this point, and there was no chance we’d get out that way without it turning us into ash.
“There are side stairs by the guest room that way.” The older boy pointed.
I nodded and made my way there. The tug I felt told me they were still with me. It wasn’t as smoky here, but I knew that wouldn’t last. At the far end of the hallway was another stairwell. Fortunately, it was free of fire.
“Careful,” I said as I took each step slowly. There might not have been fire in sight, but that didn’t mean the structural integrity of the house wasn’t failing.
We made it to the first floor, but the entire right side of the house was engulfed. I couldn’t get out the front door. I spun and faced the kids.
“Don’t move.”
“Where are you going?” the little girl asked, desperately trying to grab my belt loop.
“I gotta break a window. I will be right back.” I winked and grabbed the small table beside a couch, lifted it, and successfully crashed it through the bay window.
I faced the older boy. “Get them out of here, I’m right behind you.”
He didn’t question me. He grabbed his cousins and got them outside. I was right behind him when a rush of flames slammed into the room. I pushed the boy out, taking the brunt of the fire.
I followed behind and immediately rolled on the ground. I’d have to be sure to check myself for burns.
“Matteo, Olivia, Owen!” The woman who I’d seen pulling the man out rushed over to the children and wrapped them in her small arms. The man who was unconscious earlier ambled to us and fell to his knees in front of the children, hugging them.
I glanced at the street, and there still were no fire trucks. What the hell? This was a nice neighborhood; you’d think they’d have rushed to get here.
“Thank you, thank you.” The woman was talking to me. I nodded and realized people were staring at me, many with phones pointed at me. Thankfully, I was covered up.
“No problem. Emergency services should be here soon.” I went to leave, but the man stopped me.
“Who are you?”
“No one, I was just walking by.”
He snorted and motioned to all the gawkers on the road. “They were all walking by too, but they didn’t help my wife and family. You did. What’s your name?”
Finally, sirens could be heard in the distance. “Looks like the cavalry has arrived.”
When the man turned to see, I took the opportunity to slink away. The kids were safe; the family was okay. I had to go make sure my skin was still attached to my body.