Chapter Nineteen Thiago
Chapter Nineteen
Thiago
We made it to the utility room. It seems crazy to say this, but I swear our guardian angel was guiding us.
We didn’t come across a single soul, and through the exhaustion we could still hear the sound of gunfire behind us.
It kept us moving—ready to do whatever it took to make it out of that inferno.
We crisscrossed the halls, climbed the stairs, reached the utility room, and found the ladder.
It was big and bulky. Determined as I was, I knew it was practically impossible for me to make it back to the cafeteria with it.
I wanted to hide Kam somewhere safe, but I needed her help.
I wouldn’t be able to move the ladder on my own.
And we were doing this for Cameron. We had to get him out of there.
There was no way I was going to have the death of another child on my conscience. Not again.
I thought of my sister, who felt closer to me than ever. I could sense her spirit near me—with me—guiding me toward our goal.
This wasn’t going to be easy, though. It’s one thing to sneak around the halls, careful not to make a sound, but another is to carry something big and heavy to the other end of the building without being noticed.
Before I opened the door, I pulled Kami in tight, told her I loved her, and gave her a kiss.
The look in her pretty brown eyes was the only answer I needed. Her love, her desire for me was all so transparent, I knew I would fight for her.
We walked out carefully, me in front and her behind. I said Lucy’s name in my mind and told myself she was watching over us. There was no one in sight. It was eerily silent. Fear and uncertainty were our only companions as we made our way to the cafeteria and then to the kitchen.
“Over here,” I whispered to Kami, leaning the ladder against the wall.
She followed me into the pantry, and I climbed up the shelves and pulled away the aprons and rags. A pair of big blue eyes, frightened and teary, looked back at me.
I tried to smile. “I told you I’d be back, right?”
His smile filled me with joy, and I pulled him down when he held out his arms.
“Cam?” Kami asked nervously, standing by the door. Something magical happened when she saw him. Brother and sister reunited, two people who loved each other.
“Are you OK? Did anyone hurt you?” Kam asked, checking him all over.
“I’m fine,” Cameron reassured his sister, hugging her as if his life depended on it. And I guess it did.
Trying to encourage him, I said, “Now comes the fun part! Climbing!”
“Like a secret mission?” Cam asked, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah, buddy, it sure is.”
We set up the ladder just under the skylight.
I’d grabbed a pry bar from the utility room, although I hoped I wouldn’t have to struggle too hard to break the glass.
After blocking the door with a broomstick—which wouldn’t help much but might buy us a few extra seconds in case they came our way—I climbed up, took aim, and hit it as hard as I could.
The glass shattered. I cleared out the sharp edges, making sure it was big enough for them to fit through.
“Cam, come on up,” I ordered him, staying where I was, knowing I’d have to lift him through the hole.
Kam encouraged him, too, and he climbed up carefully and took my hand.
I heaved, he caught the edges of the frame, and when he was halfway out and I knew he wouldn’t fall, I held on to his feet, pushing him the rest of the way through.
“I’m out,” he said.
“You sure are. Now see if you can alert the cops you’re up there. I promise you, this will be over in no time,” I said, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from my chest.
Now it was Kam’s turn, and we didn’t have much time. I desperately needed to know she and her brother were safe. “You’re not coming with us, are you?” she asked me. I shook my head, and her eyes, already red, filled with tears as she continued, “Thiago, please…”
“I’ve got to find him, Kam,” I told her. And I knew she understood, and that if her brother were still stuck somewhere inside, she’d do the same.
“Promise me you’ll make it out alive—both of you. Promise me,” she said.
“I’ll do everything I can,” I said, kissing her one last time and wishing it was all over, wishing that kiss could go on hours, but there was no time. If the gunmen came in and saw the ladder, we were done for.
I helped Kam climb up, and once they were out of sight, I shouted, “Both of you, get far away from the skylight! See if you can motion to the helicopters or the squad cars! Anything!”
Kam peeked through the skylight again quickly, giving me a look that could have meant a million different things, a million words never said, a million impossible kisses, but there was one thing that shone in her eyes clearly: the memory of us being so happy the night before, making true love, laughing, telling secrets, confessing how much we meant to each other.
Despite our fights, despite everything we’d been through, we’d made it that far.
If only I hadn’t let her go that morning…
When death knocks on your door, you realize what truly matters and what it means to love someone.
Interrupting these thoughts, a voice came over the intercom. A voice I hated more than any I had ever heard.
“This message is for you,” Julian said. “Yeah, you. You know who the hell you are. I’ve got your stupid little brother, the one you pretended to love and then stabbed in the back.
That’s right: Mr. Basketball Team Captain, Mr. Hot Stuff, the asshole who thought he could have his way with my girl and there wouldn’t be consequences. ”
I heard a blow, followed by a groan.
“Taylor Di Bianco, do you have any last words?”
As Kam stuck her head in through the skylight and looked at me with horror, I heard Taylor’s voice, his throat dry, his tone agonized: Get her out of here, Thiago…
They’d kill him, I knew it. And there was no way I was going to let that happen.
“Kami,” Julian went on, “if you don’t come here right now, I’ll kill him. And I’ll kill his brother, too. And then I’ll find your little brother, and I’ll do the same thing…”
When I saw Kami starting to climb back in, I shouted, “No! Get out of here, Kamila. I’ll go get Taylor.”
“He’s going to kill you both, Thiago! I’m the one he wants. I’m not going to stand by and let this happen.”
“Goddammit, Kam, no!”
I pulled the ladder away and looked up at her.
“Get your brother out of here. That’s your obligation.
And I’ll do the same for mine.” I turned around.
I didn’t want to argue, I didn’t want to hear her protest, I didn’t want her to feel tempted to jump down.
She would do it, she was that brave, or that crazy, and I wasn’t willing to risk it.
I heard her yelling, “Thiago, no!” But by then, I was already out the door.
It was happening. Now came the worst part.
I didn’t have much to defend myself with, just a pry bar and a knife from the kitchen.
I knew what I was doing was suicidal, but what other choice did I have?
I couldn’t leave Taylor there. I wouldn’t abandon him.
I would stay by his side until the end. That’s what brothers do.
Strong as the urge was to turn around, climb to safety, take care of Kam, all I could think of just then was my mother, her grief. Losing either of us would kill her.
I had exactly one option, and that was to try. If I gave up now, the knowledge that I had been a coward would haunt me for the rest of my life.
I walked back through the halls. They were silent. How many had died today? How many families would be destroyed?
The question enraged me. My rage was a fire within. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through me, urging me to make a choice.
I might die today. It was likely that I would. But I’d do everything in my power to take those bastards along with me.