Chapter 48
DANTE
“Where is she?” I gasp, spitting out blood onto the dirty wooden floor of the Funhouse.
Ronnie fucking Newsome walks in front of where I lie on the floor. I try to push myself up, but I’m so weak.
How the hell he survived that fire weeks ago, I’m not sure. But I got too caught up in Essence that I hadn’t been keeping up with any news reports about it. That’s completely my fault, and now my flower is in danger because of me.
“Where the fuck is she?” I yell, pushing myself onto my elbow. I try to look up at him but a sharp pain pierces my skull.
My memory is fuzzy, but I remember telling Essence to run so I could chase her. A few seconds later, Ronnie attacked me from behind. I’m much larger than him, but I don’t know what kind of superhuman strength he possesses to be able to overpower me so easily.
He caught you off guard, I tell myself.
Like the fucking coward he is.
“Get up,” he taunts me, knowing damn well I can hardly move.
Essence, where are you?
I hope she got out. I need to at least know that she made it out of here alive.
“Please,” I beg. “Just tell me that she’s okay.”
I don’t care how pathetic I sound—for Essence, I’ll give up every ounce of dignity I have if it means knowing that she’s safe. Lunchbox needs her, Ebony and Matthew need her.
Hell, I need her, but I might not be able to get out of here.
Ronnie just laughs and kicks my ribs for the fourth time. I’m sure they’re bruised, if not broken.
“Why do you deserve to see your little girlfriend again when my wife and child are gone?” he asks cruelly, crouching in front of me.
For the first time since he attacked me, I can clearly see his face, which is covered in scars on one half. The rest of his body is covered with probably three layers of clothes, presumably to hide the rest of the scars.
“I didn’t know they were there,” I admit through clenched teeth. “I was sure they wouldn’t be in the house that night.”
He scoffs humorlessly. “Of course, the one night they decide to change up their routine, it kills them.” Ronnie glares down at me. “You killed them.”
“You killed my son,” I remind him. “You were the one who started all of this, Ronnie.”
The corner of his mouth on the unburned side of his face lifts. “And now I’m going to end it.”
He stands up and kicks me in the face, causing blood to instantly start gushing out of my nose. I cough and lean forward so I don’t swallow it, but I can already taste it in the back of my throat.
“Don’t move, big guy,” he says in that taunting way again. “I’ll be right back.”
Wiping the blood from my nose, I’m finally able to push myself up to a sitting position.
There’s not much I can see through the thickness of the smoke except colorful flashing lights.
I’m not sure what room of the Funhouse I’m in, but I know it’s far from Essence because I stopped hearing her scream for me a while ago.
Unless…
No. I shake my head to rid myself of the dark thought before it has a chance to fully implant itself in my mind.
She’s not dead. She can’t be.
Emotion—and smoke—clogs my throat, choking me until I’m on all fours dry heaving. The thought of Essence dying makes me physically sick; it’s something I just can’t fathom happening.
“Get off me!” a familiar voice yells. I look up to see Ronnie dragging Essence towards me.
“Essence,” I breathe, trying to stand up, but Ronnie is quick to kick me back down. I don’t know what he drugged me with, but it’s still working its way through my system because I can’t seem to fight back.
Ronnie shoves her to the floor, and she falls next to me with a pained cry. Any anguish I was feeling earlier is now replaced with simmering rage.
No one hurts my flower.
Essence grabs onto my sleeve and buries her face in my arm, but now my focus is on Ronnie.
Somehow, I find the strength to get to my feet and step to Ronnie. Something in his eyes is different, like the fire has changed him. He looks like a hollow shell of who he once was, completely devoid of emotion as we stand toe to toe, a demon with pitch-black eyes and no soul.
The smoke is getting thicker and thicker by the minute, and I can hear people outside screaming. If anyone has called 9-1-1, my firehouse will be dispatched here. I don’t want my brothers to find my charred remains, so I hope that the fire consumes me completely.
At least I’ll die in the flames, because I refuse to let Ronnie kill me.
“Dante,” Essence whimpers from behind me.
I want to hold her and tell her that everything will be okay, but deep down, I know that we’re not going to make it out of here.
I’m sure the fire has spread to the rest of the Funhouse now, which means all of our exits are blocked.
We’re trapped in here with this psychopath.
Ronnie takes his knife out and holds it up to my throat. I’ve got about half a foot on him, but he still has all his strength whereas I feel like I’m about to collapse. Even with the smoke filling the room, filling my nose and lungs, I don’t move.
I won’t let him see how scared I am—not for myself, but for Essence. She doesn’t deserve to perish in here.
“Now you can feel the pain of what I felt when you took my family from me,” Ronnie says darkly. He digs the tip of the knife deeper into my skin, but when he coughs, I take the opportunity to grip his wrist and twist until he lets go of the knife.
It clatters to the floor behind me. He tries to wrench his wrist from my grip, but a surge of adrenaline floods my veins, and I headbutt his nose. His cry of pain is like music to my ears, but it’s not enough.
I want him to suffer.
Blood gushes out of his nose and flows down his face and neck. He uses his free hand to nurse it, but I kick him in the knee to get him on the floor.
“Fuck!” he groans when I land a blow to his ribs just like he did to me. A cruel smile forms on my face at the sight of him.
Unfortunately, I don’t have time for a theatrical death, so I grab the knife off the floor and jam it into his stomach right as he tries to stand up again. Essence cries from the shock of seeing what I’ve done.
Shit, I should have told her to look away. If we somehow make it out of here on a miracle, I don’t want this moment to affect the way she looks at me.
Ronnie coughs up blood, and it splatters on my face and jacket. He grips me tightly and tries to push me back, but I twist the knife around and drag it upwards, carving into his stomach.
“Don’t look, Essence,” I tell her gruffly. I’m drenched in sweat from the heat of the fire, and my heart is racing in my chest.
It calms when I hear the faint sound of sirens.
“Thank God,” Essence breathes from behind me.
Tugging the knife from Ronnie’s stomach, I shove him back until he falls to the floor in a bloody heap. Essence jumps up from the floor and wraps her arms around me.
“I thought you left,” she whispered, gripping me tightly.
“I would never leave you.” I pull away from her just enough to look into her eyes. Tears stream down her cheeks, and she has the most beautiful, hopeful smile on her face. I don’t have the heart to tell her that the firefighters might not make it to us in time.
She looks towards the door where the smoke continues to flow in underneath. Something outside the door crashes, presumably a wall or the ceiling, and her face drops.
“We’re going to die in here, aren’t we?” she asks sadly.
“Look at me.” When she does, I cup her face gently and press a soft kiss to her lips. “Nothing can keep me from you, Essence. Not even death. And if tonight is our last, I’ll walk through the fires of Hell to get back to you.”
Her bottom lip trembles as she’s hit by a fresh wave of tears. She lays her head on my chest, wraps her arms around my waist, and whispers, “I love you, Dante.”
I rest my cheek on top of her head and close my eyes. “I love you. Ti amo per sempre, fiore.”