Chapter 46
THE BLAZE
The fact that James is staying and our future is wide open feels too good to be true. We celebrate with a bottle of wine, then head to bed excitedly, eventually surrendering ourselves to sleep after deep, hungry kisses.
An alarm blares in the quiet night, and I jolt awake. Everything feels warmer than usual, and a faint orange glow from outside casts shadows around the room. I sniff cautiously; the sharp, familiar smell of smoke fills my nostrils. There’s an ominous crackling coming from something close by.
Panicking, I shake James awake.
His confused eyes struggle to focus on me. ‘What is it? Is everything okay?’
‘No! We need to leave now,’ I say urgently, my voice trembling with fear. ‘Can’t you smell the smoke? We have to get out of here!’
His eyes fly open, a mix of sleep and disbelief clouding them, then he jumps up as the severity of what’s happening dawns on us. James acts quickly, throwing on his clothes at lightning speed, and I rush to do the same, my limbs shaking with terror.
Our house is on fire – the heat and crackle of the flames licking the walls. I feel it in my lungs, on my skin. Everywhere we look around us is an inferno, an unstoppable force devouring every inch in its path.
‘We need to get out now!’ he yells over the roaring blaze, fiery sparks soaring around us.
We both run for the door, our hands clasped together as if we’re clinging to a lifeline.
The heat from the fire slams against us as we escape down the stairs.
Sparks fly and embers dance in the air like a deadly light show.
Our vision is blurred by sooty tears as we stumble through the front door and out into the night.
Exhausted, James and I collapse onto the grass.
We’re unharmed. Dense clouds of smoke billow over our heads, and in their tendrils, we see what was a beautiful home engulfed by a rage of orange and yellow flames.
The flames lick up each beam and post hungrily, devouring anything in their path.
We breathe in deep gulps of clean air, watching as our beloved Lake House slowly burns as the fire sirens wail in our direction.
James pulls me close, pressing his face into my hair and whispering softly, ‘It’ll be okay,’ as if he’s convincing himself as much as me.
A droplet of water hits my arm, then another lands on my chin. Then another and another until sheets of rain come thick and fast, as the heavens open up with a thunderous roar, drenching The Lake House with heavy rainfall.
Maybe there’ll be something left to salvage.