38. Emma
38
EMMA
“ M ike, no !”
His smile doesn’t waver. The single flame at the end of the match wavers as he breathes out. Then Mike holds out his hand and drops the match onto the bed.
Fire catches quickly. In a blink, my entire bed is ablaze in flames of orange and red. The air fills with the snap and crackle of fire, and a sharp, burning smell quickly invades my lungs as my comforter melts. Then Mike is on top of me, grabbing my face with both hands and trying to kiss me.
“No!” I squeal, twisting myself away from him as hard as I can. By some small mercy, the gasoline makes it difficult for Mike to maintain a grip on me. Skin slides against skin as I twist rapidly back and forth. I kick my legs until my feet hit something soft and Mike grunts, so I kick him again and again. My wrists scream in pain as the ridge of the belt cuts into them, but it becomes an afterthought.
I have to get free. I have to get out!
I won’t burn to death here. I won’t.
I have a baby to protect.
“Emma!” Mike yells. “I’m doing this for you, for us!”
“There is no us!” I scream at him. Wrenching my face away from his next attempt, I kick my leg out once more and my foot collides with his stomach. My dresser jumps slightly with my struggles, and the contents above fall loose. My perfume falls on the floor near me and shatters. Makeup brushes and jewelry follow. I fight and twist myself around.
Once I have my feet under me, I pull sharply against the belt and as the drawer drags open, my slick wrists finally slip free of my bindings. I fall to the floor, landing on Mike, who has been reaching for me.
Smoke begins to fill the room and I choke, gagging on the rapidly declining oxygen. Reaching for the nearest thing, Mike and I grapple. My fingertips skin over sharp shards of glass so I grab as many as I can and throw them into Mike’s eyes. As he lurches back with a cry, I shove my hand into his face and stamp those shards into his skin.
Then I’m on my feet. Coughing aggressively, I stumble for the bedroom door and wrench it open. Behind me, the wallpaper peels off the walls and the fire stretches long fingers across the ceiling. My bedside table and closet are consumed with flames. Those same flames lick at my ankles as I stumble from the room, narrowly avoiding the hungry fire.
Sprinting straight for the front door, I collide with the wood. I grab the handle but the door doesn’t budge.
It’s locked.
“Fuck!”
My eyes sting from smoke and gasoline, my clothes hang heavy from being soaked and my bare feet slide against the wooden floor as I turn and duck just in time to avoid Mike.
He throws himself at me, his clothes singed. There’s nothing but crazed anger in his eyes.
“Emma!” he roars, chasing me into the lounge. He throws himself forward, positioning himself between me and the kitchen, where the back door could take me to safety.
“Fuck you!” I scream, coughing as the air around us thickens. “You’re insane! I never wanted you. I never could want you! And if, by some insane stroke of bad luck, I was interested, you’re a fucking psychopath! Who turns into this because they got rejected?!”
“Shut up!” Mike yells, moving around the couch. He mirrors my steps. I take one hasty step left and he follows. He’s trying to get to me, but I keep the couch between us while my panicked mind runs for a solution.
I snatch up the vase from the table and launch it at him. It shatters over his raised arms while I sprint past him into the kitchen. He’s on me, slamming me into the counter. All air rushes from me but still I fight. Throwing my elbow back, it collides with something soft and Mike’s presence behind me vanishes. I run for the back door, but I’m met with the same fate.
Locked.
Suddenly Mike’s hands are in my hair and he drags me back. Fire melts through the walls, consuming everything in its path, and I know all it will take is one lick and I’ll go up like a match.
“You can’t escape this!” Mike roars, using all his strength to throw me back into the living room. I topple over the couch and hit the ground hard.
There’s pain, I think. Distantly in the back of my mind, I’m aware of it but the fear of the fire and the surging adrenaline keeps it at bay.
One hand moves to my abdomen as I scramble up onto my feet.
Mike is right there.
I can’t breathe; the smoke is getting too thick.
Am I really going to die here?
Suddenly, the front door crashes open with a loud bang and in stumbles Finn. He spots me instantly, then his eyes lock on Mike who rounds on him with both hands raised.
Thank God. He must have dropped the knife in our struggles.
“Finn?!”
“Emma!” Finn yells, then tackles Mike with all his strength. They clash like thunder and tumble onto the floor as the fire blazes down the hallway and consumes all in its path. The open door provides a surge of oxygen, and within seconds, the hallway is nothing but flame.
Mike and Finn wrestle on the floor, fists flying and grunts rising just barely over the crackle of the fire.
I don’t know what to do. As panic surges and defeat sits in my heart, a sudden reminder about Finn’s hip and knee pops into my mind. He couldn’t beat Mike before.
I don’t think he can do it now, either. I scan the room for anything that can help. The only thing in reach is a photo frame. I grab it and throw it just as Mike surges over the couch. The frame clatters against his skull and he stumbles, then he’s dragged back down by Finn.
“Finn!” I scream, backing up against the wall as the flames roll across the ceiling. There’s no escape. The hallway is consumed, and the front door is no longer visible through the wall of flame.
The smoke is so thick it chokes me. I cough, blinking through burning eyes and then Finn is in front of me with both hands on my shoulders.
“Trust me,” is all he says.
I do. Without hesitation.
Finn takes my arm and then we’re running right for the window. Flames consume the curtains and reach for me as we sprint. I leap when Finn leaps and we collide with the window. He takes the brunt of the impact, pulling me against him as we crash through glass and wooden frame.
I’m weightless. Cold air whips around me, invading my lungs and tickling my throat. My eyes water, my entire body aches and my mind is completely muddled.
Then we hit the ground with a solid thump that shocks all air and sensation from my body. Warmth clings to my legs, spreading quickly and just as I click how hot that warmth is, we’re suddenly smothered in blankets and the heat dies.
“Emma! Emma, are you okay? Is she okay? Get the case. Where the fuck is the ambulance? Move that. Give me your hand. Emma, can you hear me?”
Voices I recognize and love wash over me. Caspian is here, and Asher. Finn holds me in his arms as he sits up, and while they all talk, I can’t quite focus on exactly what they’re saying.
My heart pounds so loud that it drowns everything else out, and my entire body is still on fire with adrenaline. There’s a hand on my cheek, one on my hair. Faces flash before me with moving mouths and worried eyes but I can’t focus on any of that.
One other thing pulls my attention.
Standing tall, framed by broken glass, splintered wood, and a halo of fire, is Mike. He stands silent and unmoving in the window Finn and I just leaped through.
He watches me, and I watch him as hands move over my body and I’m wrapped in thick blankets.
Then Mike moves slowly backward until he melts into the blazing inferno consuming my apartment.
He is just a shadow.