by Trisha Grace
As she was wiping the dust off her table, a sudden brightness from outside her window attracted her attention.
It was the light from the motion-sensors.
Dan.
But she couldn’t help wondering why Dan would walk toward the back of the house instead of ringing the bell. Curious, she peeked out the window to see what he was doing.
She couldn’t see the man’s face, but it definitely wasn’t Dan.
Dan wouldn’t be wearing black leather gloves and a ski mask.
Kate reeled back from the window. “There’s someone outside.” Just as she finished her sentence, the shattering of glass confirmed her statement.
Evelyn hopped off the bed at the same moment the security alarm rang. “Call Tyler now,” she instructed and went over to lock the door. Taking Kate’s chair, Evelyn jammed it against the doorknob. Then she reached into her bag and pulled out a handgun.
“When did you get that?”
Evelyn frowned at her. “You knew I always had a gun at home. I just started putting it in my bag since you received the threats.” Evelyn took a few steps back and took aim at the door. She cocked her head to the side, gesturing for Kate to move behind her. “How many are there?” Evelyn shouted over the alarm.
“I don’t know. I only saw one.”
Evelyn thought about that for a moment. “You should get in the bathroom. I’m the only one with the gun.”
“I’m not leaving you alone out here.”
Evelyn sighed and dragged her into the bathroom, locking the door.
“How does this help?” she asked.
“It puts more space between us and whoever is in the house.” Again, Evelyn aimed her gun at the door, and the two of them fell silent as they waited.
Kate’s heart pounded against her chest, and she found herself staring at the door knob, waiting for the inevitable. She swallowed, remembering the anxiety she’d felt when watching the zombie film.
The person in her house wasn’t a zombie, but this ending would affect her directly. She exhaled deeply through her nose, trying to calm her palpitating heart.
“Kate, call Tyler.”
She’d clean forgotten about the phone in her hand. Her fingers moved quickly across the screen, calling Tyler.
“Done with your dress?”
“There’s someone in the house. I saw him breaking in.
Tyler didn’t say anything.
“Evelyn has a gun.”
More silence. Kate kept her eyes on the door knob until Tyler spoke.
“Stay where you are. I’m on my way. Where’s Dan?”
Before Kate could answer, a loud bang against her bedroom door and the sound of wood splintering made her scream. Her phone slipped out of her hand, crashing onto the floor. She picked it up to see cracked lines across a black screen. “No, not now.”
She pressed the home button, but no light came on. Frantically, she tried the power button.
Nothing.
Nothing but a blank screen stared back at her. “Ugh!”
Evelyn held her ground and kept her eyes on the door. “Leave it. Just stay behind me.”
Kate took her eyes off the phone and moved behind Evelyn, leaning against the sink for support. She watched as Evelyn took in long deep breaths, her eyes focused on the door. Despite Evelyn’s placid exterior, she was sure Evelyn was terrified.
She knew every detail of Evelyn’s terrible childhood. Having to hide away in the bathroom was probably bringing up memories from the past that Evelyn couldn’t forget or wait to shake.
Then, the doorknob to the bathroom started shaking violently as someone on the other side of the door tried to open the locked door.
Without shouting any warnings or threats, Evelyn pulled the trigger and fired a warning shot through the door.
Kate cringed and bit down on her lips to stop herself from screaming while her fingers tightened around her locket.
The doorknob stilled, and there wasn’t any sound. Her fingers gripped the edge of the sink, and she realized she’d stopped breathing.
Drawing in a shaky breath, she flexed her fingers and shook her hand.
Jesus, please end this. Please let this be over.
Evelyn got herself back in position, poised for another shot.
After a few minutes, it felt as though her prayer was answered. She stepped from behind Evelyn and moved toward the door, thinking she could look through the bullet hole in the door to see what was going on outside.
“Kate, stay behind me,” Evelyn whispered harshly.
“Maybe he left.”
“Maybe. Or maybe he’s waiting for you to open the door. We’re not leaving the room until Tyler or Dan arrives.”
Resuming her position, Kate tugged on her necklace and twirled it around her fingers. The anticipation of someone knocking down the door was worse than getting killed.
She sighed, and as the thought entered her head, she had to ask, “Eve, what if your shot killed him?”
“Then we continue to wait. The security will send dispatch, right? We’ll just wait until someone comes for us. I’m not putting down the gun, and we’re staying put until someone arrives.”
Moving to sit on the edge of the bathtub, Kate took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
She wrinkled her nose and took a sniff. “Is that smoke?”
Evelyn lowered her arm and took in a deep breath. “Damn!” She reached for the doorknob and screamed when her fingers wrapped around it. Jerking her hand back, Evelyn turned around to put her hand under running water.
Kate stood and saw the orange light flickering off the windowpanes in her bathroom. “There’s fire downstairs, too,” she said as she pulled the towel off the rack then dumped it into her tub and turned on the water. Opening one of the cabinets, she pulled out another towel and threw it under the running water.
Evelyn took the first towel and wrapped it around her hand while Kate took the second towel from the floor and pulled it over Evelyn and herself.
“Stay behind the door!” Evelyn yanked the door open and wrapped the towel over herself.
After the initial burst of fire through the door, they kept their heads low and ran out. Instantly, the heat and smoke overwhelmed them.
Kate bent over, coughing and choking from the thick smoke. Every breath she took only made her cough more severely, and her throat quickly became sore as the smoke stung through the membranes within.
Evelyn dropped to her knees and pulled her toward the door.
Kate crawled along, squinting her eyes as the smoke continued its assault. She bent low and saw the raging flames through the slit at the bottom of the door.
Reaching out, she grabbed Evelyn’s arm.
She shook her head. “The window!” she shouted amid a cough, then pulled the wet towel over her mouth. She breathed through it and started crawling toward her bedroom’s window.
She was no longer sure if the towel was wet from the water she had soaked it with or from her perspiration. The heat was making it difficult to take in the already pathetic amount of oxygen left in the room, and she struggled to keep her limbs moving.
Evelyn’s cough caught her attention.
She paused and turned around. It was clear that Evelyn was struggling as well. “Come on!” Kate shouted through the cloth.
Evelyn coughed again, her entire frame shaking as she did. She stopped moving completely, and her arm flew to her chest. Evelyn collapsed onto the floor, pushing Kate’s arm away. “Go,” the word coming out in a gasp.
Even through the smoke, Kate could see Evelyn’s eyes losing focus. She cast a frantic glance around.
The fire was inching closer, devouring everything that was in its way. She turned back to Evelyn and clenched her fingers over Evelyn’s arm, refusing Evelyn’s weak attempts to push her hand away.
Her lungs were throbbing with pain, and she couldn’t speak. She had to get both of them out before it was too late.
Thankfully, when Ev
elyn realized that Kate wasn’t going to leave her behind and that she was wasting precious time and strength trying to do otherwise, she cooperated.
With what little strength left, Kate dragged Evelyn toward the window. She pulled herself up using the window ledge and tried lifting the window pane.
She used all the strength she could gather, but it refused to barge. Desperate, she grabbed the lamp beside the window and swung her arm, smashing the window pane. The glass pieces shattered, flying everywhere. But compared to the stabbing pain in her chest, the pain from the cuts were negligible.
Fresh air hit her and she gasped, sucking in a much needed deep breath, relieving some of the pain.
Taking another deep breath, she spun around and helped Evelyn to her feet.
Then, she heard it.
The crackling of wood. The same crackling of wood she’d heard in the hallway as the fire licked up the hardwood floorings.
The unmistakable sound of wood caving to fire.
Without thinking, she shoved Evelyn out of the window.
Ryan jumped out of the fire truck and started shouting out instructions. He couldn’t believe how strong the fire had gotten within such a short period of time.
As the team got to work, Ryan noticed Tyler’s car.
He’d hoped that Kate would appear beside Tyler. But when he saw the dazed look on Tyler’s face, he knew Kate was inside the house.
He was about to run up to Tyler when a burst of flames shot through a window on the second floor. “Stay here! We’ll find her,” Ryan shouted to Tyler and sprinted up to his teammate who was carrying Evelyn in his arms. “Where did you find her?”
“She jumped out from the window. She was screaming for someone before she blacked out.”
“Evelyn,” Ryan said, shaking her lightly. But Evelyn was out cold.
He glanced back at the flames shooting out of the second floor.
He couldn’t give up now. Maybe Evelyn and Kate got separated during the fire. “There’s still someone inside. We need to find her.” Ryan prayed he wouldn’t fail Tyler on this.
He knew Tyler lost his parents in a fire. Tyler never spoke of it, so he didn’t know the specifics. But he knew one thing for sure—if Kate were to die in the fire, Tyler wouldn’t survive it either.
“The fire is too strong. The floors could give way any time,” his teammate said as Ryan moved toward the house.
“My friend’s in there.”
His teammate nodded and without another word, they got to work. While the team doused water on the burning house, Ryan, along with two of his teammates, got ready to enter the house.
The raging roar of the fire took over the moment he stepped in. His gut was screaming at him to get out.
The fire was too strong.
It was too late.
“It’s too dangerous! The structure isn’t safe! We need to get out!”
“No!” He couldn’t leave, not without Kate. But despite his best intentions, a slab of ceiling dropped heavily in front of them, blocking off their entry.
“Ugh!” Ryan shouted in exasperation and exited the house. When he stepped out, he pulled off his mask, but instead of going back to the fire truck, he turned to the side and looked for another way in.
He wasn’t going to give up; his friend’s life depended on Kate’s survival.
He’d seen plenty of miracles in his line of work. He’d seen impossible situations turned around by what could be nothing but God’s hand at work.
Keep her safe, Lord. I know you can do it; I’ve seen you do it.
Chapter Twenty Five
Kate stepped away from the window as the bookshelf came crashing down right before her, blocking out the window and the fresh air she needed.
She coughed as she drew in a breath.
There wasn’t anywhere else to go.
She watched the bookshelf burn as her legs crumpled. But instead of sinking onto the floor, she felt a warm arm supporting her across her waist.
“We have to go.”
She turned and blinked. It couldn’t be. She blinked again, wondering if the lack of oxygen to her brain was causing her to hallucinate. She forced herself to focus, staring right at the familiar faces in front of her.
The same couple she’d seen dancing outside the mansion. The same couple she’d seen in the picture. “Mr. and Mrs. Hayes?” Kate asked as she tried to grasp what was going on.
“You can call me Diana and my darling husband, Kenneth.”
“Am I dead?”
“No, but we have to hurry or that may come true. Come, quickly.”
Kate coughed again. She didn’t have any strength left.
Somehow, she was still standing, but that was all she could do. She couldn’t move her feet. It was getting painful to breathe. Her chest was burning like her house, and she was so tired.
“Kate, Ty needs you. You have to move. Come on, just put one leg in front of the other.”
A drop of tear slipped down her cheek. Diana was right; she had to move.
With great effort, she managed to do as she was told.
“The gun, Kate. Shoot at the glass.”
Kate blinked and felt her lids scratching the contact lens that seemed to have fused to her eyes.
She was back in the bathroom. The tiles inside must have held the fire back.
She turned to the floor, her head spinning as she did so. She tried shaking the drowsiness from her brain, but it only made her dizzier.
Her ears rang as the gun fired, but she couldn’t even move her hands over her ears. She closed her eyes and felt herself falling.
She couldn't resist the relief she felt.
“Breathe, Kate.”
The voice sounded so far away. She felt the urge to hang on to the voice, but she couldn’t.
The burning pain was fading.
The heat against her skin was easing.
Thank you, for keeping your promise.
Tyler’s face was buried in his hands when he heard someone calling his name. He ignored it and remained in his position.
“Ty.”
He drew in a deep breath when he heard the voice he thought he’d long forgotten.
“Ty, Kate is safe.”
His head snapped up at the news, but when he saw the familiar face in front of him, he froze.
“Kate’s safe. Come.”
He closed his eyes, thinking he was losing his mind.
“I’m sorry I was such a lousy grandfather to you.”
He forced his eyes open, but his grandfather was gone. He was losing it.
“Ty!”
He turned as Ryan came running back toward him with Kate in his arms.
He ran his hand through his hair and got up. The strength returned to his legs, and he followed them to the ambulance. “How is she? Is she hurt?” Tyler took her hand. “Kate?”
Ryan placed her down on the stretcher, and the paramedics immediately put an oxygen mask over her.
Tyler stood aside but refused to let go of Kate’s hand even as the paramedics attended to her.
“Heart rate and blood pressure normal. She’ll be fine.” The paramedics pushed the stretcher into the ambulance. “Who’s coming along?”
Tyler hopped up the ambulance.
“See you at the hospital,” Ryan said, then went back to put out the flames.
Tyler continued holding Kate’s hand as the ambulance drove off. He brushed her hair aside and skimmed his finger down her cheek.
Kate’s eyes fluttered open for a mere second.
“Kate?”
Slowly, her eyes opened. “Ty?” she mumbled, her voice deep and coarse. She tried clearing her throat but ended up coughing.
“Shh … It’s okay, just rest.”
Gently, he kneaded along her neck and noticed she was wearing another necklace with her usual locket. He recognized the necklace immediately, but he lifted the pendant for a closer look anyway.
He grunted with disbelief as he held the angel pend
ant in his hand.
Kate was wearing the necklace he’d given his mother. The necklace that had cost him a year’s savings. The necklace that his mother never took off.
He set the pendant down and gave Kate a peck on her forehead. Maybe Kate wasn’t dreaming when she saw the couple dancing. Maybe she really did hear someone playing the piano.
Maybe she was right about everything: there really were angels watching over her every move.
Once they got to the hospital, Kate was whisked off for a thorough checkup before being pushed into a hospital ward.
By the time she got to the ward, Marianne and the rest of the gang arrived.
Tyler sat beside her on the hospital bed, keeping Kate in his arm and the rest of them away from her. He knew they were all happy to see her, but he didn’t want them crowding around her; she needed her rest.
“Where’s Eve?”
“Here,” Dan said as he wheeled Evelyn in.
Kate stared at the cast around Evelyn’s right arm and shoulder and the cuts on her other hand.
“Don’t worry, the cast will come off in time for your wedding,” Evelyn said.
Kate rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t worried about you ruining the aesthetics of the wedding. I was just thinking if it was my push that caused your injuries.”
It was Evelyn’s turn to roll her eyes. “You saved my life, Kate. If you haven’t pushed me out, both of us could be dead.”
“I’m sorry I was late. My car broke down and my phone was dead. I couldn’t get to your house in time. Otherwise—”
“Dan, it isn’t your fault. You weren’t the one who set the fire. Besides, we’re both fine,” Kate said.
“Speaking of which, how did you get out?” Evelyn asked.
Kate chewed on her lower lip and turned to Tyler. “I’m not sure. Everything is such a blur. I thought …” She paused for a moment, then smiled wryly at Tyler. “I thought I saw your parents. They helped me get back to the bathroom and shot the window. I can’t remember anything else.”
Everyone stared at Kate with blank faces.
Joseph was the first to speak. “You were probably hallucinating. You were lacking in oxygen and—”