by Blair Grey
I threw myself against the door again, this time hard enough I was sure I must have torn something in my shoulder, but even that wasn’t enough to get me to stop. I didn’t want to burn up in this room, and with the smoke already thick in the air, I knew the fire couldn’t be far.
We were only a short way from the kitchen, and unless the neighbors were able to call the cops and the firefighters soon, help wasn’t going to get there in time. By the time they would even realize there were people in the house, it would be too late.
The thought alone nearly filled me with panic, and I continued to scream and throw myself against the door. I had seen enough burn victims in my life to know that would be a terrible way to go, and I could almost imagine the feeling of my flesh burning off my bones as I continued to fight for our lives.
The sound of more screams outside filled the air, and goosebumps rose over my skin. I didn’t want to think about what could possibly be going on out there, and I wasn’t sure what I could even do about it when I got us out of the laundry room.
We didn’t have any weapons in the house, and we weren’t anything against men who knew how to shoot anyway. It would be a suicide mission, and I prayed to God someone called the cops already. They were our only chance of getting out of here.
Or, so I thought.
There was so much noise going on outside, and the roar of the fire made it difficult for me to even think straight. The thick smoke made it nearly impossible to breathe in the little laundry room, and my blood ran cold thinking about what that would mean.
We could suffocate before the fire even reached us, and that would be painful, as well.
Stop thinking about what could happen and start kicking this door down. You’ve got to break through it if you’re going to make it. Mom’s too scared to help you. You’ve got to get you both out of this.
You’re strong enough to get through this. You want to live. Don’t give up now. Fight through until you get out. You’ve got to. Your and Mom’s lives depend on it.
Now, kick!
I tried to convince myself to break through the door. To find the courage and the strength from somewhere inside me to get through it. But, no matter how hard I fought, I knew I wasn’t physically able to get through the thick barrier.
We were going to burn up in here, if the smoke didn’t get to us first, and I’d never get out of this town again. The fear that gripped me was almost enough to make me faint, but before I lost control of myself completely, there was another sound filling the air.
It was the sound of someone breaking down the door from the other side. I couldn’t hear who it was, but suddenly, the door came crashing in, and Blade stood in the doorway.
“Let’s get out of here!” he shouted. “Hurry up!”
He reached in and grabbed my arm, and I grabbed my mother’s hand. The smoke was still so thick in the house, it was hard to see where we were going, but Blade knew the way. He pulled us through the hall and toward the back of the house, avoiding the front.
We pushed through the back door, and both my mother and I sank to the ground.
“You both stay here – no matter what, don’t move!” he said. “I need to get back to the front of the house.”
“What’s going on?” I shouted.
“You don’t want to know. Trust me. Just stay here,” he said. Before I had the chance to even react, he turned and headed back toward the front of the house. He looped around the side of the building rather than going through it, but I didn’t have the courage or the strength to go after him.
Shouts and screams filled the air, and the faint sound of sirens was starting to echo through the neighborhood. It was impossible to see whether any of the neighbors were watching what was going on, or if they were all hiding from the attack in their own homes.
But, I didn’t have the time to worry about that, either. No, I wrapped my arms around my mother and held her, closing my eyes tightly shut and praying this would all be over quickly.
I just wanted those men to go away. I just wanted this to be done.
I just wanted it all to be okay.
Chapter 23
Blade
I ran back around the front of the house where the battle was taking place.
It wasn’t supposed to happen right here. Often, when the wars broke out between the MCs, it was understood we would do it where there weren’t a lot of houses or regular people around.
It wasn’t for the sake of keeping them safe so much as it was to make sure we had the time to get through the battle and settle our differences before we had to break it up. Now, with the fight happening right on the front lawn, we were going to have to work out as much as possible before the cops showed up.
And, considering the sound of the sirens, that wasn’t going to take much longer.
Of course, with the way the MC came down hard on the house next door, I knew it wasn’t going to be a big battle anyway. I was lucky enough to be on the phone with Jett at the time the first explosion hit, and he got several of the guys together and to the house before things got too much out of hand.
By the time I reached the door, they were already dragging Chad out onto the lawn and beating the shit out of him. I didn’t know what he had done to piss them off, but I didn’t care, either.
He had to survive this. That was one of the only things that would get us off the hook when the cops showed up. So, as I threw punches to the men in the other uniforms, I did my best to keep the guy from getting splattered all over the lawn himself.
For talking so big, it didn’t take long for me to realize Chad really didn’t have any of the guts to back what he was saying. He might act tough, but it quickly became clear to me he was nothing more than a scared coward who liked to hide behind threats and hoping the rest of the world was too afraid to act on them.
I dragged one guy off him and threw a bunch, only to be met with another punch to the face from another guy. I knew I should be glad guns hadn’t been involved, but I had to admit, they sure would have made the fight a lot cleaner.
With the fire ravaging the house and Chad screaming on the front lawn, it was a full display for all the people in the neighborhood. I hoped most of them were taking cover in the event someone on the other side did pull out a gun and start firing, but I didn’t have the time to worry about that right now.
When the smoke started billowing out the front door and the open windows, I knew I had to get in the house and get to Alexis and her mother. I wasn’t sure where they were, but I didn’t see them come outside, and I had a feeling the MC would make sure there weren’t any survivors.
So, I tore from room to room, trying the doors that were closed and shouting Alexis’ name until I found them locked in the laundry room. The doorknob was hot and already jammed, but I didn’t have the time to figure out how to get it unlocked. The fastest and easiest way to get into the room was straight through the door, and that’s what I did.
Once I was sure Alexis and her mother were safe on the lawn, I headed back to the fight. By then, Jett and Roman were also present, along with Knox and Rocco. Trak and Kage were on the way, too. Gin wouldn’t be far behind. We’d have most of the Steel Wings there to kick this MC’s ass once and for all.
Or, so I hoped.
“We’re going to have to call it off,” Jett said as I rounded the corner and nearly ran into him.
“Are you sure?” I asked, “We’re so close.”
“So are the cops,” he said. “I don’t want any more of us to wind up with charges out of this, and with Gin here, you know it’s going to be the first thing they do when they try to break this up.”
“Got it,” I said.
“Fall back!” Jett shouted, and though several of the boys were still locked in fist fights with the others, they obeyed. The sound of the sirens filled the air, and most of the boys headed for their bikes.
The sooner we could clear out, the better. With the cops coming down on us and the firefighters getting to the h
ouse, there would be quite the investigation underway. But, we did have several of the rivals spread on the lawn, and with Chad cowering against one of the trees, I knew there were more than enough witnesses to ensure we got out of this without too much trouble.
“You coming?” Jett asked as he started for his bike.
I shook my head. “I’ll risk a chat with the cops to get some burn cream.”
“Are you sure?” He trusted me. He knew I’d been in and out of the legal system through the years, and I knew what to say and what not to say that would keep the MC out of trouble.
“I’m sure,” I said with another nod. “This hurts something fierce, and I’m willing to put up with some of the questions they’re going to have for me if it means I can get something that will take the edge off. Both on my hand and inside.”
“Okay,” Jett replied with a short nod of approval. “Get a hold of me when you get out. Let’s talk about this and what comes of it with the cops. Maybe they’ll put two and two together and get rid of these pricks.”
“One can only hope for such a thing,” I said with a shake of my head. I knew it wasn’t likely they were going to do anything to the other MC, just like it wasn’t likely we were going to get any charges out of this, either.
No, most likely the men who would get hit with charges were the four men who had broken into the house and set it on fire. But the rest of them, who were already feeling the scene themselves, were sure to get off just as free as the rest of us.
I hated seeing them ride off, knowing nothing was going to come of this, but I hoped they got the message from us. We came down on them, and we came down hard. With the men who were knocked out on the yard and the blood spread in the grass, it was clear to them and everyone else in the neighborhood we meant business.
Not to mention Chad himself got his ass kicked, and though that may or may not have had anything to do with us, we made it clear they weren’t going to break into the man’s house and beat him to death right on the front lawn. Not while we were in town.
This was our home, and we were going to defend and maintain it with all we had in us. It was our job as the Steel Wings, and it was our passion, as well. Nothing was going to come between us and the way we ran this town.
As the cops pulled up in front of the house, I prepared myself for the report I’d have to give. But, more than that, I was eager to get to the hospital and get these burns taken care of. My hand hurt like Hell, and my lungs hurt from the smoke in the house.
I just wanted to get some medical attention so I could find the one person I wanted to talk to more than anyone else who was there. I hoped she was okay behind the house with her mom, and I hoped she wouldn’t be too traumatized by all this.
More than anything, I hoped she’d give me the chance to talk to her. Because God knew more than anything I needed one thing.
And, that one thing was Alexis.
Chapter 24
Alexis
After talking to the police, I told my mother I wanted to go to the hospital to talk to Blade.
“Are you crazy?” she asked. “He’s the one who brought this down on us in the first place!”
“No, that was Chad,” I reminded her. “Blade is the one who saved us.”
“How the Hell would your brother cause that fight?” Mom remained skeptical, but I just shook my head.
“You heard him talking to the police. It seems to me he knows an awful lot about an awful lot for someone who just was an innocent bystander. I think there’s a lot more to this than what meets the eye. And besides that, Blade saved us. We owe it to him to tell him thank you,” I insisted.
My mother sighed. She knew I was right. Sure, she might not want to hang around the man – especially if he was the one who was responsible for supplying her with her habit – but she knew it was the right thing to do. We should at least thank the man who was responsible for saving our lives.
If it wasn’t for him, we would have been trapped in that laundry room and burned to death. The firefighters were able to put out the fire before it took down the house, but not before it did extensive damage to the front of the place.
The kitchen and the front half of the living room were completely destroyed, as was the hallway and the laundry room. It had even started making its way up the stairs before they were able to put it out completely.
If we had stayed in that room, there was no doubt the smoke or the fire would have gotten to us before the firefighters were there to save us, and that was a terrifying thought to me. I had seen plenty of burn victims in my life, and I certainly didn’t want to go through such a thing.
If we had survived at all.
But, we didn’t need to dwell on what might have happened; we could just go to the one who saved us and thank him for what he did. So, my mother got in the car with me, and we made our way up to the hospital.
It wasn’t hard to find Blade, though it did take me a minute to convince the woman in charge of the emergency room to let me go in and see him. I wasn’t sure if I should tell her I was his girlfriend or to tell her I was just a concerned friend.
It was my mother who got us into the back by telling the woman we were family, and we wanted to make sure he was okay.
“Wow, Mom,” I said as we headed toward the room. “That was amazing.”
“Well, I’ve seen the way you look when you talk about him. Clearly, you like him,” she said. “I’d say that’s as good as family.”
“Mom…” I said, but I could only shake my head and let the blush speak for itself.
We headed into the room with Blade, who looked surprised to see the two of us.
“Did I miss something?” he asked. “I thought you didn’t want to see me.”
“I’m here to say thank you,” I said. “For saving our lives.”
“Yes, thank you,” my mother echoed. “I really don’t want to think about what would have happened if you weren’t there.”
“I want to know what happened in the first place,” I said. “How did you know about the fight? What did my brother do that caused all that to go down?”
Blade laughed slightly. “Besides the battle that was taking place on my front lawn?”
“Yeah,” I said with a chuckle.
“Your brother was a prospect for the other MC. That means he was trying to get in, but he wasn’t a member yet. He thought he could butter them up enough to make him a member by basically offering us to them,” Blade said.
“He was part of an MC, too?” I asked in disbelief.
“To a point. He was trying to get in good with them, but that takes time. Normally, someone has to prove themselves before they are allowed into an MC. And, if he had managed to pull off his plan, there’s no doubt in my mind it would have worked. But, the problem was, he talked too much,” Blade replied.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The first part of the plan went well. They were able to steal the drugs, and they almost took out our president. Sure, Ryder wasn’t nearly as important as far as rank goes, but they still put a really good knock on our group,” Blade said. “But then your brother fucked up by talking to you about it.”
“How did that fuck things up?” I pressed. “I didn’t tell them.”
“No, but you told us. And, we declared war on them. They were smart enough to piece together what happened, and well, your brother was the one who started everything, so naturally, he was the one who had to pay.”
“They were going to kill him.” My mother shook her head. “He’s damn lucky you were there.”
“Probably. But I needed him to do the talking to the police. So, I made sure they didn’t kill him and he said what he had to say to keep the rest of us out of trouble,” Blade said. “I’m sorry for the way things worked out between us. I really didn’t want it to happen that way.”
“I’m sorry, too,” I told him as I put my hand on his arm. “I think I might have been a little too harsh blaming you for what was going on with my mo
ther when you were right. I mean, you were right about some things.”
“You were right, too,” Blade said with a shake of his head. “I know it had to be hard for you to hear that I was selling to your mother when you made it clear to me you hate that more than anything.”
“It was more than a little hard,” I said with a sigh. “I’m convinced it was drugs that ruined my childhood, and to hear that you were involved with what my mother was doing – and now my brother was involved in it… I just feel like I’m trapped in a web of all this drama and trouble and there’s no getting out of it now.”
“Well, there’s some getting out of it,” my mother said. Blade and I looked at her in surprise.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I know that a lot of this is my fault,” she said.
“What?” I asked in surprise. I never thought the day would come when my mother would tell me she thought anything was her fault. But, she shook her head and kept going. She didn’t want me to interrupt when she was finally ready to say what she had meant to say for so long.
“I’ve struggled with this addiction for most of my life – for all of your life – and I’m sorry I put you through all that. I’m sorry for your brother, too,” she said. “But seeing what this has brought on us, and seeing what you have gone through, I’m ready to make a change.”
“Do you mean it?” I asked with tears in my eyes.
“I mean it,” she said with a nod. “I’ve been selfish with my life for as long as I can remember, and now you nearly lost your life because of it. I’m done with that stuff. I’ve been running from so much for too long, but now it’s time to turn around and face it all. I’m going to rehab.”
“Oh, Mom!” I let go of Blade’s hand and rose to give her a hug. I was so happy, I couldn’t stop the tears from running down my cheeks. It was all I wanted. For years that was the only thing I wanted in life. I wanted my mother to get clean, and I wanted to have that relationship with her I’d never gotten to have.
Now, she had seen what drugs could take from her, and she was ready to fight the monster that had driven her to this point. And, I was willing to fight with her. I wanted to help people, but I always felt like I was helping other people because I couldn’t help my mother.