Page 7 of Corrupted Lies

Then she’d hate him.

If they survived.

His best friend hating him but alive and safe was infinitely preferable to her dying with him powerless to stop it from happening.

“Tell me where it is, and I’ll lead. Same as before, you’ll hold onto me,” he instructed.

“We have a storage cabinet right over there.” Alannah pointed back toward the way they’d come, further away from where the fire was claiming everything in its path.

If they didn't get out of there sooner rather than later, it was going to claim them too.

Shoving that horrific thought out of his mind, Jake began crawling toward the storage cabinet. The reassuring feel of Alannah’s small hand clutching his ankle was the only thing that kept him grounded.

Being in danger wasn’t what had him so close to losing control, he’d been in situations worse than this over the years, it was that this time Alannah was with him. She was so sweet, bubbly, and loving toward everyone. Sometimes he worried shecared too much because there was no shortage of people who would take advantage of someone with such a giving heart.

A lesson Alannah had learned several times over even though it never seemed to sink in.

They reached the storage cabinet, and with Alannah’s help, Jake quickly located and retrieved a couple of the blankets. She was right, they weren't that large, but they would cover their heads and hang a little way down their backs, and that was probably the best he could hope for.

After that, they trailed their way down the hall to the kitchen. “Where’s the fire extinguisher?” he asked.

“Under the sink.”

Staying low he quickly opened the cupboard door, but there was nothing there. Just a few cleaning supplies.

“Its not there,” he told Alannah.

“It has to be. It’s always there.”

“Unless whoever set the fire took it with them.”

Since there was no point worrying about it right now, they had to keep moving, try to gt out, Jake had Alannah remain down on her hands and knees where the smoke was at its thinnest, while he stood and ran the blankets under cold water.

When he had them as wet as he could get them, he readied himself to make a run for it. With the growing heat and the smothering smoke, the blankets weren't going to stay wet for long, and the wetter they were, the better the chances they wouldn't set alight when they ran through the flames.

“Alannah, I’m going to put one of these blankets over your face, take your hand, and then we’re going to make a run for it. I don’t want you to stop, not for anything. Okay?”

Jake needed to know she wasn't going to panic and fight against him the second they got closer to the flames because they were only going to have one chance at this.

“O-okay,” she agreed, her voice wobbling.

“Trust me, sunshine. I will do everything in my power to get you out of here alive.”

“I trust you, grumpy,” she said, her voice stronger this time.

Her trust in him when he was directly responsible for them being trapped in a fire meant more to him than he could express, and he didn't fight against the urge to grab her hand and haul her up and into his arms.

Hugging her tight, he turned the faucet off, covered her face with one of the wet blankets, draped another over each of her shoulders, then put the fourth over his own head, making sure he didn't block his eyes so he could see where he was going.

Then he took her hand again and ran, dragging Alannah along with him.

He didn't stop, didn't hesitate.

Not even when they re-entered the playroom and were met once again with the full force of the fire.

In the two minutes or so it had taken for them to get the blankets and wet them, the smoke had thickened, and with orange-red flames giving out the only light it looked and felt like being in Hell.

There was one moment when Alannah tugged on his hand, and he was sure she was going to try to pull herself free, unable to handle getting so close to the flames. He was prepared to throw her over his shoulder if he had to, but thankfully, she didn't try to tug herself out of his grip.

---