Page 85 of Tear Me Down
His rope looks different than the other two’s as well. Thicker, and intertwined, almost as if there’s two of them. I follow the trail from the joists above, and run along the material until I see that only he is anchored by a nearby crate, while the other two are strung up from the metal bars above them.
When I look back to make sense of it, that’s when I see the blinking red dot, just under the jacket Bradley is wearing. My body runs cold, and now I understand the setup. The chaos that, from the erratic blinking, is about to unfold.
“EVERYBODY OUT!” I scream, and start to run out as well, when nothing but a loud roar and bright white light takes over, and everything around me fades away, turning black.
Heat surrounds me, covering me like a warm blanket as a sharp ring plays through my ears. My eyes are heavy, but even as they remain closed, I can feel the room spinning around me. Faint voices strain to push through the void, but I can’t tell who is speaking or where they’re coming from. Everything is a jumbled mess, and while flashes of the last thing I saw move through my mind, they don’t stay for long—making me question their authenticity.
What the hell just happened?
My entire body is wracked with pain, and as I force it upward, I strain, screaming out in agony and immediately moving to clutch my ribs. As I move my limbs, they scream out as well, burning and tearing apart with every twitch.
“Damien?!”
Henry?
“He’s over there!”
That’s not Henry…
“D! Hang on, man! We’re coming!” Zeke yells out, barely reaching through the crackling fire and piercing noise around me. I try to move again, desperate to shift toward that voice, but the moment I reach out, another sharp pain shoots through my chest and back, causing me to cry out again and open my eyes.
I’m surrounded by nothing but orange flickers and black, wiry smoke that bellows upward into cloud-like forms. Bits and pieces of what looks like cinders fly through the air and whisp around fiercely. The flames around me bounce off what appears to be the metal joists hanging limp from the ceiling as they sway back and forth, flashing the fire’s reflection back into my gaze.
As the cinders flash around me, the warm hue brings back a memory—one from not so long ago, but one that changed my entire world. The moment the most enchanting woman turned her head in just the right direction and caught my attention, revealing the same golden ember that I see in front of me now. My chest warms with comfort before it runs cold again with fear and worry.
“D!” Zeke and Alex run up to me and instantly kneel down, an intense worry etched into their features. They now appear dirty, and have a few cuts and bruises of their own, though they were obviously far enough away to not take too much damage. “We got to get the hell out of here!”
“Ashia…” I try to say more, but as I breathe in there’s nothing but soot and smoke, and my lungs can’t navigate through the thickness. Zeke and Alex both nod as my lungs cough and heave in agony, trying to expel the toxic environment.
“Carter’s going to get her,” Alex reassures me as they both reach out and wrap an arm under me, lifting with all of their strength. My body instantly tenses and screams in pain, and I’m almost haunted by my own pained shriek.The second I’m hoisted upright, it’s as if the world tilts. The room around me sways and the black around us threatens to possess me. “NO, D! Stay awake, man! We’re going to get you out!” I nod, attempting to answer but as I take a step, and feel another sharp pain shoot up my body, the clouds give way, and I can’t see anything once again.
Chapter twenty-nine
Ashia
‘Lost In Paradise’ - Evanescence
I still can't believe I'm staring at this word…
Pregnant…
It's crazy to think about.
Instead of falling asleep like I was hoping I would, I've just been lying on the bed and staring at the test like it might jump out and bite me. Well, that and checking my phone like a little schoolgirl waiting for a response after admitting a crush. The time is going by very slowly, and I haven’t heard anything from anyone, which I suppose is a good thing. That means they’re still working, and there’s not a reason to panic yet. Damien would call or text before he was on his way home, right? And if there was something wrong, either the men downstairs would tell me, or Carter would call.
Right?
Now that I’ve had time to sit here and let my mind run wild for a couple of hours, other thoughts have started setting in. It’s not that I don’t want this. God, do I want this, and I want it with him. I would just like for our world to have calmed down a little first. Dranan is dead, or is about to be, as well as the other playmakers in this horrible game. We’ll still need to find concrete evidence on Avery before we can expose him, but between Damien and Carter’s computer skills, that shouldn’t be hard once we have him in our custody.
This is going to end tonight, I can feel it. I know Damien is going to do anything and everything he can to pull this off, and when he does, there won’t be that looming fear over us anymore. Sure, there will always be drug addicts and dealers, but not near to this large of a scale. Once he has the leaders in his grasp, he can dismantle the corruption from the top, and then we can breathe again. Well, for about the next nine months, at least.
I'm going to tell him as soon as he gets home. It’ll be the one thing to make him happy in the past few weeks. Other than me, of course, and I know that. I just hate that he feels so helpless, so degraded, as if everything else he’s done is overshadowed by the actions of five vile individuals, or just the one as he would see it. Dust is Dranan’s creation. He's who Damien has been fighting for years, and he didn't even know it. Now, with the vendetta he has for coming for us—even if he doesn't get all of them—he won't stop until Dranan's head is lying at my feet.
I’m restless. I keep getting up and pacing this damn room, checking my phone for the time like it’s actually going to change quicker. It’s taking everything in me not to text him and tell him to get his handsome ass home, but I can’t distract him tonight, knowing what’s happening. There’s no telling how late he’ll be out, but I just keep imagining his face when I finally get to tell him.He’s going to be so happy… just picturing his genuine smile brings a feeling of ecstasy, and I lift my head up to keep the tears from dripping down my face as they threaten to spill over my eyelids.
A thud echoes from the other side of our bedroom door, immediately drawing my attention. My heart races, and I’m suddenly nervous. What if he’s hurt? Did it go okay? He would’ve called first if it didn’t, right? I would know. What if it didn’t, and then he’s in a bad mood, though? The news would certainly cheer him up, but then that fear would take over him again, and he wouldn’t be able to relax.
I’m overthinking.
