Page 51 of Tainted Love

“Daddy…” I whisper, reaching out to him.

I’m too far away to touch him. If he could move, he’d reach me. I know he would.

Marty strikes a match and tosses it to the floor, igniting the gas flung around the room. It spreads fast, covering the entire auditorium with the crackling, orange flame.

If I don’t move, I’ll die.

I push up onto my arms, struggling to carry my own weight. My knee seethes, refusing to move me across the hard, wooden floor. I fight through it, kicking my left knee behind me while the right one drags against the stage.

Marty and his men retreat from the auditorium, slamming the doors closed behind them. I can’t make it through the burning seats anyway and I’d be foolish to even try, especially with only one leg.

Smoke reaches my nose. I keep my head down, crawling backstage, whimpering as my knee scrapes across the floor. Flames race even closer, climbing toward me faster than I can move.

I grew up in this building. I should know a way out, some emergency exit that will save me, but my mind is a far too preoccupied with the pain owning my body. I slide past the boxes of props and the old set pieces and the dressing rooms.

This is the last time I’ll ever see them.

“Help!”

Maybe there’s someone left inside. Maybe someone hid when they heard gunfire.

“Help me!”

I make it to the hallway door and push up onto my working knee to try and shove it open. It refuses to budge, blocked off from the outside.

“Help me!”

I pound on it. I scream even louder. Each passing second, my fate becomes clearer.

I’m going to die here.

“Please…”

I collapse against the door. I cry. I weep. The air around me is thick and gray. The fire has reached the curtains, igniting the air above me, burning through the oxygen.

Hopefully, I’ll die before the flames reach me.

“Lucy!”

A single voice lost behind fire. I almost don’t even hear it. Honestly, I probably don’t and it’s just my mind losing oxygen.

“Lucy!”

That’s no hallucination.

That’s—

“Dante?”

Tears run over my eyelids. I see a shape across the stage, large and black. A devil amongst the flames. He comes closer, dodging the falling debris as it rains down from the ceiling.

“Lucy!”

He touches my face and his features sharpen in my vision. Startling, blue eyes stand out in the smoke against his sweat-covered skin.

“Lucy, look at me! You’re going to be okay…”

I push him away. “No…” I shake my head. “This is your fault—”

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