Page 49 of Soulless Angel

“I can’t sleep right now. They must know where we live. They knew exactly who we were when they came looking for us on campus. Maybe it’s not safe to stay here anymore. It might be time to find a new place.” Daire pulled out his phone, clicking around as he looked for potential places for us to occupy.

“Well, we can’t do anything about that tonight. You might as well try to get some rest.” I tried for a flirtatious grin. “I’m pretty sure I can help you relax.”

He paused next to the bed. Curving a hand around the back of my neck, he leaned down to kiss me. “If your eyes weren’t fluttering closed with every word, I would happily take you up on that. You need to sleep.”

“Me being asleep has never stopped you before,” I teased. Falling back against the pillow, I tried one last time. “Just lie with me for a while. You’re going to make yourself crazy.”

“Too late for that, Angel. I left crazy behind a long time ago. You should get some rest. I’ll keep watch. Someone has to.” Daire stared out the bedroom window. He waited until I got comfortable under the blankets before leaving the room to do another round through the house.

He was probably right. It wasn’t safe for us here anymore. If these people had our personal information, they would find us anywhere, unless we were able to use fake names. Where would we even go?

Once I settled in and closed my eyes, I promptly fell asleep. My dreams were a mess of images that bombarded me from earlier in the day. I kept reliving the moment when that man burst through the stall door in the restroom and attacked me.

Every so often, I would wake up enough to roll over and check the bed beside me. Still empty. Then I would doze off again, back into a fitful sleep. It was still dark when the sound of shouting woke me.

I came out of slumber groggy and disoriented. I wasn’t sure what was going on or if it was all in my fragmented dreams. Daire rushed into the bedroom, shouting at me that I needed to get up. That we needed to leave right now.

“What’s going on?” I rubbed my tired eyes, trying to focus.

Daire grabbed my arm and dragged me from the bed. “There’s a fire in the basement and another in the garage. We have to get out now.”

Those words brought me wide awake. Panic engulfed me. I stood there frozen, not knowing what to do. Daire shouted at me again to get some clothes on and get out of the house. He was already on the phone to 911.

I hurried into a pair of sweatpants, grabbing a hoodie and the backpack that held my laptop. I remembered to snatch my phone off the night table before fleeing the room. Smoke wasalready climbing the stairs. Blaze and Cash were right behind me. Daire brought up the rear.

He held a gun in one hand as he threw open the door. When he saw one of the neighbors standing on the front lawn, he quickly tucked it into the back of his pants. They had also called for emergency services. Sirens echoed in the distance.

My heart pounded in my ears as we spilled onto the front lawn. This couldn’t be happening. Forgetting our little spat from earlier, Blaze pulled me into his arms, holding me protectively. I huddled against him, seeking his comfort.

“Did everyone get out?” asked a neighbor.

“Yeah,” Cash nodded.“We’re all out. Thanks.”

We moved back toward the street, watching as smoke began to seep from the front door. I couldn’t believe that just moments ago I had been sound asleep, oblivious to what was being done to our home.

There was nothing we could do but watch and wait as the firetrucks pulled up and took over the situation. Thankfully, the fire seemed to mostly be contained to the two areas where it had been started. The house wasn’t a goner, but it would suffer significant damage. We would be moving out, whether we liked it or not.

“How did they access the basement?” Cash asked, keeping his voice low.

“They broke a window,” Daire explained. “I heard the glass break. I was upstairs. I checked the camera, but the only thing it caught was a masked man in black fleeing the scene. Motherfucker is long gone by now.”

Not knowing what else to do, I ventured down the street a few yards and called Raina. It was after four in the morning. I wasn’t expecting her to answer. She didn’t. A minute later, however, she called me right back.

Her voice was thick with sleep. “Is everything okay? It’s definitely not like you to call me at this time.”

“Definitely not okay,” I said, my voice shaking. “Whoever sent those men after us at the school just tried to burn our house down. We’re standing out on the street with the firetruck right now.”

Once I had calmed down earlier, I’d filled her in on what happened on campus. She had told me that the police came to check out the body in the restroom. The campus had been temporarily locked down. This was a horrible nightmare come to life.

“Holy shit.” She sounded more awake now. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine. There’s going to be a lot of smoke and water damage though. These people know our names. They know how to find us. We’re going to have to lay low for a while. I don’t think I need to tell you that I’m scared fucking shitless.” I watched the huge hose blasting the house with water. At least I got my electronics out.

“You can come here,” Raina said. “As soon as you’re able to leave there, come to our house. You’ll be safe here.”

I shook my head, wary of her idea. “I really appreciate that, but I don’t want to do anything to endanger you.”

“Oh please,” Raina scoffed. “We laugh in the face of danger. There will be strength in numbers. I can get my dad to send a few men to watch the place from the outside as well. It’s the safest option.”

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