Page 51 of Splintered Memories
“No, don’t look down.” My eyes watered and stung from the thick smoke billowing around us. “Don’t think. Just do what I tell you.”
She nodded, her lips wobbling.
I leaned closer to the window, and Emersyn gave me space, staying low to the floor. I studied the jump I’d have to make. The house was a split-level home, which meant the second story wasn’t quite as far as I’d expected. There was nothing but soft grass below. It was probably the best scenario I could ask for in this situation.
The sound of emergency sirens echoed distantly in the night. Too far away.
I had to hurry.
It was difficult to get myself in a decent position to jump. I needed to go feet first, but also needed to give myself space to roll to distribute the impact of the fall. I managed to awkwardly half-sit, half-cling to the window ledge, feet dangling.
I glanced down one last time, imagined where I would land, and took in a deep breath.
Then, I jumped.
My body was weightless for a breath, the wind rushing around me until the earth slammed into me hard. My feet and ankles revolted at the impact as a sharp pain reverberated up my legs. I rolled, tucking in my chin and pulling my arms in tight as my momentum carried me forward, smoothly shifting my weight toward my good shoulder and allowing my body to pivot around its axis.
When I came to a stop, I assessed my surroundings. I didn’t give myself time to comprehend the destruction, but the flames were everywhere, engulfing the entire first story and some of the second.
I stood, noting the twinge in my ankle, but it wasn’t injured severely as I approached the window where Emersyn was looking down at me from. Her hand was over her mouth, her face streaked with sweat and soot.
Bracing my legs on the lawn, I yelled up at her. “Turn around and climb out, feet first. Lower yourself as far as you can. I want you to hang there for only a moment, less than a breath, before you let go and drop. Do you understand?”
She was so pale I thought she might throw up, but she nodded.
“I’ll catch you,” I promised.
Emersyn nodded again as she maneuvered out the window, turning and lowering herself down slowly like I instructed.
I watched her like a hawk, standing directly under her. The heat from the home scorched my skin from this close. If there hadn’t been brick on this side of the house, the siding would’ve already melted.
Emersyn yelped as her upper body dropped from the window ledge. Her hips and chest slammed into the house, but she held on, her feet scrabbling below her.
“I got you,” I shouted. “Steady yourself, and then drop.”
She whimpered, but she stopped flailing. Her hands gripped onto the window ledge as she steadied herself.
“Now!” I yelled.
She let go with a scream, falling through the night until she collided into me. My knees bent, absorbing the impact as I caught her around the waist, pulling her against me. She was so petite, we barely stumbled. The moment we stabilized, I backed us far away from the house until my spine hit the trunk of a tree.
The emergency sirens were deafening now. The flashing lights mixed with the bright, flickering flames, but the only thing I focused on was Emersyn’s heavy breaths against my chest.
My arms remained tight around her, holding her against me as her fingers dug into my forearms. We watched as the firefighters starteddousing the house with water. We stood there, still as statues until a man ran toward us in full fire gear.
I didn’t recognize him even as he started to speak. I could barely hear anything through the roar of my pulse in my ears as I stared at the house: at the flames, at the window, and the room we had been asleep in moments ago.
A pain burst across my cheek, making me blink. It was as if the volume had abruptly been turned up, and I heard my name in a voice that I recognized.
I tore my gaze from the fire toward the fireman standing in front of us—the man who’d just slapped me across the face.
It was my brother, Roman.
“Damn it, August,” he growled, voice saturated in worry. “Are you injured? Are you okay?”
I blinked at my oldest brother, and then, as if all the energy had been zapped from my body, I collapsed onto the grass.
21
