Page 17 of Guarded By the Hellhound
I scream, but Raider doesn’t waste a second. He pulls me towards the door, but before he does, he runs into the bathroom and returns with a wet towel.
“Put this over your face, and it will help with the smoke. Let me lead you.”
“I’m so scared,” I whisper, but I let him tie the towel over my face.
“Do you trust me?” he says, and I nod. “Good, hold on to me. I’ll shift back to hound before we exit the house. If anything happens, keep going, okay? I will be fine, I swear.”
I shake my head, and he grabs me with both hands.
“I’m a hellhound, Katherine. I will be fine.” Then he yanks open the door, pulling me with him into the inferno that was once my house.
Flames are licking at the walls, making the wallpaper flake, and I feel like I’m in a dream —a surreal, terrifying one. It’s hot, so hot, and I don’t know how I can continue walking here. Raider pulls me through effortlessly.
We make it towards the stairs only to see a sea of flames waiting for us at the front door. I hear his muffled curse, but don’t know what to do next.
“WE HAVE TO RUN THROUGH!” he yells. Crying, I nod; the heat is overwhelming. I’m almost sure I’m going to die here, but if there’s even the tiniest sliver of hope, I’m gonna make it out alive. I’m gonna fight for it. I have not been running from this creep all year to end up dying in a house fire.
We obviously can’t make it to the front door; instead, we have to push through at the edge of the fire and get to the back door through the kitchen. I close my mind down, and I run with Raider. He never lets go of my hand, and when we reach the fire, there is no momentum to hesitate. He pulls me through so hard I can only follow.
Screaming, I jump through the flames, almost certain my hair just caught on fire. I keep running, though; I don’t want to think or look until we’re safely outside. There’s a small path in the kitchen, and I can see the back door.
Crashing sounds come from above, and for a moment, time stands still. I don’t dare to look up, but I’m freakishly certain that the ceiling is about to collapse.
“GO!!!” Raider shouts, and he shoves me forward towards the door. I fall into the door. My weight crashing it down, the wood already weakened by the inferno.
I turn around and see the ceiling coming down on Raider.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I scream. I want to jump back in, but strong arms pull me back.
“No, ma’am, you have to stay here. You’re safe here. You can’t go back.”
“No, you don’t understand!” I cry out, ripping the towel off. “Raider! Raider is still in there!” I’m crying and struggling as he carries me towards the edge of the lawn, towards a crowd of first responders and onlookers.
“Ma’am, I am so sorry, but we can’t go in there. The house has collapsed. Anybody who was in there surely is dead.”
“NOOOOO,” I wail, refusing to believe. “No….” I cry out again before I slump into the arms of the firefighter.
There is no point in resisting when he brings me back to the paramedic. They put me on a gurney, and I’m handed an oxygen mask as they cover me with a blanket. I’m in shock, just sitting there. I can see the paramedic’s lips moving, but I don’t really hear what he’s saying. He figures as much because he just checks me out and then touches my cheek.
“You were really, really lucky, miss…”
“Thorne,” I croak, voice hoarse from all the smoke.
“You only have mild superficial burns, no severe ones, and I believe the most significant damage is from smoke inhalation.”
I nod, but I don’t feel lucky, I feel empty. He walks away, leaving me alone, and I look around. My house is ablaze; the firefighters do their best to put it out, but the house can’t be saved. We would be lucky if it didn’t spread to the neighbors’ houses. And Raider… I close my eyes and wipe away the tears with the blanket.
When I open my eyes, I realize I’m as alone as I feel. A shiver runs down my back when I hear footsteps to my right. I turn my head, and a man approaches; I don’t recognize him, but he seems to know me.
“Hello, Katherine.” He gives me a creepy smile, but before I can scream, he plunges a needle into my throat, and my world turns black.
KATHERINE
My head hurts, and I groan. I cough, and my throat feels sore as well. It’s dark, I’m uncomfortable, and I’m shivering uncontrollably. Slowly, I open my eyes. Where am I? What happened?
I sit up and look around, but I don’t recognize the room I’m in. It’s dark and empty, and I’m sitting on a cold wooden floor, wearing next to nothing and a blanket. I smell of smoke and…
The fire! It floods back to me instantly, waking me up, the smoke, the house collapsing. Raider.
