Page 157 of Hell Hath No Fury
“Ashe?” Ryker’s voice cracked, brimming with concern.
“Go, Ryker! Grab what’s most important in your room, and you leave! Have Kammie and the twins do the same thing! Now!”
I raced toward Monica’s door. “Monica?” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Ashe, please!” she coughed, gagging. “Please, it’s surrounding us!”
“I’m coming in Monica! Get back!” I took a few steps backward and a few steadying breaths before I charged forward, slamming the heel of my boot into the door. It burst open, flames shooting toward me, forcing me onto my ass. I forced out the pain reverberating through my spine, focusing on what was happening on the other side of the doorway. Monica had her arms around Hannah and Star in the middle of the room, flames dancing, roaring around them. Their eyes radiated desperation.
Standing, I shook myself off, preparing to run and jump through the flames to get to them. From there, God only knew. As these thoughts flash through my mind, I spotted a man on the floor, motionless, the fire consuming his legs.
Monica coughed again, and Star looked like she was about to pass out, the smoke so thick it began to conceal them.
I ran forward, my legs moving as if by their own accord because my mind was frozen, locked in a state of fear and worry and rage… Rage over us being there, being unimportant enough to save. Leaving kids to protect kids.
When I reached the door, the ceiling collapsed, the force throwing me back as the raging inferno swallowed the three of them whole. Including the man who I later found out had started the whole thing before Monica shot and killed him. He was sneaking through the window, presumably wanting to do bad things to the girls, and in the process of moving through the open window, he had kicked over their fire pit which is what woke them up. By the time the struggle between him and Monica was over, the room was already engulfed in flames, and that’s the way I found them that night.
It shouldn’t have ever happened. No one needed to die. It was Juliana’s fire watch time. Three to six a.m.. We had started a fire watch schedule shortly after the first man tried to break in and steal from us. We’d been caught off guard and had little time to react. It was too close a call. With at least one older child up at all times, we would have someone armed and keeping watch over the residential hall who could alert the others.
Instead, I found Juliana in the gymnasium sleeping. By the time I had gotten the remaining children to safety and found her in there, cuddled up on the cot Dr. McCormick once slept on, the blood long since cleaned, the entire residential hall was burning.
I beat her awake with my fists for what she had done.
To be continued…
