Page 92 of From the Ashes
Before Tony could reply, I reached up and hit the button on my phone that was mounted in front of me, ending the call. The last thing I wanted were a bunch of warnings or any more information about the fire. I was already scared enough. Besides, I couldn’t focus on getting to Charlie with someone yacking in my ear. I had to believe I had a chance.
As I came over the top of the mountain, the air rushed out of my lungs. The devastation that lay before me was more than I could have ever imagined. The entire north end of Creekside was engulfed in flames. Several homes and businesses I’d ridden my bike past a thousand times as a kid were nothing but a pile of embers. The fire stretched around town like wings of flame threatening to envelop everything in its path. I was happy to see that Charlie’s house was still standing. But the fire was getting close.
Without a second thought, I gunned it down the road, heading into the southern part of town. I took note of the flames creeping toward the edges of the road, but I kept on going. This was my only chanceto get inside before the flames cut off the road completely. Once I had Charlie, I could worry about getting out. Right now, all I could focus on was one step at a time.
I raced into town, easily doing sixty miles per hour or more down streets that rarely saw a vehicle doing more than thirty. It felt wrong, but I didn’t care. Charlie was all that mattered. Besides, Creekside was a ghost town, and the smoke was getting thicker by the second. I didn’t have time to waste.
When I reached Charlie’s house at last, I saw that all the shades had been drawn and the windows shut, just like mom had said. But she hadn’t mentioned that the sprinklers were running. It felt like an odd detail to leave out. However, seeing them made my heart soar and my chest tighten all at the same time. Part of me had been hoping that Charlie got out somehow, that he’d hitched a ride with Patrick or anyone else. But seeing those sprinklers spraying down the yard and the house I knew he had to be there. And he’d already come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t getting out.
I dropped the kickstand before my bike was fully stopped, hopping off it as fast as I could. Tossing my helmet to the side, I rushed to the front door and started pounding on it.
“Charlie!” I yelled, the thick smoke making me cough and sputter. “Charlie! Open up!”
There was no answer. But I wasn’t about to leave without making sure. If the house was empty, I’d race out of town. However, that wasn’t an option until I checked it with my own eyes.
Taking a step back, I picked up a brick from the perfectly manicured landscaping that would be ash in the next ten minutes and hurled it through the window at the top of the door.
CHAPTER 39
Charlie
The crash downstairs startled me out of my stupor. Breaking glass could only mean one thing. The fire had reached the house. I’d hoped that keeping the house sealed up would prevent the fire from consuming it too quickly. But with the windows broken, the flames would be able to pull oxygen in, only making it burn faster. I’d known the sprinkler idea was a long shot, but now all I could do was wait for the inevitable. If I was lucky, the smoke would take me before the fire did.
“Charlie!”
I looked up, my heart skipping a beat.
“Charlie! Are you in here?”
It couldn’t be. My imagination was getting the better of me. Phoenix was sitting in his apartment back in Boston. He was three thousand miles away. Maybe the smoke had gotten to me already and I just never noticed.
“Charlie! Are you still here?”
The voice came closer. I looked up as the handle on my bedroom door jiggled and then swung open. There, standing in the doorway, was Phoenix, sweaty, grimy, and looking absolutely terrified. But the moment he saw me, he smiled.
“Charlie!” He rushed across the room, dropping to the floor and throwing his arms around me. “Why didn’t you say anything?!” He was sobbing. “Why are you still here? You should’ve got out when my parents came by! What’s wrong with you?!”
“I… I was asleep,” I replied slowly, pointing up at the bottle of pills on my bedside table. “I took one to calm down and I fell asleep. When I woke up… everyone was gone.”
I looked up at him, those green eyes meeting mine for the first time in weeks. All at once a thousand different emotions welled up inside me and all I could do was cry.
“I’m s-sorry,” I sobbed, throwing my arms around his neck. “You d-deserve so much better than me!”
“Charlie… there’s no reason to apologize…”
“Yes, there is!” I shouted, pulling back from him, my hands still on his shoulders. “I said so many terrible things to you because I was scared of letting you near me. I’m so scaredall the time, Nix… I feel like I can’t breathe. I want you in my life so fucking bad that I can’t stand it. When you’re gone, it feels like everything is wrong.” I paused, reaching up to wipe my face. “But the thought of letting you in andlosingyou… I don’t know if I could survive that. I… I barely survived it last time.”
“I know,” he replied calmly, holding my gaze. “I know why you did it. I figured it out. And I don’t blameyou.”
“Youshould. I’m horrible…”
“Charlie, you’re not horrible. And I won’t allow you to talk about yourself that way.” He reached out, tipping my chin up with his thumb and forefinger. “I love you more than anything in the world, Charlie. I don’t care if you need a therapist, pills, or a different kind of care than some people. None of that bothers me.” He leaned close, his lips inches from mine. “But I can’t stand to be without you anymore. I love you too much.”
My breath caught, and it took me a moment to find my words. “A-Are you sure?” I asked, my voice shaking. “I don’t want to hold you back.”
“I’m sure,” he said without a second thought. “I’ve been sure since that night we kissed down by the creek. And you could never hold me back, anyway. Because, with you, I feel more alive than I ever have in my life.”
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I stared at him. “I… I love you too,” I said at last.