Page 196 of Under the Waves
“You’relying!” I yelled, tugging my way free of her grasp. I had to start moving. I had to dosomething. I couldn’t stay there when everywhere I looked I saw her face, in every corner and crevasse, each pocket of light that still managed to stay dimly lit despite the darkness surrounding it.
I ran out of the door. Across the porch. Step by step until the soft slates molded into the rough pavement of the road beneath my feet. Each house down that road was the same. The streets were gently sleeping in a peaceful slumber unaware of the terrors seeping through the veins of this small town. My hair ruffled in the breeze as I started to run, each gust kissing my cheeks in an icy haste.
Perhaps Poppy was safe after all.
Perhaps she was okay.
She had to be.
My Gwen.
Please don’t share the same fate.
I couldn’t survive losing you, not again, please…
Sirens echoed in the distance as I neared her street. Each gulp of air stuffed into my lungs pushed against my chest. I couldn’t swallow it down fast enough. I couldn’t reach her fast enough. My eyes darted between each house, scanning for some sort of sign, some sort of indication that she was okay and that it was all some sick joke conjured by my mind.
I gasped rapidly, pushing away each thundering thought that raged into my head uninvited. Every muscle, every limb in my body was screaming at me with every step further I took, but I didn’t care. I had to reach her. I had to get to her before…
My hands shook in a desperate attempt to calm the tremors that wouldn’t seem to leave me alone. Restlessness coursed through me as the air around me seemed to thin. I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears, beating like a ticking clock.
I could smell the smoke before I saw it.
And there, right there where Poppy’s house should’ve been, was nothing but bright burning flames.
It was all gone.
I was too late.
65
Jasper Ridge
Heads up, we got another body!”
“Female. Young twenties maybe. Could be the mother.”
“Severe burns.Fuck, I haven’t seen anything this bad since Christian and Daisy’s Diner.”
“Where are the paramedics?”
“She isn’t going to make it!”
“Someone get the damned hosepipes now, this thing’s going to blow!”
“Where’s those fucking paramedics?”
Firemen shouted at each other at a million miles per hour and I struggled to keep up. The burning blaze was eating away at the very memories before my eyes–the place she took care of me after the party, where I washed her hair for the first time, the bed we both fell asleep in after stuffing our facesin popcorn and gouging our eyes in back-to-back Marvel movies…
“Poppy!” I yelled, desperately running towards the door, despite the howling flames. I’d walk through fire for that girl. No questions asked. Heat blasted in my face, already drawing beads of sweat on my forehead.
A hand grabbed me by the arm, hauling my body backwards and away from what remained of the house that hadn’t been engulfed in a fiery blaze.
“Where is she? Where is my girl?”
They all seemed to ignore me.
“My girlfriend is inside that house! She’s still in there. You have to let me get to her,please–”