Page 60 of Demon's Desire

Soul ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t have any other choice.”

He came to the door and crouched as low as he could. It put him a bit taller than me, but that wasn’t as noticeable, so I nodded. “Come on.”

I took his hand so I could lead him around. I looked everywhere, keeping an eye out for Jackson. He had light brown hair, a ton of freckles, and he was wearing a brown jacket. I repeated that in my mind, looking out for it. I didn’t see him, but I honestly wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

After a couple of minutes of walking like that, we got to the stairs. Kelly saw us and set her beer down at a nearby table. She took my hand, and I pulled Soul over, gesturing at him to go down the stairs first.

He started down and made it a quarter of the way when suddenly all the lights in the building went off. That might not have been that strange on Halloween, except that the music cut out too.

“What?” Kelly frowned.

“Go,” I said quickly, pointing at the stairs. “We need to get out of here now.”

I was worried Jackson had something to do with this. I didn’t know how, and maybe I was being paranoid, but I wouldn’t let Soul get caught like this.

I started down the stairs after Kelly, and two steps in, I heard several loud screams behind me. My heart stopped as someone yelled “Fire!”

“Kelly, Soul, run!” I shouted. There was about to be a stampede.

They both heard me and thankfully picked up the pace. I rushed down the stairs and heard a parade of footsteps behind me. I made it to the bottom of the staircase before someone pushed me and someone else ran past.

Soul saw that. He turned back and grabbed my hand and Kelly’s, pushing us in front of him. He was so large he practically created a blockade so that no one could get past him or push us over. Still, all three of us hurried as quickly as we could.

When we finally made it out onto the streets, I heard a fire alarm in the building go off. I was worried about how delayed it was, but I couldn’t think about that now. I stepped onto the pavement and looked to make sure no one was coming before darting across the street.

“Get in the car now!” I shouted at them as I turned back to look at the building. In one single window on the top floor, I could see light from a fire. My stomach turned, remembering the way I’d felt at Torie and Mica’s party.

“Mia, come on!” Kelly shouted as she started the engine. I opened the back door and jumped inside. The door hadn’t even fully closed before Kelly pulled out and sped off.

14

I tried to breathe as normally as I could. I pulled out my phone and quickly called 911.

“Hello,” I answered quickly, “there’s a fire at Hundred, the dance club. I don’t know the exact address, but it’s a bar, it’s two stories, there’s a dance floor–”

“Is the club open?” the operator asked. “Or were you there privately?”

“There were dozens of people inside.” I shook my head, feeling sick. “The power went out, then someone on the second floor yelled ‘fire,’ and everyone ran for the stairs. We got out, but I don’t know how many people are still in there or if anyone got hurt…” The more I spoke, the more my voice started to shake.

“Ma’am, it’s okay. We have units on the way. What is your name?”

“Mia Ashford.” I tried to swallow the lump in my throat.

“Mia, are you still in the area?”

“N-no, we’re driving home right now.” I pursed my lips for a second. “Should we go back? Do we need to stay or–?”

“No, ma’am. You get home safely, and we have your number if we need to follow up.”

“Okay… Thank you.” I took a deep breath as I hung up the phone. I suddenly noticed the car stop, and I looked around to see we were in a McDonald’s parking lot. The car door opened and Soul sat down on the seat beside me, wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and pulled me against his chest.

“It’s all right,” he whispered. “You’re safe. We’re all safe. Everyone got out. The fire department is coming. Listen, you can hear the sirens. You kept me safe. You kept Kelly safe. You did well. Everything is all right. Breathe…”

Kelly turned around in the front seat and reached back to rub my arm as I leaned against Soul. “You guys stay here. I’m gonna go get us some food. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded, forcing myself to take deep breaths.

This was so much different from Torie and Mica’s party. The party had been small. I could lay eyes on every single person from that house and see them safely on the street. On top of that, I’d had no reason to think I was even in danger. But tonight, I’d seen Jackson, and he’d all but threatened Soul. Then the power, the fire, hearing all those screams and people running behind me… And now, I had no idea whether everyone was safe. That was the worst part.