Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill 1)

Dawson’s brow furrowed because the same thing must have occurred to him.

I finally glanced down at my phone and picked it up without even seeing who was calling.

“Hello?”

Annie, one of the girls I’d run track with, who also lived a block away from me, shouted into the phone. “Finally!! Where the heck are you, Ivy?!”

“What? Why? I’m at Dawson’s.”

Her voice was muffled, like she was crying. “Oh my gosh! Thank God! Ivy, you need to get home.”

A deep chill went down my spine as Dawson’s tall frame pulled away from the bed. He went over to the window and looked through the crystal-clear glass. He turned around, watching for my reaction to the phone call.

Annie’s voice was troubled with distress. “Your house is on fire. I can see the flames from my bedroom. It looks really bad.”

And just like that, I bounced to my feet, phone falling to the side. I took off through the bedroom door without even putting my shoes on. Dawson was right behind me, asking what was wrong.

I didn’t have time to answer. I jumped the stairs, landing with a loud thud, the bottoms of my feet stinging so badly it caused me to pause for a half second.

I had no idea if Dawson’s parents were home but if they were, I didn’t care. I didn’t care if they thought I was a crazy person running through their house like it was on fire…because mine was.

I swung open the front door and ran down the street, tiny bits of asphalt and gravel cutting through my socks. They didn’t stop me from running. I could see the orange and red flames from the stop sign at the end of Dawson’s street.

My feet pulled me through the cool grass of neighboring houses, cool dew soaking my socks. I saw a fence coming up and thankfully, I’d run hurdles in track so I was well-equipped for leaping over stuff.

As soon as I came to the chain-link fence, I used my hands to help push off the top rail, and catapulted my legs over it. I ran straight through our neighbor’s yard, my foot getting caught in a hole her dog had dug. I hit the ground for a second but Dawson was right beside me, helping me up.

He kept shouting at me to slow down but I couldn’t. I just kept running.

Once I was through that yard, I could actually feel the heat of the fire.

My stomach convulsed as I rounded the last house blocking my view. I moved around the looming firetruck and I was instantly met with thriving, raging flames. They were coming from every single angle of my house.

Where are my parents?!

My eyes desperately scanned the surrounding people. I noted the firemen in all their glory, dressed head to toe in suffocating uniforms and as they sprayed my house with giant hoses hooked to their trucks. I searched for an ambulance but I didn’t see one…yet.

My eyes found my next door neighbors: Judy and Bob St. Clair. I ran over to them, not hearing a thing except my heartbeat pulsing in my ears.

“Oh, honey,” Judy pleaded. Tears were running down her face with her husband’s arm around her sloped shoulders. “Thank God you’re okay.”

“Where’s my mom?” I asked, as she enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug. “My dad? Where are they?” I pulled back and her face contorted and my heart fell out from beneath my stomach.

“Where are they?!” I screamed frantically, as if my life depended on it.

Dawson’s strong arm wrapped around my torso, pulling me backwards. I knew I was crying by the way my face was wet, but I couldn’t concentrate on that. The only thing I could focus on was the hellish orange hue glea

ming around everyone and everything in front of me.

Oh my, God. It felt like my heart had died in my chest.

“Mia!!” I shouted. Dawson was caught off guard at the way my body sharply pushed off his. His arms fell down my torso just enough for me to slip away and run to my house, right toward the blazing fire.

“Mia!!” I yelled again, my voice so hoarse and jagged that no one would be able to make out what I was saying, even if there hadn’t been a roaring fire surrounding us.

Someone pulled me back before I even got to my front lawn.

“Miss, stop! PLEASE, stop!”