Thomas & January (Sleepless 2)

“Feu!” I kept hearing, the panicky words screaming from invisible lips. I had no idea the meaning until I saw January’s eyes had grown round in her head. She searched the crowd around her and her eyes fell on me.

“Fire!” She screamed at me.

No.

“January! Come to me!” I yelled at her as Jonah fled, cowardly leaving her there to fend for herself.

I reached my hands toward her and she extended her arms, desperation lacing her expression. We pushed and strained for one another, the tips of her right hand brushed mine and for the first time, I felt slightly relieved that she was close to my possession. I grabbed for her, but her grip escaped mine just when I thought I had her. No! I pushed and tossed people away from me but the panicked cloud of people clambering for the nearest exit seemed to swell in numbers and January was too light to fight back. Every time I made an advance, people would push her back.

“Help me!” She screamed, making my heart wrench.

“Move!” I hopelessly yelled at the people in front of me, but it did no good. My stomach dropped to my feet. January was swallowed whole and I was helpless to watch. I’d failed her. Completely.

Chapter Eleven

All the Pretty Girls

Thomas

I followed the direction I thought she was being pulled as black, billowing smoke engulfed the massive ceiling of the club. I had maybe a minute. People’s piercing screams haunted my ears as I spun around feebly in frenzied haste.

“January!” I hysterically called out. My body was begging me to run, to act, to save, but I couldn’t see her, fear locking up every ounce of common sense.

The crowd was thinning out and I breathed a slight sigh of relief, hoping I’d get to her. The smoke was becoming so thick and lower to the ground, I had to bring my shirt over my mouth. It didn’t help much and I began to choke and cough as I inhaled the charred remains of the building burning down around me. The heat was becoming unbearable but I was determined to find her. I would have died before I left her in that club.

I frantically searched the people around me, gripping them as I went and ensuring they weren’t January. I went from person to person until the black cut off my view and two hands reached for me.

“No!” I told the person dragging me toward what I assumed was some sort of exit. “No!” I exclaimed, pushing back but they succeeded in pushing me into the night air. I coughed and gagged as I reached soil and fresh air but immediately got back up, determined to find her.

The fireman who pulled me out, pushed me toward the crowd, unwilling to let me back in. “January!” I yelled at the building, begging her to come out.

I immediately turned toward the crowd surrounding the burning building and searched for her face. I hysterically wound my way through the throngs of stunned faces calling out her name.

“Tom!” I heard to my left and ran toward the voice.

“Jason!”

“Are you all right?” he asked. “Where’s January?”

“I don’t know! Help me find her!”

“I got out pretty early,” he told me as we weaved our way back through the gathering. “I didn’t see her come out, Tom.” His own voice was struck with fear she hadn’t come out.

“She’s here,” I told him confidently, desperately. “She has to be here.” I was trying so hard to hold on to that. My blood began to run cold as we reached the edge of people with no sign of January. “She’s here. She’s here.” I repeated over and over.

“Okay, okay,” Jason said, pacing the outside of the crowd. “We must have missed her. We had to have.”

My body began to shake in trepidation, in terror. I noticed a police cruiser nearby and ran to it. The back doors were open and I noticed a bullhorn sitting on the floorboard in front. I ran to the passenger’s side and opened the door, grabbing the horn. My trembling hands fumbled with the on switch and I numbly tried to work the buttons. I leaped onto the hood of the car and peered over the crowd.

“January!” I yelled as everyone’s shocked expressions turned my direction. “January MacLochlainn, are you there?!”

People began to search around themselves, searching for the name I’d just called out, but there was no answer and the dread began to run icy in my veins.

“January?” I asked them. “Please,” I begged as horror slowly thread through my words. “January, please. Please, answer me.”

But nothing.

My eyes searched rapidly but my body shuddered at the realization that she wasn’t there. The bullhorn slipped from my fingers, tumbling to the cobblestone below. Women surrounding the car drank in my shaking body and knew what the silent response meant. Many of their hands went to their mouths, a recognition of my supposed loss. The sight of their conclusions made me want to vomit. I jumped from the hood and ran smack into Jason who stood there, drawing the same conclusion of those around me.