What the hell?
I ran toward the door, touching it with the back of my hand and a sharp burn pulled me back.
My shoes blended with smoke, flames through opaque glass on the other side, and panicking, I braced Hershey and rerouted for another door. I touched it with the back of my hand again, and when it came up cold, I went for the knob.
I ran out into smoky halls, covering my face and trying to remember how I got into this place. There’d been too many twisting turns, those squeaky white floors now covered in smoke, and I ventured into it.
Hershey whined, then barked as I choked upon inhalation. A crash sounded when a shelf or something burst through window glass next to me, making me scream and fall to my knees. Flames from above beat through the window, and Hershey yelped, wrestling from my arms and escaping down the hall.
“Hershey!”
She ran into smoke the opposite way of the fire, and I crawled on my elbows, attempting to scurry after her. The flames from above chased me down the hall, and I stayed low, attempting to avoid them.
They were everywhere, creeping and eating the walls like a flesh-eating disease and I backed up on the floor, the horror of it all sinking me into the depths. I had strong fears I’d die in this place, that Hershey would die and I wouldn’t be able to find her. The latter thought alone got me back on my feet and running out of the hall engulfed in flames. I found another door and pushed myself through it.
Only to find myself against a hard chest.
Unyielding rock literally slammed into me, strong hands as they pulled me and forced me to gaze up into dazzling green eyes.
“December, what the fuck?” Royal gritted out, his eyes wild. “What are you doing here? We need to get you out of here. Let’s go, now!”
Why was he here? I had no time to ask as he was quite literally picking me up and forcing me out of the place. I kicked, screaming about Hershey, but he ignored me. Too hell-bent to get me out. Eventually, we surfaced to clear air on the outside, but as soon as my feet hit the ground, I was running right back to the building.
He dragged me back before I could get too far, and when he braced my shoulders, he shook me. “Are you goddamn crazy? What are you doing?”
“Hershey’s in there,” I choked, smoke still in my lungs. I reached toward the building. “Hershey, Hershey!”
I fought him, wild with all remaining strength I had, but like before, he overpowered me. He forced me to sit on the ground, and before I
knew it, he was pulling the collar of his dress shirt up, covering his face and rushing into the building himself.
“Royal!”
He had to be damn crazy now to rush into a burning building, save me, then rush right back to save my dog. I sat in crippling fear on my bottom while sirens sounded in the distance around me. Help was coming, but I didn’t know how fast.
Getting to my feet, I considering going in again.
But then, a miracle.
A barking dog was in a boy’s arms, a boy who had dirt and soot all over his handsome face and school uniform. The door they came through burst out in flames following their exit, and though Royal almost dropped my dog, he didn’t. He held her tight, coming to me while gasping for air, but he never once let go of Hershey.
“You’re damn crazy,” he said, falling to his knees while he hacked, but with a few licks from Hershey on his dirty face, he smiled a little. “Both of you are.”
Placing her down, he petted her once before gripping his knees to collect himself. She went immediately to me, and I hugged her, trying to figure out what the fuck just happened. My eyes widened at a realization. “There was a woman in here with me. Is she okay—”
“She’s who let me in,” he said, waving off my panic. “And called the fire department after we both saw smoke. We both got out, but when she told me a girl was in there, I went back in. I had no idea it’d be you.”
I braced Hershey, glad the woman was okay, but…
“Why are you here?” I asked, those sirens coming closer. “Did you know about Hershey being here?”
“Yes,” he said, making my insides clench. He knew…
And then a thought hit me, a harsh thought that couldn’t be. He was one of only a handful of people who knew about Hershey, and on top of that, he was mad at me at the present.
My jaw moved. “Did you tell?”
His eyes flickered my way following another cough. “What?”