Mafia Daddy’s Faithful Little by Mary Potter

CHAPTER NINE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maddy

Rachel Parker was in my room, kissing me goodnight. She smelled of freshly baked cookies.

“Sweet dreams, Maddy,” she said to me and proceeded to leave the bed, standing on both feet.

I gasped, tears trickling down my cheeks. “You can walk?”

Rachel smiled at me. “What are you talking about?”

Then I looked at her face. It was as beautiful as the stars on a serene night.

“And your face? It’s beautiful.”

Rachel blushed. “Just sleep, Maddy girl.”

Then my mind drifted to Raymond and how he had broken me. “Raymond cheated on me. I hate him.”

My mother didn’t appear to hear me. She tucked me in again and switched off the lights. However, the room remained illuminated by the soft glow of the moon outside.

“Sleep, baby,” my mother said again.

When I turned on my side, I realized that I wasn’t in my room. Instead, I was in a smaller one, facing a familiar wooden drawer where a doll sat on it.

“Diana,” I said, reaching for my favorite play toy.

My hands were smaller than usual, as though I was in the body of a five-year-old. But I didn’t seem to care. I just hugged the doll to my chest, inhaling the smell of the clean room and the peace that came with it.

This was heaven. I wanted to dwell in it forever. I wanted to forget that I had once loved a man named Raymond Baxter.

As I closed my eyes to sleep, I suddenly felt apprehensive, overwhelmed by fear. I couldn’t fathom it. I couldn’t understand why I was feeling this way.

Then I heard the rapid banging on the door and my eyes fluttered open, being welcomed by sheer panic. My room was on fire, consumed by flames that spat at me.

I didn’t know what to do as I remained rooted in bed, the fire racing at me. I didn’t know how I could save myself.

The banging on the door continued and I heard my mother’s scream above the noise of the room burning, “Maddy! Maddy! Wake up! Get out of there!”

It sounded like she was far away. I tried calling out her name but there was absolute doubt that she could hear me.

“Go through the window! Save yourself!” My mother continued yelling.

Then she stopped. I didn’t know why.

“Mom?” I cried, now finding out that I could stand up from the bed.

My mother responded with a loud cough that sounded like she couldn’t breathe. I wanted to rescue her. I wanted to save her.

But my path to the door was blocked by the raging flame. The fire gnawed at me, hoping to devour me.

The window! Maybe someone could come save my mother. However, when I got to it, the glass window was stuck. I tried pushing it up but it wouldn’t budge.

When I stared at the street below, some people had gathered, staring in dismay at the burning house. From where I stood, I saw that two houses were on fire too! It was like hell had visited my town!

“Help me!”

The smoke from the fire was now troubling my lungs, causing me to move away from the door and fall on the carpet.

I was losing oxygen. My skin was hot from what surrounded me. There was no iota of doubt that I was going to die here. This was my end!

Just then, I heard the sound of a door breaking. When I looked up, my mom was hovering over me, shielding me from the fire. She was my angel! She had come to save me.

Rachel Parker carried me in her arms like I weighed nothing. I could see her crying, could see a part of her face singed. It broke me. It made me tremble in her embrace.

When she got to the window, I didn’t know what object she had used against it but the window soon shattered, making way for air that I immediately inhaled.

“Get down, babe,” my mom was saying. “They are going to catch you.”

“Mom,” I said to her. “I’m scared.”

“You’ll be fine.”

Then with her eyes closed, she threw me several floors below and into the arms of the waiting firefighters. The last thing I saw as I fell was my mother thrown backward by a section of the house that had collapsed.

“No!!!” I yelled.

When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was dreaming. Yet, reality was the same as my dream. My cabin house was also on fire.

“No, no,” I said, rising to my feet.

The kettle! I had left it on the cooker and it must have started the fire. I was reliving my past again, except there would be no Rachel Parker to save me!

I couldn’t leave my room. The entrance was on fire. The windows were sealed and unbreakable. I had specifically bought the house because of its impressive security.

I thought about calling 911 but I was far away from Leavens or where anyone could hurry down here to save me. Besides, I had left my phone in the sitting room.

I was trapped in this room. The fire was intensifying and I knew that in a matter of minutes, I would be a torched body in a cabin beside the sea. This was fate taunting me, reminding me that I should have died in my mother’s house five years ago.

My eyes soon became watery, the smoke clouding my vision. I coughed, covering my nose with my sleeve and hoping to survive long enough for someone to save me.

But it was impossible. Something creaked above me and it was a close shave that I didn’t get buried by the ceiling that collapsed. However, as I jumped sideways and fell, some part of the fallen roof landed on my leg, weighing me down.

“Help!” But I couldn’t shout for long.

I had no strength. I was dying. Just as I began to give in to death, a face appeared before me.

“Mom?” I whispered.

But it was the face of Raymond Baxter.