Between Never and Forever by Brit Benson

39

“Savannah!Savannah, get up. We have to get out!”

I jolt upright in the bed and notice smoke. Can smell it. Thick and curling up through the crack under the door. If someone hadn’t woken me up seconds ago, the smoke would have done it on its own.

I scramble from the bed and notice Levi is throwing on a shirt. He tosses one at me as he opens the bedroom window. Red is holding a trembling, whimpering Ziggy.

The house is on fire.

“Cover your face with that,” Levi says quickly. “We have to get to the balcony. We can climb down from there.”

“Brynn? Sharon?”

I cover my face with the shirt, and Levi opens his closet, slipping on a pair of boots.

“We can’t go down the stairs,” Red says. “We have to get out. They might be out there already.”

Levi wordlessly tosses me a pair of boots, and I slip them on and tie them tightly. They’re far too big, but at least my feet won’t be exposed.

“Ready?”

Red doesn’t wait for an answer, he just uses what looks like a towel to open the bedroom door, then covers his mouth with it as rancid, dark smoke billows in and the sound of fire, crackling and angry, gets louder.

“Let’s go,” he shouts, then disappears out the door toward the primary bedroom.

Levi nudges me, so I follow, taking a second to look down the hall toward the stairs. Toward the intense heat. Flames and dark smoke. Glowing, raging red. The first floor must be an inferno. My whole body freezes, and I gasp into the shirt. I can feel the heat on my skin. Can see it moving through the air.

“Go, Sav! Go!”

I hurry after Red, my feet heavy and awkward in the boots, but I can already feel the heat radiating up through the soles. When Levi and I cross into the primary bedroom, he shuts the door behind us. Red already has the sliding doors to the balcony open and ushers us through them.

“From what I can tell, the fire started on the first floor on the other side of the house,” Red says.

My stomach sinks and I start to shake. First floor, other side of the house would be the rec room. I want to cry. I don’t know how Levi and Red are so calm. I’m terrified. I can barely think straight. I can barely move properly without forcing myself.

“The deck looks clear,” Levi says, peering over the railing. “You can drop from here to the deck, and then we can use the stairs to the yard.”

Levi motions for Red to hand over Ziggs.

“Red, you first. It’s not a far drop. Ease yourself down the rails. You can help Sav, then I’ll pass the dog and follow.”

I watch as they pass the dog between them, and Red hoists himself over the railing, drops as low as he can, then disappears, hitting the deck below with a soft thud less than a second later.

“Now you, Sav.”

I nod and climb, then mimic the motion I saw Red do. I lower down until I feel Red’s hands on my calves.

“Drop, I got you,” he says, so I drop, and he sets me on my feet. He looks back up and calls to Levi. “Can you get over with her?”

Levi’s already moving. He’s got Ziggy hoisted on his shoulder, secured with one hand as he maneuvers himself over the railing. It’s too far to just drop her, so he gets as low as he can.

“Ready?” he calls to Red.

“I got her. Let her go.”

Levi twists his body and drops Ziggy right into Red’s outstretched arms. She flails and yelps, but by the time Red puts her on the ground, Levi is next to us and we’re all hurrying across the deck to the stairs, then out into the sand.

I glance through the sliding glass doors that lead into the kitchen as we pass. It is nothing but flames and smoke, and the heat coming from it is almost unbearable, even outside. Ziggy barks and takes off running to the side of the house. I follow, shouting for her to come back, but then start to sob when I see Brynn. Oh, thank god, she’s alive. She’s out and safe.

“Dad!” Brynn cries out. “Dad!”

Levi pulls her into a hug, then frantically checks her for injuries.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you hurt anywhere?”

He runs trembling hands over her body, smoothing back her hair and cupping her face. She’s in the pajamas she was wearing when we fell asleep. There are black smudges mixed with tears on her bright red cheeks.

“No, Dad, but Ms. Sharon,” Brynn forces out, her words coming in the space between her gasping sobs.

I whip my head around the yard. My mom. My mom isn’t out here.

“She’s in there with him. He has a gun, Dad.”

“With who? Who does?” Levi asks, but I already know.

“That man. The man from before. With the police.”

Levi and I both turn to the house. Terry. My mom is in there with Terry, and he has a gun.

“She jumped on him. She told me to run. But she didn’t follow me. He said...he said he was going to...to kill her.”

I take off running. I don’t stop to think.

I hear Levi shouting at my back, telling me to stop, screaming no as I run, but I don’t listen. I keep running, my focus on the burning house, until thick arms hook around my waist, knocking the air out of me, and haul me around.

“Red, no! She’s in there. I have to get to her. I have to get—”

“No, kid! You’ll die in there! It’s too dangerous!”

“No! Please, please. I have to get to her. Please, let me get to her.”

Red fights with me as I twist in his arms. I kick at his legs with the heavy boots on my feet. I claw at his forearms. I beat at his shoulders and torso. Anything I can reach. He doesn’t budge. He doesn’t let go.

I switch tactics. I let my body relax. I fake calm. I go pliant. I do it just long enough for him to loosen his grip on me, just like how he taught me, then I drop hard to the ground and slip out of his hold. I throw all my weight into his side and swing my foot with the heavy boot at his legs, ducking away as he falls backward.

I don’t wait for him to hit the dirt before I take off running again.

I see flashing lights in my peripheral and hear sirens faintly through the sound of the roaring house fire. I’m still yards away and the heat on my skin is almost unbearable. I’m sweating. My eyes and nose and throat burn, but I don’t stop. It’s so hot that I imagine my skin bubbling. My hair singeing. The tears rolling down my cheeks evaporate before reaching my chin.

I don’t care about any of it. I just have to get to her.

Flames are licking up the sides of the house from the windows. From the looks of it, the upstairs is on fire now, too. The house could collapse. Something could explode. I don’t care. I don’t care. I just have to get her out. I just have to get to her.

I’m strides from the front porch when I’m tackled hard into the dirt. I can feel my knees scrape on the grass. Rocks or sticks jab into my skin. I bite my tongue on impact and the taste or blood fills my mouth.

“No!” I scream. I kick and flail under the body. “No! She’s in there! I have to get to her!”

Familiar arms and legs wrap around my body, tightening their hold. I’m panting and sobbing, wailing against him.

“Levi, please, no! Let me go!”

“I can’t!” His shouted words shake as he folds his body up with me under him. “I can’t let you.”

“Levi, please. Please,” I scream. My voice is hoarse around my tears, choking on them, burning with the smoke in the air.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry. I can’t. I can’t, Savannah. I’m sorry.”

People rush past us. Shouting. Sirens. I stop fighting Levi. I sob into the dirt, turning my head to look at the house. There are firetrucks on the street. Flames reaching high into the sky. Something at the back of the house cracks. I hear someone shouting to clear the yard, and I let Levi haul me to my feet and drag me across the street.

I don’t see Brynn or Red. I don’t see Ziggy. I vaguely register cameras, but I can’t tear my eyes away from the house fire. The house Levi designed and built. Brynnlee’s home. It’s nothing but sky-high flames and thick smoke. I tremble in Levi’s hold. I stare at the door. I will a fireman to come out with my mom. I beg for it. I pray and pray and pray for it.

I hear another crack. Louder this time. More people shout. Gasps come from the crowd now gathered on the street. Then, in a flash of fire and sparks that I can feel on my face even with the distance, the roof of the front porch caves in with a crash.

“No,” I whisper. “No, please, no.”

When a loud bang ricochets off the neighboring houses, my legs give out from beneath me, and my knees hit the ground at the same time part of the house collapses.