It was three o’clock in the morning when the power went out on King’s Road.
The street flickered off and the little light they had provided went with them. No one noticed. Later people would be told it was because of a car accident on an adjoining street. Only a few would know differently.
The inhabitants of the terraced houses that lay between the river and King’s Road were deeply asleep. Even the one person who could have understood the danger was dead to the world.
Five minutes later, two fires started inside house number seven.
Just as planned.
From the road, a man watched. He saw tongues of flames lick at the downstairs windows.
The hired man nodded to himself and got into a sleek Porsche. He didn’t really care if his victims died or not. He had his money and that was all that mattered. Swiftly, the silver car drove away without a sound. The man didn’t look back.
His job was done here.
………………………………..
Inside number seven, Alex Rider sleepily kicked off his blankets. He felt so hot, even after the thick covers fell to the floor. He lay in bed; his sweat soaked clothes clinging to his body. In the back of his mind he knew something was wrong. There was no way it should be so hot. It was winter, for crying out loud.
Maybe Jack turned the heater up too far, Alex thought groggily as he stumbled out of bed and wiped the sweat from his head.
He glanced at the window next to his bed. In the back of his mind, he realized that the street lights weren’t on. But he was too groggy to recognize this as important.
Alex’s hand jerked back from the door knob before he had touched it. The heat radiating from it was enough to tell Alex what was going on.
Fire, Alex thought with alarm.
Oh God, Alex thought with a swallow. The last time he had been in a fire he had barely survived, and this time he had more then himself to worry about. Alex didn’t know if Jack was okay or not and it scared him.
The fire was right behind the door. He had to get out, and quickly. The fumes from the fire were snaking there way under the door and making it hard to breathe, and with hardly any oxygen, Alex was finding it hard to think straight.
He stumbled over to the window. After a great shove, it slowly creaked open.
Alex gasped in the cold winter air, using a few precious second to let it clear his head. The fire was blocking his bedroom door. It was too far down to jump. He’d have to climb down.
Ducking back inside, he grabbed his sheets. If it weren’t for the pale moonlight, he wouldn’t have been able to see them. He heard the flames crackled menacingly right outside his door.
Alex tied the white sheets into a big double knot around his bed post closest to the window. Quickly, he pushed the sheets out the window, he didn’t think about the things he was jeopardizing as he awkwardly climbed out the window. Possessions could be replaced but his and Jack’s lives could not. His only priority was to get help for Jack, and to do that he had to get himself out first.
His knees hit rough stone of the side of the house as Alex descended down his makeshift rope, and Alex heard a loud crash as his bedroom door fell in.
I’ve got to hurry! Alex thought with panic.
The sheet wasn’t long enough to reach the snow-covered ground, and Alex hung twelve feet above the ground.
He took a deep breath and let go.
The sensation of falling only lasted for a second before he hit the ground. The breath was knocked out of Alex and a sharp pain shot through his ankle.
Alex struggled to stand.
In fearful awe, Alex looked at his home. The bottom half was in flames. Smoke poured from his bedroom window and the sound of the sizzling flames was extremely loud. Snow melted rapidly around the burning building.
The kitchen window a few feet in front of Alex exploded from the pressure and glass cut into his face and arms before he could protect himself.
I have to help Jack, Alex thought through the pain.
The roof of the neighboring house was starting to burn as Alex limped to the house.
He didn’t run inside, instead he ran as fast as his leg would allow to the watering hose. The freezing water made Alex gasp as he quickly soaked himself and took his t-shirt off to wrap it around his mouth.
The gas from the fire was toxic, Alex recalled from a safety class he had once taken. That was why he had felt so groggy. Alex just hoped that his makeshift mask would protect him long enough to get Jack out of the house.
Alex shakily dragged the hose back to his burning house. The front door banged open as Alex threw his weight into it. Because of the bolt it took several more tries to get the door open. Alex dropped the still running hose in the doorway as he ran up the stairs. The water should keep his way out clear.
Flames surrounded Jack’s bedroom. Alex held his breath before charging the door repeatedly. A few moments later it gave in to Alex’s relief. There was no fire in the room, but the smoke was just as deadly and there was tons of it.
Alex ducked to the ground where the fumes weren’t as heavy. He could see Jack’s figure lying unconscious just next to her window.
Don’t be dead, Jack. Please don’t be dead, Alex thought in horror.
Alex lifted Jack’s slight form into his arms as much as he could. She was still breathing he noticed. More carefully, Alex made his way out. He was at the bottom of the stairs when they collapsed.
He managed to land on his side instead of his front, where Jack was cradled against his chest. Splinters of wood tore at Alex’s flesh as he got off the floor, cradling Jack in his arms he escaped from the house and into fresh air.
He laid Jack far away from the burning house and checked her pulse. She was alive and took a gasp of clean air as Alex watched her with anxiety stretched across his filthy face.
“Jack?” Alex asked fearfully. She moved slightly and mumbled Alex’s name.
Alex hoped that she would be fine by herself, he had to alert the neighbors.
Alex looked around.
Nobody came out from the neighboring houses, and most of the next door neighbors were in danger. Alex bit his lip. He had to get them out before they were trapped, and somebody needed to call the fire department.
Alex left Jack and ran to the neighbor’s house which was in the most danger. The door to the neighbor’s house was locked. Alex pulled his shoe off and threw it at the window. It broke with a crash and Alex continued to knock the remaining glass out of the window. Alex could now hear Mr. Grant’s voice coming from the top floor.
Glass cut into his hands as Alex climbed through the window.
“Fire!” Alex yelled as he limped to the corded phone lying on a coffee table.
“Mr. Grant! Mr. Grant, there’s a fire!” Nothing happened when Alex pressed the on button of the phone.
Dread climbed up Alex’s back. Of course, there was no power, no way to alert the fire department.
“Alex? What…” Mr. Grant’s voice trailed of as he caught site of Alex’s filthy figure in the beam of his flashlight from the top of the stairs.
Alex dropped the phone and hurried up the stairs to the elderly man.
“The power’s out and your house and mine are on fire and I need a cell phone,” Alex explained as calmly as he could to the astonished man as he pulled him to the door.
Alex’s pulse was racing and his head was pounding but he didn’t want to scare the old man.
“Tom has a cell phone…” The man, muttered almost to himself. After unlocking the front door and dragging the man out of the house, Alex ran to the next house.
Alex pounded on the door making his already bloody fists bleed anew.
“What is it?” Alex dodged past the angry man who opened the door in his bathrobe and grabbed the cell phone lying on the counter.
“What is the meaning of this? Get out of my house!” Tom Yanley screamed at Alex.
“Shut it!” Alex hissed at the man as his call was answered.
“Fire department, what is your situation?” said a calm female voice.
Tom listened as Alex explained his ‘situation.’ The anger on Tom’s face quickly changed to fear as he listened.
After hanging up the cell Alex raced back outside without looking at Tom.
Mr. Grant had banged on each door along the street and people were coming out of there homes and alerting others to the danger.
Alex watched his home burn down with his neighbors. The neighbors were standing farther away from the burning building then Alex was. It was torture for Alex as he waited for the fire department to arrive. His legs were aching but he stubbornly stood. The house he had lived in for almost fourteen years was burning to the ground.
A soft hand touched Alex’s arm.
Alex looked sideways at Jack who stood by his shoulder.
“How did this happen?” Jack asked tearfully as she looked upon the burning house. A neighbor had given her a pink bathrobe that clashed horribly with her red hair.
I can’t tell her now, Alex thought. She’d freak out.
He shook his head. He was positive of who had done it and why, but now wasn’t the time to tell his thoughts to Jack.
Scorpia never forgives. Scorpia never forgets, He thought grimly.
Alex shivered and it wasn’t because of the weather.
Jack moved like she was going to hug Alex but stopped herself. Alex was glad; he didn’t want Jack to try and comfort him right now. Right now he wanted answers.
Sirens announced the fire departments arrival with two ambulances right behind them.
The paramedics exited the ambulance, took one look at Alex and Jack, and immediately ushered them to an ambulance.
Alex sat next to Jack. He was glad she was near him. He could have lost her; it had been a close shot. A gas mask was placed over his mouth.
“Lost a lot of blood--second degree burns--possible concussion--”
The snatches of conversation he heard were not very informative and he couldn’t ask anything because of the mask but apparently Alex was in worse condition then he had thought.
One of the paramedics was removing splinters of wood from Alex’s almost bare legs and he didn’t seem to care that he was causing Alex a fair amount of pain. He pulled out a finger-sized piece of wood without warning, and Alex saw Jack angrily screaming at the paramedic before he passed out from pain.
……………………………….........
Please tell me your thoughts!
Scorpia
