Homeless~Phan

Chapter 4

I wake to the sound of glass breaking. I sit up suddenly, causing me to be lightheaded for a moment. When the spots finally clear from my vision, I can see that it's still dark outside. I set my hand down, and bring it back up; hissing in pain. There's shards of glass all around me.
"Fucking hell!" I snarl.
Suddenly, I hear something outside. Footsteps. My heart pounds, and I feel fear rising in my stomach.
"Who the hell would be out here this late? Why is there glass on the floor?"
Trying to be as quiet as possible, I shimmy out of my sleeping bag and begin to roll it up. I'm barely breathing, listening for signs of movement. I can see the silhouette of someone in the window at the front of the store. My breathing quickens, and I feel myself being pulled under a wave of terror. The glass of the window is broken, and moonlight illuminates the glass on the floor.
"Oh my god, what if they see me? I need to get out of here before I get myself hurt, or worse."
However, it's dark where I'm crouching, so I don't think that whoever's outside can see me. I finish rolling up my sleeping bag, and stuff it into my backpack. I slowly zip it up, wincing at the noise it makes. I look back at the window, but the figure is gone.
Whoever it is could still be out there.
I slide my backpack on my shoulders, and start to make my way towards the door. I'm staying close to the walls, where its the darkest. I accidentally step on a piece of glass, and it breaks, the noise echoing in the silence.
"Shit."
The person is back now, and they have a giant canister of something. They begin to pour something all over the store front, and when the smell hits me, I know what it is.
Gasoline.
The person comes closer and closer to where I'm crouching, spreading the flame fuel all over the place. At the last moment, they turn around and put more gasoline in other areas. I slowly let out a shuddering breath.
It's when I hear the flick of a match that I truly begin to panic.
My instincts kick in, and I get up from where I'm crouching.
"I don't care if the person sees me. I need to get away. Fast."
The small flame from the match illuminates the arsonist. He has a hood over his eyes, but I can see him smiling a wide, toothy grin.
Oh my fucking God, he has to be insane.
The thought barely finishes crossing my mind as he drops the match. Flames spring up from the gasoline, blazing it's way towards me. I bolt towards the door, feeling the heat of the flames on my face. Gasoline splashes underneath my feet, and the fire roars, rising higher and higher into the air.
I finally stumble through the door, coughing and wheezing. Smoke is rising fast, blinding me. I feel rough hands grab my shoulders. Without looking, I know it's the arsonist.
He's going to hurt me.
I panic and try to squirm away, but to no avail. I turn my head and bite into the hand holding me captive. With a yelp, the hands spring off of me. I shimmy out of his grip and take off, concrete pounding under my feet and breath coming in pants. The concrete suddenly ends, and smooth grass greets my feet. I feel the slope of a hill and stumble, but push myself to go faster. When I reach the bottom, I put my hands on my knees and catch my breath. My backpack feels like it's as heavy as a boulder, and sweat is rolling down my forehead. I look up at the gas station. Shivers crawl up my spine as I gaze upon the fireball above me.
Flames spring up from the entire building, and smoke bellows high into the air. But, the most chilling sight of it all is the dark figure standing in front of the gas station, staring at me. I look closely, but I can't see any features of his face, as he has a hood pulled over his eyes. The only thing that I see is his wicked, maniacal grin illuminated by the flames.
Fear strikes like an iron fist in my heart.
"If I wouldn't have woken up... I could've died."
My insides churn at the thought of me, waking up surrounded by flames....
Sirens whine in the distance, and the arsonist turns and runs around the side of the gas station. I hear the rumble of an engine, and see a white truck roar off into the night. I stand, dazed, at the bottom of the hill; with the gas station ablaze above me
What the hell just happened?
The sirens grow closer, and I regain my senses. I spin around and dart towards the shelter of the trees surrounding the clearing I'm in. Once I'm in the cover of the trees, I observe the fire engines and ambulances roll up to the blazing remains of the gas station. The red and blue lights illuminate the pavement, and the figures of firefighters and medical personnel emerge from the vehicles.
Within minutes the firefighters have tamed the blaze, and small flames are licking at the rubble. Ashes still rise into the night sky, blocking the stars. Now, police cars have joined the ensemble of vehicles around the gas station. I can see people combing through the rubble; people who must be detectives.
They'll be looking for an arsonist. If they see me, they'll think I started the fire...
Even though they can't see me in my hiding place, I know that they'll start searching the woods for evidence. I slowly get up and gather my backpack. Turning my back to the gas station, I walk into the forest.

A/N:
Hello! Sorry for the short chapter... I've been preparing for the final days of school. But, as summer is coming up, I plan on updating more frequently. Be prepared for a lot of conflict and mystery in the next chapters, as we may find out about this arsonist...;) I'm thinking that the next chapter or so will be a look at Dan's everyday life as a homeless teen. I'm excited to write this upcoming part of the story! Also... 44 VEIWS?!? HOLY COW! Thanks so much for reading my story!