The Angels from Hell

Dani

Dani was asleep on the bottom bunk bed, fuming. She was the oldest, surely the oldest got the top bed but her little brother had won in the end. Kept awake by this miscarriage if justice, Dani threw her blankets off her. She whispered her brother's name and when he didn't answer, she sat up and tried poking the top mattress through the gaps in the bedframe. Still no answer. Dani rolled out of her bed. Absentmindedly, she picked up a digger from the carpet, pressed a button on the side and watched the toy's claw move jerkily forwards and backyards. Unimpressed she threw it back down on the floor and looked for something to do. Through the window, Dani could see the dark blue outlines of the neighbouring houses. Their windows were dark, there were no cars on the street. It seemed that the whole world was sleeping except for Dani. This offered some unique possibilities.

She tottered out of the room into the main corridor lit by an old flower shaped night light. Following the light past the bathroom into the kitchen, Dani studied the shelves. They had recently been freed from the plastic baby locks that her parents had realised neither kept Dani nor her brother out. Instead, all the best food had been relocated to a higher shelf above the microwave. Dani tip-toed over to a kitchen stool and carefully dragged it over to the microwave. Listening for any sound of her parents, Dani carefully climbed onto the stool and reached for cupboard doors. Just as she opened the doors there was a faint clicking sound and the room went black. With just the moonlight and outdoor streetlamps illuminating the cupboard's contents, Dani felt around until she touched the recognisable plastic sleeve of a half opened biscuit packet. She pulled it out of the cupboard and half climbed, half fell off the stool, unbalanced by the darkness and having only one available hand. Invigorated by her success, Dani peeled back the plastic wrapping and stuffed a chocolate chip biscuit into her mouth.

There was an odd smell in the air. Dani remembered how last summer she had tried to make herself popcorn in the microwave but had set the timer to twenty minutes rather than two. The smell of burnt popcorn had lingered in the kitchen for weeks afterwards. Dani peered up at the microwave, but its screens were black, and nothing was rotating inside of it. She sniffed tentatively. The smell was faint but growing stronger. Dani put the biscuits down. Curiously, she turned towards the popcorn smell and noticed a flickering orange light coming from the corridor outside her room. The smell had grown so strong that Dani was forced to cover her mouth with one of her pink dotted pyjama sleeves. It seemed to become solid, pressing against her nose and mouth and making her eyes prickle. The flickering light cast distorted shadows across the kitchen. Dani stepped closer and a wave of warm air passed over her. As she took another step, the silent house erupted.

Dani pressed her hands against her ears, shielding them from a repetitive electronic sound, three loud beeps, a rest and then another set of three. The sound would no doubt wake her parents. Panicking, she stuffed the pack of biscuits into the closest drawer and hurried to replace the kitchen stool expecting to see her mum and dad rushing into the kitchen. She had only just had her TV privileges restored. When they didn't come, Dani peered into the hallway and saw coils of fire curling across the ceiling and walls. The heat was intense. Dani tried to move closer, looking around for her mum, dad or brother. She opened her mouth to call their names but choked, her lungs burning. Sweat was building on her upper lip and forehead. She rushed back into the kitchen, throwing open the drawers. Dani recognised the fire extinguisher her parents had shown her and tried to pull it out, but its weight and her panic made her arms shake uncontrollably. She managed to wrestle it out and into the hallway. Her eyes were streaming, and the smoke blurred her remaining vision. Dani looked down at the fire extinguisher, but she couldn't remember what her parents had told her to do next. Desperately, she tried to throw the extinguisher into the flames but that didn't seem to help.

She ran back into the kitchen, looking for something, anything that could put out a fire. Through the window she saw that lights had turned on in her neighbour's house. In the distance there was the distinct wail of a fire engine. Dani could barely see. She staggered to the front door and collapsed out into the cool night air. Looked backing, she saw that the fire had spread into the kitchen and was turning the white painted wood black. She tried to pull herself up and focus on the neighbour's house, but her knees were shaking too violently. All she could do was kneel on her front yard and listen as the sirens grew closer.

***

"What did you do?" Dani sat inside a hospital waiting room wrapped in a blanket. She couldn't understand what was going on. People kept talking to her, asking her questions, asking if she was alright but she couldn't answer them. She kept looking around, waiting for her parents to come and comfort her. They would make her a hot chocolate and read her a bedtime story. Everyone had left her alone now and she had almost drifted back to sleep when she heard, at last, a vaguely familiar voice. Dani looked up and saw her aunt and uncle running into the waiting room, their faces recognisable from photographs. Her relief evaporated when her aunt shook her roughly.

"What did you do?" She repeated. Dani stared from her aunt to her uncle. "I know you did something." Her aunt's grip was starting to hurt. Dani tried to squirm away, but her aunt pressed her fingers into her harder. "I won't let you go until you tell me what you did."