Reason

Chapter 9:

I woke up to the ringing of our home phone. I turned over in my bed and picked it up. The caller ID said Ian Sweet. My whole body chilled. Was he calling to tell me he told everyone? I picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I greeted, my voice uneven.

"Aubrey?" Allie sobbed into the phone. My whole being calmed. It wasn't him after all. But why was Allie calling? I looked at the clock next to my bed and it said 2:30 a.m.

"What?" I asked, turning on the light that was stationed on my night table. Tony groaned and opened his eyes.

"Our house. It's completely in flames." Allie sobbed. I jumped out of bed and ran to my robe that was in our closet. Tony was sitting up with a confused expression on his face.

"Did you call the fire department?" I asked. I quickly explained to Tony what was going on and then Brodie started to cry. I walked over to his crib and picked him up.

"Yes. But.....but.." Allie cried.

"But what, Allie?" I asked, sternly. I handed Brodie to Tony and walked out of our room. It was insanely dark all around our house. I clicked on a light and ran to the garage.

"It's Ian." Allie said. My heart started to beat faster. What had he done?

"I'm coming over." I told Allie. I hung up the phone and set it on the counter. I ran to my car and started it up. It started cleanly and I drove right out of our garage.

I drove to Allie's, a million questions going through my head. What happened to Ian after they left our house? How was their house on fire? Did she think I had something to do with it because Ian stormed out of our house?

I pulled onto the side of the road. I was horrified. The house was completely in flames. It had broken through some of the structure and displayed an even more awful sight. I couldn't feel my legs all of a sudden. My knees swayed under me and I fell, right onto the pavement.
Tears clouded my vision and my body started to spasm.

This couldn't be happening. Memories came back; awful, awful ones. They came one after another. They blinded me and gave me a headache so bad I felt like pounding my head against something harder to make the pain go away. Feelings came back too. The pain, the hatred; even worse than before and the push towards suicide. It all hit me like a train.

This was Ian's idea of playing? I hated him. I hated him so much I couldn't even contain it. I hated him and I wish I had killed him.

Ian was in the burning house, being roasted like a piece of meat. His hands were handcuffed to a chair and there was a piece of duct tape stuck to his mouth. His flesh was black, scarred from being burned alive.

I stood up, turning to regain my balance. I looked around and saw the fire department, trying to take out of the fire. But it wasn't helping.

I saw Allie amid the people. Her face was a ghastly white. I ran over to her and she looked at me with a unreadable expression.

I didn't know what to say. Heck, I didn't even want to talk. I just looked at Allie whose eyes were wet with tears and whose arms were wrapped around herself.

"What did he say to you?" Allie asked, breaking the silence. She turned away from the awful scene and faced the houses on the other side of the street.

"When?" Somehow I knew she was going to ask this question. I would never get out of being the reason why Ian stormed out of the house.

I took a deep breath. All I could hear was the crackling of the fire and the water that was being pumped onto it. Shouts from my co-workers came into my ears as the fire made its way around to kill.