Heart Of Gold

4 - Aerin.

4 - Aerin.

The air's black. Thick and black and smokey and Liam's face is black and my hands are black underneath all the blood. As we come out of the other side of the warehouse, I see the other guys, and it's like reaching heaven's gates even though everything around is still burning. I'm surprised that the police or the fire brigade aren't here yet; maybe this is a really sleepy neighbourhood, or maybe the emergency services are taking it easy tonight.

Liam is coughing his guts up now. I'm squinting through the smokey air, and trying to pick up on words from the people around me that I will need to hear to stay alive. But everything is muddled up and I'm trying to not concentrate on the still body lying a few metres away from me.

"We just gotta get outa here," I pant, grabbing Liam by his collar and then pulling him up off the ground.

Running. Running as fast as we can, right up the street, straight ahead, no turning back, no speaking. This was not meant to happen. I am meant to be doing Chemistry homework or talking to my brothers or lying half asleep in my room right now, although I would never say this aloud.

Liam did not need me; no one needed anyone, and no one was needed here. Liam told me that there was an emergency, and when we arrived here all we could see were Patrick and Liam's dad, sitting with some guys from the other gang.

If Carlos finds out about this, the four of us are never going to see daylight again.

". . . Yes, two of them coming this way now!" There's suddenly a deep voice in the background. Liam and I immediately drop to the ground, right in the middle of the road, and for once I am grateful for the smoke. But smoke does not cover sound and soon enough Liam is spluttering and heaving and I'm swearing internally and I'm terrified and I want to go home.

I take off at lightening speed. Liam can stay there and die, he'll catch up to me anyway. I continue to go straight ahead and my hand is against my belt which is against my gun as, through the smoke, I make out a humongous house - white and orange under the street lamp. I've seen far too much orange for tonight. One man is standing on the driveway in a striped dressing gown, on the phone - most likely to the police. I think he is the owner of the voice I heard a few seconds ago. My feet pound against the concrete pavement as I turn left and-

"Mummy! It's cold and it's even more worse out here!"

Fuck, this family is nosy. Three more of them are now coming out of the door of the mansion and like the man on the drive, they are all in dressing gowns - a petite girl, a woman, and a chubby little kid. They're all blond-haired, and the girl is as pale as a sheet as her eyes lock with mine. I begin to walk backwards, keeping a look out for Liam and also keeping an eye on the little family. Why would you even bring kids out here? The girl is sticking close by her parents as they all walk down onto their driveway, and she won't look away from me. I don't know why I'm not looking away either, or maybe I do - there is something in those eyes haunting me and making me think twice or three times about what the fuck I'm doing. I want to ask her why the hell she won't look somewhere else; her gaze is accusing and she's tiny but she's making me squirm.

Heavy panting takes my attention from her and I start, my gaze flicking over to where a dark shadow is hurtling towards me. I don't want to produce my gun, because that girl is making me remember every little thing that I've done wrong, but that could be someone who wants to kill me running towards me. I wipe my forehead with the back of my sleeve, and after glancing over at where she is, I see that she is stood on her own now, still at the front door whilst her parents and brother huddle on the drive. Her white, thin dressing gown flapping in the breeze, showing pale legs, as her eyes cut right into mine.