Heartless

London

*Stay strong for me, readers, this chapter is tearful one

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy nonetheless.

~

As she stepped through the house Toni did her best to avoid the bullet shell casings and shattered glass. But debris still crunched under her feet from time to time. 

To her the house smelled like fire, if that were even possible. It seemed that the explosion triggered small fires across the interior of the house which in turn, became larger ones.

The charred walls were evidence of this.

The smell of smoke smothered Toni, causing her to cough. She was beginning to feel light headed so she placed her hand on the wall in order to keep her balance.

She knew she could not faint in here. Not until she had gotten what she came for.

What had she come for, though? She had nothing left of value, even before the fire.

Toni walked to her bedroom, or what was left of it. The fire had come through there too.

Walking to her closet, she removed the few dresses that did not have a great amount of burn damage. She moved to her drawers and did the same with her other belongings.

She packed light, taking with her one suitcase full of clothes and family mementos. Her plan was to call a cab to take her to see her mother.

Once there she would write her uncle and tell him where she was. And then she would write Thomas.

First, she had to put distance between herself and Birmingham. She felt that if she stayed here any longer, she would lose her mind.

Toni put her suitcase by the door and stepped outside to speak with the policeman again.

"Sir?" she asked. "Could you help me hail a cab?"

"Of course mum, where to?" He asked.

"London."

~

The officer had already placed the call for her so Toni waited.

She sat on her bed, despite the gaseous smell, and stared at the blank wall.

She did not feel like doing anything else. Focusing on her breathing, she steadily inhaled and exhaled.

"It's going to be okay," she told herself. "Just breath."

Suddenly, she heard a car horn. The sound startled her due to her jumpy nerves.

"Mum, your taxi!" She heard the policeman call. So she hurried outside.

The taxi driver, an older man, had come over to help her with her things; she gave him her suitcase.

"Is this all, Miss?" He asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Packing light, are we?" He offered with a smile.

She was not in the mood for playful banter.

Once he had loaded her baggage, he opened the door for her and asked, "Are you ready to go, Miss?"

"Yes," she said, "just let me get my purse."

She walked back into the house and retrieved what she was after. Then, before leaving, she did a final walk-through of the home.

Toni did this in order to check for anything else she might have missed and to say goodbye to the life she had briefly lived here.