Songs Unsung - Book One

Chapter Forty Four

I sang as I chopped the carrots for the night's meal. Chase was at the studio, back to his routine before the drama that had unfolded in the weeks before. Mia was out visiting her father and before she had left she danced around the kitchen, getting under my feet and swaying my hips from behind to her loudly sung song as I tried tirelessly to continue cooking.

The song stuck to my brain like bubblegum as I hummed and sang only the parts that I knew the lyrics to. I opened the pantry to take the oil and closed it with a sway of my hips in unison with the song that played out in my head. As the cupboard closed, the dark brooding figure stood staring at me in the doorway.

I let out a frightened shriek of shock and dropped the oil causing it to spill all over the oven stovetop and tile splash back.

Standing paralyzed for a moment, my wide eyes glared at the figure as it slowly stepped toward me, causing light to illuminate it as it moved. Antonio's face was filled with hate as his creased lips moved open showing gritted teeth beneath.

"You take my mistress" he spat as his nose snarled and eyes cut mine with his glare

"You humiliate me at a red carpet event..." He spat each sentence as he took a new step closer causing me to mirror his steps with my own backward walk, holding my hands up in surrender.

"And now, you take my only son!" He stood by the stovetop as a flick of light caused me to look down at his hand. He held a knife with a long, shining silver blade that I knew was only moments from being pierced through me if I didn't act quickly.

My mind jumped with thoughts as I considered my next move. Before I could act, Antonio leapt at me, dropping me to the floor and holding me pinned with his strength whilst pulling the knife up high above his head.

My eyes widened at the knife as I let out a deathly scream in fear before being startled by a loud noise of flames engulfing the kitchen.

Antonio let out a shriek of pain, shaking his arm that held the knife as his coat jacket was set ablaze by the quickly escalating fire giving me a chance to break free of his grip and run toward the living room.

With a thud, my head hit the floor as Antonio gripped my ankles before crawling to my upper body, grabbing my arm and flipping my body so I lay with my back to the floor. "Let me go!" I squealed as I raised my knee to his groin, making him fall to my left in a ball of agony. "You little bitch!" he yelled as I jumped back up and moved to run from the room. As my eyes darted around each wall, I was shocked to see the entire room engulfed in flames – leaving no exit for me to use.

I turned back to Antonio who had made his way from the floor to stand on his knees, clutching his groin as his eyes burnt mine with his stare. "I'm going to kill you Anna!" he hissed as he made his way to stand on one leg and plunging toward me as he pushed up from the floor with the other. His hands caught me as we landed on the couch, ripping at each other's hair before he broke one hand free and pulled the knife from the back of his pants. He raised it high above his head once again and pushed it hard down through the air in perfect line with my heart.

As I watched the blade fall toward me I thought of Mia and I playing on the fort as Princess and Pirate, laughing carelessly as we played. I thought of the soft eyes of my father when he surprised me with the keyboard and the smiling creases in the eyes of my mother as she watched me eat her homemade apple pie. Lastly, I thought of Chase. His face in a million different settings and emotions flashed before my eyes like a movie montage. His bright green eyes smiled at me as he mouthed the words "I love you." A tear fell from my eye before I closed them hard, awaiting the fate of Antonio's blade.

With a loud groan, Antonio flew through the air hitting his back against the wall of flames and fell unconscious to the floor with a heavy thud. I sat up from the couch to see his jacket catch alight before turning to see Chase, standing with his arms outstretched in my direction.

"Quickly!" he hastened causing me to jump up and stand with his help. He picked me up in his arms and held his hand over my hair in an attempt to protect me before running through the flames of the engulfed living room doorway and outside to the safety of the lawn. He softly dropped me onto the soft grass and crouched down to meet my eyes with his. Without saying a word, he pushed the hair from by ash filled face and cupped it behind my ear before pulling my face into his body and letting out a loud cry of relief.

"I thought I had lost you!" he cried as he pulled my face back from his chest before dropping it back where it was and wrapping his arms around me.

There we sat, his legs wrapped over mine as he clutched my face to his chest – crying as we spoke a million unspoken words and gently rocking back and forth as the sirens rang louder and louder on their approach to my burning home.