Picture Perfect: A CaptainSparklez Story {COMPLETE}

Chapter 18: Hellfire

We sprinted down the sidewalk, pushing and shoving past panicking patrons as they ran from the blaze. It was all we could do. I didn't have a car, Jordan's was a pile of burnt metal and melted glass, and Ruby had driven off somewhere in hers with Mark. Our only hope was to run.

Jordan was jogging to keep up with me, cradling Emma against his chest. Her tiny arms were wrapped around his neck and her cheeks were stained with wet streaks.

"I'm scared!" she wailed over the screaming people and ear splitting sirens of cop cars and firetrucks. "I want my mommy and daddy! I wanna go home!"

We shoveled our way through the massive crowd of people that had gathered behind the police tape. They stared up in horror at the raging fire and billowing smoke that turned the endless sky into a dark abyss.

"Everyone stay back!" yelled the fire marshal. "Get back! Clear the area!"

Emma looked up from Jordan's chest, gazing up at the mountainous hell that towered above our heads. Her eyes lit up with horror along with the spark of the orange flames.

"That's Mommy and Daddy's work!" she screamed, trying to fight her way out of Jordan's arms. "It's gonna burn them! They could be hurt real bad!"

"Emma, stop squirming!" Jordan said sternly as he tried to reposition his hold on her. "You've got to stay back just like Mr. Fire Marshal said!"

"But...but my parents!" she wailed. "Mommy! Daddy!"

I grabbed the fire marshal's sleeve and yanked on it in hopes of getting his attention. He turned and looked me in the eye with both a look of concern and annoyance.

"Sir, please!" I begged. "You've gotta get a rescue squad in there! This little girl's parents are inside that building! They're doctors here! You've gotta help them!"

"Ma'am," he said over the sirens, "we can't go inside! The building is becoming unstable! Sending my team in there is a suicide mission!"

"And not sending your team in there is going to destroy this little girl!" I screamed, pointing at the sobbing Emma.

There was the sound of steal beams squeaking and bending against the intense heat of the fire. Loud cracking noises came from chunks of the building hitting the concrete ground.

"Carrie, we've gotta get out of the area!" yelled Jordan as he grabbed my wrist. "It's not safe here! If the building is as unstable as they say, it will fall and we could get hurt!"

"Robin and Patrick are inside that building!" I shouted at him. "They'll die in there if they don't get help and Emma will have to live the rest of her life without a real family!"

Emma looked at me, her bloodshot eyes gleaming with many tears. "Are Mommy...are Mommy and Daddy going away?"

I put a gentle hand on Emma's cheek, wiping away a tear with my thumb. "No, Emma. I won't let that happen."

I looked towards a firetruck and noticed there was a hose no one was using. I had an idea.

"I promise," I said, more to myself than to Emma.

I grabbed Jordan by the shirt collar and crushed his lips against mine. When I pulled away there was a look of realization on his face.

"Carrie," he said slowly, "I know what you're thinking, but there's no way you can make it in there! You'll die!"

"I'm sorry," I whispered, bowing my head. "I just can't let anyone else die. If it means Emma gets to spend another day with her family, then I'll do anything."

Emma stretched her arms out to me, begging for my hold. "Don't leave me, Ms. Carrie! Don't leave us here alone!"

I kissed the top of Emma's head and whispered "goodbye" against her matted hair. I ran to the unused fire hose and began dragging it along behind me. It slowly began to unravel as I sprinted for a large opening in the building. The fire marshal began screaming for someone to restrain me but I was too quick for them.