Always Be Appreciative of Opposable Thumbs

Chapter Nine: Great Balls of Fire

 The ropes snapped, and Hugo was thrown to the ground as the entire house began to shake. He instinctively reached for Willow and found her nearby. Pulling her close, he shielded her from the splintered wood falling from the ceiling.

They needed to get out. He wasn't sure what was happening, but it was clear that the shoe was not going to hold up for long. What about the others? Were they all right?

Adelgiese had already scrambled over to Angel, scooping her up just before the chest of drawers crushed her. But where was Sera? It was hard to see due to the smoke that had somehow filled the room.

"We have to get out now," Adelgiese said, running for the door.

No! We can't leave Sera, Willow said.

"Where did she go?" Hugo asked as he rose to his feet with Willow in his arms.

Maybe she's still tied to the chair.

Hugo blindly stumbled through the smoke, trying not to slip on the suddenly wet floor as he made his way back to the chair. Coughing, he waved the smoke away only to find the chair reduced to kindling. There was no sign of Sera.

Willow gasped. What if she's been framed? Oh, poor Sera.

Opening his mouth to give a sarcastic response, he was cut off by a deafening roar from above. He looked up and was pelted with heavy raindrops from the storm outside. There was a gaping hole in the roof, and flying menacingly above that hole was a crimson dragon.

Where did that come from?

"I can take a guess," Hugo mumbled. "Come on, we've got to get out of here before she sets this place on fire."

Running into the hall, Hugo bolted towards the stairs.

What about Adelgiese and Angel?

"I'm sure they're—"

He was interrupted by shattering glass. Adelgiese was smashing the glass panes of the silhouettes. The people trapped inside scrambled over the frames and glided down the stairs like spectres, slipping under the front door.

"Adelgiese, we have to leave," Hugo said.

"No! I won't let them burn with the old woman."

"But—"

"You go. Take Angel with you."

The little silhouette was wrapped around Adelgiese's ankle. "No. I won't leave you," she said, tightening her hold on the older girl.

Hugo, we can't just leave them.

Gritting his teeth, he placed Willow on the floor and broke off a piece of the banister. "Move aside," he said to one of the silhouettes.

The shadow ducked behind the frame, and Hugo proceeded to smash the pane to pieces. As the silhouette snaked its way out, he moved on to the next one. Even Willow began pecking at the frames closest to the bottom of the stairs.

There are more in the wardrobe in her room.

"I'll get them," Hugo said as he rushed up the stairs.

He had no idea where Henrietta was. Had she been crushed when the roof caved in? Had the dragon eaten her? Or had she somehow managed to escape unscathed? With a wily old woman like her, nothing would surprise him.

Tearing open the wardrobe, Hugo found broken frames and tattered silhouettes inside. They whimpered at the sight of him, but he gathered them up anyhow and rushed them out of the room, skirting the flames that were quickly making their way through the hallway.