Rise Through the Ashes

Prologue- Jacob

Three years ago I did something that had them label me a hero but who know being a hero came with such a price. This is how it all started.

"Jacob wake up!" my younger brother screamed frantically as he shook me awake from my resting place in my queen size bed. I automatically jumped out of bed in panic not having the slightest clue as to what was going on. In only a shirt and boxers my go to sleep attire I all but shouted at my brother "What's happening Alec?!"

"There's a fire, it's spreading and I can't find Maria" by now Alec is a sobbing mess and it takes a little to piece together what he is trying to say but when it finally registered what he is says there is only one thing I can think of, Maria. My little sister some where lost in a burning house, scared out of her mind. With that last thought all the air leaves my lungs and I can just picture her little five year-old face with her deep chocolate eyes with flecks of honey in them, freckle smattered cheeks, and ringlets of bouncy adorably dark brown hair.

With this image in mind I reply with a strong conviction "I'll find her but you need to get out, NOW!" I will get her out because I'm the only one here to do it, both of our parents had the night shift today at the hospital where we work so in those time I watch my sibling which just so happens to be today. Alec is still standing in my room apparently frozen and I know that I need to get him out so I run over to my brother who is only seven years old and looks like a little copy of me we have the same floppy brown hair that gets in our eyes that just so happen to be a light shade of green with gold flecks in them. I throw him over my shoulder and run with him lying on me, his sobs reaching my ears and coating the back of my shirt straight to the window. When I got to the window and pried it open I forced him out of it with him screaming and still crying from realizing that I'm not going with him. With being on the second floor of the house my window opened directly onto a ledge wear it will be easy for Alec to get to the ground since we often go down that way.e

Without the worry of my younger brother i was able to focus on finding my baby sister. The smoke was starting to get bad from my position in the hall outside my room, each breath I took felt like acid was being poured into my lungs and was bound to get worse. The first place to check for Maria was her room next to mine. As I enter the pink blasted room that in my mind any five year old would kill for I don't see Maria anywhere. I start to panic now, so I tell myself to calm down and think of all the places she could be. One place stands out, sometimes Maria likes to sleep to down stairs.... And that's when the panic come back full force, that's the direction the smoke is coming from. Franticly I start calling out for her "Maria, MARIA answer me, we need to get out of here. NOW!!"

I started to run blindly down the stairs almost tripping over my own feet in attempt to get to where I thought I heard a muffled shout over the roaring flames from down below. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest, I could feel it in ears, the swelling panic that just could not go away was overwhelming me. On the last step of the stairs my 200 pound lean, muscled 6'2 physique made it give way sending me sprawling onto the carpet with smoke clogging my throat and lungs.Once I was able to get up on all fours I could see the real state our house was in, the entire back side of the house was up in orange and yellow flames. The smoke covering the area was almost black and it stung my eyes just to have them open but I was determined to get my sister out of there even with the rapidly spreading flames.

The only direction that Maria would be in would be the back where the living room where the couches are that we all like to sleep on, especially Maria. With my heart pounding in my chest and coughing haggardly I staggered towards the open flames that was consuming the house and could consume me. I could hear the small voice of a scared five-year-old girl panicking and calling out for help. "Help, someone please help me, caca. Jacob please." I could share a Maria I call desperately with coughing fits in between.