Legend of the Flaming phantom

Chapter 27: The Handymen

As the watch beeped, we all stared at it in horror. Ashley turned the watch off, then sighed. Tasia's face portrayed pure horror.

"Please," Tasia began. "We have to stay a little longer. Jericho couldn't have died in that!"

"Tasia, we can't," Ashley said. "Jericho was the one who set that time limit."

"That was just him trying to act tough! Please, we can't just leave him!"

"I'm sorry, Tasia, but Axel definitely survived that, and if Jericho did survive, Axel will most likely reach us first."

"But-"

"Listen, I don't like it either, but that is my choice."

Ashley turned and began walking to the car.

"Somebody get Cyrus in the car," Ashley said.

Austin and Simon walked over to me and lifted me up and began walking me to the car. As they opened the door, Tasia fell to her knees. I had never seen such desperation in someone's eyes.

"Please," Tasia said softly. "Please, please don't do this."

Tasia struck the ground with all of her might.

"Please!" She screamed.

Ashley stopped. She was gritting her teeth.

"I'm sorry," She said. "I really am."

Ashley opened the door to the car and got in the driver's seat. Tasia was absolutely petrified. Dakota walked over to Tasia and helped her stand. Tasia did not fight her. Dakota and Tasia walked to the car and Dakota helped Tasia climb into the car. Dakota closed the door and began walking to the other side of the car.

Everyone got in the car, and Ashley started the engine. As we were about to drive away, I heard muffled shouting. The sound was barely audible over the engine.

"Does anyone else hear that?" I asked.

The sound was slowly getting louder.

"What is that?" Addison said.

"Look!" Dakota exclaimed, pointing out the window.

Everyone looked in the direction where Dakota was pointing and saw the figure of a person running toward us. The person wasn't large enough to be Axel. As the person got closer, it became easier to make out details. The person was Jericho! Jericho had a large burn on his left arm, and a portion of his sleeve was missing. Suddenly, Tasia opened her door and jumped out of the car. She ran toward Jericho with tears in her eyes. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him. They were still a distance away, but I could still hear them through the open door.

"What took you so long!" Tasia cried.

"I ended up a little further than I thought I would," Jericho said. "I'm sorry if I worried you."

Tasia looked at Jericho's burned arm, then to his face.

"What happened to your arm?" She asked

"That explosion took me and my body by surprise," Jericho replied. "Even with my speed, I was almost engulfed in flames. Axel couldn't get out in time, but there's no doubt that he's still alive."

"I don't care about him! Never do that again!"

"Trust me, I never want to do that again. I scared myself back there."

Tasia stood there for a bit longer, embracing Jericho.

"This has been nice, but we should get going," Jericho said. "We wouldn't want Axel catching up with us."