The Fire Burns Bright

A Farewell

Jacob's P.O.V

I lead the way to my moms' house, which is surprisingly close. When we come within 25 feet of my house, I can hear Annie and my mothers' desperate cries. I sprint toward the house. 

"Stay here," I call over my shoulder to the kids and their parents. "It's not safe there with him."

"Aw, come on! I wanna go in there and give that jerk a piece of my mind!" Emma shouts from on her dads back. 

"Emma, did you even take a nap?" Micheal asks her.

"Um... Yes," she lies.

"Your such a bad liar," Micheal laughs.

"I'm not even tired," Emma complains with a yawn in the middle of her sentence.

"Reeeeeaaally?" Micheal questions.

I don't hear the rest of their argument because I'm already running full speed toward the house. Then, I hear my mom's screaming suddenly goes quiet and I'm almost certain Marcus has killed her. I can only hear Annie's weak childish cries. Her cries get weaker. As I reach the door and throw it open, I can only hope that she's alright.

"MOM!!" I scream, running in. "ANNIE!!"

I realize belatedly that by shouting their names I'd eliminated the chance that I could sneak up on Marcus. Marcus, of course, hears me and I can almost feel his angry footsteps echoing through the house as he stomped toward the front of the house. As he comes down the hall, I get ready to throw a punch. 

My father approaches me with a small, sharp dagger in his hand. I hope against hope that the crimson red blood on the end knife belongs to anyone other than Annie or my mother. Annie. I can hear her screaming my name like it's her last string of hope. Her voice sounds shrill and broken. 

Marcus lunges at me with the knife. 

"You stupid boy!" he shouts as I dodge him. 

I punch him hard in the gut and he lurches to the side, trying to dodge me but he's too slow. I shove Marcus to the ground and he makes the mistake of trying to throw the dagger. His aim is so off that I don't even have to dodge it. He cusses and I smash my fist over his head. 

I watch as the light leaves his eyes. Then I run toward the sounds of Annie's cries.  I find her on the living room floor. Her hands are tied tightly behind her back and right shoulder leans against the couch. 

"Jacob!" she cries when she sees me. Then I see her eyes widen with fear. I whirl around to see that I didn't knock Marcus out as hard as I thought. He's standing behind me with a dagger and he'd been about to dig it into my back. 

Another ragging fight brakes out between us two; Marcus with a dagger and me with only my fists. At some point in the battle, I feel the small knife catch on the end of my eyebrow but the adrenaline pulsing through my veins keeps me going and I succeed in knocking Marcus out cold. 

Then I run back to Annie. I untie her hands and pull her into my arms, holding her tightly. Annie makes a small sound of discomfort and I loosen my grip, still cradling her in my arms. 

"Annie, are you okay?" I ask.

Annie nods but she winces again. "I don't think mommy's okay, Jacob."

Her voice shakes like a mountain that's about to collapse. Tear well in her eyes. I gently pull her closer to me and she rests her head against my chest listening to my heart beat like it's the only thing left she has to hold on to.

"Annie, I promise mom will be alright," I tell her while gently running my fingers through her soft brown hair. I know it's a risky thing to say, especially considering that I haven't even checked my mothers' conditions yet. 

I hear the door creak opened and Annie leans into my chest gripping my shirt. I can feel her muscles tense against my body. 

"It's okay," I tell her. "I brought friends  to help me."

I feel her pointy chin nod into my chest and scoot over to kneel beside my mother. 

"Mom?" I say softly. I want to scream for her to wake up. I want to shake her awake while crying her name but I know I can't do that. I have to be strong for Annie. "Mom?" I say a little louder this time. 

My eyes begin to get misty and my emotions want to break free and cause me to sob. I'm about to lose control of my emotions. I can hear and feel Annie crying sobbing into my chest. She takes choppy little breath in between sobs and hiccups. I imagine letting my emotions take over and hugging her like a child hugs his teddy bear and crying. 

But just then my moms' eyes are opened. I feel her cold hand touch my hand and I jump, startled. Then I recognize the touch of my mother and relax a little. 

"Jacob?" she questions, though she knows it's me. 

"I'm here, mom," I say.

"Mommy!" Annie hiccups, wiping tears from her sky-blue eyes with the heels of her hands. 

"Baby," my mom says weakly, wiping a stray tear from Annie's cheek with her finger.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Then my sweet little sister seems to realize that our mom isn't alright.  She turns tearful blue eyes toward me. "Daddy hurt mommy really bad. Mommy, we need to go to the hospital right now!"

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I can't," my mom says. 

"Why?" Annie and I ask together.

"I can't make it, kids," our mom says. "I'm so sorry."

My mom looks at us both and notices the gash at the end of my eyebrow. She reaches up to wipe the blood that is running down the side of my face. 

"Jacob, your bleeding," she says. Her eyebrow crease with concern.  

"It's nothing, mom. I'm okay. I'm going to the hospital after this. I'll get Annie a checkup to make sure she's okay. You've got to come with us, mom," I say, pleading with my eyes. My mom just shakes her head. 

That's when I notice the blood staining the front of her shirt. I'd been so focused on my mothers face that I hadn't noticed. I pray to God that Annie doesn't look away from my moms face. Then I look back at my mothers' face. She has the same sky-blue eyes as Annie and the same soft brown hair. I look into her eyes and think about everything she did for me and Annie. That's when I knew my mom wasn't going to make it to the hospital. Before I know, my eyes fill with tears and I'm sobbing. Annie hears me and collapses against me and I can feel her small body shaking in my arms.   

"Look at me, my babies," says our mother. We both look up with tearful eyes. "I can't be with you down here on Earth anymore but I will always be with you."

"Always?" Annie asks, her blue eyes shimmering with tears. 

"Always," our mother says. "I'll always be looking out for you from up there."

Our mother points a weak, shaky hand toward the heavens. Annie looks up as though expecting to see heaven. Then she looks back at mom. 

"Mommy, you can't leave us!" she sobs. "Please don't go away, mommy!"

Then she turns to me.

"Jacob, you promised mommy would be okay!" she says, looking to me as though I hold her last string of hope. I try to swallow the lump in my throat but couldn't. All I can do is bow my head sadly.   

"I'm sorry, my beautiful babies, but I can't live forever," our moms' voice got softer as she spoke. She reaches to touch Annie's face, gently wiping away tears with her fingers. Annie holds our mom's hand to her face so my our mother's hand gently touches Annie's cheek which was wet with tears. Annie holds on tightly to our mother's hand. It's like she thinks if she doesn't let go our mother won't be able to leave; won't be able to die.   

Our mother smiles up at us as the light drains from her eyes. Then her eyes closed and she doesn't open them again. Annie buries her face in my shirt and sobs. I feel empty like my heart has been ripped from my chest. Annie and I huddle together sobbing over our mother's body for a long time.