The Walk Towards Sunshine

Chapter 24

A sword.

A sword through the stomach of a vile man. Am I hallucinating? Who in the right mind, will got through this fire to save me? Is it a guardian angel or something? Mum? Dean drops the gun and crumples on the floor, his blood pooling around him. The person who killed Dean in an instant is now crouching beside me. I thought he or she will put that sword through my stomach as well.

"Wha-"I stutter. I blink my watery eyes several times and try to see the brave soul.

"Get up, please! Help yourself!" Judging from her voice, it's a woman. She threw her sword aside and slaps my face lightly. She then grabs my arm and put it around her shoulders. I recognize her scent. "We have to get out, NOW! Forget the damn pain and just get up!"

I shout as I try to stand up. I stagger and end up leaning my full weight to her. Flames surround us and I don't know how she plans to escape. I can hear her rugged breathes as she carries me and is thinking of a plan at the same time. I worry that she might pass out. She got something with her other hand that I didn't know she had and extinguished the fire enough for us to pass through and into the small hallway on the right. She extinguished more fore on the hall just to lessen the heat. She opened the door to the left and we went inside that still isn't burning with flames. I seriously wanted to hurl because after inhaling petrol, we are now inside a room that smelled like rotting wood and dead animals. She led me to a corner and kicked a small square door at the floor. A small staircase leads us down to another room, which I guess is the basement. She turned on a small bulb and leads me to another staircase that goes up.

"Just go up this stairs fast and we are free." She whispered. "I will help you." Hearing the word free had me holding the step of stairs and drag myself up. I was going up like a blotto man with injuries as if I came home after a fight. She holds my back to make me sturdy and encouraging me to do it faster before the fire destroys everything which might trap us here in the basement. When I reach the top, the woman pushed open a small, metal door enough for one person to fit, and she shoved me out into the starry night.

I pass out.

. . . . . .

I wake in Dean's house. I am supposed to panic, but I have this weird feeling that I'm supposed to be here and something will unravel before me. I will know something and it will be hard for me to accept. I'm lying down at the exact spot where I hit my head so badly and accepted my death. I tried to get up but my body felt like it's been glued to the floor. I look around and see that no single furniture is around. The house is spotless. The last thing I remember is that I burned this house. I shouldn't see a house at all. Just a bunch of burnt wood and furniture, but instead the house is spotless. No sign of petrol or anyone's blood on the floor yet I still smell its stench. What is going on?

"You and your mother deserve hell, you know." Anastacia, alive and well, suddenly appeared and is leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "You both single-handedly killed the people I love. You're just like your mother, heartless and manipulative." Just listen, I told myself.

"My daughter and now Dean. God she was so beautiful. My daughter gave me reason to live. But she died." She had a daughter? I'm pretty sure she wasn't taking about Althea. "After all this years, Dean finally learned to love me, and now he ended up dead." She laughed. "Am I that cursed? Do all the people I love the most die from the hands of the people I call family?" Ana quickly wiped the tear that escaped her eye. She straightened and looked at me as if she's going to murder me. I've have never seen someone look at me with eyes full of hate and despair. Her eyes have no room for forgiveness.

"Your mother should be rotting in jail! She killed my daughter and she just ran away. You know why? She's a coward! She didn't want to face what she has done so she ran and ran until she started a family of her own." She knelt down beside me, tousled my hair and caresses my cheeks, taking her time to appreciate her nephew before ending its life. She growled and puts her hand around my neck. She brings her face close to mine. "I stole Althea to let Belinda feel what it's like to lose a daughter. People think I'm crazy but you know what's crazier? Killing you own sister's daughter and running away from it!" She gave me a smile. "I too ran away and started my own family with the sweet, sweet Althea. Everything was fine until you came along. I should have asked Dean to kill you after stealing Althea." With her free hand, she raised a knife.