“Stop!” I shout to Landon grabbing at his hand to get his attention. The smoke is not quite as thick as it is in the back hallway where I think the origin point was. I put my other hand up in front of his face. “Stay here. Don’t move!” I yell forcefully at him. Thankfully he nods in understanding, but his eyes widen, almost pleading with me not to do anything to put myself in any more danger than we already are.
Dropping his hand, I scan the room, looking for what I need. Landon grabs my chin and turns my head toward him so I can see where he’s pointing to a fire extinguisher on the wall next to the bar.
“I’ll get it for you,” he shouts at me and then takes off across the room, grabbing it, and has it back to me within seconds.
With the extinguisher in my hand, I take a few steps to get close enough to where the flames are spreading, pulling the lock pin out and pointing it at the small area on the floor where the object landed. The spray of water from the sprinklers is helping disperse the concentration of smoke in this room and is hopefully preventing any embers from starting another fire in this main room. The moment the flames in front of me are out, I release the handle of the extinguisher, saving the remaining foam in case I need more.
“Sirens.” I turn to Landon who is by my side, wide-eyed and looking like he’s starting to slide into shock. “They’ll have us out in no time.”
I grab his arms and pull him down into a crouching position with me, because even though the water helps, there is still plenty of smoke pouring into this room. And I’m nervous at the thought of where the flames could be in the ceiling above.
There’s another loud bang as something collapses near the back door, and then the power cuts out, throwing us into darkness until the dim emergency lighting kicks in. Just bright enough to illuminate Landon’s face, and it appears as though the loss of light is enough to snap him back out of his shock, for now anyway.
He reaches out and pulls me against his chest, just for a moment. It’s the connection we both need in this terrifying moment. But he understands that we need to be free to move in a split second, so he lets me go again, and I reassure him by squeezing his arm. “We’ve got this.”
Listening to the distinctive wail of sirens as they approach, I can tell that the fire engines are pulling up outside. The screech of the brakes, the sirens cutting off, and the distinct sound of the roller doors on the back of the engines being thrown upwards for the crew to grab the equipment they need.
The sound of familiar shouting voices filters through the small hole in the smashed front door is comforting.
“Dad’s station is here.” I’m relieved because they know this is Landon’s bar, and if they’ve been told there are people inside, they’ll suspect it’s him here this late at night. They’ll be working as fast as they can to get us out of here.
Landon just nods at me as I indicate that we both need to move to the side of the room away from the door, knowing they’ll have to smash the glass completely to get the doors open. And on the slim possibility it causes a blast, the air will be rushing forward and bring the fire with it, straight out the open door, and we’ll stand a chance if we aren’t in the direct path of the blast of heat and flames.
Just as we get to the side wall, I hear a loud crack in the ceiling above our heads, and even though I’ve managed to stay relatively calm until now, it’s this sound that triggers my panic. Landon hears it too and pulls me into his side, giving me the comfort that he’s ready to protect me if anything falls on top of us.
But it’s too late, I’m starting to spiral, hearing Dean’s voice in my head again.
“All clear.”
As I look through the smoky room toward the sound of a loud smash at the front door, the blurred vision of a firefighter emerges. They’re rigged out in all their gear, their arm raised in the air using their Halligan Bar to break the glass. I watch as figure approaches and then a flash of light passes in front of my eyes.
I can see Dean walking out of the room where my accident happened. It’s as clear as anything.
And then Kyra steps into the room behind his back, lifts her Halligan Bar, hooking it into the wood beam, and pulls the burning ceiling down on top of me.
Our eyes lock as she smiles at me, and then I remember the pain hitting me as the world went black.
“Poppy! Poppy, baby, breathe, come back to me. She’s having a panic attack or a fucking flashback or something.” I can hear Landon shouting as the mask of a breathing apparatus is pushed onto my face. It’s a familiar feeling that brings me a sense of calm as the cool oxygen fills my lungs.
“Little Bert, look at me.” Pointy’s shouting at me, and I blink my eyes, trying to focus. I concentrate on listening to his words, and then finally, I start to see him clearly. “Yep, and she’s back, we’ve got her. Get them out of here.” He’s making calls to his crew, and the sound of his radio chatter is soothing to me. But before Pointy has a chance to help me walk, Landon’s arms are around me, and he sweeps me off my feet. Landon strides quickly toward the front door, with Pointy moving at the same pace closely beside us, because it’s his oxygen mask I’m hooked up to.
The moment we’re out the door, I pull the mask off, throwing it at Pointy, and grab Landon’s shirt.
“Kyra, it was Kyra. I saw her, she did it. It was Kyra.” I’m screaming at him, but not in a panic this time. Instead, with sheer relief.
We’re both safe, and I finally remember everything.
But then as he gets us out into the fresh air, walking to get us far enough away from the building, Landon stops and spins around so we’re facing Lucinda’s. I feel his shoulders slump forward. Slowly lowering me to my feet, we both stare indisbelief as the flames shoot out of the roof, and it’s obvious that there’s no saving the bar now.
Turning into his side, I wrap my arms around Landon’s waist to try and give him as much support as I can, and then I burst into tears.
Every bit of elation I felt moments ago from finally recalling my memory about my accident and uncovering the truth that it was Kyra who had deliberately caused it all, now means absolutely nothing to me.
All I care about is being as strong as I can be to help Landon pick up the pieces.
LANDON
Making sure Poppy’s safe is all I care about, but now that the EMTs have cleared her, I let my reality sink in. The bar’s gone, and along with it are the memories of Lucinda I would get as I walked around inside the building. We built this bar together, and I always thought that maybe I would be able to leave it to the boys as a legacy of their mother. But that’s all gone now.
