I grip the ledge, and using all my upper strength, I pull myself up into the window. My sister steps back, her shoulders dropping as she begins to cry. “I can’t get down there. There’s too much smoke. But I heard screams. You need to go and help them.”
“And I will. It’s going to be okay, Nor,” I promise, jumping inside. I stick my head out, my gaze meeting Landon’s. “Let me get Nora out and then I’ll help you up.”
He nods and my sister shakes as I turn to her. “You can’t be serious. Go help them first.”
“Let me get you out first. I don’t want you stuck up here. Landon and Maddox are outside. They’ll help you.”
Her hand is clammy and hot when she takes mine. “Please don’t drop me,” she warns as she sits up on the ledge, swinging her legs over.
“I won’t,” I promise, helping her turn. Landon and Maddox are there, both reaching up as I dangle her down the wall. Once they grab her legs, supporting her weight and balance, I let go. She whimpers, but pushes them away.
“Go help the others,” she orders, jumping down from the bin.
I go to reach for Landon but the sight of Kayla and Lake rushing up the side of the alley, has me freezing in place. They are carrying a three-storey ladder, their expressions filled with guilt, like they stole it.
“We stole it from a neighbour when we saw what you were doing,” Kayla answers the silent question before glancing over her shoulder like she’s worried about being chased.
Maddox and Landon grin. “Stay there. They’ll need help getting down if we can’t open the doors.”
“Don’t you dare get hurt, Landon Carter, because I’ll kill you myself.”
“Mum,” Landon mutters, giving her a pointed look.
“Just please get your sister before she kills someone,” she demands.
They nod, both gripping the ladder before ascending. I don’t bother to wait for them. Something inside of me is pushing me to get to Charlotte.
I cover my mouth with my jacket and reach out with my hand until my fingers hit a shelf. I’m not sure which way to go. The smoke is thick, clouding every nook and cranny in this place as I navigate my way through it. It burns my nostrils, and the scent of scorched paper fills my mouth.
The smoke grows thicker and I know I’m heading in the right direction. My hand meets something metal and I grab it just as my foot meets air. I nearly topple down the stairs. The further down I get, the thinner the smoke gets.
Screams.
“Charlotte?” I roar, staggering to stop in the middle of chaos. I blink through the haze of smoke, wondering if what I’m seeing is real or my imagination.
“My books. You burnt my books,” Charlotte screams from where she’s perched.
On a woman’s back.
While said woman spins, fighting to get her off and waving a knife in the air.
I can’t believe what I’m witnessing. I’m not even sure who we are meant to be saving right now.
Landon staggers to a stop beside me, taking in his sister, bloody and covered in soot, to his cousin who’s lying next to her, unconscious, and then to Charlotte, who is screaming about her books and for everyone to save them.
“Wouldn’t fight back, huh?” I mutter.
“Okay, maybe she can get mad sometimes. She really does love her books.”
“Get the books free,” she cries.
Following her gaze, I notice Olivia, fighting to get the knife from the woman, and then Harriet, blood pouring down her arm as she uses her jacket uselessly to put the fire out.
Maddox lifts his mouth from his elbow. “Why am I not surprised,” he mutters, shaking his head at the scene.
I peer closer through the fog, the fire long forgotten as I focus on the woman’s face. “Is that a… a…”
“Yes,” Landon replies, pinching the bridge of his nose.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHARLOTTE
My fingers clench around the straps of the black leather ball gag Olivia threw at me after finding it in her bag. I have it wrapped around Sophia’s mouth, pulling with all my strength to keep her from hurting one more person. It’s the only weapon in our arsenal and one I will question Olivia about on another day.
Maybe.
Sophia’s muffled cries behind the gag don’t even register. She has said enough and none of it was from regret or remorse for what she has done.
I’m not present in my own body. I don’t feel the same connection I do to all living beings. All I want to do is stop her.
There was a moment when I was leaping on her back that it felt like I was watching from the side-lines. I couldn’t control my reaction at all. Yet, it was all I could do in that moment.
“You crazy bitch,” Olivia yells at me, dodging the swinging knife Sophia still wields, and then points. “Get down from there right now.”
She’s speaking to me like a scolding mother would to her child. It’s sweet of her to care, but I don’t heed her warning. I don’t let go.
“Save the books,” I scream. “Save yourself.”
“You need to save yourself. Fuck the books,” she mutters sarcastically.
My library.
My sweet, peaceful library has done nothing to deserve this kind of hatred.
Madison had done nothing to deserve the glass bottle Sophia had pulled out of her bag and smashed over her head. She’s unconscious; unmoving on the floor. It’s only the steady beat of her chest rising and falling that lets us know she’s okay. Hayden isn’t faring well either. She had gotten caught in the middle of the attack to stop Sophia and smacked her head against the reception desk. After she went down, everything had become a haze.
No one messes with my family.
Nor my friends.
“Charlotte!”
The smoke must be getting to me because I could have sworn those were Drew’s words, his fear palpable as I fight her to drop the knife.
“My books. You burnt my books,” I scream, my throat burning from inhaling the smoke.
Olivia steps forward, once again trying to get to the knife. I want her to get the others and get out. And hopefully save at least some of my books.
My poor books.
“Get the books free,” I yell at her.
She shakes her head as she struggles for breath. “I’m not leaving you with this crazy bitch.”
My fingers slip from the strap and the ball gag drops to the floor. “I’m going to kill you,” Sophia screams.
Drew suddenly steps in, pushing Olivia away when the knife gets too close to her. “Follow Landon,” he demands, pointing to where my cousin is standing. “He’s going to open the door.”
“Drew,” I breathe, beaming wide, and for a moment, I forget where I am, what I’m supposed to be doing. I get that flutter in my stomach, the jump in my heart from the sight of him. I drop to the floor as she manages to overthrow me, and land on my back, the breath getting knocked out of me.
Drew is here.
My eyes widen as the horror hits me.
Drew is here. The library is on fire and there’s lunatic with a knife.
And my books are on fire.
“No,” I whisper, my eyes wide as saucers.
Just as I go to warn him, to tell him to run, she faces him, her scream so loud it echoes over the walls, over the blazing cackling of the fire.