Two years later (Part 5: Fire and Storm clouds)

Harris shoved a now gagged and bound Reanna down the farm-house stairs, and towards the truck. Above them, storm-clouds were forming, and thunder was echoing throughout the sky.

"It seems like we're in for quite a storm tonight." Harris chuckled. Suddenly, a smell caught Reanna's attention as she sniffed the moist air.

Smoke!

She looked over her shoulder, and her eyes went wide with terror, as orange light illuminated through the windows of the farm house. They were setting the house on fire with Thomas still inside!

"Mfft!" she shouted through the gag, trying to pull away from Harris's grip.

"C'mon, after a couple months with us you won't even remember the detective." Harris snarled, frustrated with the girl's futile escape attempt.

Jaxon and Bella came running out of the house; Reanna's cousin was wearing a smirk, as he gazed at the burning house.

Reanna couldn't believe Jaxon; why would he be smiling at the fact that he left someone to die in a burning building? Her breathing grew rapidly as the window pane shattered, and flames flew out.

Reanna continued to struggle, and she stepped back on a distracted Harris's foot, and head-butted him in the nose. When her captor's grip was lost she broke into a sprint towards the burning house. 

Bella mumbled something under her breath before chasing after her, but she didn’t get far before Harris grabbed her by the shoulder, and pulled her back. 

“What are you doing?” she hissed at him. 

“She’s already in the fire, I am not risking my other niece. I’m sorry, Bella, we tried, but your sister is a goner.” Harris exclaimed. 

“No!” Bella screamed; she tried running towards the house, but Jaxon and Harris held her back, and got her to the truck. 

“We need to get out of here before the police arrive.” Jaxon shouted, as Harris shut the driver’s seat door, and started the ignition. Bella continued to cry in the back-seat; all she wanted was to have her sister back with her. 

_*_

The first thing Reanna did when she entered the emblazoned house, was rush to the kitchen, cut her ropes off her wrists with the nearest knife that wasn’t already too hot, and pull the gag out of her mouth. 

She pulled her shirt over her mouth, and examined the flames around her. 

“Where’s the cellar door?” Reanna asked herself; a crunching sounded above her, and she looked up. A chunk of the roof was about to cave in right on top of her!

Reanna was able to jump out of the way from the collapsing wood, but the impact behind her flung her forward, and rolled into the wall. 

Reanna’s vision became blurry, as she inhaled smoke from the collision, and it sent her into a coughing fit. 

She staggered up on her feet, and used the wall for support, as she continued to look around. The cellar door caught her eye, and she smiled to herself before making her way towards it. 

Reanna almost made the mistake of grabbing the door-knob, but when she saw the red-hot color it had turned into, she halted her actions. Instead she pounded the wood, and shouted, “Thomas!” 

“Re...Red…” Thomas’s voice sounded on the other side of the door, but it sounded faint. 

“Are you okay?” she asked; a small fire ember made contact with the scars that had been inflicted on her, and she gave out a small yelp, but immediately focused her attention on Thomas on the other side of the door. 

“So...sort of...there are no flames...but… smoke is leaking from under the...door, and...it’s getting hard… to….brea….breathe.” Reanna heard Thomas stutter. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you ou...out… I… promise.” At that moment, Reanna’s vision got blurry, and she started to feel light-headed. No, no; not now.

“Reanna?”

No answer

“Red!” 

“Yeah, yeah; I’m starting to feel light-headed.” Reanna exclaimed, her breathing becoming more deep, though she knew all she was inhaling was smoke. 

“Reanna, leave *cough* *cough* now.” Thomas exclaimed; his voice sounded oddly calm, but concerned. 

“No, Thomas, you cannot convince me to do that. I am going to grab a knife from the kitchen, and then I am going to chop my way through this burning door, you hear me?!” she shouted in response. 

There was no response, and Reanna quickly headed for the kitchen, though it seemed like the world was spinning. Her knees buckled from under her, and the knife went sliding across the floor, part of the blade ending under the door. 

“Thomas… Can you squeeze the knife over to your side?” Reanna asked, crawling a little farther to the door. 

“I think….” the rest of the knife slipped from view under the door, “Got it! Hang on!” 

Relief flowed through Reanna, and she laid her head against the floor, and closed her eyes. “So tired…” When her face made impact with the floor, a stinging sensation from the freshly made scars shot through her, but all Reanna did was wince a little, but then all her tensed up muscles relaxed. 

_*_

Thomas cut his way through the door, as fast he could with only a limited amount of air. He stopped for a second to cough, and to wipe smoke-causing tears from his eyes, but then he continued again with no hesitation. 

Reanna had stopped talking to him after he retrieved the knife, and he could feel the heat from the fire from the other side of the door. 

After several attempts of hard slicing at the wooden door, part of it gave way, and a small hole was formed. Thomas peered into and saw Reanna unconscious on the floor. 

“Red!” He called; Thomas rammed his shoulder into the door, until the rotting, burning wood gave way, and it opened enough that he could crawl through. 

Not wasting any time to catch his breath, Thomas took Reanna in his arms, and carried her out of the burning house; as soon as his feet made contact with the grass, his legs gave way, plunging both the detective, and Reanna to the dirt. 

“Reanna?” Thomas spoke softly, as he gazed at her from where he was lying on the ground. To his relief, her eyes fluttered open, and she gave her friend a small, soft smile. 

Thomas got to his knees, and sat next to Reanna. “Thank you,” he said, cradling her in his arms. At that moment, rain from the storm clouds above made its way to earth, landing on the two. 

Sirens sounded in the distance as the rain started to fall harder, soaking Thomas and Reanna to the bone. The flames burning the house in front of them started to dim, and the heat faded away. 

The two knew, however, that this battle was not over; Reanna’s family was still out there, and they would pay for this. 

TBC….