The Fire Unleashed ✔

36. Death

He had sprayed fucking kerosene all over the place before they brought me here, and now this bastardo lit the entire place, but not before giving me one last revolting victorious grin and exiting with his troope.

I was in deep shit. I knew Luca had been listening to everything, but he won't be able to protect me this time. It might even be too late before he arrives, and if that Roberto decides to stand outside and watch me crumble to ashes slowly, it was game over. But, there was no way I would ever accept defeat.

Not at the hands of that man.

Not when he is still breathing perfectly fine.

I resorted to plan B, which consisted of looking for a back window which opens to the other side of the area. Maybe I could run away from here before this explodes, stay quiet for a little while, and come back home the next morning. It wouldn't be a walk in the park, more like walking on hot coals and trillions of pieces of broken glass.

But, I will have to escape – dying has never been a way for me.

Glancing around, I could feel the heat of the unbridled fire close in on me, and I started searching for a door frantically. Finally, among the thick fog of the smoke, after grappling through the ruins that were going through the same fate twice, I stumbled upon a broken window, with its glass still splintered. It was already difficult to jump out of a splintered window, but with my hands tied behind my back and feet tied to the chair, it was almost impossible. The smoke was also starting to asphyxiate me, and the black soot was hindering my vision from reaching my goal – a sharp object.

Just then, I was reminded of the little knife I had stashed in my boot. It would be a hard task to retrieve it in my current position, but I had to try. I had to, if I wanted to see his dying face. Since the chair I was tied to was made of plastic, that too, a very flimsy one with cracks and holes in it, I gripped the cracked ends of the chair from the middle, and with all my might, ripped it open just enough for my hands to pass through.

Step one, completed.

Carefully thrusting my right hand through the hole I just created, I reached for my boot easily and found that the knife was still present. Stupid fools. They still don't know what kind of vicious man I am.

Grabbing hold of it, I first cut off the ropes of my right foot, then switched the knife to the left hand and freed my other leg. The hands were a bit harder to free, but with my skill and expertise, all of this took me precisely two minutes. There was invariably a reason for my actions, and I had trained myself to match every minute, every second for a day like this. People who thought I was being ruthless with them or myself, could go fuck themselves as they would have already died with that attitude if they were here instead of me.

The flames had risen up to the ceiling by now, and threatened to engulf everything in under a few minutes. Since this wasn't a sturdy building, it was bound to fall more easily than any ordinary one, destroying anything and anyone taking its refuge in seconds, without any consideration of the life budding inside it. Coughing more violently than before, I struggled to stand up. After stretching my legs, I tightened my hold on the knife, hoping to cut through all the broken glass to get out in a safer way.

The plan didn't go as wanted, but since I was determined to escape no matter how, I was too caught in the moment to notice even if some stray pieces pierced my skin while jumping out. Apparently, I would also not mind if I got burned here itself. While I was pondering the situation with the window, and checking outside if there was anyone watching me, I totally forgot about the collapsing ceiling. My sudden instincts told me look upwards, only to see a large wooden piece alight with flames fall down on my head with full force and speed.

Those instincts saved me once again, as I quickly leapt to the ground and covered my head with both of my hands. Having no time to escape fully, the piece eventually fell on the right side of my torso. I had never been burned before, so I was completely unfamiliar with the singing and searing pain it usually brought. Thankfully, because it was a bit cold, I had donned a woolen cardigan over my casual tshirt, which saved my life. The sweater immediately caught fire, and even though I felt I could die because of the pain, and even though I thought I would be lying down here forever, I forced myself up. Carefully, while making sure to avoid getting the fire on any other part of my body, I got up and flung the wooden piece to the other side.

The sweater was a hard task to remove, but a little bit of rolling on the ground did the trick of putting out the fire. Peeling off the sweater, I stumbled once again towards the window. My whole right side was badly burnt, and was bleeding. But there was no more time to contemplate or hesitate. It was now or never.

I put all of my remaining strength to use, and hoisted myself up on the ledge. The sharp glass cur through the skin of my hands, but I ignored it all and pushed myself further until I was fully on the other side. Grabbing onto the other side of the window with trembling hands, I jumped down and landed clumsily on the grassy field. Getting up again, on unsteady feet, I attempted to run as fast as I could, but there was no way my legs would comply with my wishes to such an extent. I eventually fell on the ground, and had to crawl towards the thick foliage of bushes to save myself from the explosion that could happen any– BOOM!!

Guess it had already happened.