Fates Fickle Ways

Chapter Four

Mortified by the realization of what he planned, my head swung to Jake. He was standing there expressionless staring at Richy, who had his head hung. A look of regret clouded his expression.
"You can still get out of here Ella. You and Jake. There's a corridor there that will take you to an exit not on the maps. No one should be there." Defeated. He sounded defeated. I watched him as he walked over to the gas cans and picked one up. "I really am sorry." Gasoline started to pour over the pictures of our friends. The same friends that now surely know the truth.

My heart hurt. Fate is fickle, and it led me to them. To friends that quickly became family as we searched for one of their own. Friends that had been betrayed. Richy; who I have no doubt was only trying to help, until things spiraled out of his control. Jessy; who trusted Richy more than anyone, and was heartbroken when we thought he died. Cleo; who wanted more than anything to find her best friend. Dan; who wanted to protect the others so badly he put his own health at risk. Lilly; who would do anything to save her sister. And Thomas, who was trying his hardest to find his girlfriend and not lose hope. I was frozen. A foreign sound was filling the corridors of the mine. Warm tears stained my cheeks and I screamed. Hands wrapped around my waist. I was swooped off the ground and back into those strong arms that held me before.

Jake ran as fast as he could down the corridor Richy told us about. I looked back and the last thing I saw was Richy removing a lighter from his pocket. Uncontrollable sobs racked my body. I fought to get out of Jake's arms, to run to Richy and stop him. But Jake wouldn't let me go. I heard the explosion just before we reached a field surrounded by trees. Jake set me down and sat beside me holding me while I sobbed. "It's okay Ella." He repeated over and over but his voice was faint under the sirens. Sirens! If I could hear them they had to be close! I got up and ran to the tree line. I saw who I assumed to be Hannah wrapped in a blanket on the back of an ambulance. Her face twisted with shock. When I followed her gaze I noticed two officers, they were standing behind someone kneeled on the ground.