Jatrina- Eternal Flame

Opportunities

Janet's POV

The sudden vibrating of my phone tore me out of my peaceful slumber. I lazily reached over and grabbed hold of my phone. I looked at the number which read private. In the midst of putting it back and ignoring it. I brought it to my ear, sat up and swung my legs over the side of my bed. The person on the other end of this line is gonna cop it, I thought to myself. I heard screaming, and then crying. The voice on the other end of the line spoke. 

"Janet, You may not remember who I am but I need you to come to this address. There is a fire in our house and my mother is on the floor and she can't breathe. My name is Mischa, I am 4 years old and my mothers name is Katrina. If you don't believe me ask Riley, me and my brother were playing with her yesterday at Mommy Toddler Time Daycare. Riley gave us your phone number. I will send the address through. You have to hurry, my mother is afraid of nothing. That is, except fires, because of past, ummm, circumstances", the faint sound of the call ending could be heard. Followed by the ding of a message. 

My gut was telling me to go to the address and because of my past experiences I decided to follow it. Now was not the time to wallow in pity. I rushed out of bed and put my usual clothes on. I decided to go with a baggy sweater and a pair of lulu leggings. I put my waterproof vessi's on, some perfume and then I grabbed my phone, keys and wallet. I bolted down the stairs and slipped on the floorboards in the process. Dashing into Riley's room, I yanked her frozen themed sheets off of her bed and hauled her to the car. She mumbled something about dino nuggies on the way but I was to busy consumed in my own thoughts to think about it. I slammed the front door and sprinted to the car, I chucked Riley into her seat, and told her to clip her own seat belt in and then I punched the address into my GPS. My red jeep started its engine with a rumble and I sped to the address that Mischa had messaged me. My wheels spraying gravel as I frantically put the car in forward. I think I ran 4 red lights on the way but I honestly couldn't care. I could feel my eyes stinging from the tears that were already beginning to fall. 

Smoke filled the air as my car skidded to a stop. I told Riley to stay put, I leapt out of the car, popping several veins in my feet as I went along. When the scene before me came into view, my stomach sank below my knees. Katrina's house was no longer looking like a house. Sure enough, two boys who looked to be about 4 lay sprawled out across the driveway, both covered in ash. I recognised them from yesterday. Mischa and Sergei, I believe their names were, according to what Riley told me yesterday. There was no Katrina. I frantically looked around panic swelling from inside of me. I sprinted over to a semi-conscious Mischa. 

"Janet, you can't call the fire fighters. Just help my mother". 

No more information was provided so I just started looking for Katrina. The front door, made of sturdy Oak was slightly ajar, the faint outline of a rainbow shoe could be seen just behind the other side of the door. My stomach sank even lower as I ran as fast as I could over to the door. I had to make  a decision, if I ran in there with nothing covering my mouth I may pass out. I tore my jumper off of my head leaving me in my black lacey bra, I used the sweater to cover my mouth. Running inside, the heat was unbearable, but I kept pushing, it was for Katrina. I found her, she looked so helpless, heaving her up into my arms, I stumbled back through the door, and outside, carrying Katrina bridle style.

I ran over to my Jeep and tugged open the door I placed passed out Katrina along the back seats of the car and ran back over to Mischa and Sergei. I discarded my jumper onto the gravel. I helped both of them up and over to the backseats. Riley had already woken up and was walking towards me with blankets. I may have no job but I'm not an idiot. When someone is in a fire, you have to put blankets on them otherwise they get really cold. I let Riley handle the twins and I rushed back over to the other side of my Jeep. 

Katrina was safe. I picked her back up, bridal style and just held her. Fresh tears poured out of my eyes. She was breathing but she was unconscious. We weren't allowed to call the authorities and it was killing me. It was gonna kill Katrina. I was gonna lose her, I leant down closer and closer, planting a kiss on her touqe. It did nothing, my whole body began shaking with sobs. I knelt down, and looked at Katrina. Her sharp jawline, the way her touqe covered just the right amount of hair. Her smell, full of roses. Her plump cherry lips, calling my name. I bent closer and closer to her face again, getting lost in the trance of her smell. I kissed her. Her lips felt so right against mine, like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It felt so right, so free, so happy. I wanted to do it over and over again and never pull away. The instinct to never let Katrina go.

I pulled away and just stroked her hair. Praying that she would come back to me. I stood back up, Katrina still in my arms. As I turned around, Mischa, Sergei and Riley stood behind me. There jaws had dropped so far they could've touched the floor. Their pupils were pretty much popping out of their skulls. Their arms hanging by their sides. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. They all just watched me kiss Katrina, stroke her hair and enjoy it. 

"Boys, please do not tell your mother about this. Okay? It was just a hopeful kiss." It was the truth wasn't it. I'm not gay. Right? Sure, I make jokes about it. But I would never date a girl. The boys and Riley just smirked and all nodded their heads. Katrina stirred, I watched as her eyes fluttered open and she took in her surroundings. I watched the realisation on her face when she figured out that she was above ground. She turned her head, and stared longingly into my eyes. I collapsed onto the concrete with Katrina still in my arms. I was overwhelmed with relief. It swelled inside of me with the force of a thousand suns. The tears began flooding from my eyes.

"Katrina, I nearly lost you. The boys nearly lost you.". I helped her up as we took a look at the damage. Everything was black and charred. Their house was no longer a house. Everything was burnt, gone, oblitirated. It was heart wrenching. Their whole lives just got ripped from underneath them. Katrina just broke down, she did not look like the type of person to cry. She bolted over to me and I opened my arms for her. She hugged me and I hugged her back. We both once again collapsed to the ground. I felt her tear stained face against my chest. I put my chin on top of her touqe. After about ten minutes the constant trembles from her body slowly stopped. She snuggled deeper into my chest. My bare chest. 

"Katrina, It is gonna be alright. You and the boys are gonna stay at my house. The boys can share a room with Riley and you can sleep with me, in my bed". Katrina was broken and it was my job to help her. She was too defeated to disagree or argue, so she kept her head where it was and just nodded. We stayed there, sitting in the gravel, I could feel the eyes of Mischa, Sergei and Riley, staring at our backs. I inhaled her scent and she snuggled impossibly closer to my chest. Not to mention the fact that she was pretty much sitting in my lap. Straddling my waist. We stayed like that. No one had any intention of moving. My arms around Katrina like a barrier from the pain of the outside world.

I hope that chapter was okay. It took me a ridiculously long time to write it. Although writing it was fun. I really want to know if you liked it. It motivates me to keep writing. The next chapter should be up in the next few days.

-Em