Lawrence, Kansas - November 2, 1983
Dean joined his mother in Sam and Josh's nursery. "Come on, let's say good night to your brothers."
Mary turned on the lights to reveal two six-month-old baby boys with brown hair. The boys looked at their mother and brother. Dean leaned over the side of the crib.
"Night, Sam," Dean said. "Night Josh."
Mary leaned over her twins. "Good night, loves." She brushed Sam and Josh's hair back and kissed their foreheads.
"Hey, Dean," a man greeted.
Dean turned and rushed over to the man. "Daddy!"
"Hey, buddy." John picked Dean up. "So, what do you think? You think Sammy and Josh are ready to toss around a football yet?"
Dean shook his head and laughed. "No, Daddy."
John grinned. "No."
Mary passed John and Dean on her way out of the room. "You got him?"
"I got him." John hugged Dean closer. "Sweet dreams, Sam. Sweet dreams, Josh."
Sam watched them go with a gurgle before trying to reach his toes. Josh watched them go with a yawn and stretched his arms.
The baseball-themed night-light near Sam and Josh's cribs began to flicker while Sam and Josh watched.
In the master bedroom, lights flickered on the baby monitor sitting on the nightstand next to a photo of Mary and John. Strange noises came faintly from Sam and Josh's nursery and could be heard in Sam and Josh's baby monitor. Mary, asleep in bed, stirred. She turned on the light on the nightstand.
"John?" She glanced over to see he was gone and got up.
Mary made her way to Sam and Josh's nursery.
"John? Are one or both of them hungry?" Mary asked.
'John' shook his head. "Shh."
"All right."
Mary headed back down the hallway. The light by the stairs was flickering. She frowned at tapped at it until the light steadied. "Hm."
She noticed more flickering light from downstairs and went to investigate. A war movie was on TV and John was asleep in the Lay-Z-Boy chair in front of the TV. Her eyes widened.
"Sammy! Josh! Sammy! Josh!" She ran up the stairs to Sam and Josh's nursery.
Mary stopped short upon entering Sam and Josh's nursery and screamed.
John woke up. "Mary?" He scrambled out of the chair. "Mary!" He ran upstairs.
John burst into Sam and Josh's nursery. "Mary."
The room was quiet and empty except for Sam and Josh awake in their crib. Sam was hugging his knees to his chest. Josh was looking at his father.
"Hey, Sammy. Hey, Josh. You okay?" John asked.
Something dark dripped next to Sam and Josh and John touched it. Two more drops landed on the back of John's hand. It looked like blood. He looked up to see Mary sprawled on the ceiling. The stomach of her nightgown was red with blood and she stared at John as she struggled to breathe.
John collapsed on the floor, staring at his wife. "No! Mary!"
Mary burst into flames. The fire spread over the ceiling. John stared, frozen. Sam and Josh wailed. John, suddenly reminded he wasn't alone, got up and scooped Sam and Josh from their cribs and rushed from the room.
Dean was awake and coming to investigate. "Daddy!"
John pushed Sam and Josh toward Dean and said, "Take your brothers outside as fast as you can and don't look back! Now, Dean, go!"
Dean turned and ran.
John turned back to the nursery. "Mary!"
The entire room was engulfed in flames and Mary could barely be seen.
"No!"
Dean ran outside, holding Sam and Josh, barely managing. "It's okay, Sammy. It's okay, Josh."
John ran outside and scooped up his boys, carrying them away. "I gotcha."
Fire exploded from Sam and Josh's bedroom window.
The Lawrence Fire Department arrived. A firefighter got out of a fire truck and took over at the gauges for another firefighter.
"I got it," the firefighter said. "You go hold the line up."
The second firefighter went to the back of the truck and took a hose from a third firefighter. He took the hose toward the house where a fourth firefighter was spraying through Sam and Josh's nursery window. A paramedic opened the back of an ambulance.
A police officer waved some neighbors back. "Stay back. You have to stay back."
Across the street from the house, John and Dean sat on the hood of John's Impala, John holding Sam and Josh.
John silently looked up at the remnants of the fire as he held his youngest sons.
YOU ARE READING
Ready Set Let's Go
Mystery / ThrillerWhen Josh was six months old, his life changed forever. His life became seeking vengeance on creatures of the night and trying to find what killed his and his brothers' mother. As soon as he reaches adulthood, he makes his escape from the life. B...
