Ava

Ch 10 Fueling the Fire

Ava bolted into the forest that she knew better than the back of her hand, leaving Asher behind to go tell Faye what was happening. Knowing Faye, Ava hoped that she wouldn't come after her...

In the dead of night, the little light that illuminated Ava's path came from the pale blue moon that pierced between the thick tree tops. Branches swerved every which way, and seemed to be trying to tear at her shirt sleeve. Every time the wind roared, clumps of snow would fall down from the trees, bulleting themselves at Ava. Stones had appeared to position themselves in the exact stance needed to make sure that Ava would trip over them. Ava's feet flew over the frozen earth and dead leaves, trampling anything that was in her way. She leapt over the creek, determined to save her brother. Ava was a warrior, and she charged.

Within three minutes, Ava had crossed through the thin stretch of forest between her neighborhood and the square meadow in the backyard of the Keyes Mansion. As the enormity of the situation hit her, Ava stopped dead in her tracks. The entire East Wing of the mansion was up in flames that devoured everything in their path. The outside base and four walls of the mansion had been made out of stone, but the insides were built from wood. Once the fire ate up the mansion, all that would be left was a hollow shell of what once was. Ava could hear the sirens in the distance slowly getting closer. As she absorbed what was in front of her and what she was about to do, Ava concluded that she had a death wish and then proceeded to sprint across the great white plain that contrasted the bright orange flames.

Blending into the orange light radiating from the fire, Macavity stared at her intently with his fluorescent green eyes. He appeared to be waiting for her at the West Wing of the mansion, at the same spot under the window where she always climbed up the ivy. This time, she had to find the journal and tapes. As she approached the spot, she could hear the sirens getting louder with every breath she took. She looked down at Macavity who nudged his nose into her and then pressed his agile body into her legs, circling them, as if to say "don't go," as if he knew something she didn't. Ava shook Macavity free and then gave him a little nod. He cocked his head sideways, dropped his head down, looked back up to her, and then when Ava said "I have to little buddy," ran off somewhere towards the entrance of the mansion...weird.

Ava didn't have any more time to waste. She started to climb the ivy, with careful and well-practiced footwork. She worked her way up to the second floor of the mansion, where the window stood, cracked open, just like she had left it. She pushed the window open with one hand, holding on to the vines with the other, praying a wind gust wouldn't show its face. She thrust her small body inside and then hurled herself onto the floor. She didn't know how much longer it would take for the fire to reach her end of the mansion. All she knew was that she couldn't be caught dead by the police or firefighters. If she was found, she knew for certain that she would be found guilty of trespassing, not to mention convicted for starting the fire. She didn't need trouble, especially from the police.

Ava felt hopeless. Asher had said that he had hidden the journal and tapes inside a "hollow book." That narrowed her search down...to the ten or so million books that lined the book shelves. She had to start somewhere. Ava started knocking down the books onto the ground, sweeping the shelves clean. The books toppled onto the ground and opened up, none of them being hollow. It was a dead end. She started knocking tables over, tearing the curtains to the ground. Where did Asher hide the damn journal?! She started ripping the cabinets apart, tossing out the contents. With every second, she was that much closer to being left there in the fire. She was that much closer to failing her brother...Ava felt a shudder go through the mansion and ran into the hall only to see that the entire East Wing of the mansion had collapsed. The floor that had been at that end of the hall was no longer there and the fire was slowly making its way to her end of the hall, to the room near the window.

Just as she was about to give up hope she felt a tugging at the hem of her jeans. She looked down to see Macavity looking up at her. She figured that she might as well go along with him since her luck seemed to be dead and she didn't have much time anyway. Macavity ran back to the room near the window that she had come though, and started scratching at a floor board. Ava's eyes widened as she knelt down. She pushed Macavity aside and started shaking the floor board loose. Underneath it, she saw the book: Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. Jackpot!

Ava heard the sirens loud and clear now. They were coming from right outside. As she grabbed the book, Ava saw Macavity bolt out the window and onto a nearby branch. As she looked behind her, she saw flames licking the entrance of the room. They had completely blocked the wall where the window was and she had no idea how she was going to get out. She clutched the book safely against her chest and closed her eyes. The floor beneath her gave away and she found herself falling. She fell into a heap of broken down furniture. She felt her toes crush under the weight of her fall and a shooting pain shot up her leg. Her arms were still clutched around the book. She was in the living room. Her and Faye had played here countless times in their childhood.

Flames licked her arms, burning her sleeves. She hastily put them out as she felt her skin burn. Ava started coughing uncontrollably. The smoke burned her eyes. Blindly, she dropped to the ground, and made her way to the outside wall that was made of stone. She crawled alongside it and knew to exit through the back door that would release her to the frozen meadow. Ava was in unbearable pain. As she crawled, she considered just lying there, and letting the flames engulf her. She was sick to death of her burdened life, but she realized that giving up when she was this close was a fate worse than death. She kept crawling, getting closer and closer to the door. When she reached the door, she held her breath and stood up. Flames engulfed her from behind almost immediately. Ava kicked the door open, propelling herself into the snow that still remained outside. For once, she thought that the snow was a blessing, that it wasn't just something that caused her to freeze to death.

The fire had burned her clothes and she had major burns all along her back and arms. Her hip long hair had singed and was now down to her bra strap. She saw the police in the distance and assumed the firefighters were coming from the front. She knew that they probably wouldn't see her anyway. It was dark outside, pitch black except for the light radiating from the flames, and her entire outfit including her hair, was as black as ebony. She stood up. Her legs were in searing pain but when she only thought of why she was doing all of this, the pain was bearable. The heel of her left foot was definitely broken. Ava ran as swiftly as she could; she felt shooting pain up her legs, and unbearable stinging pain on the surface of her arms. But in the end, all of this was worth it to Ava, because it would mean that Asher would be free at last. Ava would do anything to make sure Asher didn't have to live life this way. He was her brother and she loved him to death.

As Ava limped across the snow and was only 50 yards away from the edge of the forest, she saw Faye emerge from the shadows. She should have known that Faye would come after her. They had been best friends since preschool.

"Stop right there! Don't move!"

Ava heard the voice come from behind her, but she couldn't give up now, not when she was so close. She was so close...! Ava pulled the gun she had grabbed from under her mattress out into the moonlight and pointed it at the cop.

"Put the gun down and there won't be trouble!"

Ava kept limping rapidly towards the forest as Faye sunk into the shadows, still holding the gun out, pointing it at the cop.

"Ava, stop!"

"I can't Faye...I can't stop now..."

Faye heard two gunshots and then saw Ava collapse onto the ground. Ava had been bleeding through the clothes that were left on her and had obviously hurt her legs...and now she had two gunshot wounds too. Ava looked up at Faye, fighting back tears.

"I love you Faye...tell Asher that everything's fine..."

"I love you too Ava..."

"What are you waiting for?! Get out of here!"

So Faye ran back into the shadows of the forest, tears streaming down her cheeks.