Against All Odds

Chapter 84

Chapter 84

~Kandee’s Pov~

Is this really the end?  Is this really how it ends?  It can't be real, can it?  This can't be how my life is really going to end, not here in a barn full of flames and suffocating smoke.  I have to be dreaming, but dreams can't possibly feel so real; with the burn of hot ash in my tight throat and the overwhelming heat and smog that threatened to suffocate me.  I couldn't die, not before I made Cole realize that he was all I had ever wanted and all I would ever need.  But I knew it was too late, regardless of how far I might manage to drag myself from these lethal flames, because I could already feel my body going numb and my energy draining. The last thing I saw before my vision turned to blackness was someone staggering toward me and I just knew it was Cole.  Maybe it was just a hallucination of my dying mind but I saw him and that was all I needed to let go.

~Cole’s POV~

I could feel the burns being seared into my hot flesh as the heat of the flames surged around me in an unbearable ring of smoke and embers.  ‘Just a few more feet, just a few more feet and you’ll find her.’ The thought both taunted and soothed me at the same time.  I knew I was close but was unaware as to whether my heart was searching for Kandee or a corpse.

I was maybe four feet from the small barn-like shed, when my eyes locked on something that made my blood go cold and made my heart turn to stone.  A small figure lay at the entrance of the wall of flames that swaddled the building, thick choking smoke pouring out around the still shape.  It had to be Kandee, it just had to.   Yet while I hoped with all my heart that it was her, I also prayed to God that it wasn’t, for the figure remained unmoving.

My feet carried me toward her badly burned body.  I could already tell that it was bad; she covered in soot and remained frozen in a statue like state.  I lifted her limp body into my weak arms and staggered to my feet.  My eyes searched for an escape, only to find that the flames had closed of all exit points.  “I’m so sorry Kandee, I’m so, so sorry baby girl.” I whispered before charging through the fire engulfed trees, desperate to find away out of this death trap that we were caught in.  Yelps of pain slipped past my lips with every scorched branch that slapped against my bare flesh, each whip-like extension raised another anger welt on my tender skin.  I tried to shield Kandee from the burns the flames would inflict upon her, and I was paying for it with my own fiery beating.

I had made a promise to never hurt her, said that I was different, vowed to protect her,swore that I’d never leave.  Lies, that’s what Skylar had called them as I evaded her calls.  Murder, what they were to me as her body lay lifeless in my arms.  I had broken every promise and now I was paying for it with my life.  And maybe Kandee’s too.

~Unknown POV~

It was a picture of pure destruction when we arrived at the scene.  The once lush forest that had surrounded the property was alive with golden flames that were leaving plenty of devastation in their wake.  There was no way that anything could have possibly survived this blaze.  “How many...erm victims are we looking for?”  More like how many bodies, I thought bitterly.  The realization was painfully accurate; with a fire of this size it was rare to find any survivors.

Black plumes had already begun to pollute the foggy air, prompting our team to call in other response units to come and evacuate all of the animals on the premises.  The clouds of ash and debris filled smoke was suffocating; even through the filters of a respirator.  We had already begun the desperate search for a department with the equipment that would be necessary to extinguish the blaze.  Several local fire stations had already been dispatched to the location any many others were reported to be en-route.

The groups had already managed to subdue a small section of the fire near the rear of the largest barn, and had uncovered the entrance to a possible trail.  This lead us to believe that this pathway was most likely the route that the victims had taken.  With this in mind, we had localized our efforts to the area surrounding the worn down path.  Slowly, we had encroached upon the flames, and were nearing the apex of the demolition.