Chapter 1 – Caustic Solstice
San Diego, CA
October 7th, 2005
The last moment I remember being normal started out just like every Friday night.
It was a weekly ritual to stand on the stage playing to over two-hundred screaming college students and blue collar workers at The Majestic. The club had a maximum capacity of ninety-seven, but the owner Frank Nunez had no problem bending the rules on that limit. How he managed to keep the Fire Marshall from shutting his ass down we never knew; we weren't even sure we wanted to. You couldn't blame the guy I guess. His customers willingly paid the twenty-dollar cover charge to come inside and pay for overpriced watered down hard drinks. On Friday and Saturday nights he made a nice chunk of change.
And every week Frank stood in the doorway of his office watching his small club turn into what I could only describe as clusterfuck as he watched the capacity double until there was barely room to move. He would lean against the doorframe watching the girls behind the bar serving shots and beers to the unruly crowd. No Chardonnay or Cabernet would be served at this establishment. Nobody who took pleasure in the spirit would dare enter these doors. Our patrons were drunk, rowdy college students and blue collar workers. They danced on the bars and on the tables. It was pure gold!
So that brings me to us. We called ourselves Caustic Solstice. We were four college kids who started out playing in our garage in Orange County when we were in high school. We made up of my twin brother Jesse on the steel guitar. I call him my baby brother because I was born two hours ahead of him. He almost didn't make it into this world because I was taking up all the space in the womb. My presence nearly suffocated him. Well, there we were 22 years later and I was still sucking the lifeblood out of him. I dearly love my brother, even if he is a sanctimonious pain-in-the-ass.
And then there was our older brother Scott who played the drums. When I say older, I mean in age only. If we were judging by maturity, Jesse would be the oldest hands down. Scott was a sweet spirit, but a troubled soul. Our mother died when Jesse and I were two and Scott was four. It affected him deeply, though Jesse and I do not remember her, except in pictures. Losing her was hard on Scott and he became a troublemaker from the get-go. He stole cars, was insubordinate to his teachers and was expelled from two high schools for selling weed. But music always soothed his savage soul. That was when our dad encouraged us to collaborate and the result was brilliant. We invited our childhood friend Tim Sanchez who could play a righteous base guitar to join us and Caustic Solstice was born.
And then there was me. My name is Allison Collins; Ally to my family and friends. I was the lead singer and lead guitar. I was considered by myself and others to be the glue that kept us together. The band was my soul and it was because of me that band became the success it was in the college scene. Where my twin is down to earth and realistic, I was feisty, passionate and a self-confessed dreamer. I once had dreams of the big time. While the others were ok with being a 1980's retro cover band, this was never good enough for me. Don't get me wrong; I love the music of some of my idols. Joan Jett, Leta Ford, Pat Benatar; the chicks who rocked the world in the 80's! But great as they were, their time had come and gone. It was time for them to move aside and allow me to take center stage! I didn't want to spend my life covering their songs; I wanted to join them in their fame.
The band took a turn during our senior year when Scott and our Dad had a big fight one night. Jesse and I watched from the top of the stairs as Scott called him a murderer for not being there when our mother died and all kinds of things he would never be able to take back. My dad threw him out of the house and he left. It was the last time we ever saw him.
Jesse wanted to give up the band, but I refused. Tim and I wanted to keep going and we finally got Jesse to agree to hold auditions for a new drummer. After listening to what felt like endless tone deaf, talentless hacks who wouldn't know a beat if it bit them on the ass, even I was getting ready to give up.
But in walked Brad Boedecker. He was six-feet of heavenly goodness. I took one look at his shaggy dark-blond waves, deep green eyes and a body chiseled by Michelangelo and that was it for me. It was love.
When we graduated high school, we all managed to get accepted at University of San Diego. We scored several gigs on campus, frat parties, even a few weddings. But our first break came when we found a regular weekend gig at The Majestic. It wasn't in the greatest part of town, but the crowd was fun and Frank always did right by us.
By the time we reached our sophomore year, Brad and I had found our own apartment. It was a freedom neither one of us had ever experienced and we loved it. We spent our days in school and band practice and our nights wrapped up in every kind of sex known to mankind; some of it our own invention.
When I was twenty-two, Brad and I became engaged. We were so much in love and for the first time in my life the band came second. I still wanted my dream of becoming a rock star, but I was beginning to like the idea of starting a family; just not right away.
But on that last night, two months before the wedding I was getting cold feet. Earlier in the day we had a huge fight. We had gone for a bike ride in Torrey Pines and as usual, we stopped at a secluded location to make love. We were on a rock where I straddled across his lap; my legs wrapped around his waist while trying to keep my screams silent as our bodies came together in a spine shattering climax.
And then we collapsed together embracing before quickly dressing. I turned to him smiling. "Just promise me life will always be like this."
He pulled me in kissing me softly. "Well if you mean finding an out of the way spot for uninhibited, animalistic sex, I can guarantee it." His words made me smile, but then he spoke again. "But if you mean playing in a band to a bunch of drunk college kids and plumbers every week, you can forget it."
I was taken aback. "What are you talking about?"
He gave me a pompous laugh. "Common Ally! I mean this has been a fun ride, but sooner or later we have to grow up."
I was livid. "Since when does growing up mean having to give up what you love?"
He picked up his bike. "It doesn't. But it does mean giving up the foolish dreams that will never take us anywhere." He reached over and touched my face. "Ally, you know we will never be the Rolling Stones. All we ever were and ever will be is an 80's cover band; a good one, but not the best band ever."
"Fuck you Brad!" I jerked away from him. "You know what? You're getting to be a pain in the ass just like Jesse!"
"Jesse is a realist and so am I!" He shouted. "You are the only one who has ever had aspirations on making it big. And you probably could. You're hot and you have an amazing voice. But that dream is yours. Jesse wants to run a business. Tim wants to play for a philharmonic orchestra and I want to be a lawyer. If you're going to be my wife, then you need to stop thinking about your own dreams and start thinking about ours."
I could not believe what I was hearing. "So you mean if I am going to marry you I have to become June-Fucking-Clever?"
"Of course not!" He shook his head. "I never want you to stop being you, but I want you to face facts. If we are going to have a family, you need to start thinking less about what you want and start thinking about our children." I will never forget the look in his eyes as he cocked his head sadly. "You do still want to have children, don't you?"
Suddenly the thought of a family made me feel trapped. "You know I do! But not right away! I'm only twenty-two!"
"My mom had me when she was seventeen!" He retorted.
I rolled my eyes and threw back my head. "Oh God! Just shoot me now!"
He turned me around to face him. "Do you even want to get married anymore?" My lack of immediate response drew him to the wrong conclusion. "So now you don't want the life we talked about?"
"No, I want the life I talked about with the man I love!" I shouted back at him. "The life we talked about before you became an excruciating bore!"
He threw down his bike glove that he was putting on. "Am I boring because you agreed to marry me and I want a family that the last I checked you wanted too?" His eyes were filled with anger as he grabbed my arm causing it to bruise.
I jerked my arm away. "I did not sign up to suddenly become a broodmare tugging around a bunch of brats! I never said I don't want to have kids; I'm just not ready! I'm way too young!"
As I stood with my back to him, I could hear him whisper behind me. "Just tell me one thing; will a normal life ever be enough for you?"
I closed my eyes with exasperation. "I never said I didn't want normal."
"You didn't have to!" His whisper was filled with disappointment and sadness. "Your eyes say it all."
"Brad…" I tried to reason with him, but he was too angry.
"Forget it Ally!" He mounted his bike angrily. "It's getting late." He turned to me, his eyes and voice overflowing with arrogant cynicism. "We don't want to keep your public waiting!" He pedaled off ahead of me as we began our trek home in uncomfortable silence.
Later that night as we drove to meet Jesse and Tim at the club barely a word was spoken. I sat in the passenger seat with my arms stubbornly crossed looking out the window. I could occasionally feel his eyes shift towards me, but I refused to meet his gaze.
As we got close to the club he finally broke the silence. "So is this it? One stupid fight after five years and we're finished?"
"No." I told him quietly. "We're not breaking up. I just need to be mad for a while."
As we turned into the parking lot behind the club, he put the car in park then turned to me with a confused glower. "Ok, how long is a little while going to take?"
I got out of the car slamming the door before looking back through the open window. "I'll let you know." I walked away, my boots pounding the pavement as I stomped through the stage door enterence.
As we walked into our dressing room, we were greeted by Jesse and Tim glowering reproachfully at us.
"Well, thank you for gracing us with your presence!" Jesse pointed to his watch. "We've been waiting over an hour. We missed warm up…"
"Do not start with me!" I snarled plopping down at a makeup mirror as Brad flopped into a chair with his back to me.
Tim leaned in whispering to Brad thinking I couldn't hear him. "What crawled up the diva's ass?"
"Who knows!" He shrugged grudgingly. "Maybe the elastic on her panties broke! I don't know, and quite frankly, I don't give a rat's ass!"
"Lover's quarrel?" Jesse sat on the edge of the table.
I gave him an angry scowl. "Even if it was it is none of your damn business!." I grabbed the hot curling iron and began furiously throwing curls into my hair."
He pulled up a chair and sat backwards straddling it. "Ally, I know you better than anybody!" He moved in closer. "And usually when your being a bitch on steroids it means something is really bothering you. So are you going to tell me about it, or are you going to stew in your own juice?"
"Ok fine!" I slammed down my brush. "Brad has his panties in a wad because he wants me to get pregnant the minute he carries me over the threshold. I told him I'm not ready, he told me to grow up, I told him to fuck off." I shifted my eyes toward him as I wound my hair into another curl. "What else would you like to know?"
"I'm sorry Al." He put an arm around my shoulder. After resting my head against him for a moment he lifted my face to look at me. "We can talk about this after the show tonight. But we are on in five minutes. I want to know that you are in a state of mind to put on a show."
"Aren't I always?" I rolled my eyes insolently which irritated him. I took both his hands. "Jesse, I'm a professional. And you know I perform better under angst." I bent my forehead against his. "Have I ever let us down yet?"
My brother smiled warmly then closed his eyes laughing. "Never. Ok, you win."
"Thank you." I smiled as I hugged him.
Frank burst the door. "Well good! You're finally all here! One of these days you're going to give me a heart attack." He glowered at me. "Now finish making yourself gorgeous and get your drama queen ass out there and make me some money!" He shouted.
I only narrowed my eyes at him. "Who in the hell do you think you're talking to! I'm not your wife!"
"Yeah?" He retorted back. "Well if you were you wouldn't be getting away with two-thirds of the shit you give me!"
I gave him a mocking smile as I stood up. "If I were your wife, you wouldn't be getting nothing out of me, cause you'd be sleeping in the garage with the dog!" I started to walk away. "Wait…I take that back! The dog would be sleeping in the house…and YOU would be in the garage with your own sorry ass to keep you warm!"
Frank's nose wrinkled up placing his hands on his hips. Then he burst out laughing as he pulled me into a hug. "Where did you learn to talk smack!" He grinned proudly.
"I learned from the best." I gave him a demure grin. "It's a skill I guess. With the wages you pay us I need all the abilities I can get!"
"Don't worry…a raise is coming." He was lying and he knew it.
"Yeah, well so is Christmas!" Jesse shouted over his shoulder as he put on his cap.
Then he shrugged incredulously. "Do I pay you to stand around and disrespect me, or do I pay you to sing?" Me marched for the door. "No get out there and make my customers happy. You sing good, they drink more! Now get to work!"
"I'm calling your wife and telling her to put your ass in the garage tonight?" I shouted as he walked back through the door.
He peeked his head through the. "Oh yeah? Well from the looks of things I may have some company!" He looked at Brad then walked away laughing gleefully to himself.
For the moment I ignored him and picked up my guitar. "Are we ready?" I asked the guys. They all cheered enthusiastically and ran to the stage just as Frank was introducing us to the audience.
"Ok everybody! It's time for your favorite part of the night!" The crowd began cheering wildly before he announced us. "Lets give it up for southern California's own…Caustic Solstice!"
The crowd went crazy as we took the stage. Brad started the song with three beats of his drum as Tim joined in on base. I broke in with my lead guitar as Jesse ran to the front of the stage working his steel guitar. The girls screamed like he was Elvis.
I took the mike and began to belt out our first song.
Cant stay at home, cant stay at school
Old folks say, ya poor little fool
Down the street I'm the girl next door
I'm the fox you've been waiting for
Hello daddy, hello mom
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb
Stone age love and strange sounds too
Come on baby let me get to you
Bad nights causen teenage blues
Get down ladies you've got nothing to lose
Hello daddy, hello mom
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb
Hey street boy what's your style
Your dead end dreams don't make you smile
I'll give ya something to live for
Have ya, grab ya til your sore
Hello daddy, hello mom
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb.
After a set of four tunes, we were pumped, but took our break as per the house rules.
Tim and Jesse put down their guitars and hit the bar where all the girls gathered around them like flies on shit. This would be where Brad and I would sneak off together for some alone time, but after the set was over I saw him throw down his drumsticks and storm off the stage. I decided I needed some air and went outside.
As I walked past our amplifiers, I heard one security guard ask another if he smelled something electrical.
It was these words I hear over and over in my nightmares every time I close my eyes.
But I kept walking.
I sat on the steps outside the stage door with my arms huddled around my chest to stay warm as the evening fog rolled in.
I had a feeling I wasn't alone as I peered into the shadows. I could have sworn a man stood there watching me, but I could not be sure. Deciding this was not a safe place for a girl to be at night, I stood up to go inside. I could now see the figure in the fog more clearly. He was a tall man wearing a suit. I watched him for a moment before turning around to walk back into the club. I ran smack into Brad.
"What are you doing out here alone?" He asked me angrily. "This isn't the greatest neighborhood."
I turned to look at the figure in the fog again; it had disappeared. "I just came out here to think. Besides, I thought you didn't…" Before I could finish, he handed me a red rose; he gave me a red rose after every show. I tried to play it cool, but inside my heart was slowly melting. I took the rose from him quickly. "Yeah…thanks!" I started to go inside again.
"Ally…" I heard him whisper which stopped me in mid stride. I turned around to look at him as he came closer. "You were right."
"About?" I folded my arms trying to sound angry, but he had me the moment I saw him standing there.
"Everything." He sounded defeated, but adorably sincere. "I was being a pompous ass. I'm sorry."
"You know you're making it difficult to stay mad at you." I raised an eyebrow then smiled. "No, I'm sorry. Maybe I'm the one that's being a jerk."
"I guess we were both being immature." He gave me a half-smile then pulled me in to a soft kiss then pulled back looking me in the eyes. "Ally, nobody says we have to have kids right away. It wasn't fair of me to expect you to start popping out the kids while I work on my own career path. You have every right to pursue your goals."
My heart wanted to dance. "You mean it?"
"Yeah." He whispered. "This has always been your dream. I love you and I am not going to deny you your dreams. I don't want us to be married for twenty years and have you filled with bitterness. You would hate me for denying you the chance to try. You have something amazing, Ally. You have put your heart and soul into this band. You have fought for us. Just because us guys will be ready to move on after graduation doesn't mean you have to."
I threw my arms around his neck. "You may be a pretentious ass sometimes, but I love you." I pulled him in kissing him passionately. "And even if I do make it big, look how many music stars are good parents. Look at Tim and Faith…they have successful careers and they're great parents!"
He furrowed his brow wrinkling his nose. "Yeah, well look at Brittany Spears."
My face fell. "You are seriously not comparing me to that twit." I laughed as he shrugged. "Well I promise if I decide to shave my head it will be for career purposes…I won't have a mental break down."
"I love you." He touched my face softly.
"And I you." We began kissing passionately. Then he pushed me up against a wall reaching up my skirt into my underpants.
My eyes jolted open in pleasured surprise. "What are you doing?"
"We have fifteen minutes." He said breathlessly unbuckling his pants.
"Um, somebody could come out that door…" I tried to protest, but I didn't want him to stop.
"That's the fun part." I felt him push inside me as I let out a moan.
I wrapped my legs around his waist moving my hips with his. He held me up by my buttocks against the brick wall breathlessly thrusting inside of me. "Oh GOD!" I cried out as my moans grew louder. "OH BRAD! OH MY GOD!" I screamed as my felt an orgasm pulsate through my loins.
He finally released as I collapsed against his shoulder. I bent my forehead against his as we recovered.
"I think we need to get back." He whispered as he kissed me softly. "The next set starts in 10 minutes."
"Yeah." I smiled reluctantly. "We don't want them to come looking for us."
We quickly put ourselves back together and walked back inside holding hands.
There is not a moment that goes by that I do not wish I could go back to that fateful moment and hold onto it with all my strength; to scream across time and space telling us to stop and go the other way. If I had known what would happen next I would have grabbed his hand and ran so far away nobody would ever find us.
It is this moment that has played again over and over again in my mind as I lie here in the cement hell they have condemned me to.
Eleven pm was the last time Caustic Solstice took the stage.
It all began as a fun set. The crowd danced and sang along. We had frat brothers jumping on the stage doing air guitar alongside us. We had a blast.
And then it began.
Nobody saw the amplifiers begin to spark. But before anybody could react the curtains on both sides of the stage caught fire.
"EVERYBODY OUT!" Frank screamed as he began to shuffle everybody out the front door. We tried to run for the back to exit out the stage floor, but the entire area back stage was engulfed in flames. The only way out was through the front door.
I heard a scream come from behind me as I turned to see Tim running around covered in flames. "DROP AND ROLL!" I heard Jesse scream at him. We looked for something to cover him in, but it was too late. He had burned to death.
"Tim!" Jesse cried out to him. "No man! NO!" But we didn't have time to grieve. The crowd was pushing through the front door screaming as the flames got closer.
And then I heard something above my head crack. A large beam was falling down right on top of me. "ALLY!" I heard Brad call out to me. And then he scooped me up in his arms and ran with me toward the front door just before the beam hit me. Jesse lead the way trying to help people get to the door. But there were too many people.
I looked up at Brad who valiantly held me to him to shield me from the flames. "We're going to die." I said tearfully to him.
"No, we're not." He smiled gently wiping the tears from my face. "Don't talk like that. Do you hear the sirens? Those fire trucks are here to help us. They're going to get us out of here."
I smiled up at him believing we were going to be ok. We had a chance.
But just as we were getting close to the exit, a wire cable came falling down from the rafters heading right for us. I was helpless as I watched Brad scream as it sent 10,000 volts through his body.
"NO!" I screamed. "BRAD! OH GOD! NO!"
Jesse tried to pull me away from him, but I ran toward him.
I will never know what made me do it, but I grabbed both ends of the cable. I felt the electricity penetrate me, but I felt no pain. I stood there allowing the electricity to be sucked into my body until the wires were benign again.
"Ally?" Jesse stared at me horror struck. I could feel the electricity inside me. My body was like a live wire.
I needed Brad to assure me that I was ok. But as I turned to look at him, all that was left was his darkened body with smoke drifting from his charred remains. "Brad." I whispered and felt the tears falling. "BRAD!" I screamed as Jesse tried to touch me, but a jolt of electricity sent him flying across the room. "Stay away from me Jesse!" I sobbed. "Everybody stay away!" I shouted as I backed into a metal chair discharging the electricity from me causing another fire. I could not control it as I watched the remaining people inside the door go up in the flames I had sent out. "NO!" I screamed.
And then I saw Jesse run into the fire. I heard him yell as he held out his arms. The fire began to dissipate as Jesse seemed to absorb the flames into him. When it was over he stood there; not a burn or scratch was on him.
All of the remaining patrons, including Frank had parished in the flames. Only Jesse and I had survived. We were frightened; afraid to touch each other.
"What just happened?" His whisper was weak..
I couldn't speak. As I stood there looking at Brad's remains I couldn't not move. I fell to my knees screaming in anguished sobs.
Finally the firefighters broke through the wall. I could hear their horrified shouts seeing all the burnt bodies lying on the floor.
And then there was nothing but silence as Jesse and I walked out the door, completely unscathed. They firefighters backed away from us as the onlookers stared at us shocked.
Two medics ran for us with blankets to cover us. One medic draped a blanket over my shoulders.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Jesse screamed as he backed away. "Everybody get away from me!" He ran off into the back ally. The firefighters tried to run after him, but stopped as they saw a roar of flames rise up above the cement buildings.
"JESSE!" I began to sob. "No…no…NOOOOOOOO!" I screamed.
And then it all went dark.
"Allison?" I could hear a voice that sounded far away. "Allison, are you waking up?"
I tried to open my eyes, but the light blinded me. I could scarcely make out a shape sitting next to me. I wanted to speak, but I couldn't get the words out.
"Don't try to talk." I could hear the voice say. It was becoming clearer to me that the voice was male. "You have been through a great ordeal. You have been in shock."
"Where…am…" Was all I could say.
"You are in the hospital." His voice was cold, yet firm. "If you can remember what happened to you, blink once for yes, two for no."
As I recalled the horror of that night, I managed to flutter my eyes open once as the tears began to flow.
The tears cleared my eyes. I opened them slowly as everything in the room came into focus. I could finally see the man sitting beside my bed. Even seated, I could tell he was a tall man. He wore a brown suit and framing his steel blue eyes was a pair of horned rimmed glasses.
"Are you a doctor?" I managed to utter a raspy whisper.
"No." He told me coolly. "I am here to talk to you about what happened to you the night of the fire."
The fire. Like a flash of vivid light it all came back to me. "Brad!" I sobbed silently remembering watching powerlessly as he was electrocuted right in front of me.
"It's ok Allison." His voice was firm. "You are safe here."
There was something about his voice that made me uneasy. As my vision came into clear view, I eyed him suspiciously. "Where is my brother?"
"Jesse is fine." He replied composedly. "You will see him soon."
"You're lying." I whispered through my gritted teeth.
He stood up leaning over me. "It is obvious you have been through a terrible shock. Perhaps I should come back later."
"Where is my brother?" I shouted sitting up. I grabbed his shirt nearly strangling him with a force that nearly choked him. "WHERE IS MY BROTHER?" I screamed as the machines I was connected to begin to beep loudly. I felt myself growing faint again.
"What in the hell are you doing here?" Another man's voice shouted at him. "This room is off limits!"
"It's ok." He told the man handing him something. "I am a friend of her fathers."
"He's lying!" I shouted. "I have never seen this man in my life!"
"You need to leave right now!" The orderly hollered at him. "Either you leave peacefully or I will have security escort you out!"
The man with the horned rimmed glasses did not say a word. He only smiled knowingly and walked slowly out of the room.
The orderly came to my bedside. "Are you ok?" He asked me gently as I nodded softly.
I felt my body growing fatigued again. "How long have I been here?"
"A little over a week." He told me checking my IV.
"Do you know where my brother is?" I asked as my eyes began to close.
"Your brother?" He gave me a dubious stare. "I don't know what you mean."
I began to get angry. "My brother!" I shouted. "His name is Jesse Collins! He and I are twins! Where in the hell is he?"
"I'm sorry miss…but according to your records, you don't have a brother. You are an only child."
"No!" I shook my head agitatedly. "I have a brother! Where in the hell is he?"
"You need to calm down!" He tried to get me to lie down.
"What I need is my brother!" I screamed as I jerked the IV out of my arm and threw a metal tray at him. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BROTHER?"
"What is going on in here?" A woman in a white coat entered the room.
"She's delusional." The orderly told her. "She is asking for her brother."
"What brother?" The doctor looked at my chart then back at me. "Miss Collins, you do not have a brother."
"Yes!" I screamed grabbing her throat. "I do! We were born March 16th, 1983! We have always been together! We even went to college together at USD!"
The doctor cocked her head wrinkling her forehead. "USD? You mean San Diego." Stupid really should hurt.
"Yes!" I shouted exasperated. "Yes! University of San Diego! He was in the fire!"
"Fire?" She shook her head confused.
"Do I have to speak slowly and use small words with you people?" I hissed. "I was injured in the fire at the Majestic Nightclub! Jesse and I were the only survivors!"
"Miss Collins, you were in a plane crash!" The doctor replied firmly as she gave me a shot of something.
I opened my mouth to speak, but there were no words. I wanted to scream, but my voice was gone. What were they doing to me?
But before I could get an answer, I lost consciences.
"Ally!" I could hear Jesse's voice just above my head. "Ally, you have to wake up!"
My eyes slowly fluttered open. I was never happier to see my brother in my life. "Jesse!" I threw my arms around him.
"We can do this later." He sat up pulling a coat over my shoulders. "We need to get out of here before they get here."
"Who?" I asked barely coherent.
"There's no time to explain right now." He helped me up by my shoulder. "We need to get the hell out of this place."
I did not ask any more questions. He helped me walk out the door and into the corridor where I came to a sudden stop.
"What the hell?" I whispered. Everyone was dead. Burned to death. But it wasn't a hospital; it was more like a movie set. I turned to Jesse horrified. "What did you do?"
He shook his head, clearly horrified by what he had done. "I don't know. They tried to restrain me and it was like fire came out of every pore in my body."
"My God, Jesse!" I began to cry. "What are we?"
"Stop!" Our heads whipped around as two men came toward us. One was the man with the horned rimmed glasses and the other was a slightly older gentleman with graying hair.
"There is nowhere for you to go!" The older man said. "You are not safe out there. You must stay with us for your own protection."
I looked around for something; anything. And then I saw it.
I ran for a nearby electrical box. With my bare hands I somehow was able to rip through its steel door.
"NO!" The man with the glasses shouted as I ripped the wiring out of the box. I tore a large red wire in half. The electricity once again absorbed into my body. The men recoiled in fear as I came toward him. The man with the glasses aimed his gun at me.
"If you shoot her, you will blow this place sky high; us included." The older man told him.
"We can't let them go!" The glasses man retorted. "They created too many questions after the nightclub fire. We can't let them out there running around."
"Either you let us go or I'll fry your ass!" I threatened them.
Before either of them could react, Jesse hit them bother over the head with a piece of thick PVC pipe. They fell to the ground.
"Let's get out of here before he wakes up." Jesse grabbed my hand as we began to fun away.
"Where are we going?" I asked him as we ran away.
"As far away from here as possible." He replied as we burst through the double doors escaping into the night.
END OF CHAPTER 1
