p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chapter Two/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jeremy paced the length of the living room, pale hands clutching the cell phone like a worry stone. The dried blood splattered his clothing making the cloth stick to him like a second skin. The stench of smoke clung to him like a cloud. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Helplessness set his teeth on edge, winding his anxiety and worry tighter by the second until it felt as if he would shatter. Tension filled the spacious living room like a thick cloud. He glanced at the closed door of the master bedroom where his step-sister worked to save his friend's life. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A short call to his step-sister had her scrambling out of bed and arriving at his house at record speeds. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jeremy tightened his grip on the cell phone as he fought the urge to open the door and help his sister but he knew he'd be a hindrance. She was a trained nurse, he wasn't. He barely knew basic first aid. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"There had been no worrisome cursing or sounds coming from the room so he suspected Ellie had everything well at hand. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The sound of the door opening pulled him from his grim thoughts. Upon seeing his step-sister's once pristine white lab coat splattered with small mosaics of dark red he thought the worst. "How is he?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""He's unconscious right now but he'll live. Of that I'm sure." she sighed heavily. "Most of the burns are shallow, painful but shallow. Only two are deep, a few broken ribs." Ellie sighed and shed her ruined lab coat. "I have some vacation time saved up and I've been meaning to take them so I can keep a close eye on him. I can order any supplies I need online and have it delivered here. The only thing I won't be able to get are things like pain killers but I don't know enough about his physiology to give him anything like that anyway. I won't lie, he's going to be hurting but there's not a whole lot I can do about it except make him as comfortable as possible."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ellie I'll pay you back-/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You don't need to, Jeremy. " she got up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I'm going to go back to my house and get a few things, like some clothes and more supplies and the like. Shouldn't take me more than twenty minutes. I want you to call me if he wakes up or anything happens." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jeremy nods and walks his step sister to the door, watching her get into her car and drive off. Glancing around he closes the door and locks it, not in the mood for any more uninvited guests. He makes his way to his room. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bonnie was still deeply unconscious, bloody tongue hanging out of his muzzle, chest slowly rising and falling with each steady breath. The arid smell of smoke and charred fur filled the small room making his insides churn. Swallowing hard he opened a window, allowing cool fresh air to waft into the room. After sucking in a few shallow breaths he turned back to bed. He can't help the pang of sympathy upon seeing the battered rabbit. Leaning over he tugs the thick quilt over the slumbering rabbits form, tucking it around his shoulders. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He made his way to the master bathroom, leaving the door ajar just in case before stripping the ruined clothing off. Leaving it in a heap near the trash can to be thrown out in the morning he turned the shower on and didn't bother to wait for the water to heat up before getting in, scrubbing the dried blood, sweat and smoke off his skin. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Once done he roughly toweled off and put on a pair of faded grey sweats and short sleeve shirt then made his way to the overstuffed threadbare chair next to the bed and plopped down in it. Jeremy looked over to the beds only occupant and felt a pain of sympathy. He had the distinct feeling he wasn't getting any sleep tonight. Not with the fresh memories of the break in and fire. He glanced over at the nightstand where his cell phone lay. After a few moments he got up with a wince, picked it up and dialed Michaels number. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"-/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jeremy stared out the window, cell phone clutched in his hand. There had been no answer, just voicemail meaning Michael was likely working the nightshift and wouldn't be able to answer until morning. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. Just past midnight./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jeremy flopped onto the couch and idly flicked through the channels, barely paying attention to the programs on the screen. There wasn't much on besides infomercials selling ridiculous products that no one needed and news stations reporting mostly on accidents on the highway. He flipped through a few more channels before settling on a cheesy black and white horror, the kind he and Michael used to watch and make fun of over a few beers and microwave popcorn. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He shrugged and put the remote down, it was better than nothing. Despite the heavy weight of exhaustion pulling on his mind he couldn't sleep. Not with the fresh hellish images of the fire and thick plumes of smoke weighing heavily on his mind. Rubbing his face he picked the cell phone up and checked it. Nothing. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The sound of a car pulling into the driveway barely registered in his weary mind. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ellie placed her bag on the kitchen table and put her keys away before joining her sibling on the couch. "Hey, he'll be okay." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I know..it's just…the others…" he swallowed down the grief again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Maybe they got out too." She tried to comfort him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I hope so." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ellie moved closer and hugged him lightly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The trill of his phone broke the dreary atmosphere. Sighing, he fished the phone out of his pocket. The name Michal flashed on the screen. 'Are you okay/' the text message read. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'Got hit pretty hard in the head but other than that I'm fine. Bonnie,' he paused to force his fingers from tremblin, ' he got a little hurt but should be all right.' /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'And Foxxy/' /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He hesitated, the cranky old fox was Micheals favorte. 'I don't know. The fire spread so fast.' /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'I have a few more days here then I'm coming back as fast as I can.' /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'Be careful.'/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"No more text messages came through meaning Micheal was probably on shift and couldn't spend more time messaging him. Jerremy tucked the phone back into a pocket and settled against the couch, paying little interest in the TV. The others were fine, he told himself. They were fine, maybe a little scorched but fine and were hiding somewhere. They'd come out once it was safe to do so. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The cell phone in his pocket screeched akwake, jolting him so hard that he nearly fell off the couch. The noise was piercing, cracking, abnormal. He looked towards Ellie who was sleeping then towards the clock, brow furling in confusion. How was it nearly three in the morning? Hestenly he reached into his pocket and retrieved the phone. The sound halted almost immediately and a cold chill crept down his spine. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"From the speakers came an eerie muffle static punctuated by strange sounds. He held it at arms length ready to throw it when the sound stopped as abruptly as it started leaving him confused and more then a little frightened. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It just picked up some signal, that's all he told himself. Maybe he pushed some buttons while it was in his pocket. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He eyed the phone for a few moments then slowly put it on the end table where it remained silent, confirming in his mind it had been nothing though shaking off the chill that clung to him like a blanket was harder. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #434343; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"-/span/p