Chapter 23

Esme's P.O.V.:

A few days later...

"Esme, I need to talk to you," Olaf told me after class.

"Okay," I said.

Olaf waited till the rest of the class left was gone before he started to speak.

"Esme, I have found a way to get revenge on V.F.D.," he told me.

"You did?" I asked him.

"Yes. I meet a man and a woman who were enemies of V.F.D.," Olaf replied. "They said that they would help me burn down Mr.D's house, but after I burn down his house, I won't be able to go back to V.F.D."

"But if you leave V.F.D., I might never see you again," I replied.

"Unless you decide to come with me," he said. "So, do you want to come along with me?"

"I don't know," I said. "I don't think that burning down Mr.D's house and leaving the organization is a good idea."

"But if you leave the organization, we could be a couple again," Olaf said.

I was still having trouble deciding what I should do. If I help burn down Mr.D's house and leave the organization, Olaf and I could be together again, but if I didn't think that burning down Mr.D's house was the right thing to do. But, if Olaf burns down Mr.D's house and leaves the organization, I would never see him again. I loved Olaf and I don't think that I can live without him.

"I guess I will go with you," I said. "But where would we leave after we leave?"

"I'm going try to find a house. Until then, we would stay at a hotel," he said. "We are leaving Friday at 6:00, so you better be start packing.

"Okay," I replied, and then got up. "Bye Olaf."

"Bye Esme," Olaf said.

I left Olaf's room, and then went to my room to start packing. As I was packing, Clara walked into the room.

"Why are you packing?" she asked me. "Where are you going?"

"Can you keep a secret Clara?" I asked her.

"Of course I can," Clara replied. I never told anyone about you and Olaf."

"Well, Olaf decieded thet he wanted to get revenge on V.F.D. He meet some people who said that they would help him burn down Mr.D's house, but he would have to leave this organization. Olaf asked me if I wanted to come along, and I told him that I would go with him.

"Isn't arson a crime?" Clara asked me.

"Yes," I replied.

"Then why are you going?" Clara asked. "You could end up going to prison."

"I'm going because if I go, me and Olaf could be together again."

"But, you can't burn down Mr.D's house and leave!" Clara exclaimed.

"Why not?" I asked her.

"Because I won't let you!" she replied. "Burning down peoples houses is illegal and if you leave the organization, I would never see you again."

"But, if I don't do this I can't be with Olaf," I replied.

"Oh, so your going to risk staying out of prison and our friendship just to be with Olaf?" Clara said, with tears in her eyes.

"Um, I guess so," I replied.

"Please don't do this!" Clara said. "I don't want you to become a criminal."

"This isn't about what you want Clara. This is about what I want! And I want to be with the man I love. There is nothing you could say or do that would make me change my decison," I told her.

"Fine then! Go leave! Well, I'm going to find a quiet place where I could be by myself and cry my eyes out," Clara said, and then left the room, slamming the door behind her.

Olaf's P.O.V. :

Friday...

I can't believe that the day I would burn down Mr.D's house was finally here! I was waiting for Esme in the V.F.D. parking lot. She finally arrived, carrying two suitcases.

"Hello Olaf," Esme said as she put her lugage on the ground.

"Hi Esme," I said. "Do you need any help with your lugage?"

"Yes," Esme said.

I put Esme's lugage in the trunk of my car, and then Esme and I got into the car and I started driving to the bar. When we got to the bar, I saw the man with a beard, but no hair and the woman with hair, but no beard standing outside the bar near their car.

"Hello Olaf and Esme," they said to us as we were walking towards them.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello," Esme said. "What are your names?"

"Most people refer to us as the woman with hair, but no beard and the man with a beard, but no hair," replied the woman with hair, but no beard.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked them.

"We are all going to go to Mr.D's house in our car, then us two are going to pour some very flammable chemicals around his house, then you and Esme are going to light a match and throw it on the ground near the flammable stuff. When the house is on fire, we would leave before the figherfighters and police come," explained the man with a beard, but no hair.

"Okay," I said. "Well, I guess I have to move me and Esme's lugage to your car."

After I moved me and Esme's lugage into their car, Esme and I got into the backseat and the man with a beard, but no hair started driving towards Mr.D's house. Esme was really quiet as we were driving there. She looked a little nervous.

"Are you okay Esme?" I asked her.

"I'm just feeling a little nervous," she replied.

"Why are you feeling nervous sweetie?" I asked her.

"I don't really know if burning down Mr.D's house is the right thing to do," she replied. "What would happen if we got caught?"

"You don't have to worry about getting caught," said the woman. "We have burned down many buildings, and we never got caught."

"We're here," the man said, stopping at a big green house.

"You two stay inside the car while we pour the flammable chemicals around the house. When we are done, you will light this matches," the woman said, handing me a pack of matches.

The man with a beard, but no hair and the woman with hair, but no beard got out of the car, and then got the chemicals out of the trunk of the car. They started spreading the flammable chemicals around the house. When they were done, they went back to the car.

"Now you two go out there, light the matches, and throw them on the chemicals," said the man. "After you two throw the matches, get inside the car and we will take two wherever you want to go."

Esme and I got out of the car and walked up to the house. I lit a match and then handed the matches to Esme. Instead of lighting a match, Esme just stared at the box of matches.

"What's wrong Esme?" I asked her.

"I'm really nervous about doing this," Esme said. "Do I really have to do this?"

"Yes," I said. "I think I might know something we could do that would make you feel less nervous."

"What can we do?" she asked me.

"Maybe if I light the match for you and if we throw down our matches together," I replied.

"Okay," Esme said.

I blew out the first match I lit, then I lit a match for Esme, and then I lit another one for me.

"On the count of three, we are going to throw our matches down," I told her. "One. Two. Three."

Esme and I both threw our matches on the ground. As I watch the house burst into flames, I started to smile. I was actually kinda happy to see Mr.D's house burn to the ground.