His face turned a blistering shade of red as he reached down and grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me by my head out of the sitting room, down the hallway and into the bedroom. He was shouting, cursing and kicking my back along the way, and when he finally released me, he picked me up and threw me on to the bed. I sat up in time to watch him flick his lighter again and throw it out into the hall. A spark ignited, then flames spread.
I saw a wall of fire for only a moment before he slammed the door shut.
I reached for the lamp next to me, and threw it at him when he dove for me. It smacked off him but didn’t slow him down. My screams were so loud that Anderson ducked his head to escape the shrill sound. When his hands closed around my throat, he stopped the sound – and my breathing – instantly. My hands went to his face and I dug my nails into his flesh, making him roar. But he never let go of my throat, and the pressure made me feel light-headed. I felt my hands drop away from Anderson’s face as my chest burned for air.
Black dots danced in front of my vision and I stared up at Anderson, whose black eyes were wild and misted with fury. I was about to close my eyes and give in to the sleep that beckoned me, but one second Anderson was on top of me and the next he wasn’t. I sucked in air greedily and began to cough as pain stung my throat. My body felt like jelly, but when I turned my head to the side, I didn’t see Anderson. I saw him.
Elliot.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ELLIOT
“Keep going down!” I shouted up the stairwell as I rushed past people who were descending at a rapid pace. “Keep your children and pets in your arms to avoid losin’ them. Do not come back into the buildin’!”
I wasn’t sure if people were even listening to me, but I repeated the message three more times. I only stopped when I passed the third floor and the scent of smoke touched my nostrils. I hurried up to the fourth floor where I knew Anderson lived, and yanked the door open.
“Fuck!” I snapped.
Flames filled the corridor all the way up the walls and to the ceiling. I looked from left to right and spotted a rack of four large fire extinguishers. I grabbed the one in the middle, undid the safety clip and then checked the label to make sure it was the extinguisher I needed. I could smell petrol in the hallway; I needed to smother it with carbon dioxide otherwise the fire would spread.
The extinguisher was large, but I knew from experience that the contents of the can would run out quicker than most people would expect. I lifted it up, took a few deep breaths of clean air, then I ran. The fire hadn’t spread to the entire floor or to all the sections of the walls and ceiling. I jumped and crouched and kept my body in the fire-free zones. As soon as I reached flat 406, I didn’t hesitate; I kicked it open and instantly stumbled back when flames darted out of the doorway.
“Fuck!” I paled as dread slammed into me with the intensity of the flames that surrounded me. The smoke was thick and overwhelming, and breathing it in caused my lungs to burn. “Noah! Noah, can you hear me?”
I pointed the nozzle at the base of the flames and sprayed. The CO2 helped, but the fire inside Anderson’s flat was bad. The smell of petrol was heavier inside the room and I knew this piece of shit was the cause of it. I felt it in my bones. Using a now-fire-free patch of floor, I reserved the remainder of the extinguisher and hopped and weaved on to dry patches of floor. I dipped into the kitchen and quickly ran the water at the sink. I took my T-shirt off and completely soaked it, then I pulled it back on. I soaked my hair and body, and used a pot of water to douse my trousers in the liquid too.
I dropped the pot on the floor when I heard a scream.
“Noah!” I roared. “Noah, I’m here!”
I grabbed the extinguisher and followed the sound of the scream, spraying CO2 on the worst of the fire in the hallway that I assumed led to a bedroom. I began to cough as oxygen around me was replaced by thick, black smoke. When I reached the end of the hallway, I kicked the door open. The second my eyes landed on what I was seeing, I dropped the can and shot forward. Anderson, that sorry excuse for a man, was on top of Noah and he was strangling her.
“No!”
My hands gripped his neck and arm and I forcibly yanked him off her. He hit the ground with a thud, and I unleashed my fury, and fear, upon him. I cracked my fists into his jaw, nose, chest, and any other piece of flesh I could connect to. My body was shaking with anger, and I only stopped hitting Anderson, who was so dazed that he couldn’t even fight back, to look at Noah when she moaned in obvious pain.
She looked right at me, but then her eyes rolled back. I jumped on to the bed and gathered her up in my arms, and I almost cheered in delight when
