Chapter 9
The alarm in my phone howled annoyingly. I usually woke up before it went on, so I groggily lifted my phone from the floor by the bed, disconnected the charger cable and tried to press the screen to make the sound stop. The sound kept going on and on. I stared at the screen, confused, searching for the red circle from where to switch the alarm off. It wasn't there. My eyes felt like I hadn't slept for months, and my throat had a bitter taste in it. I hoped I wasn't getting sick. The sound kept on screaming and I finally woke up enough to notice something else too. A crackling sound, like a fireplace or a campfire. In an instant, I was wide awake. I stood up only to notice smoke creeping up the stairs and a faint red glow gleaming from downstairs.
I stood there, squeezing my phone in my hand, paralyzed, not beeing able to decide what to do first. Find the box that contained my ID's, birth certificates, passports? Call 911? Go check if I can put down the fire myself? I knew where the box was so finally I got my legs working and headed to the cabinet to dig it out. Pressing the box against my side I started my way down. My eyes stung and it was difficult to see ahead and take a breath. The heat radiated from the back room, flames burst through the opening and while I crawled on all fours towards the front door, I wondered what could burn so ferociously. There wasn't supposed to be anything particularly flammable in the back room.
The security gates were down, of course. A moment of despair: what if they didn't work anymore? Laying as low as I could, I reached my hand up and pressed the button. I couldn't hear the mechanism over the fire alarm and the blaze from the back room, but I thought I saw movement in front of the windows. Relieved, I crawled to the front door. With trembling fingers, I unlocked the door and crouched there, in the open doorway, coughing, waiting for the opening between the ground and the gate to get big enough for me to squeeze through. Then there was a huge screeching noise and the gate stopped moving. It was only four inches from the ground.
---
Ward sprawled on the uncomfortable designer armchair. He stared empty-eyed at the glass wall surrounding his apartment. If he were to really look, he could have seen the city landscape starting to emerge from the light-speckled darkness. His dad wasn't going to give him any orders from under the current, and he had no job to go to. He had a whole day of nothing to look forward to. Joy had left countless of messages concerning their failed excursion to Harold's place, but Ward didn't feel like answering her. He tried to massage an incipient headache away with the fingers of his left hand. He struggled to relax, but as one part of his body obeyed, others started to tense. At the moment his fingers on the right hand were clasped tight around his phone, as the left worked on his temple. It was easy for him to pretend to be relaxed, when in the company of others. It was just another party trick. A show he put on for everyone. But doing it for real? That required more work than he was willing to commit himself to.
He felt the phone buzz in his hand. Maybe it was another news alert, exposing the circumstances of his and Joy's termination, or an article detailing where Rand Enterprises were headed now. He felt a morbid curiosity towards any news regarding his current predicament.
The screen flashed alive under his touch, and he pressed the link without even reading it. A news video started playing with a solemn-faced reporter standing in front of fire trucks and ambulances, red and blue lights swirling in the background. The camera moved slowly to show the buildings on fire. Firefighters were still struggling to get the blazing inferno under control. Ward recognized the security gates, still down in front of one of the stores. He felt the bottom of his stomach drop as his fingers spasmed, trying to hit the sound icon.
”...caught fire just after 4 a.m. and quickly spread to the neighboring stores on both sides. At least 1 person has been reported dead, with 2 hurt. The identity of the deceased is not yet known...”
He was out the door before the reporter had time to finish the sentence.
---
The air smelled plastic coming through the oxygen mask. I tried to breathe as slowly as I could, holding onto the mask with one hand and wrapping myself inside a blanket with another, in an effort to prevent another one of the violent bouts of coughing. Every breath required effort as the clean air scratched my windpipe on its way. My bare, sooty feet tangled outside the ambulance. The precious box with all my important documents laid on my lap, tucked under the blanket. I sat there, not able to actually feel anything except for a slight bewilderment. Was this really happening to me? I was watching every bit of my earthly possessions go up in flames.
”Are you alright?”
I was about to mutter something vague to whoever was asking when I had to do a double-take. Or maybe it was one long take, involving me forgetting to close my mouth.
”Ward? What are you... doing here?” My voice was hoarse, muffled by the mask, and every word hurt. I had to pause in the middle of the sentence, trying to suppress a cough.
He stood there, chest heaving as he'd just come from a jog. He was dressed in all black, so through my stinging, watery eyes, I could only really see his pale face and hands. He was clenching his mobile in one hand. He stared at me, eyes filled with concern, and repeated more emphatically, ”Are you alright?”
I had to lift the mask away from my face to answer. ”I'm alive?” I didn't know what to say. Obviously, nothing was alright, my home and my business were in flames, it felt like I had to fight for every breath, but there was medically nothing seriously wrong with me. If there was, I would probably already be in the hospital.
I could see the yellow barricade tape surrounding the area and masses of curious and horrified figures behind it. Police officers were ensuring that only authorized personnel got through. ”How did you get inside the tape?”
Ward didn't even bat an eye. ”I said I was your fiancé.”
There was a pregnant pause. All the tension that had built up until that moment screamed for a release. I inhaled, laughter ready to burst out. Only laughter was not an option and instead, I erupted into a fit of uncontrollable coughing. Water streamed from my eyes and my lungs were a bundle of agony. I couldn't make the coughs stop, looking at Ward's face, which was a mixture of incredulity and uncertain amusement. I waved him to wait until I had myself under control again.
”I'm...sorry, but I'm... pretty sure... they know who... you are. And... that's why you... got in.” I was swallowing hard and breathing very lightly to keep the coughs at bay. The shallow breaths made me feel a bit dizzy and I had to steady myself, leaning my head against the cold ambulance wall. ”If any of the reporters heard you, tomorrow's gossip columns will be interesting,” I muttered into the mask, feeling very tired.
Ward didn't seem to be bothered by this. ”Honestly, I don't give a damn.” He was craning his neck, turning his head from side to side as if searching for someone.
I still had some snark left in me. ”Looking for your bride?”
Ward squinted his eyes at me. ”Clever. I'm trying to figure out who could inform me about this situation. And if you can go home.”
My eyesight was starting to get a bit misty again, but it had nothing to do with the physical pain. ”That's my home,” I gestured towards the fiery ruins, discouraged. ”I have nothing left.” The full weight of my own words hit me for the very first time. I. Had. Nothing. I had no idea where to spend the next night, let alone where I was supposed to live from now on. The building was insured, but I was afraid it wouldn't cover all the reconstruction needed for the cafe. I had practically no savings. I could get by a couple of weeks with the money I had in the bank. But only if I found somewhere to stay that was cheaper than a hotel.
There was also something about the fire I couldn't understand. ”Hood's dead,” I stated, as a fact. I couldn't feel anything for him; not sorrow, not guilt, not anything. Maybe I was a terrible person. Or maybe all that was coming later. ”The firemen found his body down the alley. Choked to death on fumes. He was holding a gasoline tank. They think he started the fire.”
Ward stepped closer and stared at me intensely. ”So it wasn't an accident?” Something bothered him about this bit of news. ”Do you think he did it?”
I had no doubt in my mind. ”No.” Why would he have kept all the evidence and destroyed a very reliable food source? Something didn't add up.
---
Ward felt his heart beat in his ears. It couldn't be. His father hadn't known about Lumi, and besides, he was dead. He had personally dragged him under the water and made sure he stayed there. There was no way this was his doing. But why did it feel just like something dad would do? He would have been stoked to destroy every bit of light Ward had in his life and dad might have planned it earlier, not realizing he would be dead when it came to fruition. Why would he target her though, when Ward himself didn't know what his deal was with her. That made no sense.
But... if there was even the slightest chance that there was a contract on Lumi's head, he would have to keep her close. It was too dangerous for her to be out there alone. Besides, he couldn't shut down the false sensation that he was somehow responsible for what had happened. Giving her a place to recuperate in peace was the least he could do for her.
He finally caught one of the paramedics and was told that Lumi would have to be monitored for 4-6 hours in the ED. The ambulance was leaving soon.
”After you're released you are coming to stay with me, ” Ward stated as it had already been decided. He felt it was safe enough for her to stay in his apartment, even if the place was bugged. His father had to be dead and wasn't going to monitor him beyond the grave. Kyle might come to work though, so he would have to at some point go and make sure all the video feeds were turned off.
The creases appearing on Lumi's forehead told him his idea was not mutually accepted. He tried to reason with her. ”There's plenty of room and a guest bedroom where you can stay in. Or did you have plans on staying somewhere else?”
Lumi lifted her mask again and protested, but only feebly. ”I'm going to cough all night, you'll get no sleep.”
Ward could sense she had no fight left in her. ”I'm not so big on sleep these days.”
The paramedics were preparing the ambulance for departure, and he requested to ride along. He was allowed to do that, and whether it was because of his status as a 'fiancé” or something else, he didn't care.