FITCH MANSION
"I guess we should get out of here,
huh?" Brent
says, breaking the silence that has settled over the kitchen.
"I suppose so,"
Andy says after a
slight hesitation. He moves away from the counter, on which he has been
leaning, but other than that gives no indication that he is actually planning
to leave.
Maggie
can see what is going on,
and she places a hand gently on his arm. "C'mon.
She's not going to come
down with a verdict in five minutes. She needs some time to think right
now."
Andy nods, agreeing, and begins to
move out of the kitchen. He and Maggie walk side-by-side, with Brent a
little bit in front of them.
The moment they cross into the dining
room, Brent freezes. Andy and Maggie put on the brakes behind him.
"What is it?" Andy asks.
"Smoke!" Brent points towards the
living room, which stands between them and the foyer. As far as they can
see, thick smoke has taken hold of the living room and is now drifting
menacingly into the dining room -- and towards them.
Andy looks back into the kitchen
and finds that the smoke -- accompanied by flames -- are moving in from
the other side, as well. "My God, the house in on fire!"
Brent covers himself with his arms
and begins to forge a path forward. "Come on, guys, follow me! We just
have to get to the door--" A bulge of smoke comes right at him and he coughs
roughly.
"Can we get out of here?" Maggie
calls to him, a strong note of panic creeping into her voice. Andy's arm,
which has been draped over her shoulders, pulls her tighter into him, and
she accepts the gesture gladly.
"We have to," Brent tells them, moving
closer to the living room. "Just stay close behind me! It's not that far!"
They make it to the entrance of the
living room, but stop suddenly when a trail of flames sears its way across
the living room carpet. The smoke is much thicker in here, and it has cast
such a heavy black mist over the room that it is impossible to see much
at all -- and even if the effort were made, the only reward might be a
pair of stinging eyes.
Flames have begin to whip wildly
around the room, and Brent pauses to search for a path that will get them
out of here. Finally he moves forward tentatively, trying to cover his
head so that he can look up and navigate through the precious little space
that is visible to him.
Andy pulls himself closer to Maggie
as a curtain beside him erupts into flame. "How are we going to get out
of here?"
"We will!" Brent assures him, yelling
now through the curls of smoke. He takes another step forward and feels
himself ram into something.
"What's wrong?" Andy calls out.
"There's something in the way. A--a
chair," Brent says, trying to use his eyes and his hands to discern the
contours of the object. When he is sure that no part of it has caught fire
yet -- miraculously, he thinks -- he settles his hands upon the arms to
pick it up and move it.
As he lifts the chair out of the
way, he hears Maggie's horrified cry rip through the dirty air. "Brent!"
He looks up quickly, and as a wave
of terror floods his body, he covers his head with his arms again and tries
to move out of the way. But it is too late -- the chandelier comes crashing
down, slamming into his back, and he crumples to the charred carpet.
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