Chapter 2: FIRE
1086 Words
Maria's POV:
———
*An hour passed since the meeting begin
I stared at the closed presentation folder in front of me before looking at each executive
“ The third-quarter production?”
I asked still going through the folder as one of my executive cleared his throat to reply
“ The revenue has increased by twelve percent, but expanding into the European market this year carries significant risk”
I leaned back deep in thought before replying to him
“ Risk are unavoidable.Poor planning is not”
I could feel the room become noticeably quieter.
“With all due respect, Miss Cermen investors may not support such an aggressive expansion”
I could not help but chuckle
“Investors don't build empires, visionaries do”
I took a pause to observe their facial expression before continuing
“ if anyone at this table believe they have a stronger strategy, now is the time to present it”
After I said that, I was met with nothing but silence
“No one?” I asked one more time “then the decision stands”
“Meeting adjourned” I said before slowly standing up to leave
When the conference room lights flicked
Once
Twice
Then-
Then the entire building went dark
A voice echoed through the speakers
“Good afternoon, Maria.”
A chorus of confused murmurs filled the room
“What happened?”
“Power outrage?”
“Who was that ?”
“Is this a prank”
Before anyone could react, the emergency alarms went off
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
The red emergency flooded the conference room.
Before I could comprehend what was happening a panicked employee came barging in through the doors, flustered before screaming
“Fire”
Then the whole place became chaotic
“There's a Fire on the twenty-Seventh floor”
People shot to their feet, chairs crashed, papers scattered.
I stood rooted to the floor
“The twenty-seventh floor”
My office.
Leo appeared besides me, slightly out of breathe
“Miss Cermen, we need to leave now”
“My office”
“It isn't safe”
“My office” I replied before rushing and pushing pass the crowd towards the elevator
“Maria!” I could hear Leo cursing as he ran after me
“damm it “ the elevator doors refused to open
“Emergency lock down” Leo said in-between breathe
“We'll use the stairs”I replied to him before sprinting towards the stairs, the smoke had already begun filling parts of the staircase by the time we reached the twenty-third floor
I could see employees running towards me. But my focus was my office.
My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I climbed flight after flight.
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
The smell of burning plastic grew stronger by the time I and Leo reached the twenty-Seventh floor, thick smoke had swallowed the hallway.
Sprinklers rained from above
Flames locked the ceiling and my office doors stood wide open.
My heart dropped
“No…” I rushed in, the room was in ruins,
glass covered the floor, bookshelves collapsed, my expensive furnitures burned beneath dancing orange flames
I covered my mouth against the smoke and forced myself towards the hidden safe
"cough…cough”I could hear Leo coughing
The painting had already fallen, the safe was open.
Empty.
I froze
No, no, no
The folder was gone, the artifacts too. Not burned but gone someone had taken it
My breathing became uneven
“it wasn't an accident” Leo said as he looked around searching for clues
⁸“the fire…” I said slowly putting it all together “ it was a distraction” I said before searching the safe to see if anything else was taken, with the exception of the strange black folder and all the artifacts everything else was intact, nothing else was taken
A loud cracking sound echoed above us breaking me out of my thoughts
“The ceiling” Leo screamed before pushing me towards the door as the burning wooden beam crashed between us, flames spreading across the carpet within seconds, making me crawl backward and trapping Leo inside
“Maria …cough cough” I could hear Leo's worried voice from inside “Leo!!! Are you okay..cough..” I asked with concern
“Yes ….but..I'm trapped” Leo replied back
Damn it the fire intensified, smoke blurred my vision.
I need the get Leo out of here, I stumbled as I walked along the corridor coughing violently as I leaned on the wall for support
The deeper I walked into the corridor, the quieter everything became.
The alarms, the shouting even, the cracking flames it was as though someone had muted the world, the corridor ahead glowed with an unnatural golden light.
I slowed down, puzzled “the flames weren't burning the walls instead they circled a single figure standing perfectly still at the end of the hallway.
Tall, dressed entirety in black
His face was hidden beneath the shadows
He neither moved nor spoke, he simply watched me
My heartbeat thundered in my ears
“Who are you ?”
I asked but i was met with silence, the figure took one deliberate step towards me
The golden flames bent around him like obedient servants
A strange sense of familiarity washed over me
fear ..yet comfort
Like meeting someone I have forgotten
The figure slowly raised a gloved hand not to attack but to reach towards me and i did the same just before our fingertips could meet-
“Maria!”
Leo grabbed my arm “the building is collapsing “ I allowed myself to get pulled away but my eyes never left the place where the man had been standing.
Few minutes later I emerged outside with the rest of the employees
Firefighters battled towering flames as the police pushed the growing crowd farther back.
I stood motionless, staring at my burning headquarters.
I wasn't thinking about the damage or the money or tomorrow's headlines.
I was thinking about the empty safe
The missing folder, the artifacts and was the fire started
“Leo”
“Yes ma”
“I want the CCTV footage of the whole building, I don't know how you're going to do it but I want it done, we must find the culprit” I said sternly"You have just one week to do that “
“Yes ma'am” Leo replied before picking up his
phone to call for my chauffeur
- Writer
