The Rescue
1022 Words
The heat was solid. It pushed against Seraphina like a physical wall, sucking the moisture from her eyes and the breath from her lungs.
"Cough! Cough!"
She crawled across the floor of her office, the carpet fibers melting under her palms. The air was black, thick with toxic smoke that tasted like burning chemical and despair. Above her, the ceiling groaned, the wooden supports warping under the intense temperature.
"Safe... safe..." she muttered, her eyes stinging so badly she could barely keep them open.
She reached the wall safe hidden behind the portrait of the founder. Her fingers trembled violently as she dialed the code. The metal dial seared her fingertips.
_1998_. The year her grandfather started the company. The year this dream began.
_Click._
The sound was faint over the roar of the inferno, but it was the sweetest sound she had ever heard. The door swung open. She grabbed the metal tube containing the "Starlight" blueprints. The titanium casing was hot enough to blister her skin, but she held on. It was the future of the company. It was everything.
"Got it," she wheezed, clutching the tube to her chest.
_c***k-BOOM._
A massive wooden beam, wreathed in blue flames, crashed down in front of the door. The shockwave knocked her backward. The exit was blocked.
"Help!" she screamed, but the roar of the fire swallowed her voice. It was a hungry, living beast, consuming everything in its path. "Help me!"
The heat was cooking her skin. Her vision began to tunnel, black spots dancing at the edges of her consciousness. She curled into a ball, shielding the blueprints with her own body.
_I'm going to die. I'm sorry, Grandpa. I'm sorry, Killian. I'm sorry I couldn't save us._
"SERA!"
The voice cut through the chaos like a blade.
A dark shape smashed through the office window. Glass shattered inward, exploding like diamond dust.
Killian landed in the center of the room. His duster coat was smoking. His face was smeared with soot and ash, but his eyes... his eyes were glowing like molten gold in the darkness, cutting through the smoke with terrifying clarity.
"Killian!" she sobbed, the name tearing from her throat.
He was there in a second. He ignored the flames licking at his boots. He pulled her to her feet, his grip iron-firm. He ripped off his coat, dousing the fire, and wrapped it around her head.
"Breathe shallow," he ordered, his voice calm, steady, an anchor in the storm. "Stay close to me. Do not let go."
"We're trapped!" she pointed at the beam blocking the door. "The exit... it's gone!"
Killian looked at the burning timber. It weighed at least a ton, and it was wedged tight against the frame.
"Hold on," he said.
He scooped her up into his arms, bridal style, shielding her face against his chest.
"Killian, no! You can't move it! It's too heavy!"
He didn't move the beam. He turned towards the solid brick wall next to the door.
"Close your eyes," he whispered into her ear.
With a roar that shook the building's foundation, Killian kicked the wall.
_BOOM._
The masonry exploded outward as if hit by a cannonball. Bricks, mortar, and drywall disintegrated under the force of the blow.
He stepped through the hole into the inferno of the hallway.
Fire lashed at them from all sides. The hallway was a tunnel of flame. Seraphina buried her face in his chest, screaming as the heat intensified. She felt the fire licking at her legs, smelled the acrid scent of burning hair.
But Killian didn't stop. He walked steadily, rhythmically, like a titan walking through hell. He didn't even flinch as burning debris rained down on his shoulders.
_Crash!_
Another beam fell from the roof, directly onto them.
Seraphina squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the crush.
It never came.
She looked up.
Killian had caught the burning beam with his free hand. He was holding up the collapsing roof with one arm, his teeth bared in a snarl.
"Move," he growled at the debris.
He shoved. The beam flew sideways, smashing into a row of filing cabinets.
They burst out of the loading bay doors into the cool night air.
Killian carried her fifty yards away before collapsing onto the grass. He rolled her off him gently.
"Are you okay?" he gasped. "Check... check yourself."
Seraphina patted her body. "I'm... I'm fine. Just singed." She held up the tube. "I got it."
She looked at Killian. He was lying on his back, breathing hard. His shirt had burned away.
And there, on his left pectoral, was a horrific burn. The skin was charred black, oozing blood.
"Killian! You're hurt!" panicked, she reached out to touch it. "We need an ambulance! You have third degree burns!"
"It's nothing," Killian tried to sit up, covering his chest with his hand. "Sera, stop."
"Let me see!" She pulled his hand away.
Seraphina froze.
As she watched, the charred black skin began to flake away. Underneath, raw pink flesh was knitting itself together. Muscle fibers reconnected. Skin smoothed over.
In five seconds, the horrific wound vanished. It was replaced by smooth, tanned skin. Not even a scar remained.
Seraphina stared at his chest. Then she stared at his face.
The world seemed to stop spinning.
"What..." she whispered, her voice trembling with terror and awe. "What are you?"
Killian looked at her. The gold in his eyes faded back to dark brown. He looked tired.
"I'm just a guy with good genetics," he rasped.
"Liar," Seraphina backed away. "Humans don't heal like that. Humans don't kick down brick walls. Humans don't catch burning roofs."
She stood up, clutching the blueprints like a shield.
"Who are you, Killian Blackwood?"
Killian sat up slowly. The sirens of the fire trucks were wailing in the distance. The secret was out. Or at least, the edge of it.
He looked her dead in the eye.
"Someone who would burn the world to keep you safe," he said.
And for the first time, Seraphina didn't know if she was looking at her husband or a monster.
- Writer
