Into the fire
842 Words
Chapter 21
The curtains burst into flames.
Within seconds, thick black smoke filled the cottage.
Claire screamed and stumbled backward as burning fabric crashed onto the wooden floor.
“They’re setting the whole house on fire!”
Outside, Adrian Voss’s voice echoed through the loudspeaker.
“You have thirty seconds.”
“Hand over the memory card.”
“Or no one leaves alive.”
Ethan grabbed a heavy blanket from the sofa and smothered the flames climbing the wall.
“It’s spreading too fast!”
Sheriff Brooks coughed violently.
“The back door!”
Ethan shook his head after glancing through the rear window.
“They’ve covered every exit.”
Amora clutched the tiny memory card hidden inside the raven pendant.
“If they get this…”
“They’ll destroy everything Noah worked for.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Then they won’t get it.”
⸻
The smoke thickened.
The heat became unbearable.
Wood cracked overhead.
Claire pointed toward the cellar door.
“What about the basement?”
Ethan hesitated.
“My grandmother used it as a storm shelter.”
He pulled the hatch open.
A narrow staircase disappeared into darkness.
“Move!”
One by one, they descended into the cellar.
The air was cooler, but the smell of smoke followed them.
Ethan swept his flashlight across the room.
Old shelves.
Rusted tools.
Broken furniture.
Then…
A steel door hidden behind a stack of wooden crates.
His heart skipped.
“I don’t remember that.”
Together, he and Brooks shoved the crates aside.
The door was covered in dust.
A faded sign above it read:
Emergency Exit
Brooks laughed weakly.
“I’ve never been happier to see an old door.”
⸻
Ethan forced the handle downward.
It groaned before finally opening.
A narrow escape tunnel stretched beneath the forest.
Fresh air drifted through it.
“It’s clear,” Ethan said.
“You three go first.”
Amora stopped.
“What about you?”
“I’m going back.”
“What?”
“The laptop.”
His voice was firm.
“It’s still upstairs.”
“It has everything we’ve scanned.”
“Ethan, forget the laptop!”
“I can’t.”
He looked at her with quiet determination.
“If we lose both the originals and the digital copies…”
“…Noah’s truth dies tonight.”
Before Amora could stop him, Ethan sprinted back toward the burning staircase.
“Ethan!”
He disappeared into the smoke.
⸻
Minutes felt like hours.
The cottage groaned as flames consumed the roof.
Amora stood frozen at the tunnel entrance.
“He should’ve been back by now.”
Claire touched her shoulder.
“He’ll come.”
But even she didn’t sound convinced.
A deafening crash echoed above.
Part of the roof collapsed.
Amora’s eyes filled with tears.
“No…”
Without thinking, she turned toward the stairs.
Brooks caught her arm.
“You can’t go in there.”
“He’ll die!”
“And if you go back…”
His voice softened.
“…so will you.”
She pulled free.
“I can’t lose him too.”
⸻
Just as she reached the staircase—
A figure stumbled through the smoke.
Covered in ash.
Coughing violently.
Ethan.
The laptop was strapped across his shoulder.
He barely made it two steps before collapsing to one knee.
Amora ran to him.
“You i***t!”
She threw her arms around him without thinking.
For a moment…
He simply held her.
Neither of them spoke.
The world outside disappeared.
All that mattered was that they were both alive.
Slowly, Ethan pulled back.
Their faces were only inches apart.
His blue eyes searched hers.
Amora’s breath caught.
She realized she was still holding onto him.
Neither of them moved.
The distance between them grew smaller.
Just a little more…
Their foreheads touched.
For one breathtaking second, it felt as though the rest of the world had fallen away.
Then—
BOOM!
The cottage exploded.
The blast threw all four of them to the ground.
Burning debris rained into the night sky.
The moment was gone.
⸻
From the tree line, Adrian watched the cottage burn.
One of his men approached.
“They escaped.”
Adrian didn’t seem angry.
“They were supposed to.”
The man frowned.
“You wanted them to get away?”
Adrian smiled as he looked toward the dark forest.
“They’re carrying the memory card.”
“And that card will lead them exactly where I want them.”
He turned and walked toward his SUV.
“Prepare the old research facility.”
“It’s time for Amora to learn what really happened to Noah.”
⸻
Deep inside the escape tunnel, Ethan finally opened the laptop.
The memory card slid into the reader.
A single encrypted folder appeared on the screen.
Its name made Amora’s blood run cold.
PROJECT PHOENIX
“What is Project Phoenix?” Claire whispered.
No one answered.
Because none of them knew.
But somehow…
They all understood one thing.
Project Raven had only been the beginning.
- Writer
