Chapter 1

Molly My mind feels foggy as I try to wake up, like the feeling that you get when you are in a smokey room but I'm in my bedroom and in my bed so this doesn't make sense. I slowly start to open my eyes but the stinging only gets worse. What the hell is going on with my eyes? I finally manage to open them fully but my sight is still fogged while a commotion of noise hits my ears and an awful smell hits my nose all at the same time. What the hell is that? I rub my eyes to try and clear them but it makes no difference, if anything the fog seems to get worse while my throat starts to burn. A muffled noise outside my door brings my attention away from the fog. I think it's Tom's voice but I can't be sure. I sit up in bed and take a moment to look around the room and that's when reality hits me square in the chest. It isn't the fog that's stinging my eyes, it's smoke. Holly f**k my bedroom is full of smoke! "Archie!" I call my husband as I go to nudge him but I completely miss him. Calling out his name suddenly sends me into a coughing fit that has my lungs burning in seconds. I put my hand over my mouth and nose as I turn to my side to face Archie as I call his name again but stop before I finish saying his name when I realize that he's not there, his side of the bed is empty. "Molly!" I hear more commotion outside of my door only this time the voice is louder and more clearer. It's definitely Tom. "Molly, wake up!" I quickly scoot out of bed and get down low while heading for my bedroom door. "Molly, can you hear me?" Tom's voice is, even more, clearer now. "Tom, Tom what's going on?" I call out as I pull my rope down from where it is hanging on my bedroom door and use it to cover my mouth and nose. Another painful cough leaves my mouth as I go lightheaded and f**k it scares me. "Molls, the house is on fire, you have to come out babe!" Deep down I knew that my house was on fire but still I didn't want to think it never minds believe it, even if my smoke-filled room was the biggest clue, I still didn't want to believe it. Still don't. I take in a deep breath readying myself to face whatever hell is on the other side of my door and f**k is that a big mistake. The moment I take a deep breath my lungs burn like nothing else and I find myself in the mists of a major coughing fit. God, please help me! "Molls come on babygirl. I'm right outside your door. you can do this!" I try to calm my breathing while keeping most of my face covered and once again grab hold of the handle. The moment I touch it I want to let go again but I don't instead I scream my way through the pain that's building inside of me and pull open my bedroom door before falling into Tom's arms. "I've got you, sweetheart, you're ok." He holds me up while I hold my hand close to my chest. "Tom, where is Archie?" I look up at him to see his entire face covered in smoke while he holds some sort of material to his own mouth and nose. "He's downstairs, remember?" Oh, that's right. "We need to get moving Molls, now!" His no-nonsense tone has me wiping away the tears that are soaking my cheeks and nodding his way. "Get down on the ground. we're gonna crawl our way out, ok?" Again I nod his way before getting down on the floor on my stomach and crawling along our landing after Tom. The further along we go the thicker the smoke becomes making it almost impossible to see anything in front of me but somehow, I manage to keep my focus on Tom's feet. It only takes us a few minutes to reach the stairs but it feels like a lifetime. Once we reach the top of the stairs we change our positions and quickly slide down them on our bums. Halfway down I realize that the smoke is again getting thicker and stronger and I'm pretty sure that the fire is downstairs somewhere. "Archie!" I scream out his name as we stand at the bottom of our stairs which also leads to the front door. it would be easy to get outside right now but I'm not leaving without my husband and by the looks of things neither is Tom. "Archie!" Tom calls out his name as we try to get in the lounge but the door isn't budging. We both push, punch, kick, and slam ourselves against the door but it won't budge. "It feels like there's something behind it stopping us from getting in." Tom's words mirror my thoughts and have me completely freaked out. Why the f**k can't we open the door? Why would something be behind the door? "What if the fire is in that room? What if the ceiling has caved in? What if Archie... oh my god... Archie!" Tom takes my hand and pulls me until I'm facing him. "Molly we have to get out of here." I go to speak but he stops me just before I go into another coughing fit. " I know you don't want to and neither do I but we have to baby girl... We have to." I can see the sadness on Tom's face and I know that this isn't a decision that he's making lightly but still, I can't just go that easy. I pull from somewhere deep inside of me and use every ounce of strength that I have to barrel; at the door one more time. Just before I make contact with the door I hear a nose and Tom appears next to me as he smashes into the door and finally, finally he breaks it down enough that we can see inside the room. Well, I may have lied when I said that we could see inside the lounge because we can't, the moment Tom makes a hole in the door thick black smoke pours out, it's so much worse than the smoke that we have endured so far and the thought of Archie being in that room terrifies me but I don't think hell be anywhere else in the house. I don't know about Tom but I feel my head getting fuzzy and I'm pretty sure that I'm close to passing out but despite that and the fact that we are both choking on the smoke that's pouring out of the lounge we both ram against the door some more and somehow manage to break through it but still, neither of us can see a thing. "Archie!" I call out his name causing myself to inhale more smoke and cough until I'm close to throwing up. I feel myself getting weaker by the second and I can't imagine Tom's doing any better. We need to find Archie and get out of here. FAST! "Molls, over here!" Tom rasps out the words while holding himself up against the wall. "He's over here!" I use anything I can to help move me across the room but I still feel like I'm barely moving. Thankfully I manage to reach Tom before I pass out but the sight that greets me is too much and all I see is darkness. Complete and utter darkness.