Dotty scratched at the ground in front of my bed. “What’s wrong, girl?” I asked, but then an alarm rang out. I slammed my palms over my ears. What if Amo was here? He’d promised to fly over during our phone call. What if he thought I was in danger because he couldn’t reach me? My heart raced in my chest. If he got captured…panic bloomed in my chest. Would I be able to convince Dad to spare him?
The images from many years ago when my begging hadn’t saved the man in the basement flashed before my eyes. If Dad or Nevio killed Amo…
But something about the alarm was different. What was going on? This wasn’t the standard security alarm. I jumped out of bed and opened the curtains, even if that meant I had to remove a hand from my ear. I froze.
At least, one of the barns was on fire. Orange flames illuminated the night sky and embers danced like shooting stars against the blackness.
I began running, out of the house, spurred on by the fearful neighing and mows. I had to save my animals. I wasn’t sure what was going on. I never had open fire near the barns, and neither would Jill. Maybe one of the guards had smoked outside despite my warning. They should know better! When I stumbled off the porch, the two guards were standing off to the side, one of them on his phone, the other unmoving.
“Get the water hoses!” I screamed but I didn’t stop moving. I stormed toward the burning barn. Pain shot through my feet as my bare soles touched ember, but it didn’t slow me. I opened the barn door. The pigs stormed past me, but the horses and cows were panicking and had crowded in a corner. The roof was on fire and so was the right side. The alarm seemed to shrill even louder.
“The house is burning too!” Jill screamed, dressed in pajamas and her gray hair all over the place. The alarm must have woken her too. Her house was on the other end of the premises because we both preferred solitude.
“Save the dogs!” I screamed.
Had my dogs come out with me? Oh God. I staggered toward the horses despite my pain and tried to usher them away from their corner. I clapped one of them hard on its bum and it ran out but the others only watched me with wide panicked eyes and flaring nostrils. A burning ember hit my bare shoulder. I cried out. More and more embers rained down on the animals too. I stumbled toward the footboard I used so I could reach the horses’ backs when I cleaned them and used it to get on Calimera’s back. She bucked at once. She still had trouble being ridden and in a situation like this she wouldn’t have it. I rammed my heels into her sides, even if it pained me to do so. She tried to throw me off but then she began running. She bucked and bucked until I landed hard on the ground, but because she was the leading horse, the other horses ran after her, and even the cows, except for one. Mildred, the oldest of the bunch. My body ached from the fall and my head rang. I tried to push to my feet to get her out as well when part of the roof came down in a surge of excruciating heat and flying embers. The stench of burning hair filled my nose and I quickly extinguished my hair. I scrambled backwards, out into the open just in time before the remaining roof crashed down, burying Mildred beneath it.
Sirens still filled the night. The guards were at the house, which was completely aflame too. I heard eager barking somewhere, definitely Dotty. But what about all the others? Bear, Momo, Teacup?
I coughed and pushed to my feet. I took a step forward when a shadow fell over me. I looked up to find myself staring at an unknown man. My lips parted but before I could say anything, burning pain filled my abdomen. I stared down, following the man’s extended arm, to his hand and the knife handle. I couldn’t see the blade.
It was buried inside of my lower belly. I blinked, trying to understand what was happening. He jerked the knife back out, which hurt even worse and I cried hoarsely, then choked on my next breath when he slammed the knife into me again, a bit higher this time. He pulled the knife out again and I sank to my knees and fell to my side. The man slammed a hammer down on my left knee and I cried out when pain shot through me. He raised his arm for another blow. A low growl sounded and Bear slammed into him. Momo was yapping wildly around them, I slowly rolled on my back. I wanted to see the night sky.
This was it. Wasn’t it?
The guards appeared by my side. One of them pressed something against my belly and I screamed in pain. “Fuck it, fuck it!” he muttered, his eyes frantic.
“Get the dog off me! Get it off me!” my attacker screamed.
“Bear, stop,” I croaked.
“You’ll wish that dog had ripped you to shreds!” the other guard said.
Bear’s hot breath hit my cheek and Momo licked over my hand. Dotty and Teacup kept their distance, terrified. I smiled weakly.
So many faces flashed before my eyes as I tried to breathe past the agony. So many people and animals I loved. Some people have many regrets in their last moments, but how could I regret a life that had so much love?
Amo’s face lingered as my vision became dimmer.
“Greta,” one of the guards shouted, “Stay with us. Don’t close your eyes. Help is on the way.”
“Bring me the fucking medical kit!”
“What about him?”
“Shoot his feet and kneecaps, you asshole!”
Shots rang out, bursting through the wool in my ears. The following screams soon quieted.
I still stared up at the sky. My pain was slowly fading. Would I be seeing my family again? Would I see Amo again?
The ringing of my phone tore me from sleep. Fuck it. What now? Couldn’t these fuckers deal with their shit without me for one night? I reached for my phone. One look at the caller ID and I swung my legs out of bed and turned the lights on. Serafina slept in the guest bedroom because she was angry at me. I took the call as I stalked out of the bedroom.
“What is it?” I growled.
Sirens wailed in the background of the caller, only interrupted by a loud crackling that I couldn’t place.
“There’s fire everywhere, and an attacker stabbed Greta.” My ears began to rush with blood, my heart pounding hard and fast. “I called our emergency team—”