The wail of an ambulance siren pierced the air.
“Mr. Gilbert! The ambulance is here!”
The ambulance screeched to a halt, and paramedics hurried out, rushing to Caroline’s side to administer first aid before lifting her onto a stretcher and into the vehicle. Caroline was injured, her condition uncertain. Gilbert knew he shouldn’t just leave her behind and walk away, but…
After wrestling with his thoughts, Gilbert pulled out his phone and dialed Francis’s number. “Big brother, it’s me. I need a favor… Yeah… Thanks a lot, bro!” Once he hung up, Gilbert glanced at Abel. “To Easthaven Docks!”
“Right away, Mr. Gilbert!”
As they drove, Gilbert immediately called Charles.
“Charles, it’s about Sherilyn…”
“Mr. Gilbert!”
Charles’s voice, fraught with urgency, cut him off. “Easthaven Docks are ablaze! The fire’s massive! We can’t get anywhere near the Harrison family’s warehouse!” A fire? How could there be a fire?
Anger surged within Gilbert, his jaw clenching so tight he thought his teeth might crack.
“What about the fire department? Haven’t they arrived?”
“They’re here!” Charles replied, his voice edged with panic. “They’re trying to put out the fire at the Harrison family’s warehouse. Once it’s under control, we’ll move in!” Wait, they had to wait?
Could Sherilyn wait?
Gilbert’s jaw tightened further, his temples throbbing visibly.
His mind was a whirlwind of chaos…
Caroline was at Easthaven Docks, in the Harrison family’s warehouse, and Sherilyn was at Westhaven, Lionspire Ridge…
Hadn’t Naylor said so? He was sure he hadn’t misheard. Had Naylor gotten it wrong?
…
Easthaven Docks was an inferno.
“Is anyone there? Help!”
Sherilyn’s cries for help went
bet
unanswered. She picked up the chair she’d been sitting on moments before and hurled it at the door with all her might.
But the warehouse door was made of steel, immovable.
What now?
What was she supposed to do?
Was she going to die here today? Fear of death is universal, and Sherilyn was no exception.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Trapped in the sealed warehouse, she hadn’t seen the flames yet, but smoke was seeping in through the cracks around the door. Sherilyn frowned, coughing uncontrollably.
“Cough, cough… cough, cough…”
The effort of shouting for help, combined with the smoke, was draining her strength. Leaning against the door, she collapsed to the floor. Gasping for air, her eyes bloodshot from the heat and lack of oxygen, her complexion flushed.
Sherilyn closed her eyes in despair…
It seemed she wouldn’t make it out alive…
Her life had only known brief happiness in her infancy when her parents were loving, and she was their cherished ‘little princess’…
But that happiness was short-lived. Her father’s infidelity, her mother’s death…
Her grandfather died of grief, and her grandmother, despite her advanced age, had to work to support her…
Then, she lost her grandmother too…
The Johnson family took her in, but
she was always an outsider there
Deeply indebted, even if the
novel
Johnsons were harsh to her, she
never dared complain…
Her grandmother had taught her to be grateful…
“So tired… so very tired…”
Sherilyn murmured, eyes still closed.
Reflecting on her life, it had indeed been… so very tiring. Perhaps, leaving this world would be a release for her?
Maybe this was mercy from above…
A loud ‘bang’ jolted her!
Sherilyn’s eyes snapped open. The
steel door had shifted from its frame, hanging askew and revealing a sliver of an opening as the wall beside it had given way.