Chapter 8 - Fire in the Cellar
Evans shrieked in agony, dropping the flashlight and clamping both hands to his ruined eye. Blood sprayed over the legal documents as he stumbled backward, crashing into the stone wall.
"Kill him!" Vanessa screamed, her voice shrill with terror.
Marcus raised the silenced pistol, but Clara moved faster than any starved woman had a right to. She lunged forward, throwing her entire meager weight into Marcus’s knees. He tumbled sideways, his gun discharging with a muffled *phut*, the slug ricocheting off the damp granite floor.
"Lily, the chute!" Clara screamed.
Lily didn't hesitate. With the agility of an eight-year-old who knew every hiding spot in the manor, she scrambled behind the rusted cot and pulled the lever of the old brass coal chute. A heavy iron flap swung open with a screech of rusted hinges, revealing a steep, narrow passage that led directly to the exterior grounds.
"Go, Lily! Crawl!" I shouted, tearing my left arm free from the remaining plastic restraint.
Marcus was already scrambling to his feet, blood smearing across his face, his weapon swinging toward Clara. I launched myself across the damp floor, tackling him around the waist. We slammed against the stone wall, the impact knocking the wind from my lungs. Marcus brought the butt of the pistol down hard against my collarbone, sending blinding agony shooting through my neck.
"You're dead, Daniel!" Marcus snarled, his teeth bared like a rabid animal's. "You're both dead!"
I grabbed his wrist, slamming his gun hand repeatedly against the rough stone until the pistol slipped from his fingers and fell down the deep drainage grate beneath our feet, disappearing into the black sewer water below.
Across the room, Vanessa had pulled a small glass vial from her purse. It was clear liquid—industrial accelerant.
"If I don't get the money, nobody leaves this cellar alive!" she screamed hysterically. She poured the liquid over the dry straw and rotting mattress of the cot, pulling a silver lighter from her pocket.
"Vanessa, don't!" Marcus shouted in panic, suddenly realizing she had lost her mind completely. "The coal dust in the walls—it will ignite the whole wing!"
"I don't care!" she shrieked, flicking the wheel.
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A spark caught. The accelerant erupted into a violent, roaring wall of orange flame. The sudden blast of heat pushed Marcus and me apart, the shockwave knocking us flat against the stones. The fire hungry for air, roared up the wooden support beams, instantly catching the centuries-old pine rafters above.
Thick, black, suffocating smoke began filling the underground chamber within seconds.
