Fire Upper East Side Today Novels & Stories

“How many inside?” “Thirty confirmed. Two dozen more unaccounted for.” “Then stop wasting breath,” she said, already moving. Fourteen minutes later at the East Quarter. Smoke rolled like a living thing through the narrow streets, thick and oily. Fire crews hadn’t reached the block yet; the Harrow had cut the main hydrant lines. Bram shouted over the din, “We’ve got pressure on the west side! It’s about to blow, Liora!” “Then we start on the east,” she said, covering her mouth with a soaked scarf. “Get the families down the stairwell—any route not blocked, I want cleared!”

And there it was. The footage was chaotic, shot on a shaky phone by someone running. It was nighttime. There were flames, huge ones. A beautiful, massive house—a mansion, really—was being eaten alive by a roaring inferno. Orange and yellow fire lit up the whole dark sky. The words at the bottom of the screen screamed in big white letters: DEADLY GANG VIOLENCE ROCKS CITY – TEN DEAD IN WEST SIDE TRAGEDY.

And for a second, I don’t fight it. The kitchen feels too bright. Too normal. Like the world didn’t shift last night. Like nothing happened. I move slowly, making coffee, grabbing something small to eat, trying to convince my body that this is just another morning. It’s not. Nothing is normal anymore. The TV is already on. Muted. News channel. I don’t think about it when I reach for the remote. I just unmute it. And everything stops. “Late last night, a fire broke out at an industrial warehouse located near Pier Twelve.”

It rings a few times before Bobby Vincenzio answers with a pissed off, groggy voice. “Who the fuck is this? And why the fuck are you calling me at 3:00 in the morning?” “This is Nikolai Fedorov, Vor of the Chicago Bratva.” “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but the Chicago Bratva no longer exists, asshole!” “We need to meet.” “Why would I meet with you?” “To discuss recent events. A fire occurred tonight in Little Russia, the Russian neighborhood. A bookstore was burned down, resembling the incident with Mario Alfonso’s massage parlor. I have sent you videos. Let’s meet and address this situation before it escalates.”

"It's gone. The whole block is a war zone right now, the Marino and Volpe enforcers are shooting at each other in the streets. It's a real bloodbath." The room shaked, Fontana district. The location for our joint appearance, our "spectacle of the right kind." I looked at Rudy, the blood draining from my face. "When?" I whispered into the phone. "The fire started an hour ago." An hour ago. I was at Il Gabbiano, drinking mineral water and talking about economic stability while the symbol of that stability was burning to the ground. I hung up the phone, my hand trembling. "What happened?" Rudy asked, his anger replaced by immediate concern.

“I told you guys that I need to be here tonight. I can’t focus on anything else but Taylor right now.” Kade dropped his voice and stepped closer. “I get that, but we have a serious problem.” I immediately got nervous. I could tell by the way he was looking around that he didn’t want to talk about this in front of Morgan and me, but Matt had left him no choice. “What is it, Kade? She’s about to start the transformation soon, so if it can wait—” “Someone set their apartment on fire. The entire building’s in flames.”

"The staff can prepare something." "I want to do it. You have always loved my cooking. Let me give you this, Tammy. Please." She finally gave in. I kissed her forehead, told her I would be back very soon, and left. I was halfway home when my phone rang again. "Mr. Whitmore. There has been a fire at the Whitmore Tower. The east wing is burning. Emergency services are on scene." I nearly ran the car off the road. By the time I arrived, the fire was spreading visibly across the upper floors, and I spent the next hour with the fire chief, with my head of security, with the insurance company, and with various journalists who appeared from nowhere with their cameras.

I survived and grew stronger. I shut the laptop once my work was almost done. After informing Louis, I would go to the police station. As I walked toward his cabin, I noticed a group of employees gathered together, staring at a phone. Their faces were pale and shocked. "Omg, how did this happen?" The tone made me pause. "What happened, Sydney?" I asked. She handed me her phone. "Lisa, three guards from our building were found dead last night. Look." My heartbeat stopped for a moment.

I asked. “Most immortals can’t be killed by fire. It takes intense heat, like lava, to kill one, but fire still hurts like hell for the bulk of immortals. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some things done. If there are any other issues tonight, just let myself or Ash know, and it will be handled.” Taking the hint, I allowed myself to be dismissed and walked out of his office and back out into the club to finish my shift.

Zach pointed out. "But you ate me just like you always do, like you love it," Krista said. "Eating your pussy is always a treat," Zach said. "I'll never turn down the opportunity." As the group was returning to the dojo the next morning on the return leg of their run, they came upon a 3-story building aflame only a few blocks from the dojo, burning like an inferno while the fire department trucks played water onto it in an effort to contain the blaze so that it wouldn't spread to the adjacent buildings.