Things You Save In A Fire: A Novel Novels & Stories

I could take anyone if necessary but not this. The key lay on the table outside. I pushed open the door and was met with him. His everything. A fucking reminder of his life. I walked towards the closet that still had everything of him. I will burn them as soon as the mansion is left at my disposal. I rummaged a little and found his gun. The M embedded into it openly announced the owner.

He was a mess himself as he looked at the messy fire in front of him with blank eyes. Everything was just like a movie. Everything was happening in slow motion. The fireman was trying to stop the fire that came from Chloe's car. They all came down the cliff and found the car and trees around there were on fire. The fall from the top was so bad that her favourite car couldn't be called a car anymore. It was some scrap of steel. Nothing was there in the car. It was in that bad shape. And after the fall from up there, it's impossible for anyone to be saved.

“Fire! Help!” At that moment, he recalled that an incredibly important document was stashed in the shelf, and the fire could incinerate it. It was his hard work of three months—it must be saved! He braved through the fire in an attempt to save it when his clothes caught fire, somewhat burning him in the process. “Aargh!” Adam cried out in pain and staggered backward. Quickly, he hastily patted and smacked at his clothes to smother the flame. Still, the document was mere seconds away from getting burned, and it would be gone if nothing was done to save it.

for her. The words were a sham but they bought comfort. A candle in the dark. A candle with flickering, dying flames but a candle nonetheless. She sought the warmth from it greedily every single time. The flames had grown weaker and weaker with every life taken and she wasn’t sure how much she could give before the candle went out entirely. Until she was left in the dark with nothing to hold onto. She wasn’t sure what would happen when the flame did die. Maybe she would drown in that bleakness. Maybe that’ll be the end of Ilana Meyers.

And then, the real madness set in. The fire spread quickly, greedily consuming everything in its path. I didn’t feel fear. I didn’t feel regret. I only felt... peace. The fire burned hotter, faster, as I watched it eat the remnants of what had once been my life with Austin. With every crackle and snap, a piece of him disappeared from my memory, and a piece of me returned. And then, just as I was staring into the flames, another thought hit me. What if I burned the house too? What if I burned this place down so completely that my dad couldn’t sell it, couldn’t make money off of my memories?

Allard gave an order to one of his men and whispered something to him. We arrived at a large room surrounded by books and papers. We sat down, and after a few moments, there was a knock at the door. My chest tightened… this would be the first time I’d seen her again face to face after so many years. I wonder if she still remembers me. Did she still even know who I was? Alina…

That’s why lying to him about saving him from the fire had been the smartest decision of my life. The truth was, I hadn’t saved him. During that chaotic fire, when so many werewolves perished, I had been consumed by my own fear. I had run for my life, too terrified to think about anyone else, let alone someone locked in the deepest cell of the dungeon. I didn’t even know who had saved him that day.

She had been writing about what came after. That was the second book. Not the year — the year was the first book, complete and in the world and doing what it had been written to do. The second book was what came after the year. What it meant to live in the after. How the woman who had found herself in the fire continued to find herself, every day, in the ordinary life that the fire had produced. How the settling was not an arrival but a practice. How the choosing was daily and not dramatic. How the marriage that had been rebuilt was not finished being rebuilt — would perhaps never be finished, which was not a failure but a feature.

I had to accept that I’m meant to do great things, be the outstanding leader they all were waiting for, the bigger picture Finn was talking about that day. Suddenly there were flames dancing in front of my eyes, beautiful red, yellow and orange colors intertwining with each other. The flames grew, they got bigger, and they engulfed my entire body. I felt them caressing me, giving me their warmth without burning me, as they burned brighter and brighter until it forced me to close my eyes. There he was, majestic in all his glory, surrounded by the most gorgeous fire I have ever seen, the phoenix from the painting. He got closer. He was mere inches away from me.

Xander held my hand tightly, his grip offering reassurance in the face of uncertainty. Outside, the chaos continued. Flames licked at the windows, casting an eerie glow on the faces of the firefighters battling the inferno. I watched in awe as they fought tirelessly, their bravery and determination inspiring me to find strength in the midst of tragedy. A sob escaped my lips as I realized that everything we had built together was reduced to ashes. The precious memories, the cherished possessions—all gone in an instant. But in that moment, I also realized that the true essence of our love remained unscathed. Our connection, our bond, could not be consumed by fire.