160: NARROW ESCAPE

NARROW ESCAPE

It took one bullet to shatter the floor ceiling glass window. The ear piercing sound of glass breaking and crashing to the tiled floor shattered the deafening silence of the night.2

Jumping off the window is his last option…..

There's no other way to survive….

Even if he ran out of the door, the explosion would undoubtedly reach him and he would be roasted before he even knew it.

And so…. He did the only thing he could to survive. He jumped out of the window with his eyes closed before the whole room began to engulf in hellish flames.

The moment he came crashing down, an ear shattering explosion shattered the peaceful night sky. It was so loud that it nearly broke his eardrum. Temporarily, he went deaf.

The flames reached the sky, it lit up the horizon like the sky from the fourth of July except it was not a celebration but a dangerous explosion caused by a bomb.

He could feel the heat from the blast seeping behind his back. If his cloth wasn't made to withstand the heat, he was sure that it could have burned his skin. He was grateful he was wearing protective clothes.

His heart was in his throat as he plunged downward into uncertainty. Soon enough, he would reach the cemented floor. He wondered if his body could withstand the impact. 

If he's lucky he would have a broken knee or a dislocated arm….

If he runs out of luck, he will break his neck. Before he even realized what happened to him he would be dead by that time.

However, the doom he was waiting for didn't arrive. He found himself holding onto the rails of the balcony. He didn't know how the hell that happened but he was just grateful he survived.

Without the balcony, he already plummeted to the cemented floor. When he looked down, he swallowed hard upon realizing the distance between the balcony and the floor was so huge that falling would indeed kill him. Instantly.

That moment, he realized he made a foolish decision. But the foolish decision he made was the only decision he had. If he didn't jump out of the window, he could have exploded with the bomb. At least he was still alive until now.

His fingers clung to the rails for dear life. If he lets go then there would be no second chances anymore. He could not waste this precious opportunity to survive. He needed to live, he said that inside his thoughts as his hands tightened around the rails.

His palms were red and painful from exertion but he didn't give up, he used his other hand to cling tighter. His struggles were draining his strength but he continued to climb even though he couldn't move further.

The sound of footsteps approaching reached his ears. Hope sprung inside his chest when it came closer and closer until the door was kicked open.

He yelped in relief when his eyes saw his best friend coming in to rescue him. A heavy burden was lifted from his chest.

When Lucas Nicholas turned towards him, he witnessed the palpable fear on his friend's face. 

In no time, his best friend was running towards his direction. 

"Goddammit Ace! You scared the hell out of me! Your wife would finish me off if I return home without you!" Lucas exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him up until he was able to climb up the rails.

Ace had never been this grateful in his life. He would forever be thankful to his best friend for saving his life. 

If Lucas didn't arrive in time, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to move his arms further and his hold would slip from the rails.

His friend helped him up until he was safely inside the balcony. His knees trembled when they finally reached the floor. As if all his energy were drained from his body he collapsed to the floor.

He lay sprawled on the cold floor, gasping for air. He never felt alive until his near death experience. He was so grateful to be alive… He almost thought he was going to die. He realized how scared he had been….

"We need to leave Ace…." Lucas Nicholas said, waking him up from his deep reverie. He was pulled from the floor until he was back on his feet. "We shouldn't waste time." He added. The urgency in his tone was impossibly hard to ignore.

 "I-I don't understand?" He asked while still in the process of catching his breath. Lucas Nicholas continues to drag him to the door.

"Soon this whole place would burn to ashes…. We have two minutes to leave this place before the bombs explode. His friend replied, his expression couldn't be darker.

Ace gulped hard and hurried to his feet. Even if he had difficulty moving he quickened his step. 

Together they moved forward. Just as they are crossing the foyer, a huge explosion from the second floor shook the whole mansion and debris starts to fall from the ceiling.

A police officer waited at the door, when he spotted them approaching, he came to the rescue and ran to them to help him walk faster.

The moment they stepped outside, the last bomb exploded and the whole mansion was eaten by flames.

He let go a deep sigh. He was relieved that they managed to escape before the deadly bomb exploded.

The flames reached the night sky. As he stared at the place where he spend his childhood devoured by monstrous flames, he couldn't feel a thing. True it was the place he grow up with but he never once felr as if he was a part of it. And so watching it burn feels like erasing those unpleasant memories.

He felt free as if a chain had been broken…. Now that his evil stepmother was gone his only problem was his stepbrother, Vince.

He don't know where Vince was hiding but he swore that he would find him and he would never stop unless he's caught.

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