The burning hotel

Bella rose upright in her bed when the sirens passed the motel, she was breathing heavily watching that door like a hawk.

"Relax" Nicolas said but she shrieked flying out of bed.

He sat up "Bella, they just passed us"

She was clenching the blankets like a little girl, then peeked out the curtains again.

"Had a nightmare?" He asked and she nodded.

"Well, stay calm, I promise they won't find you" he said getting out of bed.

Belladonna stood watching him go to the kitchen and take out two hotdogs from a brown paper bag.

"I know its not proper breakfast but here, eat up" he said taking a bite.

She came over and almost grabbed it, chomping away like one who ate years ago, Nicolas remembered he promised her a good meal, so he finished his hotdog and slapped his palms.

"You take another shower and get dressed, I'm going out quickly, when I return we hit the road"

She nodded deciding not to talk with her cheeks now stuffed.

"Don't choke okay?"

She smiled but he laughed shaking his head.

"You look like a hamster"

She choked but swallowed quickly "A hamster!?"

"Yes! Puffy cheeks n'all" he said poking his own blown up cheeks.

She leered at him with a shy face but bit her hotdog again.

Nicolas left her in the room for about half an hour when he returned with a bigger paper bag, from it he took readily prepared potatoes and chicken pieces.

After warming it in the microwave he placed the dish in front of her on the table and cracked a can of soda.

"There, that's better right?"

She smiled "Why can't the world be as kind as you?"

He laughed "Are you kidding me? Then the world would be boring"

"Boring hey?"

"Think about it, if everyone was friendly where's the challenge of finding the perfect woman?"

She blinked "What?"

"Relationships are all about opposites, if she was exactly like me I'd lose interest quickly, I want her to differ from me, so we'd have things to talk about, argue about, heck even fight about" he said and sat down across from her.

"Fight with her? That's not healthy for a relationship right?"

"That's what you think" he said and took out another hotdog.

She was still sitting with a potato on her fork staring at him questioningly.

"Fight and make up, they say after a heated fight between lovers their love only grows, its like therapy for a relationship"

"Oh! I see you're talking about make up sex right?"

"No...!" He said but smiled "That's just a bonus"

She giggled but her eyes darted to the window when sirens started filling the air, Nicolas headed to the window and peeked out.

"Oh... Dear me, relax the building across the street is on fire" he said.

"What!?" She said coming over quickly.

They both stood peeking watching the fourth floor of the five story hotel block go up in flames.

"Did you see this when you went out?" She asked.

"No, maybe it happened but I didn't even take note"

The firefighters fired their water canons up to the story but the spray barely licked at the flames, Bella drew the curtains open a little wider and opened the widow, now the noise came through clearly, the hiss of the flames standing powerfully against the firefighters who in return yelled orders to spread out and find more ways to combat the fire.

"There..." She whispered tilting her head "There is a mother"

Nicolas looked down at her, a small tear ran over her cheek "A mother?"

She looked up at him "I can hear her scream there between the firefighters, the nanny is stuck with her newborn on the fifth floor"

Nicolas looked to the scene, it was across the parking area of the motel they stayed in, and across the street there was still another large parking area for the hotel, yet all the way from there he realized Bella heard that mother.

"Its, I'm sure the firefighters will save them"

"I hear the baby cry" she said and he shook, suddenly realizing that despite anyone looking from the outside in on the flames, Belladonna had the ability to see beyond the fiery curtains, and foretell the devastating act of loss it still held back.

"Its... Its sad..." He said but she was moving already, he blinked astounded at her speed as she left the motel room.

"Belladonna! You're risking it now!" He called after her but she was running, going to the left of the building making sure she had as little eyes on her as possible, Nicolas ran after her scanning as well, what was she even intending to do!?

In an alleyway where the trucks can't get in she picked up a brick and smashed a window.

"Bella! You're risking yourself now!"

"So!? Are you telling me I should let that baby die!?" She asked using the brick to get rid of the excessive glass in the frame.

"N... No, fuck just be careful okay!?"

"Make sure no one sees me coming out" she said and dove in.

It wasn't difficult to find the flames, long before the scent of smoke reached her nose the sound of the hissing fire eating at the building drew her to the fourth floor, but she needed to pass that to the fifth.

She looked up the spiraling staircase to the flames now just above her, roaring at her like a back bucked wolf.

She took a deep breath and ran in, leaping over flames and ducking under some fallen debris, but now inside the affected floor the hiss of the fire was so maddening she couldn't hear the child cry anymore, she had no choice and shifted her wolf ears out to have a better perspective, but as she scanned a piece of beam grazed her back and set her one ear on fire.

She screamed slapping at it but the fire chewed through her hair quicker than she could put it out, she managed to succeed but had to first stand there holding the burned ear crying.

Crying, she heard it again and looked up, the kid was still alive, which meant there was still hope.

She leaped up, trying her best not to get set alight again, until after receiving a few more burns she burst through a door on the fifth floor, but here the smoke had made itself quite at home already, she coughed ducking, trying as much to see under it, listening.

There the cries of the infant again, on all fours she crawled over the tiled floors until she reached that room, broke through and found the similar blanket of smoke hanging there.

On a bed the babysitter seemed to have fallen asleep, and the smoke was in her face, Bella crawled over to her and felt her pulse, none, it was asphyxiation no doubt, but the baby seemed to have rolled from the bed, probably during the nannie's sleep, and was well below that heavy cloud of smoke.

Bella grabbed the baby and covered him as much as possible in blankets, then ran ducking out the room again, but the way she came seemed was out of the question, those doors she used to enter was just an open invitation for the flames to spread to this floor, she had to make another plan, she couldn't make it through with the baby that way.

Behind her she heard a window break, to her relief she saw a fireman on a ladder and ran to him under the smoke.

He was still waving to see when she came out of the ash blue fog and held the baby to him "Here! Take him!"

He blinked seeing those wolf ears, one bleeding severely and raw of burned melted fur, he frowned and took the baby but she stood back.

"No! Come" he said waving a hand.

She shook her head and disappeared into the smoke again.

"No don't be stupid! Its not worth your life!" He yelled again but Bella was too afraid of him to even care.

She found another staircase also in flames but still in tact, she leapt from floor to floor trying to minimally touch the embers which still managed to singe her.

Se found her custom made entrance and jumped out the window again where Nicolas gasped at her burns.

"You idiot!" He yelled taking his jacket and throwing it over her head.

"Back to the motel" She whimpered.

Nicolas guided her the way, caring so no one had too much attention on them, at the motel room he glanced back to see the firefighter hand the mother her baby, so Bella did it after all.

He shut the door and looked at her taking the jacket off her head, her hair still smoking, melted away from that bare ear.

"Are, you okay?" He asked, he waited for her to cry, waited for her to break to pieces over the pain, but instead she looked up and smiled.

"Yeah, I'll be fine"