Chapter 3: The Gasoline
We were trapped in complete darkness.
The crawl space behind the hallway closet was narrow, dusty, and smelled of old wood and insulation. Sophie was pressed tightly against my chest, her small body trembling so hard I could feel it in my bones. I kept one hand over her mouth — not to silence her, but to remind her to stay quiet. My other arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her as close as I could.
Outside, I could hear everything.
The sound of liquid splashing against the wooden siding of our house. The heavy footsteps of two men walking around the perimeter. And worst of all, their voices — calm, business-like, as if they were discussing something as ordinary as a home renovation.
Ryan’s voice was the one that made my stomach twist the most.
“Make sure you cover the back and the sides,” he said. “The fire needs to spread fast once it starts. I don’t want any chance of them getting out.”
The other man — Marcus — replied with a low chuckle.
“Relax. Once this much gasoline goes up, the whole place will be an inferno in minutes. No one’s getting out of there alive.”
Sophie made a small, terrified sound against my hand. I pressed my lips to her ear and whispered so quietly that even I could barely hear myself.
“Shhh… Don’t make a sound. Not even a little one.”
She nodded, but I could feel hot tears dripping onto my fingers.
I closed my eyes and tried to think. We couldn’t stay here. If they set the house on fire, this crawl space would become a death trap. The smoke would kill us long before the flames reached us. But every door and window was locked from the outside. We had no way out.
Unless…
I remembered something.
There was a small window in the basement. It was old and narrow, but it didn’t have security bars like the others. Ryan had always said it was too small for anyone to crawl through, so he never bothered replacing it. If we could reach the basement without being seen, maybe — just maybe — we could break that window and escape.
But to get to the basement, we had to leave the crawl space.
And Ryan and Marcus were still outside.
I heard Ryan’s voice again, closer this time.
“Did you check the back door?”
“Yeah,” Marcus replied. “Locked from the outside, just like you wanted. Even if they wake up, they won’t be able to get out.”
There was a pause. Then Ryan spoke again, his voice lower.
“What about the kid? You think she heard anything?”
Marcus laughed. “She’s six. Even if she did, who’s going to believe her? By the time anyone finds the bodies, it’ll just look like a tragic house fire. Faulty wiring. Happens all the time.”
Ryan didn’t answer right away. When he finally spoke, his voice was cold and flat.
“Good. Once this is done, I never want to hear that woman’s name again. Or the kid’s.”
Sophie’s body jerked against me. I tightened my hold on her, rocking her gently even though my own heart was breaking.
I had spent the last six years of my life believing that Ryan was distant but still a decent man. A little cold, maybe. A workaholic. But never this. Never a man who could calmly plan to burn his own wife and daughter alive for insurance money.
I had been so blind.
Another splash of gasoline hit the side of the house, closer to where we were hiding. The sharp, chemical smell was starting to seep through the walls. My eyes stung.
We couldn’t wait any longer.
I leaned down and whispered directly into Sophie’s ear, moving my hand away from her mouth just enough for her to hear me.
“Baby, listen to me very carefully. We’re going to crawl out of here and go down to the basement. We have to be quiet. So quiet that even the mice won’t hear us. Can you do that?”
She nodded against my chest, though I could feel how scared she was.
I slowly pushed open the loose panel at the back of the closet. The hallway was dark and silent. Ryan and Marcus were still outside, on the other side of the house for now.
I helped Sophie crawl out first, then followed her. We moved on our hands and knees at first, staying low. Every creak of the floorboards made my heart stop. When we reached the top of the basement stairs, I picked Sophie up and carried her down as carefully and quietly as I could.
The basement was cold and damp. The only light came from a small, dirty window near the ceiling — the one I had been thinking about.
I set Sophie down and rushed over to it.
It was even smaller than I remembered. Maybe eighteen inches wide at most. For a moment, despair washed over me. There was no way I could fit through that window. But Sophie…
Sophie might be able to.
I turned to her, my hands shaking as I cupped her face.
“Sophie,” I whispered urgently, “I need you to listen to me. Mommy is going to break this window. When I do, you’re going to climb out and run. Run as fast as you can to Mrs. Patterson’s house next door. Do you understand?”
Sophie’s eyes filled with fresh tears.
“What about you?” she whispered back. “I don’t want to leave you here.”
My throat tightened painfully.
“I’ll be right behind you,” I lied. “But you have to go first. You’re smaller. You can fit.”
She shook her head, crying harder now. “No, Mommy. I don’t want to go without you.”
I pulled her into my arms one last time, holding her so tightly I was afraid I might hurt her.
“Sophie, listen to me,” I said, my voice breaking. “You are the most important thing in the world to me. More important than anything. If you stay here, we both die. But if you run, at least one of us makes it. Please, baby. Please do this for Mommy.”
She was sobbing now, but she nodded.
I grabbed an old metal pipe that was lying on the floor and wrapped it in a towel to muffle the sound. Then I smashed the window as quietly as I could. The glass cracked and fell outward. Cold night air rushed in.
I helped Sophie climb up onto an old wooden crate and pushed her toward the window.
“Go,” I whispered. “Run. Don’t look back. Don’t stop. Just run.”
She looked at me one last time, her face streaked with tears.
“I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too,” I choked out. “More than anything.”
She squeezed through the narrow opening. For one terrifying second, I thought she was stuck. Then she disappeared into the darkness outside.
I heard her small feet hit the ground and then the sound of her running.
I stayed frozen for a few seconds, listening. When I was sure she had gotten away, I finally allowed myself to breathe.
But my relief lasted only a moment.
Because upstairs, I heard the front door open.
Ryan was inside the house.
I pressed myself against the wall in the darkest corner of the basement, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might burst. I could hear his footsteps moving through the living room above me. He was checking the rooms.
Looking for us.
I had sent Sophie away.
May you like
Now I was alone.
And Ryan was coming.
