Let It Burn (A BBW Paranormal Erotic Romance) Read online

  Let It Burn

  Published by VJ Summers and Sierra Summers, December, 2012

  Copyright © 2012 VJ Summers and Sierra Summers.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Editor: Terri Schaefer

  Cover Artist: Angela D. Middaugh

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  PrologueLudington, Michigan

  Twenty Years Ago

  Kevin lay absolutely still in his bed, not really sure what had wakened him. He opened his eyes and counted to fifty, just like his Dad had taught him, and waited for his eyes to adjust enough to look around his room and actually see something. It took another count of fifty, and maybe a bit more, for him to finally realize what was wrong.

  Shifting red light crawled around his window shade, casting weird shadows against the wall. A quick flick of his eyes to the LED display of his alarm clock confirmed that it was nowhere near morning.

  But then, he’d known that wasn’t sunrise anyway.

  Once he’d acknowledged the source of the light, he had to acknowledge the sound, a low rumble like the Hell Monster in his favorite video game.

  He was breathing faster, trying to suck in enough oxygen to think, to make sense of what was happening. The coughing fit took him by surprise, smoke drifting in from his cracked bedroom window and under his door to wrap greasy fingers around his lungs. Something made a loud cracking noise, the roar got louder, and Kevin’s paralysis finally broke.

  He scrambled from his bed, lunged for the door. Some half remembered presentation on fire safety slowed him down, had him crawling, trying to keep his head below the smoke gathering in his small bedroom like angry ghosts.

  Stop, drop and roll. Stop, drop and roll. The words ran through his mind like a crazy refrain. Crazy, because stop, drop and roll only did you any good if you were actually on fire. It didn’t tell you how to get out of a smoke filled room, down the hall, down the stairs, through the living room and out the door without turning into a human pork rind.

  The doorknob was warm, but didn’t burn his hand, and he really didn’t have any other options. The fire was dancing outside his window, there was no escape that way.

  On his knees, Kevin slowly cracked the door. He thought, vaguely, opening the door with the window opened might be a very bad idea, but he couldn’t think what else to do. He breathed a low sigh of relief when the door inched opened and the only thing to rush into his room was more smoke.

  Coughing, almost gagging at the force of it, Kevin crawled into the hallway. It looked weird, distorted. A house of horrors version of his familiar home. He was dizzy, confused. Blinking his stinging eyes, he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

  The Kryszenski home had generous but simple floor plan, the lower level containing a living room, den and dining area along with the kitchen and master bedroom suite, and the up stairs containing three bedrooms and a bath set in a single, straight hallway flanked by two sets of stairs.

  When he looked to his left, to the closest staircase, Kevin was relieved to see only smoke drifting between him and freedom.

  But then he glanced to the right. Toward Kimmy’s room.

  Kevin hadn’t particularly wanted a baby brother or sister, but his parents hadn’t asked his opinion on the matter. So on his tenth birthday instead of the radio controlled race car he’d been hoping and hinting for all year, he was presented with a squirming pink blanket wrapped bundle. He’d gritted his teeth manfully and plopped down on the couch to do his duty and hold it.

  When his dad had placed the bundle in his arms, the first thing that hit Kevin was how light it was. And how wiggly. Awkwardly shifting, trying to keep it upright, he’d been startled by a soft cry, like the sound a baby bird might make. The noise had brought his eyes down to the bundle in his lap, and it suddenly became her.

  Kimberly Lynne Kryszenski gazed up at her big brother with wide blue eyes. Her little seashell of a mouth was pursed, ready to fuss, and Kevin instinctively rocked her, saying softly, “Hey, little Jigglypuff, what’s your problem?”

  He’d reached up to touch her velvety pink cheek with one finger, and she’d wrapped her entire hand around it with a surprisingly tight grasp and heaved a deep, baby sigh. Those amazing eyes, the same blue as Lake Huron on a sunny day, slid closed and that little pink mouth began to move in tiny sucking motions.

  “Pretty cool, isn’t she?” his dad had murmured from where he sat on the floor, his back propped against the couch.

  She was more than pretty cool, Kevin decided. Way cooler than a remote controlled car. She was his to protect, and he’d done a pretty darn good job of it over the last two years.

  His friends didn’t like their little brothers and sisters for the most part. Kevin had never had that problem. His parents lavished both their children with love, and never seemed to expect him to take care of Kimmy like most of his friends had to do with their siblings. And Kimmy herself was like the best toy ever. Or maybe a really amazing pet. She followed him around, first crawling then toddling precariously in his footsteps. Now two years old, Kimmy followed him at a run, chattering madly about anything and everything and pretty much making him feel like the best, smartest older brother on the planet.

  Now Kevin stared in horror at the stairs just beyond Kimmy’s door. Vicious red and orange flames wrapped the banister, crawled along the wall. He glanced back to the relative safety of the staircase to his left, then stoically began the trek toward Kimmy’s room.

  For the first time he really noticed the heat. It seared his throat and lungs. He had to stop several times, coughing until he retched, but he never entirely quit his progress. His Kimmy was in that room, and he had to get her out.

  Dimly, over the roar of the flames, he heard other noises. From Kimmy’s room her distinctive shriek of fear and outrage. That kid could shatter glass with her screams. From behind him he heard his dad, yelling for him to turn around now. To get himself downstairs and out of the house.

  Kevin didn’t listen, just kept on toward his sister’s room. One inch, one foot at a time. Her cries were getting fainter now, broken up by coughing even more violent than his own. Unlike him, Kimmy wouldn’t know to keep low and keep her breathing shallow. Worse, she couldn’t quite make it out of her crib on her own yet, so the lowest she could get was about three feet up – right on level with the lowest layer of smoke.

  About three feet from her door the fire monster struck. A hot, crushing blow threw him backwards, singing his hair, making the skin on his face tight and hot, crisping off his eyebrows.

  He could hear his own screams, Kimmy’s increasingly weak coughing. He was in Hell, he decided, and it was exactly like it was portrayed in his video games. Distorted scarlet heat.

  A strong hand knotted in the back of his Van Halen t-shirt, dragging him away from the monster. He looked around to find his dad’s face seeming to float in the smoke, a grimace of pain and rage twisting the normally strong features.

  “Get outside, Kevin.” His father’s smooth barito
ne was rough, raspy with emotion and smoke. “Go find your mother.”

  “I’ve gotta get Kimmy,” he sobbed, pulling against his father’s hold. “She’s stuck in there and I’ve gotta get her out.”

  “Go, Kev.” His dad was screaming at him. He’d never done that before. But then, Kevin was screaming right back.

  “Daddy,” he had to stop for precious seconds to cough. The whole time his dad was dragging him back, away from the fire and away from his sister. “I can’t hear her anymore. I have to save her.”

  “I’ll get her son.” His dad met his eyes through the smoke. “But I need you to get downstairs and outside. I can’t get her if I’m fighting with you.”

  Kevin stared into his dad’s blue eyes – the exact same shade as his own and his sister’s. He felt sick, sick with smoke and with fear. His dad gave him another shove toward the clear staircase and he reluctantly began to crawl that way. His dad could do anything, and he’d never lied to Kevin. If he said he was going to get Kimmy and get out of there, Kevin would believe him.

  He turned, putting on speed as he crawled toward the stairs.

  “I love you, Kev.” He turned back at his dad’s shout, but his father was already disappearing into the smoke.

  Halfway down the stairs the monster struck again. A dull whump of sound and a giant, hot hand propelled him through the air to land in a heap at the foot of the stairs. He kept crawling, mindless now with pain and terror.

  Suddenly he was tumbling, falling through the front door and jolting down the porch stairs, finally coming to rest at the feet of an alien in yellow with a weird insect-like mask for a face. Kevin screamed, jerked back and screamed harder when he realized all that was coming out was a thin whistle of sound.

  “It’s okay, son,” the alien yelled. “You’re safe now, and we’re here to help you.” Finally he started to make sense of the aliens, the strange, surreal lighting flashing red and white around him.

  Firefighters.

  “My dad,” he choked out, “and Kimmy, my sister.” The fireman nodded briskly and yelled for the EMT before heading into the burning house.

  The ambulance crew arrived along with Kevin’s mother, dragging him into the street and slapping an oxygen mask on his face.

  “Where’s your dad, Kev?” His mother’s voice was raw, tears streaked the soot on her face. “Why isn’t he with you? And why didn’t you get Kimmy?” Her voice rose, near hysterical. It added to the terror of the moment. His mom was the loud one, the yeller and the crier, but she’d never screamed at him like this.

  “Ma’am,” the lady EMT’s voice was as soothing as it could be in the midst of the chaos. “Ma’am, your son’s been through quite a bit already. He needs you to be strong for him now.”

  His mother whirled to face the EMT, brown eyes blazing in her pale, dirty face. “Well, I need my husband and my daughter to be safe. Then I’ll be as strong as you want.”

  Shouts drew all their attention to the house. The fireman who’d found Kevin ran out the front door, followed by two others. No one else came out. With a low groan of agony, the house shifted and the roof disappeared in a shower of sparks.

  “Noooooo,” his mother’s wail filled his head, but Kevin was lunging, running back to the house, to his sister, his dad.

  He almost made the porch steps before the firefighter caught him, grabbing him around the waist and pulling him back against his bruisingly hard body. Kevin kicked and screamed, flailing until the fireman wrapped his arms around his body, subduing him completely.

  “There’s nothing you can do, son,” the man shouted over the gleeful roar of the fire. “They’re with God now, but your mom needs you here with her.”

  Over and over the man repeated his words until Kevin finally heard him and went limp in his hold. The fireman scooped him up, carrying him like a baby, like Kevin carried Kimmy when she fell asleep on the rug in front of the fireplace, and took him back to the ambulance.

  His mom was on her knees, staring blankly at the shell of their home. The fireman set Kevin gently in the back of he ambulance then wrapped an arm around his mom, drawing her up to sit beside him.

  “I am so sorry, Ma’am,” he rumbled. “The stairs were mostly gone by the time we got inside. There was no way we could get upstairs, and it was too late to use the ladder.”

  “You left them up there,” she whispered. She was still looking at the house, but Kevin knew she was talking to him.

  “Ma’am?” The EMT moved in front of her, breaking her line of sight. His mom blinked, took too long to focus on the woman. “Is there anyone we can call for you?”

  “No,” his mom said slowly. “My whole family is right here.” She finally seemed to come out of her trance, looking at Kevin where he sat coughing and sobbing.

  “Mom?” He didn’t care that his voice broke, that he sounded like a sissy, a baby. He needed his mom to hold onto him, to tell him things would somehow be all right.

  “It’s okay, Kev,” she whispered, moving to wrap her arm around him. “I know you tried. I know you didn’t mean to leave them up there.”

  “Mommy,” his voice broke and he burrowed into her side. “Mommy, I’m sorry. Sorry… sorry…” He sobbed against her and she gently petted him, crooning, “I know, Kev. I know.”

  And in the background, the fire danced and laughed, mocking their grief. And the firefighters fought it tirelessly, like superheroes. Stronger than Superman, more determined than Batman. And Kevin watched them, his mom, the fire, the firefighters, and knew nothing would ever be the same.

  Chapter OneToday

  Kevin Kryszenski was on his feet and half way across the room before he came totally awake. The sick knot in his stomach told him he’d been dreaming again – dreaming of Kimmy. Dreaming of the Hell Monster. But, like always, the dreams faded to smoke with wakefulness.

  In the split second it took him to make that observation, he’d snapped to full awareness. The alarm was going off, and he was on call. He choked down the dream induced nausea and surged into the equipment room, heading for his gear.

  By the time he shoved his feet into his boots and pulled his heavy over-alls up, Kevin had stuffed the fear and rage back into a box deep in his brain to be ignored until the next nightmare dredged it up again.

  “Yo!” He hit the garage at a run, though he didn’t feel any real sense of urgency. Nothing ever happened in Ludington except periodic flooding when the moody lake decided to PMS all over them. But it wasn’t the right time of year or weather for Lady Lake to be in a snit, so Kevin didn’t expect this midnight emergency to amount to much.

  “Dude,” his best friend, Travis, returned his greeting as he swung up into the cab of the ancient fire truck.

  “So, what’s the sitch?” Kevin climbed up beside him, settling in the shotgun position as Earl and Jimmy clambered into the back of the extended cab.

  “Dispatcher got a call that the Community Center’s on fire.” Travis deftly maneuvered the awkward truck out of the garage and into the street. Since it was after midnight and the streets were pretty much deserted, he didn’t bother with the siren, just aimed for the lakeshore drive that led to LCC.

  “No shit?” Jimmy chimed in from behind. He was the newest member of their team, and hadn’t yet faced even a reasonably serious fire. Kevin glanced back and rolled his eyes at the kid’s eager face. He’d lose that kid-at-Christmas expression soon enough if the fire monster was really on the rampage.

  “No shit, Jim,” Travis confirmed. “Sounds like the place is toast.”

  But by now they could see for themselves. Travis wheeled the rig into the LCC parking lot and Jimmy and Earl were out and unrolling hose before the truck came to a complete stop.

  “Well, fuck,” Kevin muttered, settling his hat firmly on his head.

  He met the cop in charge of the scene half-way across the parking lot.

  “Anyone inside?” He waited, dreading the answer.

  “Nope, not so far as we can tell.” Kevin
let a slow breath out as the cop continued. “Been a pisser keeping the gawkers back, though.” He gestured to the group of citizens gathered in their pajamas and robes and corralled by a strip of crime scene tape.

  “Yeah, well, we don’t get this kind of excitement often,” Kevin commented, glancing back toward the rig. “Okay. The boys got the hose hooked in so it’s time for me to get to work.” With a brief salute, he loped back to the truck, taking up his position at the hose.

  The fire was stubborn, but not particularly clever, and with a determined few hours of saturation they finally managed to drown it.

  With an evil smile he set Jimmy to work rolling hoses. The boy wanted some action, rolling hoses ought to satisfy his craving for exertion. At least, Kevin laughed at Travis’ knowing grin, the boy’d be too damn tired and sore to go yapping around the station like an eager puppy for a couple of days.

  Still chuckling Kevin moved to join the Fire Chief, Butch Caldwell, where he stood contemplating the charred ruins.

  “Got a lot of kids who are gonna be disappointed come this afternoon when their classes are cancelled,” Travis commented, moving to join them.

  “Yeah,” Kevin agreed. “It really sucks, because if we’d gotten here fifteen minutes sooner we probably could have saved most of the building.” He shook his head and turned to the Chief. “The arson investigator on his way?” he asked his mentor. The Chief nodded, still gazing at the burned out Community Center.

  “Yeah. He should be here any minute now.” Caldwell finally dragged his eyes to Kevin and Travis. “You boys did a good job.” He gestured at the buildings huddled close to the burned out shell. “It would have been nothing for the fire to jump to one of the neighboring buildings.” He glanced over at Jimmy who was gamely man-handling the yards of heavy hose back into its neat coil. “So, how’d the kid do at his first real event?” He asked with a twitch at the corner of his mouth.