My phone wakes me.
At first, I think it’s a dream. Then I crack open one eye. It’s still dark outside. My phone falls silent, but within seconds, it’s ringing again.
I don’t know what time it is. I stumble out of bed, rubbing the back of my neck and smoothing down my hair. My phone is inside my bag. I rummage around for it, pulling it out and the air fills with my blaring ring tone.
I frown. Nicole is calling me. ‘Hello?’ I say.
There’s background noise. A kind of popping sound. She’s hysterical.
‘Hollie… oh god. It’s Scotch & Smoke… it’s… it’s… you have to come. F… fire. The whole thing… gone up in flames.’
The handset slides from my fingers and lands on the floor with a thud. I drop down, swipe it up, my fingers trembling, my skin prickling all over.
‘Where’s AJ?’ I demand. I start moving but I don’t know what to do. ‘Where’s AJ?’
‘W… we don’t know yet. He’s not answering his phone. Hollie, you gotta get over here.’
I hang up and burst into tears, though my brain is simultaneously telling me I don’t have time to be crying. I check the time. It’s two-thirty. I try AJ but the line goes straight to voicemail.
I half-dress in a rush, grab my keys, race out into the night to my car, open the door, start the engine and floor the accelerator before the driver’s side door is even shut. I lurch out of the parking lot and hit the main road.
I grip the wheel. My thoughts are in a scramble, going over what Nicole screamed at me.
I know it in my heart. Something isn’t right.
As I come down toward the highway, I see it on the horizon, in Rapture. A ball of orange light flickers, the night sky filled with smoke.
My heart pummels my ribs. I will my shitty car to go faster, the engine protesting under the strain as I ignore the speed limit and keep the pedal to the floor.
On the access road into Rapture, I’m going so fast that the car skids over potholes and bounces into the air. Blue lights fill my immediate vision, and I veer to my left, my car leaving the road. An ambulance passes me at speed. I get out of my car, twisting my head, grabbing the doorframe and following the lights as they disappear back toward Canyon. A sick feeling lines my stomach.
I try AJ’s phone again.
Voicemail.
Cloaked in the same worry, I debate whether I should turn around and follow the ambulance.
In the end, I get back into my car.
He’ll be there. He has to be.
At the edge of Rapture, floating, molten embers flood the air. I park up, get out and run. I stumble when Scotch & Smoke comes into view.
Only it’s not Scotch & Smoke anymore. It’s a column of roaring fire, crackling and spitting, the shell of the building barely even visible. I hear little explosions coming from inside. Two fire engines, one on each side, are dousing the building with water, but it doesn’t seem to be making any kind of difference.
‘Further back!’ a fireman is shouting, waving his arms widely at the small crowd. ‘Exit the area!’
My gaze travels from face to face. I recognize some Venom bikers but I don’t know names.
I power forward, trying to get close. Nicole finds me before I can find her, Balthazar right behind her.
‘Where’s AJ?’ I say again but her expression tells me everything I need to know, her eyes filled with tears.
I don’t hear Nicole’s reply because Echo and some of the other biker crew from Hell’s Venom appear round the corner. Echo’s hair is flowing loose about his shoulders, his brows drawn close together.
‘Everybody! Clear out! Back up for your own safety! Move! Now! Get out of here!’
There’s panic in the air, that maybe a building on fire isn’t all this is – or could become. I think of the semi-arid patches of grass growing freely around abandoned houses and buildings. The area around Rapture is a tinderbox.