Rescued - 1. The Fire's Aftermath

Rescued

By Wesley Lewis

Chapter 1: The Fire’s Aftermath

The sirens were almost deafening as they blared across the street. It was three in the morning when a loud boom occurred at their neighbor’s house. The blast itself was enough to wake both Randy and Ben up. The neighbors had moved in a few months ago with their three sons. They said there was a fourth but every time someone asked about Wesley it would get quiet. Ben couldn’t help but think they were hiding some dark secret, but Randy was an eternal optimist thinking that maybe the child had died from sickness.

Looking out the window both men could see flames engulfing the house. As the firetrucks began to try and put the fire out Ben noticed that only Angie, Jay and Mike were outside. Alarmed he ran out the door shouting that there was still people in the house.

“There’s still two boys in there! You’ve got to get them out.”

“Sir, you need to get back so we can contain the flames.” The fire chief seemed slightly annoyed.

“Sir there is a four-year-old and a two-year-old still in there. Either you get your ass in there or I will!”

“OK sir we are going to send in someone now. But we need you to get back so we can deal with the fire.”

After that Ben went back inside and re-emerged with Randy with him. They watched as a fireman came out carrying the brothers. Looking around Ben noticed that Angie and Jay disappeared leaving Mike behind as well. Ben immediately went to Mike asking where his parents were.

“They just left me here. I don’t know why they took me if they were going to leave me.”

“Mike, Angie and Jay aren’t your parents?”

“No, they’re not. They took me when I was six they treated me like I was their son until Jack was born then they just began ignoring me and it got worse when Joe was born.”

“Where are your real parents, can you remember them?”

“I don’t remember them. All I remember is Angie telling me she was my mom now. I never believed her though. Jay was even worse though, whenever I asked about my real parents he would hit me and tell me I would never see them again. I finally quit asking after a year. They never hugged me or anything. They wouldn’t say I love you, it was like I didn’t exist.”

Ben stood there dumbfounded by what the boy said. Randy had heard every word and was on the phone with the sheriff. Ben grabbed the boy and held him as he stood there crying. After Mike had finished crying Ben went to check on the other two boys.

From what he could gather was Joe was physically alright but he was still crying. Jack was a different story. It seemed that when Jack saw the flames he got out of the bed and grabbed Joe and hid in the closet. Jack had minor burns in different places but otherwise was fine. When Ben asked, what was going to happen with the boys the fireman said they were all three going in ambulance to the hospital to make sure there was no damage from inhaling smoke.

As the ambulances pulled away, the sheriff had arrived and immediately sought out Ben and Randy. He asked where the parents were and after Ben relayed what Mike had said to him, the sheriff got a sour look on his face. He informed the couple that in the morning he would begin looking over missing child reports to see if they could properly identify Mike. The hardest thing was finding someone to look after the younger boys. Randy being the prepared guy he was immediately whipped out the papers stating that he and Ben were approved foster parents and would watch all three until they could find a placement. After a few calls to the Child Services the idea was accepted and the couple were granted emergency custody of the three boys. Now armed with that information Ben and Randy drove to the hospital to check on their new wards.

After what seemed like forever, a doctor finally came out to discuss the kids’ conditions. Joe had only suffered from a minor smoke inhalation. Jack had several first and second degree burns on his body, which were treated. Mike got a clean bill of health since he had escaped the fire. Joe and Mike were released into the care of Ben and Randy while Jack would be kept overnight for observation. Ben decided that he would stay with Jack while Randy took home the other two.

Entering the room, Ben was relieved that the boy was awake. He didn’t appear to be upset. When he saw Ben, he started crying asking for Joe. Ben explained what was going on and the four-year-old calmed some. When Jack calmed down enough he finally started to sleep. Ben walked out of the room and called Randy. Before he could finish dialing the sheriff came up to him asking to speak with him.

“It seems like Mike has been missing for quite a while. His parents had given up hope. He was taken from Texas. I don’t know why they came to Georgia, but whatever the reason it wasn’t legal. We also searched the house and found what appears to be a meth lab in the basement of the structure. Angie and Jay have done this before too. We looked in their records and found out the cause of death of their other son. He died in a house fire just like this one. He wasn’t even a year old yet. The only difference that time was the fire was accidently started with only Mike and Wesley being home. No idea where the parents were at the time. A neighbor spotted the fire and called 911. The fire department got there in minutes but they were too late to save the infant. Mike had escaped with no injuries.”

It took a few minutes for the unsettling news to sink in. After asking the sheriff when the parents would be there he was informed they were on the first flight out and would be there in the morning. Armed with this new information Ben proceeded to call Randy.