Do you smell that?" Malcolm asked suddenly waking, and sitting up in bed.
"Smell what?" Sabella asked sleepily turning over moving closer to him.
"Like there's something burning?"
"I don't think so," Sabella replied becoming a little more alert.
"Take a whiff of the air," Malcolm said inhaling deeply himself.
Sabella sat up and inhaled deeply. When she did the smell of something burning, and a slight whiff of smoke filled her nose. "Where's it coming from?" she asked covering her nose with her hand to keep the smell out.
"I don't know," Malcolm replied throwing the cover back, jumping out of bed, making his way over to his bedroom door. "You stay here with Solomon and Serena. I'm going downstairs to see if everything is okay."
"We're going with you," Sabella told him getting out of bed going over to the twin's bed and picking up Serena. "Come over here and pick up Solomon."
"I want you and the twins to stay up here," Malcolm said trying to take Serena out of Sabella's arms, "the three of you will be safer if you stay up here."
"It'll be better if we go with you," Sabella told Malcolm the tone of her voice letting him know that she was going with him no matter what he thought. "If there is a fire downstairs you won't have to waste time coming back up here to get us because we'll already be with you. If everything is alright the four of us will just come back upstairs and go back to bed."
Realizing Sabella had a point, Malcolm leaned over and picked Solomon up out of bed and they all headed downstairs.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs and seeing nothing wrong in the living room, they looked in the direction of the dining room, and both saw a light stream of smoke coming from the direction of the dining room.
Malcolm passed Solomon to Sabella and made his way towards the dining room. He reached the dining room and saw that the smoke was coming from the kitchen, rushing into the kitchen he was met by a wall of smoke when he pushed the door between the two rooms open.
Covering his nose and mouth, Malcolm moved through the kitchen to the back door, he opened the door and saw that the back porch was on fire. Hoping to douse the flames with water, he pushed the screen door trying to get out and put water on the fire, but he found that he couldn't open it, there was something blocking the door.
Malcolm was about to rip the screen from the door when a shot rang out. He immediately fell to the floor. After a few seconds, he tried to stand, another shot was fired.
"Who's out there!" Malcolm shouted.
Silence.
"Who's out there!" Malcolm shouted again.
Silence.
"Malcolm!" Sabella shouted from the living room.
The panic and fear Malcolm heard in her voice made him jump up from the floor and run into the living room.
"What's wrong?" Malcolm asked when he reached her.
"Look!" Sabella replied pointing towards the front door.
Malcolm looked and saw what frightened Sabella. Smoke.
"Let's get out of here," he said taking Solomon out of Sabella's arms, putting his free arm around her shoulders.
Sabella held Serena against her body as Malcolm guided them towards front door. He opened the front door and saw only the beginnings of a fire on the front porch. He tried to open the screen door to put out the fire, so that Sabella, the twins, and he could escape, but just like the back screen door; the front wouldn't open; something was blocking it.
He passed Solomon to Sabella and was about to rip the screen from the screen door when two figures stepped out of the darkness, Mayor Jones and Sheriff Jenkins onto the porch.
The three men didn't way anything for a few moments; they just stared at each other.
"Give me the pictures and the negatives, Malcolm," Mayor Jones said breaking the silence that hung in the air between the three men.
"They're not here," Malcolm said lying hoping for time to get Sabella, the twins and himself out of their perilous situation.
"Where are they?" Mayor Jones asked.
"I'm not going to tell you that," Malcolm replied. "Not until you get us out of here and allow Sabella and the twins to leave."
"You know I can't do that, Malcolm," the Mayor said, "not until I have those pictures and the negatives in my hands."
"Then it looks like we're at an impasse," Malcolm said.
"No," Mayor Jones said holding up one of his hands.
Malcolm and Sabella watched as someone in Klan dress walked out of the darkness, up to the house and lit a torch. That was when they realized that the Mayor, and the Sheriff weren't alone. The man standing behind them walked over and handed Mayor Jones the torch.
"That hood doesn't keep me from knowing who you are Ed," Malcolm said to the man looking down at his boots. "I know it's you under there."
Caroline's father reached up and removed the hood from his head and smirked at Malcolm.
"You might as well call out the rest of your crew," Malcolm said to the Mayor. "I know who they are."
"Come on out boys," Mayor Jones told the men.
Richard Thomas and Bart Samuelson joined the other men on the porch. Malcolm looked at all the men responsible for the deaths of his friend, his friend's family and Judge Wheats' wife Sarah standing on his porch.
"It looks as if you, your guest and those babies are going to die tonight," Mayor Jones said lowering the torch close to porch.
As he lowered the torch the smell of gasoline reached Malcolm's nose.
"You wouldn't dare," Malcolm said.
"I've done it once," Mayor Jones said a sickening smile on his face. "And I'll do it again if you don't give me those pictures."
"You're going to do it anyway aren't you?" Malcolm said looking the Mayor straight in the eyes. "Whether you get the pictures or not you intend to set this house on fire with us in it."
"I'm tired of this conversation," Mayor Jones said bringing the torch to the gasoline splashed on the porch. "This is your fault Malcolm," the Mayor said. "You have no one to blame for this but yourself."
