Mind Secrets: A Science Fiction Telepathy Thriller (Perceivers Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

reached for the handle.
    He let go. “Argh!” It was burning hot. The fire had heated the metal like the ring on a hob. He pulled the T-shirt from his face, wrapped the dry end around his hand and used it like an oven glove to open the door.
    Jennifer was inside. Stamping on a burning shoulder bag on the floor, trying to beat out the flames.
    The fire wasn’t as severe in the isolated room. The closed door had protected it from the main blaze. There was a fire in the corner under the tiny window – now smashed – but the area where Jennifer stood was free of flame and the air was almost clear.
    Michael grabbed Jennifer’s hand. She kept stamping on the bag, hopelessly extinguishing one part as another started to burn.
    “Leave it!” shouted Michael over the crackling of the blazing building. The open door was sucking the heat and smoke into the back room. Jennifer’s little haven from the flames was about to be engulfed.
    Michael’s next breath was tainted with smoke. He coughed it back out again. His lungs urged him to take in more air, but he fought the instinct until the T-shirt was back over his mouth. The material had almost dried out from the heat and the filter was becoming ineffective. If they didn’t leave now, he felt sure they would die in there.
    Jennifer stopped stamping. Whether it was because she perceived the desperation in him or saw the urgency in his eyes, Michael was not sure. But whatever the reason, she abandoned the bag to the flames. She stood and watched for a second as they multiplied across its surface.
    “We need to go,” said Michael.
    She nodded. Together, they turned towards the door.
    Hell stood between them and the way out. A mixture of fire and darkness. The smoke was so strong now, it stung Michael’s eyes. Water welled inside them and blurred what little he could see of their escape route.
    Jennifer coughed beside him. He pulled her close and put the other end of the T-shirt over her nose and mouth. She held it there.
    Hand in hand, they stepped out into the hall. Michael retraced the winding path to the door, picking his way through from memory because he couldn’t see. Stumbling through lack of oxygen, the surface of his skin burning with the heat, he looked desperately for the door.
    It appeared. Like a magic door in a children’s story book. One moment, they were staggering blind, clinging onto each other to keep each other safe from the flames, and the next they were looking at their way out.
    Michael lurched for it. Tripping on the doorstep, he collapsed on all fours and felt the stony tarmac of the path under his hands and knees. He took a large lungful of fresh night air and coughed it out again. He retched from the bottom of his stomach and felt it rasp his throat. He spat something vile onto the pavement. It was green and black. But he was out. The heat and the crackle of the fire was behind him.
    Beside him, Jennifer coughed too. Hands reached down to pick her up. Otis and Jack took her away.
    Michael crawled to a patch of grass where he sat back to look at the hall. The blaze had started to take over the roof. Soon, the whole building would be ashes.
    Someone asked if he was all right. Michael nodded. Someone else passed him a bottle of water. He took it with a ‘thank you’ and sipped. It washed some of the fire out of his throat, but he could still taste the soot.
    Then Otis was back. Standing above him like a pale, blond giant. He offered his hand. Michael took it and Otis pulled him to his feet. “Look, thanks, man,” said Otis. Michael glanced behind where Jennifer was sitting with Jack on the wall of the front garden of a nearby house.
    “You’re welcome,” said Michael. What he did was stupid and he could have been killed, but even he had to admit he probably saved Jennifer’s life.
    “Jen says you, er … got nowhere to stay,” said Otis.
    “That’s right,” said Michael. He hadn’t said anything to her. She must have perceived it when she