Chapter 2

-2012-

We were outside of the school premises when I started to feel uneasy. I couldn’t find Sharon anywhere and Cory and his friends limited my vision. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t let me look for her. Just a few minutes ago, I thought they were protecting me from the massive crowd but the situation changed and they were starting to get to close. My little bubble of space and air was making me claustrophobic and I really needed to get out.

“Cory, I need to look for Sharon.” He was still holding my hand from before and when I mentioned Sharon’s name, he tensed and held my hand tighter.

“She’ll be fine, she’s probably somewhere in the crowd.”

“How do you know?” my voice cracked and I could see smoke rising into the sky. “She might be hurt or in trouble.”

His forehead creased and he looked at me worriedly. His bright blue eyes were now a faded blue and he was wearing a frown.

“Cory-“

 I was interrupted by another siren. It wasn’t the fire alarm this time; it was the sound of fire trucks. Fire men in their bright orange uniforms jumped out and several grabbed hoses and made their way to the school. They moved in a practised formation which looked like an arrow, they made a line where the man in the middle was the furthest in front and those behind him listened to his every command. The strategy looked strange to me and I pushed the unnecessary thought to the back of my mind. More firemen and some policemen and women were telling us to move back away from the flames and smoke. The air tasted like soot and I started to cough, others were also coughing and some were crying tears, few were fine.

ARCK!

A scream loud enough to shatter glass made its way to my ears. I recognised the scream from a time Sharon, a few girls and I were in a haunted house.

“SHARON! SHARON!” I frantically pulled my hand away from Cory’s and pushed the other students out of my way, I could feel Cory’s friends’ hands trying to grab a hold of me and pull me back but movement was limited in the crowd and as soon as I pushed past the walls of the crowd, it closed in again, closing on Cory and his friends.

“Jewel, come back! It’s not safe!” Cory’s voice called out my name and it almost sounded like he was angry.

Ignoring him, I ran faster as I sprinted past the policemen, firemen and the other students. The authorities yelled at me to stop but I just kept going, Sharon’s life was in danger.

The authorities couldn’t pull away from the crowd to chase me because then they would be leaving their posts. They looked worriedly at me and then back at the crowd of students but it was too late to come after me, I was already at the post where just minutes ago, I had pushed the fire alarm.

The fire was a lot worse than thought and with every step I took, soot and ash settled on my face, it stuck on my eyes and cheeks and the tears I cried was clearing a little bit of it, the soot stung on my skin and I quickly brushed it off. The fire was raging before me and I could barely see in front of me. I pushed fallen bits of debris out of my way and tried my best to avoid the flames. I burnt my hands and I was sweating. Breathing became harder with each and every step, I couldn’t feel anything anymore and as I was tired. What was I even looking for anyway? The heat prevented me from thinking straight and I felt my head become heavy.

I slowly made my way closer and closer to the raging flames and continued to search for something. My head was throbbing and I felt dizzy. My foot caught on something and I was falling. I could feel it in slow motion, almost as if I were watching a movie but this was real life. My face and cheeks hurt and I could hardly feel my legs, bits of my clothes were on fire and my hair felt almost chalky. Turning to look behind me, I saw that I had tripped on a fallen pole of some sort.

Consciousness was getting harder and the pain I felt made me numb. I just wanted to sleep. Rest my eyes and never open them up again.