Blue Lupus

Chapter Twenty-Three: Family and Flames (Part 2)

                It was hot. 

            That was the first thing Alaska noticed. 

            It was hotter then she expected. Now, Alaska wasn’t dumb, she knew that running into a burning building would be hot, but she didn’t expect it to be so extreme. She had seen it in the movies and TV shows tons of times: the attractive lead male character running into the crumbling house, quickly escaping with no wounds and the beautiful girl in his arms.

            However, Alaska quickly discovered this would not be the case. She had only been in the building for a minute at max and she already felt like her skin was peeling off. Her eyes were dry, making it hard to see through the already thick smoke and bright light of the fire. Her hands felt like they were blistering, and her every nerve was ordering her to run out of this death trap. 

            But Ala knew that wasn’t an option. Somewhere in this building were her siblings. She coughed, the smoke invading her lungs as she moved onward, desperate to make it to the stairs. Of course Aaron had to live on the second floor, making it even harder for Alaska to reach them. She stumbled down the hall, the walls painted with flames. The young woman jumped as some of the ceiling behind her came crashing down. She had to work fast.

            She finally found the stairs and whimpered as she saw the smoke pumping out of the staircase, like a makeshift chimney. “Air! Caroline!” She called out, but her voice was hoarse and the smoke stopped her from being able to get in enough breath to breath in loud enough to call for them. She bit her lip, looking at the smoky monster before her, she then ducked her head, shielding her eyes before she started sprinting up the stairs.

            Each step she took she felt closer to death. Each stair was at risk of falling. Each breath she lost a little more air. As she ascended the staircase, the smoke got darker, soon the air around her almost as dark as the night sky outside. She made the mistake of touching the railing, the soft flesh of the palm of her hand instantly burning. 

            With one of her last surges of strength, she cradled her burnt hand to her chest and sprinted up the last few steps, desperate to get to her siblings. Once on the second floor and out of the staircase, it became light again. Flames licked at the ceiling, hauntingly beautiful as they illuminated the hallway. Alaska sped down the hall, her eyes scanning the fire-painted walls for the sign of a door. She began coughing, soon finding it hard to catch her next breath.

            “Aaron—“ She tried again, barely getting the voice above whisper.

            Between the crackles and popping of the fire, miraculously there was a response: “Alaska!”

            Alaska felt relief wash over her as she heard her sisters call. She was alive! Ala now ran down the hall, letting her werewolf hearing guide her. She finally got to the remains of what once looked like a door. The top part of the blue painted door had already burnt, the flames still working on the bottom half. The small gap that left was too small to fit a body through, however was still large enough for Alaska to be able to look into the room on the other side. 

            The room was covered in flames, just like the rest of the building. The couch was completely engulfed, the kitchen table practically just ash. Alaska’s eyes scanned around the small view of the room, desperate to see Caroline.

            “Carols?” Alaska called, before going into a coughing fit.

            “Help me!” The scream was so shrill and agonizing Alaska felt chills roll down her back. The words her sister was screaming soon turned into the most painful screams Alaska had ever heard before. They reminded her of the noise a rabbit would make before it was killed.