The Aftermath: MPHFPC (editing)

T H I R T E E N

L U N A

So this is where I leave this world: surrounded by fire and locked in a jail cell. How pleasant.

Emma was toward the front of the cell, right up next to the bars. The fire wasn't able to affect her as it would us since we weren't born with the uncanny ability of being immune to it. Millard and I were both standing in the very back of the extremely small cell, trying to stay as far away as possible from the roaring fire. It was unbearably hot in there and I had that unmistakable sensation of sweat rolling down my back. I had a feeling in my stomach that went against everything my brain always told me when I was in a bad situation: Everything is going to be okay. It was a phrase that anybody and everybody in a bad situation clung to. Right now I was trying to stay positive in the only way I knew how: being extremely stupid.

I turned to Millard, who happened to be in an extremely bad mood and said, "Hey, Millard, knock knock."

Millard glanced at me, "Shut up." Sweat dripped off of his face and onto his chin like tears and he peered into the flames in front of us.

"Knock Knock." I repeated stubbornly, smiling up at him in the usual calm manner I tried to have in tense situations like this one.

"Luna, I really don't feel like answering a dumb joke right now, okay? We're probably are going to die, so I would prefer to be left alone while I sit here in a puddle of self pity thinking of what I should have done with my life than to end up here. Like for example, we should have never left the house to go riding in the car without Miss Peregrine's permission, because then we wouldn't have ran into that wight and I might have had a couple of days of peaceful bliss before it and it's hollowgast friend came to kill us all. We also shouldn't have tried to steal that money from that diner. I mean that was just stupid." Millard shook his head slowly in defeat but he glanced at me with a shadow of a smile on his face. He looked over in Emma's direction and said loudly enough for her to hear, "It is most definitely doesn't help that Emma lied to us about being able to get us out of here, because if she did, we would have been able to waltz out of here not covered in smoke." Millard started coughing to prove his point.

Emma whirled around, and in her anger, a fireball hurled from her hands. Millard ducked as it came hurling at us. He grabbed me by my waist just as I was about to duck and yanked me down. I stumbled and landed on top of him accidentally. I looked up and the fireball hurled through the window, breaking it and melting the bars, leaving a small crater sized hole where the window was.

My eyes widened at what could have been our heads. I whipped my head around towards Millard, who  had cushioned my fall when I lost my balance. When I did my eyes widened at how close we were, our faces were just inches apart. I realized how I could have easily closed the space in-between us in an instant. I was surprised at how much I wanted to. I mentally slapped myself. This was not the time to think about those kind of things! We were in a burning building! Our eyes met and his flickered-slightly and only for a single millisecond- to my lips. He immediately looked up though, not noticing that I had noticed. I suddenly realized I was gripping his neck like a lifeline, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck. I also realized that if Millard hadn't grabbed me when he did, I could have been the window.

I drew in a deep, shuddery breath. "S-sorry." I  loosened my grip against his neck, reluctant to let go. "Thanks for that. I could have-"

"Yeah," Millard interrupted quietly, "it's okay."

"No it's not okay." Said Emma, speaking up, not paying attention to the burning flames that couldn't get past her.

Suddenly, reality seemed catch up with Millard. The softness in his face turned to cold fury. He lightly pulled me off of himself and stood up.