Witch Lights (Nanowrimo)

Chapter Six- Let it Burn

Chapter Six

Smoke is pouring in from under the door, not in just a small trickle, but a thick cloud that creeps towards my chair. "Holy shoot! Fire!" I leap up in shock, unable to believe what I am seeing in front of me. I rush to the door, hoping that the stairway won't be blocked yet. I need to get out before the doorknob is too hot to touch and the flames begin to eat at the wooden doorway. 


Half-way to the door I pull up short, my narrowing at my luck. The door has decided that now is a good time to catch fire, and the flames have begin licking at the ancient wood. My heart begins to pound as I turn in a circle, trying to plan out an escape. There aren't any windows to escape from and touching that door doesn't seem like the best solution at the moment. I watch, frozen in horror, as the door crashes to the floor, blazing with fire. 

"Sugar!" The word escapes my lips without a thought, my fill in for a curse word, but nothing comes to mind. There isn't a way out is there? Oh mother trucker. My palms begin to sweat, reacting to the way my heart is attempting to leap out of my chest. I step away from the fallen doorway, trying to see past it to the hallway. There's nothing but a shadowy light coming from the glow of the flames, which soon begin to invest in the floorboards, leaving me shrieking with panic. 

What should I do? A blur of options swirl through my mind, a whirlwind of artificial choices that leaves me panicked and slightly hysterical. I can't come back from this, can I? I fight the urge to run towards the doorway because all that will do is allow the fire to consume me faster. Maybe using the chair... I trail off, mentally shaking my head at the stupid thought. What will the chair do for me?

I could die right now. I could be burned alive by these flames and no one would ever know until later. Will someone tell Cole? My last words to Jenna will have been a fight. I run my fingers through my hair, accidently pulling a few of the dark red strands away from my ponytail in frustration. Who was stupid enough to set the library on fire anyway? Why didn't anyone yell at me to evacuate? I guess they forgot I was up here; after all, I didn't come with anyone and I've been up here for hours.

I lean against the wall, trying to steady my erratic breathing, and watch the flames crawl towards me inch by inch. There's no possible way that I can make it out now. The fire is a raging storm, consuming everything within its reach. A tear rolls down my face as I see the book eaten up by the flames, the neon sticker on its side turning to ash in a second.

The heat hits me next, a blistering burning sensation that leaves me gasping for breath as the tension leaves my lungs ready to explode. The air in front of me seems to shiver, little towers of heat all rushing about in a quest to discover who can destroy the most. I close my eyes, trying to keep the stinging away, but my sensitive eyelids do nothing to block out the searing sensation.

A prick of pain startles me, my eyes widening as I look down at my shoes. They're on fire. My shoes are on fire. "Shit!" The curse explodes from my lips, and I am too shocked at the sensation of burning on my feet to feel guilty.

I try yanking my toes out of the sneakers, but they're tied too tightly. "Oh my gosh, this isn't happening. Tell me this isn't happening." I kneel down, cringing away from the heat of the burning, and begin trying to untie them. The heat has traveled past the flammable shoes and into me, into my toes. I scream out, recklessly grabbing at the laces. I squeeze my eyes shut tightly as the flames begin their journey from the fabric to my hands instead.

 Sugar! I drop the laces immediately, clutching at my stinging hands, and abandon my attempts with the shoe. I stand, shaking my foot in the air, but the flame stubbornly refuses to burn out and fire consumes the floor dangerously close to where I stand.