Melting for you

Prologue

You do not need to read this but it gives you a little backstory on Ember :)

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Ember watched as the walls of the orphanage burned and crumbled around her.

"What have I done?" She whispered as her lungs filled with smoke and a support beam came crashing down on her.

She looked back, trying to see where her plans went wrong.

FLASHBACK

She set a three sparklers in the top of her cake, in place of candles. She stepped back to admire her work.

It was red velvet with cream cheese frosting, three tiers high. The front was decorated with a purple frosting banner that said 'Happy Birthday Emma!'.

"Ember? What on earth are you doing?" said a voice behind her. She turned to see the head teacher at the orphanage...Emma. She had shoulder length brown hair and large brown eyes. Ember tried to hide the cake, but ended up knocking it over, sending cake and frosting all over the floor. 

"Oh no! Please don't be angry Emma, I'll clean it before Madame Cristine comes I promise!"  She pleaded with the woman. Just as she was about to open her mouth to respond, an old woman in a conservative pan suit stepped into the room. She took in the mess on the floor and Ember's scared gaze. 

"You will clean this up, and go to bed...without supper" She said, before turning away and exiting the kitchen. Emma just looked disappointed, and followed her out. Ember began to clean up the cake and mop the floor. She didn't notice the discarded sparklers that had rolled under the furnace, which was still radiating heat. 

She laid in her bed for hours trying to sleep, until she smelled...smoke? She risked a glance out of her door. No one was awake, for it was around midnight. Smoke filled the hallways and heat swelled from the kitchen. When the opened the door, the entire room was engulfed in flames, which began the spread to the carpet in the play room behind her. 

Her eyes widened in fear, and she remembered that everyone else was still asleep. She turned to leave when, she ran straight into a fuming Madame Cristine. Once she saw the flames, however, she raced out the front door. 

Ember ran up the stairs opening every door and yelling at the kids to evacuate. She reached the last door and began to lead them out, but then remembered that there were more workers in the building. She left the kids to be lead by one of the other older girls and hurried to the staff dorms. Emma stepped from her room, furrowing her brows at the commotion. When she spotted Ember, however, she gained a sad expression and hurried to her.

"Ember, what are you doing? You're in enough trouble as it is!" She smelled the air and her eyes widened, Ember opened her mouth to explain  but was cut off "What have you done?" Emma ran downstairs to ensure all the children were safe. 

But Ember just stood there. She couldn't move. She had let down her only role model. She had failed. 

"Help!" she heard from a room to her left. She ran in and saw that the flames had made it upstairs, and a small girl was trapped  under a bench. 

"It's okay, I'll get you out of here" She assured her, before taking a few steps forward. The ceiling cracked and burning pieces crashed on top of her. She fell to the floor, her back searing where the wood touched her skin. She grit her teeth, but crawled from under the wood. She lifted the bench off the girl and they raced from the room. The stairs were on fire, and the fire escape was in the other side of the burning hallway.The little girl began to cry, and Ember knelt down beside her. 

"Hey, you're going to be fine, I'm going to get you out of here" She wiped the girl's tears away and took her to her room, which faced the front of the building. "Emma!" She yelled out the window, seeing that all the other children were out safely. The woman turned her head, and her eyes went wide with shock as she raced forward, looking up to the second-story window.

"Ember! What are you still doing in there? Get out!" She screamed up at them. 

"The exits are blocked, but I have a plan!" She told the little girl to stay by the window, and raced to the floorboards, which were burning heavily. Despite her now blistered hands, she was able to retrieve her bow and only good arrow from their hiding spot. She heard Emma yelling up at her.

"Ember! Ember stay put! we'll find a way to get you two out!" Emma was crying now, and she was frantically talking to the villagers who'd come to try and help. 

"It's okay Emma! I've got this!" She said, while tearing the curtains and sheets together to create a thick rope-like string. She tied it to her arrow and told the girl to step back. 

"Ember what are you doing?" Said  Emma as She spotted Ember pulling back her bow in the window. 

"Relax! Just move out of the way!"  She released the arrow and it dug into a tree across road. She tied the end of the rope to the curtain rod, before hooking a hanger to the rope. She turned to the girls, as the fire continued to spread throughout the room.

"Now, I want you to hold on as tight as you can. Do you understand me? You hold on until Ms. Emma catches you, Alright?" she said, lifting the girl to the window. The girl nodded, before hugging her tightly.

"You're coming too right?" She said, Ember gave her a small smile and directed the girl's hands to the hanger.

"Of course, I'll be right behind you" She lied, and yelled down at Emma "Emma! Heads up!" She pushed the girl gently, and watched her use the rope as a zip line into Emma's arms. 

"Alright, Ember you ne-" Emma began, but screamed when she saw Ember drop the rope out the window. "Ember! what are you doing?" she yelled.

Ember smiled slightly, and mouthed 'it's okay', before the rest of the ceiling caved in on her.

END 

Ember looked up at the sky through the collapsed roof. The moon stared down at her, and she swore it told her to sleep. She closed her eyes, and everything went black. 

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Chapter one will be published tomorrow!