The Soul Devourer

II:

"Alyssa!", Sarah called, her big, hazel eyes gazing questioningly at me.

I snapped out of my trance. We were walking on the sidewalk near the jagged rocks I had almost plummeted my death to, only a few days ago. The broken railing had been replaced, and it stood out, its coat of paint fresher than the others.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?", I said, turning to face the five foot six brunette. We'd been friends for over six years now, but she'd found some new friends in the neighborhood she'd recently moved to and since then, we rarely saw each other anymore during the school year. Since the holidays had started, she had been coming over often.

"I was saying that we haven't hung out in a while. And that I'm largely to blame for it, but you don't ever get out of your house. You should meet Annie and Sabrina, you'll like them", Sarah said, watching me closely.

I hummed, uninterested. She rolled her eyes, clamping down a hand on my forearm. "I'm taking you shopping this evening so be ready. They'll be there too and you can meet them so we can all start hanging out, okay? I don't want you spending all day lying in bed and reading novels and stuffing yourself with too much ice cream." Her voice grew serious. "It's not a healthy lifestyle, Al. You can do better, okay? I'll pick you up by four."

We had reached her house and before I could even protest, she shot me a smile and walked inside, slamming the front door shut.

Shopping. Crowds. Overthinking. Ugh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mall that Sarah choose was a giant skyscraper of glass, steel and marble, fluorescent lights, bright signs and hordes of people.

"I've only been here once before with my mom. The third floor has all the amazing outfits. Let's go, ladies!", Sabrina said, the dark skin on her face glowing with gold highlighter. Her long lashes were curled, and her hair made into cornrows at one side, and the rest was open. I really needed make up tips from her.

Annie, who was actually Philippine born, inched closer to me. "Heard you hated shopping."
I nodded my head to which she replied, "Me too. Unless it's for stuff that I want."

I chuckled and the four of us made our way to the third floor through the escalators, excusing our way through the dense crowd. Sarah pulled us into the first clothing store she laid her eyes on, and excitedly rummaged through the jackets section.
"Uhh.. Sarah? You do know it's the middle of June.", I said, chuckling.

She gave me a careless glance. "So? Black leather jackets, foreverrrrrrr."

Annie called to me. "Hey, Alyssa. I was going to look for the food court and get a bottle of water, wanna join?"

I smiled at her gratefully. "Of course."
Sarah just shook her head disapprovingly. "I'm not being shady but just saying, you both could use a wardrobe change."

We both looked at her through narrowed eyes before making our way out the door. We had only gone past three other shops when the sound of explosion shook the building.

The sounds of glass shattering and shrill screams erupted, making me instinctively hunch down, pulling Annie with me. In a matter of moments, utter chaos had settled upon the mall. People started running in every direction, trampling one another. More screams pierced the air, making my heart hammer in my chest. Above all, a loud alarm started to wail, making me put my hands over my ears. It continued and I looked around, trying to find the source of chaos.
There, on the opposite side of us, an entire shop was on fire and it was quickly spreading.

Realization slowly sunk into me. Mostly all the shops here were related to clothing and those materials would provide fuel to the raging fire. One of the shops was partly on fire, and I could see some figures trapped inside. I pulled out of my shock, and grabbed Annie, who had paled considerably and looked ready to faint.

I shook her shoulders, turning her chin to look at me. "Listen, Annie. We need to move fast, okay? Get-t Sarah, and Sabrina and run to the emergency exit. Don't use the elevator. Run. And call the fire department or someone. I-I'll meet you outside. Go!"

She looked ready to question me but I left her, and ran to the shop that was currently being engulfed by flames. I counted five people still trapped inside. People were evacuating, but in this moment, no one seemed to care for any life but their own.

The five people looked at me, their faces covered in soot, their pleas for help lost in the roaring of the fire. The entrance was on fire, their path to freedom barred. I looked at the shop next to it, which had not been touched by the hungry flames yet and looked at the wall joining them both. It was a glass wall, but breaking it would require a lot of force. I grabbed a metal chair from in front of the dressing room and thrust it at the wall. Nothing happened. It was strong glass, I couldn't possibly hope to break it.

Hopelessness threatened to overburden me, but I shook my head and scanned my surroundings again. Making a quick decision, I took out all the clothes from one of the stands so only a metal frame with wheels remained. I pushed it inside through the fire, and it reached those people.

"Get inside it one by one, and then the rest of you push it back out. Hurry!", I shouted, my voice hoarse. My throat was already parched and the side of my face was hot. There was only a narrow hole in the entrance but it wouldn't remain as the fire spread. The people were hesitating. I looked around and my eyes widened when I saw a fire extinguisher hanging at one of the walls of the floor.

"Wait!" I shouted to them before running to grab it. It couldn't possibly extinguish the entire beast, I knew that. I grabbed it and ran back, my heart seizing when I saw only a narrow gap in the fire at the entrance. It took me a few tries to make the fire extinguisher work but it finally did, and I created enough of space without fire to bring four of the people out.

"Johnny! I told you to grab my hand, my baby!", the woman who had just come out, wailed. She made to rush back, but I grabbed her hand, pulling her back. Instead I rushed in. A wave of dizziness hit me and sweat coated my entire back, and I coughed, doubling over. When I recovered, a young boy was looking at me with wide eyes, tears sustained within.

The metal trolley thing was beside him and I rushed to make him sit, before aiming for the narrow gap and pushing him out. I was about to leap out when a sign from overhead fell, and covered the entrance entirely. I couldn't even see outside, and the smoke was making my eyes water. Soot covered my hands and I launched into a coughing fit again.

Shit man. This was just a fire and there were actually people sinning, knowing they'd go to hell which didn't even compare. Shit, I really needed to do more good. Did saving five lives count? What if they never made it out?

Was this it?

A loud crash sounded and the sound of glass shattering following. I covered my head with my arms and felt little pieces of glass shower along my elbow. I collapsed on my knees, and breathed in more of the smoke. I tried to hold my breath but it only made my vision blur.

Through teary eyes, I saw the glass wall had somehow shattered and a figure stood, one hand outstretched towards me.

"We need to go before this whole thing collapses. Get up, Princess", a deep, vaguely familiar voice sounded.

"I can't...." I trailed off, feeling the whole world tilt.

"Listen to me-", but he was cut off as darkness finally dragged me under.
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I actually don't like the name of this story but I have no idea what to actually name it so I may change it in the future but if you guys have any ideas, lemme know. Also, please vote and share XD

Love, H.