Scott POV
I had fallen asleep next to Mitch, his head on my chest and my arm around him. When I woke up, though, he had rolled over so that his back was facing me. I smiled slightly at how innocently small he seemed, curled up in his little ball while he slept.
I checked the clock on his nighstand. 3 AM? Wow we'd been sleeping a while. I closed my eyes again and was going to try to get back to sleep when I smelled something strange. I shot up, suddenly wide awake.
I got out of bed slowly as to not wake Mitch and walked into the hallway. As soon as I opened the bedroom door, I was choked by thick black smoke. I coughed violently as I stumbled back into the room, running toward the bed.
"Mitch!" I yelled. "Wake up!"
I shook him hard and his eyes blinked open. The smoke in my lungs made it difficult for me to stop coughing.
"Wha-what's going on?" He asked, his vioce still half-asleep.
"Fire!" I choked out, grabbing his hand and practically pulling him out of bed.
He jumped up, fully awake now, and I ran back toward the door. I ripped off the sweater I was wearing and handed it to him.
"Put this over your mouth." I told him, not wanting him to choke on the smoke like I did.
He obeyed and I opened the door, walking straight into the clouded hallway. I couldn't see a thing but I knew where the door was and I never let go of Mitch's hand. I couldn't breathe at all so it seemed like it took forever to make it to the front door, when it was really probably only a few seconds.
I opened it, the door handle hot just like the rest of the apartment. I pulled Mitch ahead of me and made sure he was out the door before I ran out, shutting the door behind me.
Once outside we ran down to the parking lot, coughing the whole way. Mitch coughed lightly a few times, but thankfully once we were in the parking lot he seemed fine. I, on the other hand, was having trouble breathing. I started wheezing and coughing, unable to get air into my smoke-filled lungs. Mitch called 911 and then he stood behind me, patting my back lightly while I bent over coughing.
"Scott?" He asked, his voice beginning to get worried after a few minutes. "Are you okay?"
I nodded, not wanting him to worry, but I didn't think I'd be able to speak.
"The firetruck is on it's way," He informed me. "It'll be okay, just breathe."
I heard the faint blare of a siren and I knew they must be coming for us. Thankfully our apartments were separated by concrete and brick, so I wasn't too worried about our neighbors. I don't know what kind of fire it was, but I didn't think it would be able to spread to them.
The firetruck raced into our parking lot and immediately the ladder began to extend to our floor. The firemen climbed the ladder with amazing speed, taking the hose with them. I stopped paying attention after that because next an ambulance arrived. Mitch signalled them over and the emergency responders guided me back to an ambulance.
They put an oxygen mask on my face and finally I was able to breathe again. It was another hour or so before they'd gotten the fire completetly put out. A few of the neighbors were standing in the parking lot or on their balcony, all their eyes focused on our floor.
The firemen were examing the damage and trying to find out what may have caused the fire. I was sitting on the edge of the ambulance, Mitch standing beside me. We waited, and waited, and waited, until finally a fireman came over to us, his face grim.
"Well boys," he started, "It seems the fire started in your kitchen, and as far as we can tell, it was set intentionally."
His words rang in my ear as I suddenly knew exactly who started it.
"The window in your kitchen was broken, it looks like someone broke in, set the fire, and left."
As I thought about it, our front door was unlocked when we left, but I know we hadn't left it like that the night before.
"Do you guys know of anyone who might have wanted to hurt you?"
I was so close to speaking up, but Mitch beat me to it. "No," he immediately lied. "I don't know who might have done this." His big brown eyes convincing.
The fireman nodded. "Okay, well we'll keep you guys updated on the investigation. In the mean time, I would suggest staying with a friend or at a hotel. The damage is too extensive in there to be able to stay there for at least a few more weeks."
"Can I get some of my things?" Mitch asked, worriedly. I knew exactly what he wanted, his clothes.
The fireman nodded. "Absolutely. We're just finishing up in there and as soon as we're done you boys can go have a look around."
"Thank you," I said, reaching my hand out to shake his.
He shook it and nodded to Mitch before walking away.
"Why didn't you tell him who started the fire?" I asked as soon as the fireman was far enough away.
Mitch looked at the ground. "I can't."
"Why not?" I asked suspiciously.
Mitch looked around, "I will tell you later." He whispered.
Around six or seven in the morning, the commotion finally died down. The firetruck and ambulance left and the neighbors all went to work or back to sleep. Mitch and I were alone finally, and were walking around the half-charred apartment.
Mitch was packing all of his things into a bag for the hotel. I was just seeing if any of my things had been burned. Thankfully the fire hadn't gotten far past the kitchen.
A little bit of the living room had been destroyed, including our couch, but luckily we both keep most of our valuable items in our rooms where the fire didn't touch. I quickly threw some of my clothes into a bag just as Mitch was finishing packing.
"So," I started, walking into his bedroom and stopping a few feet away from him. "Why didn't you tell the fireman about Trevor?"
He didn't look at me, he just stared at his suitcase. "I couldn't." He answered.
"Why not?"
He sighed, stressed, and pulled his phone out. He held it out to me and I looked at it. It was a text from Trevor.
I told you I'd get you when you least expect it. Tell anyone about me and I'll make sure that Scott doesn't make it out next time.
