Untimely

- XI -

Dust pricked her eyes and smoke filled her tired lungs. Mara could feel the bandage around her torso loosen and her wound reopen, but she continued to run without falter towards the burning Academy. 

You are not leaving me behind again.

Her blood boiled and her heart beat harshly against her chest, she could hear it drumming loudly in her ears as everything else seemed to drone out.

Nothing else mattered except for getting inside that stupid building and, God willing, see to it that her brothers are safe.

She heard Five call out her name from behind, but the Sparrow didn't bother. He started this mess, and Mara was dumb enough to go along with it. If she ever did find a single drop of blood on her siblings, she decided she would wring his neck.

Mara tore through the already forming crowd, even elbowing a man who yelled at her, but she could care less. 

A roadblock had already been set up around the building as firefighters worked to extinguish the already dimming flames. Mara silently thanked whoever above that the hellfire didn't last long enough for her to be trapped in the blaze too and she could get in without getting burned herself.

She jumped over the wooden barrier, ignoring the officials shouting at her, and burst through the double doors. The moment she took in her surroundings inside the building, Mara thought had entered the gates of literal hell instead of the familiar Academy hall.

The walls were charred to a crisp black. Smoke trails still emanated off from it and glowed darkly in the flashing red and blue lights from the windows, leaving her with a sense of ominosity. 

The temperature itself had increased a significant amount. Sweat was already starting to bead up around her body, and Mara could hardly breathe from the lack of air coming in.

Pieces of wood and concrete littered the floor just as glass crackled under her feet. In the dimness, Mara could make out the outline of a body by the staircase with chunks of seemingly white concrete. Upon closer inspection, Mara found it to be Jesper surrounded in his own ice.

"Oh God, please no." Mara immediately ran over to her brother, dropping to her knees heavily. 

His dirt covered pajamas was drenched in his sweat, and his chest showed almost no sign of breathing. Fearing the worst, she placed two fingers against the underside of his jaw and released a shaky breath when she felt a pulse, albeit faint. 

She noticed the ice around him was already in the process of sublimation. After a particular incident of dealing with a residential fire, Mara had so delicately learned that dry ice can be a very serious hazard in a small space when it isn't well-ventilated and the ice starts to melt until it turns into carbon dioxide. Once this gas build up in the small area, a person could become unconscious and even die.

At this moment, Luther tore open the door with almost immeasurable force. Five and Diego followed behind cautiously.

"Help me!" She shouted at them, refusing to leave his side. "He's still alive."

Mara didn't care where Luther had came from, but she needed to move the dying man in his arms before he, or even herself, succumb to the fatal emissions.

"Luther, get him out of here." Diego ran ahead towards Mara. Whatever hostility he had prior seemed to vanish as he kneeled and looked over her brother for any needed attention.

"But what about - " Luther wanted to excuse himself, be more in the action she supposed, but Mara was having none of it.

"Get him out of here or I will scorch you in the fire myself." Mara glowered at the huge man.