Outside, the faint, distant wail of sirens finally broke through the night air. They were close. Maybe thirty seconds away.
But thirty seconds was too long.
The smoke dropped lower, filling the room. I began to cough, a violent, hacking sound that tore at my lungs, but my limbs still refused to obey me. The poison had completely disconnected my brain from my body. I could only watch as the smoke crawled across the floor, creeping toward Noah’s motionless form.
Get up, I screamed at myself. GET UP!
I managed to twitch my fingers. That was it. Just a twitch.
Through the roaring crackle of the flames in the hallway, I heard the front door slam shut. Daniel and Vanessa were gone. They were escaping into the night, leaving us to burn alive in the dark.
Then, a sound broke through the roaring fire.
It wasn’t the sirens. It wasn’t the crackle of burning wood.
