Broken || h.s. AU (Special Edition)

Prologue - Angel

*trigger warning: brief mention of religious content, fire, death*

Prologue- Angel

Julia's P.O.V.

I tremble in fear, heat surrounding me. All I can do is cower into the corner of the smoggy room.

There's no way out.

The roaring fire surrounds me entirely.

My skin tingles with the anticipation of when the terrifying wall of red will reach me and creep up to envelop me.

But just when I'm about to give in to my horrifying but inevitable fate, I see something that ignites a small flicker of hope inside of me.

On the other side of the room, the window's been shattered from the heat. It's a grim hope, but if I can reach the window, I at least wouldn't have to burn to death. It could be over quickly.

As the fire inches closer to my untouched corner, I can feel the reality of living begin to slip away with every cough that wracks my body. So I struggle to crawl my way across the carpet towards the window.

My throat is choked with black smoke and I can hardly breathe.

I feel my heart pounding and tears fill my eyes, giving only slight relief to the intense burning.

My ears are filled with loud crackling and popping.

My vision begins to blur and my head spins.

Every inch feels like a mile.

Exhaustion weighs down every part of my body.

I'm not gonna make it.

I'm not gonna make it.

Finally, my arms give out from under me and I collapse onto my stomach. I feel horribly revolted with myself. I could only drag myself half way across the room. I use the rest of my strength to roll over onto my back and I look around groggily, searching for anything to comfort me.

Nothing. Nobody.

I'm alone.

A hoarse shriek rips its way up my throat me when I feel a hard weight crash down on top of me. I can't bring myself to move away from it.

Hot.

My side is hot.

It grows uncomfortable.

Too hot.

I'm burning.

I work up all my strength to lift my head, looking down as the pain grows exponentially worse.

A long wooden beam is lying across my lower stomach. The lines of the wood are glowing red from the heat and I slowly begin to comprehend the flickering colors on top of the dark wood.

Fire.

I'm stuck under a flaming beam.

My chest begins to shake with silent sobs and I close my eyes. I'm going to burn to death.

I'm going to die.

Mercifully I feel my lungs begin to constrict. Coughs rattle my chest and my eyelids grow heavy. Then the heat begins to lighten. It softens to a comforting warm. The terrifying crackling fades to a ringing and my eyelids grow light. I fight to open my eyes.

But I can't.

The hard floor under me seems to disappear, replaced by a cool material.

Then I hear a soft voice.