The Eighth Gate

30 | Desire Burns like Fire

 It happened so quickly. The third demon in the room, who had been silently watching Daniel and Mary like some faceless spectator, flicked a lighter and dropped it to the floor. The tiny flame it held immediately latched onto the gasoline layered over the ground, licking at it hungrily and multiplying, increasing in both height and strength.

Smoke began to cloud Mary's vision, filling her lungs with its pungent, stuffy scent. She knew they didn't have much time before this entire lighthouse was eaten up by flames. Tam/Noah knew it too, because he/she ceased their continuous attack on Daniel. Daniel himself stood up and exchanged nods and glances with the demon that set the floor on fire. Then the pair jumped through one of the windows, crashing into the glass and disappearing into the night. Mary cringed. It was such a high drop...

But right now she had more important matters to worry about, like her own life.

"We have to get out!" Tamara cried over the crackling of flames, heading towards the staircase. "Quick, before the flames block the stairs!"

Mason was the closest one to said stairs. He began to go down, picking up and dragging limp bodies with him as he went. That was another issue. Not only did they have to save themselves, but they had to get the people whose bodies were used as vessels for the demons out of here, too. After all, they were still alive, just unconscious—and even if that wasn't the case for some of them, they had no time to tell the difference now.

Tam/Noah grabbed Mary's hand and together the pair started to edge their way past the flames—which were getting wilder and wilder by the second. They were a lot farther from the stairs than Mason had been, and it was getting increasingly difficult to get to them, let alone see them. Smoke hung in the air, thick and ashy. Mary could taste ash in her mouth, could feel it clogging her lungs and airways, making it hard to breathe. She coughed and blinked repeatedly, her eyes burning from both the brightness of the red orange flames surrounding her and the burnt particles getting into them.

"Almost there," Tam/Noah told her, and Mary dimly realized that he/she wasn't being affected at all by the fire. Was that because, like the demon who was possessing Daniel, Tam's host body felt the pain but not Noah since he was already dead?

The top of the stairs, which had seemed so close a minute ago, now felt to Mary like it was miles away—and she couldn't even see it anymore. She was so hot that her hand kept slipping from Tam's, slick with sweat along with her clothes, which were drenched and still unbuttoned. Her coughing worsened, a continuous action that rocked her shoulders and seared her throat. She would gasp for air in between coughs, but that would just make her want to cough some more as smoke entered her airways. It was a torturous, never ending cycle that, coupled with the tears streaking down her cheeks from her burning eyes, soon made it difficult to walk.

If this was what Hell was like, then it was no wonder the demons wanted Mary to open up a gate and set them free.

Finally, finally they reached the stairs. But Mary had no time to catch her breath and wipe her eyes because soon the flames followed, trailing behind her and Tam as they stumbled down the steps. Apparently the demons had made sure to drench the staircase with gasoline as well—and probably the first floor of the lighthouse.

In their haste, Mary at one point lost her footing and nearly went tumbling downstairs. Mason, who had been waiting for them somewhere in the middle, caught her.

"Are you okay?" he called over the roar and crackle of the flames eating everything in its path. His wide, green eyes reflected their flickers, causing them to glitter beautifully. His face was streaked with ash, and occasionally he'd let out a cough.

She said nothing; she couldn't. Instead she nodded, even though it was a lie. She was not okay. Her eyes were blurry, her nose was runny, everything hurt, and she couldn't breathe. She suddenly needed fresh air like one needed water after dragging themselves across a scorching desert for miles. It felt like she was going to die if she didn't get it right then.