Celeste POV
My breath hitches in my throat and my heart skips several beats.
The library. The library with countless halls and corridors meant to make someone get lost.
I jump out of my seat and sprint away from the table
"Celeste, what-" Seth starts to ask.
"Rory." I say slowly, before breaking off into a sprint, shoving people out of the way and running out of the cafeteria as fast as I possibly can. As soon as I push the doors open, I see the huge column of smoke and fire. I push myself harder to run faster, get there sooner. I have to get to her. I bolt up the stairs leading to the library and yank open the doors. I bolt into the main entry and instantly pull my shirt up to cover my face.
"RORY!" I scream out. I have to find her.
I run down the long hallway and throw open the first door, the metal already incredibly hot. The scorching metal leaves blisters on the palm of my hand where I grabbed the handle. With every breath I take in, my lungs feel heavier and heavier. It's like trying to inhale velvet: impossible. I run down the corridor and down the stairs. Just as I am about to turn into the next hall, the wooden beam in the roof above me comes flying down, blocking the most obvious entrance. In my clouded state of mind, I desperately reach for the flaming beam. I grasp it with my bare hands, causing pain to shoot up them. It feels like someone is slicing my hands with a dagger fresh off the coals. I ignore the pain and keep pushing until I can open the door just a crack.
"RORY!" I scream again. No response. I pause for what I know is only a second, but feels like an eternity and look around myself. I see the walls of my home crumbling around me, falling to pieces and burning. The walls I used to think were impenetrable and untouchable, crumbling around me like dust.
I've reached the bottom floor. This is where I last saw her. I navigate my way around the falling debris, and make my way over to the window seat where I helped her study. Her backpack is on the ground, relatively untouched, and her book lay smoldering in the corner.
I grab the backpack and swing it over my shoulder. She will want this when we get out. I look up just in time to see one of the supporting beams from the ceiling fall down, and I know I don't have much time. My mind flicks to all the important books stored in this library. All will be turned to ashes.
"RORY!" I call out again. And this time, I hear a bloodcurdling scream in response. It could be coming from anywhere. The bottom floor is connected to all the ventilation and duct work, so it could be echoing through any of those, or it could just be from a floor above. My heart pounds in my chest as I glance behind the shelves in the main library on this floor. I won't have time to search every room. The entire building will be ashes before then. I'm not worried about me at this point; all I care about is Rory getting out.
"Celeste!" I hear a familiar voice call my name. I recognize it as Seth.
"Seth!" I yell back. I open the door that leads out to the stairs and start climbing them. I almost run straight into Seth, who was hidden by the dark smoke.
"Come on Celeste! We need to get out of here!" He yells to me, panic obvious in his voice. His eyes are illuminated in the flickering of the angry fire that rages around us. Gone from his eyes is the happy, joking manner that used to be there, replaced with the look of a scared operative. In that split second, I make an important decision.
"Okay! Go! I'm right behind you!" I respond. As I said. Ignorance is bliss.
We bolt up the stairs to the next landing. We are on the second floor now. He continues running, not even pausing. I take a deep breath and do what I always planned. I stop as he continues running up the stairs. I slip into the second floor. There are countless rooms and corridors; I would never be able to check them all. I cough and wheeze, smoke filling my lungs. My entire body feels like fire. The heat is unbearable. My hands are numb from grabbing on to the flaming board to get to the third floor. They hurt like nothing I've ever experienced before. Tears brim in my eyes, but I tell myself it's from the smoke, not the pain. I count down from 15 until I think Seth is out of the building and to safety.
"RORY!" I scream out. No response this time. I'm overcome with a sense of dread. This is hopeless. I have to keep searching though. She would have done the same for me.
I glance behind the shelves on the main floor; the smoke is giving me a migraine and making my thoughts cloudy. I stumble around the room; I can feel my strength slowly slipping away.
"Rory." I say hoarsely, and the word comes out as more of a weak whisper. I can feel the smoke filling my lungs, making me choke. I can't stay much longer, I'll die. But I refuse to leave without Rory. If me dying guarantees she gets out, so be it.
I stumble out of the room. The smoke is making it harder and harder to breathe. I swing open the door and reach blindly for the railing of the stairs. I double over and start coughing. I'm not sure how much longer my lungs can take this smoke.
I start going up the stairs, slower and slower with each step. I finally reach the landing and throw open the door to the last room. I collapse to my knees and cough uncontrollably. I know I can't stay here much longer.
"Rory." I say, my voice cracking. I slowly rise to my feet, and swing open the door. It's heavier than I remember. I walk in the room, bracing myself against the walls. I glance behind the shelves and stumble toward the exit. I clumsily drag myself out of the grand hall and towards the grand doors leading to the main exit. I use my last ounce of strength to pull open the huge grand doors leading to the burning library. I take one step out of the building and collapse on the ground. I collapse onto the cold hard ground and lay there. I still can't breathe.
I didn't find her. That's the only thing I can think. I couldn't find her. And the worst part is I know she's in there, waiting for me to show up. I know she's depending on me, and that's what makes it worse. Because I won't show up, I won't save her; I won't be the person she looks up to anymore.
I shut my eyes and feel hot tears running down my face. This time I know it isn't from the smoke. Forgive me, I think, forgive me please.
Images start flashing through my mind. Rory, the tiny girl with a big heart. Rory, the girl who smiled no matter what happened. Rory, the freshman who had her whole life ahead of her, which was now burning away in a library. I struggle to keep my conscience as I remember the bush or fiery red hair and the high cheekbones dappled with freckles. The way her eyebrows turned down at the corners every time she hit a question on her work that she needed help with. I remember the way she would take the tips of her hair and play with them absentmindedly, never noticing that she did it.
Who would do this? Who would take away a beautiful person like her? Despite the pain I feel anger floods through my veins. I feel my heartbeat start to race. I wouldn't let Rory go like this. I would find out what or who did this. And I wouldn't stop until I knew.
My thoughts became clouded to the point that it hurt to blink. I turn my head to the side and squint, my breath becoming shallow. I reach over my shoulder to make sure that Rory's backpack is still on my shoulder, once I feel the strap; I let my hand fall and release a sigh. I see 3 blurry figures off to the side, running towards me. I let out a breath of smoky air, and everything fades to black.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Celeste! You have to wake up... please..." The masculine voice talking to me whispers the last word. I hear people talking, but they sound far away and distant. I feel my head being propped up; it feels like someone is holding it. My body is lying on cold hard cement, and the cold winter chill has seeped into my bones.
I groan in pain. My lungs feel like they are filled with sand. My throat feels raw and dry. I cough loudly and wheeze to get air back in my lungs. My hands feel like they are still on fire, the after-effects of grabbing the flaming beam.
"It's okay. Breathe..." I hear the voice tell me. I immediately recognize it as Seth.
"Seth what-" I start to talk but then start coughing. I take in my surroundings. We're still outside the library, sitting on the cold hard concrete that used to make up the walkway to the entrance. He is sitting with his legs crossed and my head is resting in his lap.
"Rory!" I say suddenly. I jump up to where I'm sitting up.
"Celeste..." He says carefully. He grabs my arm but I shake his hand off.
I stand up and walk over to the burning library. I watch as the library burns right before my eyes. I watch wordlessly as it crumbles in front of me. The walls that I used to believe would stand forever, the walls that I used to believe were impenetrable were dying right before my very eyes.
Seth comes up next to me while I watch the library burn.
"What happened?" I ask. A simple question, but I know the answer is never simple.
"After you ran out of the dining hall, Kate, Preston and I all got up and followed you. Preston and Kate wanted to run straight in, but I convinced them to make a plan. We decided to let me search the bottom two floors and they would search the top floor. We went in and had searched for about 10 minutes when Kate had to go out. Since she's so small her body couldn't take the smoke very long. She got a headache and was starting to cough. She wanted to keep looking for but Preston made her go out; he was worried. So she went out and Preston finished searching. He came out after probably 15 or 20 minutes. I was on my way to the bottom floor when I ran into you on the stairwell. I thought you were behind me... Anyway, I got out and saw you weren't behind me. I freaked out. I wanted to go back in to find you, but Preston held me back... They told us we had to let the fire burn that it was too big to stop. I was so worried about you... You were in there for 49 minutes. That's almost impossible to survive. I was so worried..." He says. I let that phrase hang in the air.
While he is talking I look down at my wrist, which bears the insignia of my school, the owl. The owl represents insight and knowledge that we carry with us. This symbol is tattooed on the right wrist of every student at the Briar Preparatory Academy. The design has the All Seeing Eye of Horus hidden on the chest of the owl. To us this symbolizes that we should be watching all the time and constantly on guard.
It's all my fault that Rory's dead. She was my responsibility. And now she's gone. I turn away from the burning library. I can't watch it burn.
I can't watch Rory burn.