“Amelia?” I called, forcing the word out through a cough. My voice was swallowed by the alarm.
No answer.
I pushed away from the desk, weaving between fleeing people. My lungs heaved as the smoke clung heavier with each step, wrapping tighter around me. My eyes watered so fiercely I had to blink through the blur.
The further I went, the worse it became. The back shelves were swallowed in thick fog, and as I neared the narrow door at the far end, I realised it was smudged in grey, barely visible now.
“Amelia!” I called again, coughing. “Are you in there?”
That was when a hand touched my shoulder.
Gentle and steady.
I turned, chest heaving, to find one of the old volunteers standing behind me, trying to lead me out.
I shook my head, pointing at the door covered in thick smoke. “Wait—Amelia? Did she—”
“There’s an emergency door at the back,” he said softly, voice too even for the chaos around us. “She’s already gone through it. I’ll take you.”
Relief washed through me for half a second. Then doubt crawled in.
Why wasn’t he coughing? Why weren’t his eyes watering like everyone else’s?
Swallowing and nearly choking, I nodded as the smoke clawed down my throat, my legs wobbled, and all I wanted was air. I let him guide me, steps faltering towards the exit as I coughed.
Everyone had evacuated the library, and we were the last people going out. But then, I hadn’t seen the other two volunteers heading to the door.
My phone buzzed where I clutched it tight in my palm, and with shaking hands, I flipped it over.
Thrax
Leave the library and run
back home. Right now.
What?
The words blurred as my eyes stung, but they made me stop, my chest tightening.
That was when a scream sliced through the air behind us, shooting through my chest like lightning.
“Sanora!”
Amelia.
“Run!”
My stomach plummeted.
She was still inside. She hadn’t gone anywhere.
Slowly, I looked up at the man holding me. His face was calm, but too calm. His fingers pressed into me harder than before, not guiding anymore, but holding. Like I was his hostage.
The haze cleared, making me realise his eyes weren’t exactly the cloudy eyes of an old volunteer. They were sharp, dark, and assessing.
My blood went cold.
“You—”
