"My brother. My brother is in there. We have to go back. We have to—"
"We can't go back!" William's voice cuts through my screams. "Aoife, we can't—"
"EVERYONE IS IN THERE!" I'm sobbing, clawing at the seats, trying to climb up to see. "My brother, your brothers, the families—"
The SUV lurches forward, even faster now. I hear the crash of branches, feel the vehicle plow through something. The hedge line. We're breaking through the hedge line that borders the property.
Then we're on a road. A real road.
I can still see the glow through the back window. Orange and red lighting up the night sky. The Murphy estate is burning. Everything is burning.
And we're driving away.
"No," I sob. "No, no, no. Please. Please, we have to go back."
William doesn't answer. The SUV just keeps accelerating, putting more distance between us and the burning house.
I can't breathe. My chest is too tight. My vision is going dark around the edges. I'm hyperventilating, gasping for air that won't come.
First my mother.
Then my father.
Now Reilan.
Everyone I love. Everyone. Gone.
The sounds coming out of me don't sound human. They're animal. Raw. The kind of sounds people make when their world ends.
The SUV takes a corner too fast. I'm thrown against the seat.
"Breathe," he says. But his voice sounds far away. "Aoife, breathe."
I can't.
Can't breathe. Can't think. Can't exist in a world where my brother just died while I ran away.
While William saved me and left everyone else to burn.
The darkness at the edges of my vision spreads. Swallows me whole.
And I'm grateful.
Because for just a moment, I don't have to feel anything at all.
When I come back, we're still driving.
The SUV's speed has decreased, but only slightly. My face is pressed against the floor mat, my body curled in the cramped space.
I don't fight anymore.
Don't have the strength.
"How long?" My voice is wrecked. Raw from screaming.
"Five minutes. Maybe less."
Five minutes since my brother died. Five minutes since the Murphy house exploded. Five minutes since my entire world ended.
