“Anybody here? Hey!”
As if on cue, a loud, high-pitched shriek called out to him, and he opened his eyes wide, speeding down the hallway toward the voice.
“I can’t get out! The door’s on fire,” screamed someone he probably knew, but with the roar of the flames it was impossible to tell.
Jake’s senses were on high alert, and once he located the right entrance, he slammed into the burning door with his shoulder. Even though his brain kept telling him he wouldn’t be hurt by the flames, it was still hard to fight the instinct of recoiling. The scream inside made him thrust his body against the wood once more even when his sleeve caught fire.
“Hold on! I’ve got you!” Jake yelled seconds before he managed to kick the door in.
He burst inside and was about to grab the crying woman to take her away, but the flames on his sleeve expanded with each second. Jake swore and patted it in anger. Time was running out.
He could only look up when the flames were out and met Blackstar’s eyes. Dressed in a leopard-print catsuit and with gray tears running down her cheeks, she pulled him into her arms and held on tight, sobbing.
“What’s happening?” she cried, staring at Jake with red eyes, but he urged her to the door. This was not the time for asking questions.
“Run to the right. There’s a window right behind the corner. Jump.”
She looked like she wanted to say something more, but in the end ran for it, shrieking when she passed the broken door that still seemed to reach for her with its red-and-orange fingers.
Jake didn’t have time to ponder if he should take his clothes off, or if he should pretend fire affected him for the sake of hangarounds.
He stepped back out into the corridor, and where anyone else would run to the nearest exit, he headed for where the flames were thicker, braving the dense forest made out of fire. He was no longer afraid. It struck him like a slap to the face, and he could almost hear someone telling him to pull himself together. He had no reason to be scared of the fire, because he was now a creature made of what others feared.
Newly-found bravado was quickly put to the test when the floor under his feet trembled, and behind him, a low thud was followed by cracks. A fast glance over his shoulder had Jake’s hands curling into fists when he saw a section of the floor he’d just passed dip, about to collapse altogether. His power against the flames was only a skill. He needed to remember that it didn’t make him immune to other dangers. Each step could be a trap if the roof fell on him, or the floor snapped under his feet, pulling him into the inferno below.
A wall of fire was eating up the fake wall in front of the hidden entrance to the workshop that had turned into a death trap with no windows and only one door. It was designed for secure storage of jewels, not safety. For all Jake knew it wasn’t fire proof either, and even if it were, the sheer heat of the building burning around it would soon transform the hideout into an oven.
A burst of flames right in front of Jake came out of nowhere, only for him to realize it was his own shirt that was on fire. He pulled it off with a hiss and dumped it on the floor, but his cut went with it, and for a split second, time stopped. Flames were engulfing the leather, consuming it with their unrelenting hunger, brighter still when they reached the patches. Both the ones on the back, as well the new ones which had surely already perished in the inner pocket.
He shook his head. The physical patches were only pieces of fabric and thread. Their meaning wouldn’t disappear just because they turned to ash. If he was to live up to them, he needed to find Gray and Rev. Save his brothers.
He kicked at the burning wall until pieces of it fell off, revealing the heavy door behind it. Hs heart sank when he realized there were three different locks on it, but once he pressed the handle, which was so hot it instantly vaporized the dampness on his palm, he found out they were all open.
Air blew into Jake’s face, like the exhale of a dragon. He pushed into the narrow corridor illuminated only by flames. He knew something was wrong the moment Rev called out to him instead of rushing for the open passage.
“Over here!”
Jake pushed his way through, straight into the elongated workshop, but the extent of the damage had him stopping halfway to the gaping mouth of fire that opened in the ceiling above.