each car to explode and burst into flames, followed by the next, and then the next. I toppled over, dazed. Thick, black smoke filled the air around us, making it impossible to breath. Seared by the intense heat, the steel of the museum’s façade began to whine as it twisted and bent against the inferno. The force of the explosions blew out the building’s glass entrance so that the solar-panel awnings, having nothing further to rest on, collapsed to the ground.
It all happened so quickly. One minute we’d been standing together laughing, the next we were trapped—on one side by a wall of fire, on the other by a cascade of jagged glass shards falling to earth. There seemed no way to escape. Confused, disoriented from the deafening noise and blinding smoke, I lay on the pavement panting, listening to the chaos around me. At one point, I thought I heard Elsa screaming, but I couldn’t be sure. I felt the heat of the fire on my skin, but could not see beyond where I lay.
William, who had been standing next to me, was gone. I didn’t know when he had vanished and felt a pang of desperation to find him. The commotion all around me was disorienting and I had no idea where to look. I needed to move, but it was impossible to tell what direction to go as the cars continued to explode, sending pieces of metal everywhere. Finally, I realized that I had to get up immediately, and find my friends so we could escape the inferno.
I pushed myself up, only to nearly collapse from a sharp pain in the back of my leg. I made an awkward pivot to my left and immediately collided with Josef, who seized me tightly and started to shout. Despite the volume, it was hard to tell what he was saying over the ringing in my ears.
“I have her!” Josef yelled. “William, I have her!”
“How do we get out of here?” I asked, worried the fire would kill the vampires before they could escape the flames.
“We run,” he said. “Now that we’ve found you, we run like hell.” Josef grabbed my hand and started to pull me through the smoke. I resisted. It felt as if we were heading straight for the inferno.
“What about Elsa? And Gabriel? We have to find them too,” I yelled, struggling against him. I could sense the immense fear my friends were feeling, but I could not see them through the smoke and ash of the fire.
“Don’t stop,” he growled. “Not for anything, not for anyone.”
I obeyed, hearing the sound of fear in his voice, something I would have thought impossible a few weeks ago.
“Where is William?” I asked, wishing it was his hand dragging me through the curtain of smoke.
“He’s moving the wounded to the fountain,” he said quickly. “We’re going to make a jump.” He meant the portal; the fountain Elsa had called the Guardian. I realized we were only a few hundred yards away. Josef’s mention of the wounded brought my thoughts back to Aidan.
“Aidan?” I asked, choking back a sob as I remembered that last moment when he had turned to smile at Elsa before reaching for the door handle.
“Dead, I presume,” Josef said quickly, yelling over the noise. “We couldn’t get close enough to see. We were looking for you. The force of the blast threw you backwards, away from the car, but then you seemed to disappear. Until you bumped into me, William and I couldn’t see you through the smoke.”
Although I tried, I wasn’t able to pay attention to his words. I could barely hear. There was a tremendous buzzing in my ears. I was suddenly aware that my leg was throbbing, and it was difficult to walk. Josef was forced to drag me toward the fountain, my shredded leg trailing behind. I leaned down, trying to locate the pain, running my hand quickly along the back of my left thigh. My fingers returned, crimson, covered in my own blood. Josef saw my hand, but wouldn’t let me stop.
“Later!” he said. “We need to get out of here before the police arrive. All of us; there can be no trace.”
I nodded, trying to keep up with him, but it was a losing battle. The pain overwhelmed my mobility. My leg began to feel chilled in the night air thanks to all of the blood collecting in the fabric of my pant leg. When I caught a glimpse of