Counterfeit

-seventyseven-

—seventyseven-

FADE ME AWAY, I WON'T EVER BE THE SAME.
+ Carry You +

-

THE CEILING ABOVE us began to break, propelling down metal shrapnel and glass. The heat of the fire could be felt engulfing the room, slowly approaching, spreading, waiting to destroy.

Everyone got ready to leave, quickly unplugging the remaining pods on their way, but I couldn't bring myself to leave. Even the smoke filled lungs, or the scorched skin felt better than the idea of leaving MiKinley for the flames.

Patrick had managed to stand up, apologizing profusely to his friend for not being able to do more, and was whisked away by the caring hands of Ava. If it wasn't for her, I don't know if he would have left when he did.

Charleston reached down under my arms and lifted me to my feet, but my knees were too weak for me to stand. I fell down again, clinging back onto MiKinley's body. This was all I could do.

"Pip, we have to go. We have to go." There was an urgency in his voice, but I knew he wanted me to do it myself. If I listened and ran out of this building myself, then there wasn't a thing I couldn't do...but I didn't, and quietly I let myself fade into the ashes of who I once was.

"Please Pip. Please let me save you." I knew that he wouldn't leave without me. He would much rather succumb to the impending ruins of this place than to step out into a world where I wasn't.

"We can't leave him here! It's not fair."

"I know it's not fair, but he'd forgive you, anyway."

I looked up at him, golden sparks shooting down from above him, as he inched me closer to a reason to still fight. He could see my desperation for his words. More, more, more, I thought, please tell me more. Tell me that you would forgive me if I ever had to leave you behind. Tell me I will survive this. That he won't feel any pain.

"He'd forgive you for this," he repeated, "but he wouldn't if you didn't fight." Charleston searched my eyes for one shadow of the girl he was looking for. "And I won't forgive you. Not if you die. I need you here."

I try to find the doubt, tried to see if there was even one part of him that didn't feel truthful, but I couldn't find one. He nodded, assuring me as he could see me begin to stand up. His hand wrapped around my waist, supporting me as he led me away from MiKinley. I took one last look at him; impossibly, there was a moment of peace, perhaps in the realisation that his pain was over, or maybe just in the knowledge that at least he had died with me there beside him, holding him until his very last breath. But then I had to look away, understand what Charleston was pulling me away from, and that was the last time I ever saw him.

The ceiling finally gave in, collapsing in on where he lay, the fire reaching to the sky. Charleston pulled me as the framework fell into our path, the metal structure missing us by centimetres. Every minute it was getting harder to breathe, and I couldn't even see the way out any more. Heavy... My body was feeling so heavy. My eyes wanting to close.

"Pip? Pip, stay with me. It's almost over, okay? Just hold on."

His voice was a dull ring in my ears, fragments echoing until they hurt. My eyes closed, but I could still feel myself moving, being carried now. The fear he had been feeling finally made sense to me. I didn't want to lose Charleston, I wanted him to live, to be safe. I wanted to fight, but it was too late for me. The world disappeared for a while...

And returned with a desperate inhale of breath, light reaching my skin. My eyes opened, unable to distinguish what was happening. Someone else held me now. My father.

Charleston was right beside me, struggling to find his breath, leaning against Patrick as he helped him run forwards. Everything was too much and not enough at the same time. Too much pain, not enough time. Too much smoke, not enough air. Everything was gradually being claimed by the fire. I couldn't help but wonder where we were going from here. If there Plan was to run, then we were already doomed.

Up ahead, several hundred yards away, some people were waving frantically, as if to say 'here we are. You've gotta hurry'. They were standing by a parked van, doors open waiting for us as the distance between us decreased. We finally got closer, and I could see that it was Ava waiting for us, along with Alistair, and Blaze who was in the back.

As we reached the vehicle, Blaze extended a hand out, pulling Charleston inside the van with the help of Patrick. Once he was in, they turned for me, both lifting me from my father and escorting me inside, Ava and my dad following immediately after. There were no seats, so we huddled up on the dirty floor, feeling every bump and turn as the car sped away.

It was so dark inside, but as we passed the fire, just enough light was let in from the windows for me to be able to see my brother driving us away. I couldn't recall how long we had been apart for; almost a year, maybe, but I was unable to feel even a glimmer of happiness, despite how much I had missed them both.

I turned to where my dad was sitting on one side of me, holding me tightly to him as if he could never bare the thought of letting me go through that again. He tried so hard to say something to me, but no words would come out. There was some guilt eating away at him for letting his daughter endure such horror, something he could never take back.

It was quiet in the van. Charleston, Patrick, my father, and I were all crying, but there was no other noise. No other hope in the world that could spare us from all the terrible things we were haunted with. Patrick was leaning his head on Ava, I was doing the same to my dad, Charleston's hand holding onto mine like I was all he had left. 

There was an irremediable void growing inside each of us that night. Spreading darkness wherever light existed. That was how I realized that the real tragedy of life is having to survive it, when really we were only ever made to live it.

-seventyseven--

End of Book 1.