Mia Evian has to piece together the mystery of Zack Maddox, the bad boy whose life she saved, while simultaneously keeping her own crumbling life together before Zack ends up in trouble again - or worse yet, dead.
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I don't think I've ever seen anyone run so fast. Preston is darting back into the depths of the house before I can even process it happening. I know I should just keep heading towards the front door, but I don't. I chase after him.
'Preston, don't! Stop!' I can barely keep up with him. 'Robbie and Aiden were with him, he'll be okay!'
He ignores me.
As if on cue, when we're a few steps away from the staircase, I smack into Robbie. We both come to a halt. When I ask him where Matty is, he stammers, and any words he does say are drowned out by the sound of panic. His eyes look wild, and his face is ashen. I ask him again, but he says nothing. He doesn't know.
'You idiot!' Preston, who I hadn't realised had stopped with us, exclaims.
He shoves Robbie, and within seconds, he's running up the stairs against the wave of people running down them. I should just turn back and get the hell out of here, but again, I don't. I sprint up the staircase behind Preston, and as if entranced, Robbie follows us.
The first thing that hits me is the heat. It gnarls at my skin and burns my eyes, and I don't know if it's the smoke or the running, but my breath is short. The flames have engulfed far more than a few rooms now, so much so that I can't distinguish between doors. The fire is so bright I can barely keep my eyes open, and the smoke is stinging my eyes, itching my throat. The boys begin barging into rooms as I scramble for my phone and call Aiden. It rings but nobody answers. I try again. I'm about to give up and re-dial when he picks up.
'Aiden! Aiden, where are you?'
The other end is muffled, and when he replies, the sound of crackling and shouting drowns out anything distinguishable. I ask again, this time with my finger pressed against my other ear.
'...room. Don't know... one.'
'I can't hear you,' I breathe into the phone. 'Where are you?'
'One of... can't... is jammed... to explain... bathrooms.'
'You're in a bathroom?'
'Yes!' I hear as clear as day.
I keep Aiden on the line as I call for Preston and Robbie, but I can't see them anywhere, and the smoke is turning thicker. I pace up and down the hallway and keep shouting for them until my throat hurts, and eventually, I hear a response from Robbie. He runs over to me from inside a smoke-filled room, and tells me to go downstairs and leave the house. I don't listen.
'They're in a bathroom, where are your bathrooms?' I shout over the roaring flames. 'Where's Preston gone?'
'Uh, there's--there's five of them, I've checked one! Who, what?'
'Zack! Where's Zack?'
Robbie glances around, then shakes his head. I call for him but hear nothing back, and so Robbie and I begin locating all of the bathrooms. After checking two, I'm beginning to lose faith. My head feels light, and my eyes are watering from the smoke. Robbie is on the phone to Aiden now, but he's getting as much sense out of him as I was. As we're heading towards the third bathroom, a deafening banging sound steals our attention.
