Then the flames exploded and I backed away, feeling the heat singe my hair. The faces remained, though, leering down at me as I ran painstakingly slowly towards the safety of the house.
Evelyn, Lucas, and Fred stood at the door to let me in. I smiled at them gratefully, but to my surprise they wouldn’t let me in. Panicking now, I noticed the fire spreading behind me and begged them to move aside for me. Evelyn shook her head sadly and pointed at my dress.
It was made from crumpled paper, the notes D and I had once shared. As I reached out to touch it, my hands left a smudge of red behind, and upon glancing at them I realized my palms were coated with sticky, hot blood.
My head snapped up to ask my friends what was wrong, but in their place was the Master, smiling cruelly at my horrified confusion.
“Everything is crumbling because of you, Penny. You see the secrets you have kept? Winners don’t play fair, but that was why you cheated in the first place, isn’t it?”
I shook my head frantically, trying to wipe off the stains but only creating more. The smoke faces loomed closer, choking me, calling out my name as the advanced, Penny, Penny, Penny…
“Penny!”
The last name was a scream that tore me from my nightmare. Evelyn was shaking me awake, her eyes wide with an inhuman fear. I rubbed my own eyes awake, trying to clear the haze of sleep from my sight…until I realized exactly what was making my vision so blurry.
The manor was burning.
I couldn’t see the flames, but there was no other explanation for why the bedroom was suddenly filled with a thick, suffocating plume of smoke.
“What do we do?” Evelyn sobbed, coughing so violently I jumped out of bed to pat her back. The toxic air filled my own lungs with the first breath, and for a terrifying few moments I was paralyzed by a fit of gagging that made me feel quite lightheaded.
“Go!” I managed to wheeze, gulping desperately for some untainted oxygen. “Get outside!”
If we stayed here, we would certainly choke to death before the flames got to us. Evelyn was too breathless to cry now, running to the window and trying to open the catch. She shook it with every ounce of strength she possessed, but to no avail.
“It’s not opening, Penny! I don’t want to go. What if there are actual flames out there? Where’s Fred?” she blabbed hysterically, alternating between gasping sobs and coughs.
“Let’s find them,” I croaked, seizing her wrist and steering her out of the room.
I soon figured out that the air seemed to be purer closer to the floor, so we both crouched awkwardly whilst moving. Already our white nightgowns were stained a yellow-gray, and I knew the smell would stay on them forever – assuming that we managed to live to wear them again.
I couldn’t see more than a foot in front of me. On my hands and knees with Evelyn following close behind me, I crawled like a baby down the corridor, squinting my stinging eyes against the burning smoke, every now and then bumping into piece of furniture or the wall.
If I were you, I’d have burned them. Ashes are harder to repair than fragments.
The Master hadn’t been talking only about the letters, I realized suddenly. He had been referring to us. Dividing us was now a useless attempt, so the trials were going to burn us; ashes cannot be repaired.
I seethed with anger at the whole thing, specifically Beatrix for making it sound as if we had a chance at getting through alive. If I had known that the stupid trials were going to plough us down one by one, then I would never have touched that lever in the first place! This wasn’t even a test, it was attempted murder!
“Are you all right, Evelyn?” I coughed, trying to see through the smoke. I couldn’t make out her shape beside me anymore.
I turned struggling to see her. My brain was beginning to become fuzzy, and I could barely breathe at all now, so I lay flat on the floor to catch my breath and wait for her to catch up. It seemed like time had slowed down, as all my concentration focused on trying to inhale and exhale what little air remained close to the floor, and to keep my eyes open long enough to see Evelyn when she finally caught up.
I thought I could hear distant pounding footsteps ahead of me. I strained to listen then heard a faint call from behind me. “Penny, where are you! I think I need help!”
I could hear the crackling of flames now. I knew I had to get to Evelyn, but there was not enough strength left in my lungs to get my legs to work.
My mind had solely concentrated on survival, and I was unable to do anything else but lay there and wait for my own help to come.
“Please!” Evelyn whimpered, and I forced myself to turn around and crawl back the way I had come.
I was panting like a dog, completely blinded by the heavy atmosphere, but intent on getting to my friend before I passed out.
Behind me the footsteps were closer, as well as a cacophony of hacking coughs, but I refused to let it distract me.
“Ev-ee-lyn…” I called feebly, using my hands to feel the way.
Then something heavy tripped over me, and what little breath I had in me was forced out in one big choke.
“Penny?” came a confused voice. It was Lucas! Lucas would help me! He landed on the floor next to me. “What on earth…?”
He grabbed me trying to pull me backwards. My eyes stung excruciatingly when I opened them, so I kept them firmly shut.
“Evelyn,” I managed to squeak, which sparked off a bout of coughing. “She’s—”
“Do you know where she is?”
“No…” I began another bout of coughing. By now I couldn’t think straight. Lucas mumbled something else. I didn’t understand him, perhaps asking if I was all right. I nodded. He tugged hard at me. At first, I struggled against his grip, but my strength was failing and I couldn’t breathe. Reluctantly I allowed him to yank me back in the right direction.
At last the smoke cleared somewhat and Lucas pulled me to my feet. All I could do was hang onto his arm for dear life and let him guide me down the stairs and out of the door. Then at last I gulped in some fresh air, and it was like the breath of life. Blinking furiously, ignoring the pain, I began to see again.
Even tainted by the smell of fire, the air was cool, clean, and pure. I hungrily sucked it in, feeling my light-headedness clearing with each lungful.
I had seen fire before, naturally, but only the tame ones inside our mantelpieces. This was another beast entirely. Massive orange tongues were consuming the beautiful historic annex of the house, which contained the dining hall. It hadn’t yet reached the rest of the manor but smoke billowed from the windows, many of which had shattered due to the heat.
“The curtains caught fire for some reason,” Lucas explained as we helplessly watched, “and that spread to the rafters. Fred and I only got out because he was awake and smelled the smoke.”
Before, being in my nightgown had felt awfully exposing. Now I was glad to be clad in such a light material, for had I been dressed in my usual heavy gowns I surely would have melted!
Lucas had clearly had time to pull on a jacket and trousers, though, and had his boots loose on his feet. He caught me staring and without meeting my eyes, kicked them off.
“Go on, take them,” he muttered, as if wanting to avoid seeing me in my nightgown. “I’m wearing socks.”
I shrugged and pulled the black, shiny things on, feeling rather like a croquet mallet. They were several sizes too big. Still, it was better that standing barefoot!
Fred was standing off to the side, watching our home burn with a dazed expression. He suddenly turned and looked around, comprehension dawning. “Evelyn…I thought she was with you!” He turned on Lucas, eyes flashing with accusations. “You promised to get them both!” he snapped. “You heard them yelling, and told me to wait outside whilst you did your heroics! You left Evelyn behind in a burning building!”
Evelyn! Somehow I had forgotten about her.
There was something behind Fred’s anger, something petrified. I had never seen him so scared in my l
ife; not one of the trials had affected poor Fred more than the idea of losing Evelyn to a lonely, preventable demise.
“Penny said she was all right!” Lucas reassured him gently, not wanting to argue. “Didn’t you, Penny?”
“I – I,” I stuttered, trying to remember what had happened.
“I asked if she was safe, and you nodded,” Lucas pushed, suddenly pale.
“I – I was confused…didn’t really hear you,” I admitted, starting to panic.
“Where is she?” Fred yelled. I thought I would vomit as he searched my face for any sign of hope.
“She was calling for help,” I remembered miserably, sinking to my knees and hiding my face in my hands. “I tried to reach her but then Lucas came. I…”
I hadn’t even finished my sentence before Fred sprinted towards the burning manor, not even looking back to see if we were following.
“Fred! Don’t be an idiot!” Lucas shouted, but it was too late.
“We have to follow him!” I exclaimed shakily, the unclaimed grave fresh in my mind.
There was then a creaking groan, and I screamed in shock as the entire roof of the dining hall collapsed in on itself. A burst of sparks and smoke billowed up into the air, and hit us with a rush of heat. As the sparks touched the dry, brittle grass, infernos began erupting all around us.
“The building’s not safe,” Lucas managed to choke out through the surprise. “Evelyn was in the other wing…Fred still has time to get there before it comes down.”
“Where are we going to go?” I shouted over the terrible crashing sound of more walls breaking.
The grassfires had spread much faster than those in the manor, with nothing to stop them and acres of land for fuel. There was now only one way to go; into the woods, towards the Boundary.
“We have no choice,” he said.
“Would it be selfish?” I asked, holding up a hand to shield myself from the blaze.
“I’m not going to think about that,” Lucas replied, turning towards the woods and without waiting for me set off running, still in his socks.
I followed, hoping that the flames would burn out before they reached the trees – else there would be no feasible way to escape.
A fire exploded by my side, only a few inches away, causing me to tumble shrieking to the ground. A mouthful of dirt greeted me, but I forced myself to get up and keep moving. Then I was in the confines of the woods. The branches flashed by, occasionally whipping my face, but I ignored them. All that mattered right now was to get as far away from the fire as possible.
As the trees became denser, and I could hear the Boundary buzzing, I made a decision.
“Give me your hand!” I called, grabbing hold of an overhanging limb and kicking off Lucas’s boots I hoisted myself up as if playing hide-and-seek.
“Are you crazy?” Lucas replied, looking away as he found his head directly under me, and my nightgown. “Why would going up there be any help?”
I rolled my eyes and reoffered my hand. “This way we can see everything. Come on!”
Biting his lip, Lucas grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled his gangly self into the branches with me. He was wobbly and awkward, clinging onto the trunk as if seconds away from falling. I was much more comfortable, so I climbed through the layers of dead foliage until I could see a panoramic view of the burning manor.
There hadn’t been so much color in days, the vivid reds, oranges, yellows and blues consuming foot after foot of soft brown stone. The beautiful, ancient hall was now nothing more than a smoldering bonfire, with all those intricate and unique details gone forever. What had not been destroyed was rapidly disappearing into a storm of smoke and fire, so thick that it was impossible to tell what was left unscathed. The small lawn fires were burning out quickly, only for an array of sparks to reignite them instantly. Somewhere in that deadly blaze was Fred and Evelyn…
It was the most horrible moment of my existence. Waiting in much discomfort for my friends to appear, with the agonizing knowledge one was prophesized to fall. Unable to do anything but watch, ready to help when they emerged. If they indeed both did. Fred without Evelyn, Evelyn without Fred…it didn’t seem to work somehow. I envisioned lanky Lucas falling from the branches…
“Stop!” I snarled at myself. “You’re letting them get to you. Nothing is going to happen. Everyone is going to be okay. The grave was just something to scare you.”
“Are you talking to yourself? Sign of madness, you know.”
“Shut up, Lucas,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “Like you never used to recite arithmetic in your head when—”
“Penny!” Two voices called, laughing.
I nearly fell out of the tree, such was my relief! They had both made it out! I scrambled down and slid onto the thick limb next to Lucas, and together we pulled Evelyn up with us.
She was nearly unrecognizable; her face masked so completely with soot, hair burnt singed, nightgown filthy. As her chest rose and fell with each breath, I could hear an unhealthy wheezing sound – she had gotten out just in time.
“Fred? Come over here and we’ll pull you up too,” I called, scanning the smoky ground for him.
“Is Fred not here with you?” Evelyn asked in confusion.
“He went in to get you,” Lucas said. His relief at seeing Evelyn turning to concern.
“No,” she shook her head feebly, tears spilling down her cheeks causing white streaks in the soot. “I had to crawl out by myself through the breakfast room balcony. No one was around to help. I assumed he was with you?”
“He’s in the manor looking,” I whispered, hoping with every fiber within me that he had realized Evelyn was safe and found shelter. “He wouldn’t know you’re all right.”
“Then we have to go and save him!” Evelyn shouted, preparing to jump straight out of the tree. She lost her nerve and straightened back up, looking to me for instruction.
“Hang on,” I commanded, scurrying back up to my vantage point in the canopy.
The woods were now on fire. The front line of huge, old trees transformed into massive fireballs, their once-impressive girth holding back the encroaching flames from taking told of the smaller plants. The lawns were now nothing but black, ashy space, a few red-hot embers glittering in several spots
Through the smoke I caught a glimpse of the breakfast room, which still looked pretty much intact along with the boys bedchamber above it. If Fred had made it that far, he could still be okay; after all, Evelyn had manage to escape.
Evelyn was screaming at Lucas below me. “Please, we have to go! I don’t care how dangerous it is, this is Fred!” She jumped down.
“Wait for…oh, gosh.” Lucas sighed, shakily craning his neck up to where I was sitting. “What now?”
“Not hanging around today, are they?” I groaned, easily bending my knees and jumping down for a soft landing. Lucas made to follow me, but I held up a hand. “You stay here. I’m the fastest, I can catch her in no time. Let’s not lose anyone else.”
“Shouldn’t we stay together?” He frowned anxiously, though still apprehensive about jumping the five-foot drop.
“At least this way one of us will be safe,” I answered grimly. “I’ll borrow your boots again.” I retrieved them and slipped my feet in, before hurrying after Evelyn.
It was so very frustrating. If only Lucas had come a bit later, and Evelyn had been rescued alongside me. If only Fred had kept his head and waited for her to emerge. If only Evelyn wasn’t so fast when she was scared.
I ran short of breath a lot faster than usual, but luckily so did Evelyn. I saw her leaning against a bare trunk for support, gasping in exhaustion.
“I can’t…can’t…lose…” Her face was filled with anguish. “P-Penny…he…is—”
“Probably safe somewhere,” I interrupted quickly, wishing I believed myself. “And you stumbling into a collapsing house is not going to do anything but worry us all more.”
She fell to the ground crying more deeply than whe
n Beatrix died. I awkwardly fell beside her, and watched my life burn to the ground.
A shadow moved out of the corner of my eye. I snapped my head up hopefully, but straight away I knew from the tall physique that it wasn’t Fred.
It was the Master.
His face was pale, but his expression still stone cold. He raised a hand, wavering slightly, and made a complicated gesture.
A huge rip shuddered through the estate, knocking me out for a few moments due to sheer powerfulness.
When I came to, blinking in confusion, I saw that He had gone again. The crackling sound of flames had ceased. The rip must have extinguished the fire. I looked up, the hall was nothing but a pile of blackened rubble, as was about half of the manor. A great gaping hole was visible where the roof had caved in, taking with it Beatrix’s quarters, the common room, and the girls’ bedchamber in the east wing. Suffocating smoke still thickened the air.
“Fred? Lucas?” Evelyn whimpered, propping herself up feverishly.
I waited. Waited for a miracle.
Lucas appeared from behind us, and I found myself crying too, pulling him into a hug. He then joined us on the floor, waiting. Waiting.
Fred never came out of the ruins.
After a few desperate hours, we scoured the entire lawn and woods, finding nothing so much as a footprint.
I had failed yet again.
Fred was gone.
22
Evelyn screamed. It was a feral, animal sound, and I winced at all the emotion welling up behind it. So much sadness, so forlorn, so heartbreaking.
“Evelyn…” I began, trying my best not to cry and completely failing.
“No!” she shouted viciously, tearing away from my outreached arm. “He’s not dead! I’d know, I’d feel it, but he’s still alive! It’d bet my own life on it!”
“Then where is he?” Lucas asked bluntly, face so expressionless it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. “It’s nearly nightfall.”
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