"I don't see the family from the sixth floor," she cries. "The old man from the fifth floor either..."
She starts crying louder, completely panicked, and she isn't the only one. I glance at the building. The fire is progressing quickly, and we can see people screaming on the upper floors. Damn, I hope everyone tried to get upstairs as fast as they could to win some time, but even so, with all the damn smoke...
"Ben, I'm going in," I declare.
"Mara, you..."
He doesn't finish his sentence, and I know he's conflicted. This is their neighborhood, their territory. The firefighters aren't here yet, there is no one else to help.
"Mara, you can't!" Kelsi protests. "You've never handled this much fire, you haven't created yourself! You might get burned again this time!"
"Well, time to figure this out," I sigh.
I am not waiting for anyone's permission. I push Ben out of my way and run inside. I hear them call after me, but I have made my decision already. It might not be too late for those people. If I have just one chance to save someone from this with this ability of mine, it would be a nice change for once. To not be the one who injures others, but someone who can save them. No one stops me when I enter the building, but I hear some shocked screams behind me.
The main entrance was left completely open, and with the fire being four floors up, I have no issue climbing up the stairs. At least for the first two floors. I can feel the heat, but it's nothing unbearable, probably even for a regular human.
It gets hotter on the next floor. I can endure the heat, but the smoke quickly starts stinging my eyes and making me cry. I didn't think the smoke would be a bigger issue than the fire, but it's burning my throat more efficiently than the first flames I see. I'm getting to where the fire started and has already quieted down to get to the floor above. I only need to kick a door for it to fall down. God, everything has been turned into charcoal... I look around, but if there is anyone around here, there is no way they survived...
"Meow..."
I look down, almost thinking I dreamed it, but Spark is seriously at my feet! Where the hell did he come from?!
My cat looks completely fine in this mess, though he is sticking to my ankles like glue, and looking up at me as if he was waiting to see where I'm going next. Damn, if I needed more proof that this cat is just as fine with fire as I am, here it is... No other living thing apart from us would be fine in this nightmare. I keep walking, looking around. I never thought a fire would be this loud, I hear the creaking all around us. I fucking hope that the structure doesn’t crumble or something...
I keep progressing inside, not sure what I am looking for. I can't hear anything precise, and all the screams coming from the outside or upstairs are confusing me.
"Spark," I cough, "if you wanna play search for the humans, it's now, buddy..."
He meows back, but once again, I have no idea how much my magic cat understands... I walk into what must have been a living room before it was turned into a freaking oven. I'm starting to sweat pretty badly, but I'm still fine despite the flames engulfing the walls around me. I guess it means I should be okay if I go on, but this goddamn smoke!
I go to each room I can find, but thank God, all the beds seem empty. I would only be looking for bodies around here anyway... I run out and go to the apartment across from this one. It's even worse here. Is this where the fire started? There are pieces of plastic melted all over the living room. Did the freaking TV explode?
I freeze in front of the bedroom. Oh, no... This poor guy is done for... It must be the old man the girl was talking about. He is lying in his bed. I hope he didn't wake up to suffer... I sigh and turn around, there's nothing I can do here. I run to the floor above, and this time, I hear very distinct cries. The fire just got here, but it's all over their front door. I cover my eyes and kick down the damn door. It takes several kicks, waking up my muscle pain, but it finally breaks down.
I run to the living room, but although the smoke is filling the room, it's empty. The bedrooms then? I finally find what I assume to be the master bedroom.
"Help! Please..."
I finally spot them, crouched down on the other side of the bed. It's a young Hispanic couple, holding each other with wet towels on their heads, looking at me with shock. Yeah, I'm probably not what they expected. I run to them and realize they are holding a baby, the source of the loud crying I heard earlier.
"Are you alright?" I yell over the noise.
They both look terrible, covered in water and sweat, their eyes red and hair stuck to their faces. The woman grabs my wrist, her tears running down her soot-covered face.
"Our daughter! My Eréndira!" she cries out, coughing too. "She went to play next door! To our neighbors’..."
She has to stop and cough loudly, something black coming out of her mouth. Oh, crap. I need to get them out of here. The fire is only in their living room for now, but I need to get them upstairs and there is no other way.
"Stay behind me!" I yell. "I'll get you out!"
They don't react, but they probably think I'm crazy too. I turn around and run back to the door. I need to do something about these flames, or they won't be able to get through here and upstairs. I take a deep breath and extend my arms, and try to extinguish that fire like I'd do mine.
It doesn't work. The flames get agitated, which means it got worse. Shit... I can't put it out? Because I didn't cause it? Shit, shit, shit... I hear the couple screaming behind me. It's not helping! I need to find another solution. I get to the flames, and after a hesitation, put my hand in them. It really doesn't burn, I ought to be able to do something with them!
As I leave my hand in the fire, I realize the flames wrap themselves around my fingers, crawling up my hands. Maybe I can't put it out, but I can... absorb it. That's right, I don't usually extinguish my fire, it's more like I recall it inside. Come on, Mara, time to tame an actual fire...
"Oh,Dios mío..."
