Chapter Text
The first thing Rumi noticed was the heat.
Not the fire itself—not at first. Just the suffocating, crushing heat pressing against her skin from every direction as smoke rolled across the ceiling in thick black waves. The hallway lights flickered violently overhead, barely visible through the haze.
Somewhere deeper in the building, metal groaned.
“Mira!” Rumi shouted, coughing hard.
“Here—”
A hand caught her wrist through the smoke.
Rumi stumbled forward until Mira emerged from the haze beside her, soot smeared across her face, pink hair dulled gray from ash. Her jacket sleeve was burned through near the elbow already.
“This way,” Mira said quickly. “The stairwell’s blocked. We need another exit.”
Another crack echoed through the building.
Too loud.
Too close.
Rumi’s chest tightened. “The structure’s failing.”
“No kidding,” Mira muttered, pulling her along.
The floor beneath them shuddered violently. Somewhere behind them, glass exploded outward with a deafening crash. Flames crawled up the walls faster than they should have, hungry and roaring.
Rumi could barely breathe.
“Mira—”
“I know.”
Mira’s grip tightened around her hand.
They turned a corner into what had once been an office corridor, though now half the ceiling had collapsed in burning pieces. Sprinklers sputtered uselessly overhead. Smoke stung Rumi’s eyes hard enough to blur her vision.
Then the building groaned again.
Mira froze.
Rumi saw it a second later.
The support beam above them had split clean through, hanging at an angle directly overhead.
And it was falling.
“Mira—!”
Everything happened too fast.
Mira shoved her.
Hard.
Rumi crashed sideways onto the floor, shoulder slamming painfully against tile—
—and behind her came a horrible sound.
A deafening metallic crash.
Then silence.
For half a second, Rumi’s brain refused to process what she was seeing.
The beam had come down across the hallway.
And Mira was underneath it.
“Mira?!”
Rumi scrambled forward immediately, ignoring the heat scorching her hands as she dropped beside her. The beam had pinned Mira awkwardly against the floor beneath her shoulders and upper back, debris scattered everywhere around them.
Mira made a sharp sound through clenched teeth.
Not a scream.
Which honestly scared Rumi more.
“Oh my god— okay, okay, stay with me—”
“I’m fine,” Mira coughed.
“You are absolutely not fine!”
Rumi braced both hands against the beam and pushed.
It didn’t move.
Not even slightly.
Panic clawed up her throat instantly.
The flames were spreading closer now, smoke thick enough that every breath burned. Rumi shoved again desperately, muscles straining.
Nothing.
“Mira—”
“Rumi.” Mira’s voice came quieter this time. “You need to leave.”
Rumi stared at her like she’d lost her mind.
“No.”
“The floor’s collapsing—”
“I said no!”
Another violent creak ripped through the building.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Rumi’s hands shook so badly she could barely think. Mira’s face had gone pale beneath the soot now, breathing uneven and shallow.
The beam had to weigh hundreds of pounds.
Rumi swallowed hard.
Then she reached for the demon mark burning faintly beneath her sleeve.
Mira’s eyes widened immediately. “Don’t.”
Rumi ignored her.
Energy flared painfully down her arms as she grabbed the beam again, heat and power sparking against the metal.
“Mira, when I lift this, you move. Immediately.”
“Rumi—”
“Move.”
The floor beneath them cracked loudly.
Rumi screamed through gritted teeth as she forced the beam upward inch by inch. Her arms trembled violently from the strain.
For one horrible second, Mira didn’t move.
“Mira!”
That snapped her out of it.
Mira dragged herself sideways just as Rumi lost her grip completely. The beam slammed back down with enough force to shake the hallway.
Rumi nearly collapsed beside it.
“Mira— hey— hey—”
Mira tried to push herself upright and immediately failed.
Rumi caught her before she hit the floor again.
“…ow,” Mira mumbled weakly.
Rumi almost laughed from sheer panic.
“Seriously?! That’s what you say?!”
Mira gave the tiniest shrug imaginable, then winced hard enough to regret it instantly.
Smoke rolled toward them thicker now.
The fire was getting closer.
Rumi slid Mira’s arm around her shoulders carefully. “Come on. Come on, stay awake.”
“I’m awake.”
“You got crushed by a beam.”
“Minor inconvenience.”
“Mira.”
“Okay, moderate inconvenience.”
Despite everything, Rumi made a strangled sound that was halfway to a laugh.
Then the ceiling cracked again.
Both of them looked up at the exact same time.
“…we should go,” Mira said.
“Yeah,” Rumi replied immediately. “Definitely.”