“I need to find him,” Elena said, sobs beginning to rise in her throat, her eyes stinging from the smoke.
But, as Meredith took began to pull her toward the fire exit, Elena felt suddenly, horrifyingly sure that she was too late. She’d lost Damon. She’d failed.
The windows of the school glowed red as flames within climbed the walls, reaching for the upper floors. The bricks of its façade were cracking in the heat. As Elena and her friends watched from the parking lot, a window shattered.
“Oh my God,” Bonnie said softly. The reflected flames made her pale face rosy. Next to her, Meredith leaned her head on Matt’s shoulder, gazing wide-eyed into the flames.
It seemed like the teachers had gotten everyone out of the dance, smoke-smeared and disheveled in the remains of their formal clothes. Near Elena’s group, a girl sobbed hysterically, long streaks of soot crossing her face, while farther away, one of the football players hacked dryly, a casualty of the smoke.
Only a few minutes after Meredith and Elena had reached the parking lot, the fire trucks pulled in, sirens screaming. But by that time, the flames were already leaping high. Elena had heard Mr. Landon, the science teacher, muttering about the electrical wiring of the old building, saying it was a deathtrap, but Elena knew better. This had to be Damon’s work.
Elean jumped as another window shattered, this time under the blast of water from a fire hose. The firemen were putting up a good fight, dragging hoses across the parking lot, working together quickly and efficiently, and had at least contained the fire to only half of the school.
Elena looked around the circle of firelit faces. There was Caroline, her auburn head held high despite the flakes of black ash falling on the parking lot around her. Next to her, Sue Carson huddled under her boyfriend’s suit jacket that she had pulled over her thin dress. Vickie Bennett was with a group of jocks and cheerleaders, all quiet and subdued. Even among the kids who hated the school, there were no cheers, no laughter. Everyone was shocked into silence.
An ambulance pulled into the lot, its blue light revolving. One of the paramedics got out and jogged across the lot toward a group of firefighters, calling, “Everybody out?”
The firefighter called back in the affirmative, but Elena’s breath caught. She swung around, searching desperately.
“Do you see Stefan anywhere?” she asked the others. They looked around, too, their faces anxious.
Maybe he was gone before the fire started.
That didn’t make sense, though. Why would Damon start this fire, if Stefan hadn’t been here? That was who he wanted to hurt most.
“We’d better tell the fire chief.” Matt strode off in the direction of the fire trucks.
That won’t help.
Fire was one of the few things that could kill a vampire. There wasn’t time for the fire fighters to find Stefan. And if they did, it wouldn’t be safe, for them or for him.
Elena straightened up, squaring her shoulders. There was no way she was standing uselessly by while Stefan died. Not again.
She had to get past the fire fighters. They were grouped closest to the front of the building, where the fire was at its worst. Over at the side, the school was darker, deserted.
Elena shifted her feet, considering the best way to sneak around the building from where she stood.
“What are you doing?” Bonnie asked.
“I’m going to look for Stefan,” Elena told them.
“We’ll come with you,” Meredith said quickly.
“No,” Elena said. “You guys stay here and make sure Stefan isn’t outside. If you see him, keep him with you.”
“Um, what if we see Damon?” Bonnie asked uneasily. “Do you want us to tell him anything?”
Elena hesitated. Was there any message she could send through her friends that would lessen Damon’s anger? She didn’t think so. “If you see him, just stay out of his way, okay?” she asked. He was probably long gone, anyway.
She worked her way across the parking lot, sticking to the shadows. As she reached the edge of the lot, she walked between the trees on one side and the cars on the other, eyes on the corner of the school building.
“Get back, miss,” a fireman told her as he hurried past. She stepped away from the building, watching him until he had forgotten her and disappeared into the mass of men fighting the flames.
There was a puddle of water at her feet, left by one of the fire hoses. Elena knelt, fumbling at the hem of her dress. She felt a twinge of regret for her beautiful dress as she gripped the crimson silk with both hands and tore. A long strip of silk came off the bottom of the dress. She dipped it into the dirty water of the puddle, soaking the fabric thoroughly.
There was a crash from the far side of the building, something inside collapsing, and, in one motion, the crowd and the fire fighters turned in that direction.
Elena seized her chance and ran, cold water dripping over her hand from the torn piece of her dress. Close up, the fire was loud. The flames roared, and the dry wood of the school building snapped and popped as it burned.