Tainted Crimson Read Online Free PDF Page A

crowd alongside Nathan. By now, people aren't just panicking, they're freaking the hell out as they come to the same realization that I have—we won't all make it out. The flames light up the room and where the smoke has not yet reached, I can see people pushing and shoving through the crowd for their lives like Nathan and I are. I don't waste too much time glancing around as I can't afford to waste any time at all.
    I get knocked down a couple of times and expect Nathan to leave me there to get trampled but he helps me back up and continues to pull me forward. Thank god this big burly guy asked me to prom and not some little stinker who hadn't hit puberty yet.
    I decide that this is not the time to be pretending that I’m a weak little girl. I use my strength from many years of weight training to help Nathan push through the crowd. He doesn’t seem to notice that I’m abnormally strong, then again why would he? We’re trying to escape with our lives. There are more important things to be worrying about right now.
    Then, the absolutely unthinkable happens and when I say that, I mean exactly that. I watch through the smoke as a blonde-haired boy right beside me gets thrown upwards towards the flames on the ceiling as if the room has lost all sense of gravity. I hear his screams as the flames burn at his flesh. I try to hold in my own screams but cannot. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who just saw that.
    "What the fuck?!" someone cries, assuring me that they’ve seen it happen too.
    "We have to get out of here. NOW!" Nathan shouts.
    I gaze up at the ceiling at the boy’s half burnt body for only a moment before snapping out of it and pushing the incident behind my mental wall so that I can focus on survival.
    Thanks to Nathan, we are nearing the door. The room is emptying much quicker than one would think possible, or maybe we’ve just managed to push up to the front of the crowd and there are still tons of people behind us. I have no idea and I'm not about to pause and look back, not that I'd be able to see anything now anyways. The smoke has gotten so dense that my eyes are watering and stinging furiously. 
    I begin coughing. I can't breathe. I know you're supposed to 'stop drop and roll' when there's a fire, but let’s be reasonable, if I do that right now, I will be trampled to death.
    Elbows and fists fly into us as we continue to push through people.
    My heart picks up pace again and I realize that I'm about to have a panic attack. I'm not sure if it's because of what I just witnessed or if it's because I can no longer breathe but I decide that I have to push it away so I can be strong and think clearly and so I can make it out of here. Maybe some of dad’s lessons haven’t for nothing after all. My lungs burn and throb, as does my throat as I desperately try to suck in clean air.
    Then, I see a little bit of light and I know that we're only footsteps away from the double doors that will bring us into fresh air. Why in the hell would whoever built this building only put in one stinking door?! Are they not aware that this is a huge safety problem? Was it not required to put multiple exits when they built it? How are this many people expected to leave this room at once in the chance of a fire?
    I hear sirens outside over the screaming behind me. Are the emergency vehicles are already here? How much time has passed? I realize that I don't have any idea...seconds, minutes? I don't even know.
    Right as I'm about to jump out into the fresh air, Nathan's hand leaves my arm. "Nathan?!" I struggle through a hoarse throat and gasps for air.
    Nothing. I know I'm not going to be any help lying on the floor unconscious while people stomp on me so I decide that I have to keep going without him. At least to get a breath, then I can go back in and find him.
    When my lungs get a taste of the fresh air I almost jump for joy. I take a few more rushed breaths and I blink rapidly trying to get the