The explosion’s sound resonated through the air, causing people to panic and scramble as they tried to get away from the unknown assailant. As I looked around, I saw smoke coming from the end of the building. I didn’t know what to do, but I know that someone had to do something. With no one paying attention, I pulled off my necklace as my body began to rematerialize. In a flash, I was in the air and flying towards the smoke. This was crazy, even for me. What was I going to do?

            When I got to the end of the building, I saw something I didn’t expect. The entire back of the building was destroyed. Everything inside the rooms where the hole was was on fire. I was about to fly off and get help when I heard screaming coming from inside. Someone was inside, and if someone didn’t do something, they could get trapped or worse. Fighting my instinct to protect myself, I closed my wings and dove into the building. The smoke was making it hard to see anything. I could feel the heat against my fur.

            Using my wings to shield the smoke and fire away from me the best I could, I made my way through the rubble. “Can anybody hear me?” I called out as I moved through the room. I waited to hear a response. It was hard to hear much with the sound of the flames pounding against my eardrums. Somewhere in the background, I heard sirens. Even though I knew that they would be here any minute, there wasn’t a moment to spare. There would be no way for them to get to whoever was trapped here.

            “Help, I can’t get out,” I heard someone cry. It sounded like it was coming from the next room. I was about to head to the door to the hallway but stopped when I saw the fire coming from under the door’s bottom. Turning around, I jumped into the air and took off, brushing against one of the desks that were on fire. I could feel the fire burn my leg, could smell the burnt hair, but I didn’t have time to stop and check it. As I flew above the smoke, I dove into the other room. This one was worse. It had to be where the explosion happened.

            Walking through the room, doing my best to stay away from the flames as best I could, I tried to find the person I had heard earlier. “Where are you. I’m trying to find you,” I called out. Then I heard it, the faint sound of someone’s heartbeat. I followed it towards the back of the room. The fire was spread all around the area. The heat of the flames was dangerously close. I thought about using my wings to blow the fire out but remember that it would only fan the flames.

            As I tried to think of a way to get to whoever was trapped, a thought came to mind. Pulling out one of the larger feathers in my wings like I did a few days ago, I watched as it hardened before my very eyes. Carefully I picked a spot that looked promising and cut through one of the desks. I watched as it split and fell, then I cut each piece again until I had a path just big enough to jump over. Taking a moment to breathe, I leaped over the bits of the table. I landed in front of the teacher’s desk. I didn’t see anyone there, but I figured that they were hiding underneath it, trying to protect themselves from the flames.

            Walking around the desk, I saw someone’s body. As I leaned down and tried to pull the person out, they turned around to face me. It was Maddison.

            “What are you doing here,” she asked. There was terror in her eyes. It was just my luck that the person that I came here to save just happened to be the same person who almost got me suspended if not expelled. But I couldn’t just leave her here to die.

            Swallowing my pride, I tried to pull her out, but she pulled away from me as she tried to hide her face. “This isn’t the time for this. We need to get out of here, and like it or not, I’m the only one here that can save you.” I said as I yanked her out from under the desk with all the force that I had. As she tried to fight back, I slung her over my shoulder. It was surprising just how light she felt. But they say that people can do extraordinary things with adrenaline.

            “Stop squirming. I am going to get us out of this. However, I won’t be able to if you keep moving around like this.” I said as I turned around towards the hole in the fire that I had made, it was getting smaller. If I didn’t go now, it threatened to enclose us again. I hunched down until my knees were almost touching the floor. I pushed off the ground with all the strength that I had and jumped over the fire. But not without any damage. As we passed through, my tail had hovered over the fire for a bit too long. I cried out as the pain shot up my spin. The pain was so intense that I almost landed face-first on the other side.

            “Angel, your tail is on fire,” Maddison said. I wanted to say something sarcastic and mean. However, I didn’t say anything as I started running to the opening in the building. I had never flown with someone on my shoulder like this, so I didn’t know if I would have the strength to, especially with her body lying where it was. As I stood in a small part of the room that wasn’t on fire. I sat her on the ground.

            “You have to wrap your arms around my neck. And please don’t make some stupid comment about me being a lesbian when I’m here to save your life,” I said. She didn’t argue, didn’t make a single sound. Instead, she pressed herself against me, wrapping her arms around my neck like when your slow dancing with someone. If this had been Taylor, I would have been happy to be this close, but it wasn’t. But it wasn’t. It was the only who said all that stupid shit to Taylor.

            Wrapping my arms around her as tight as I could, I kicked off the floor and opened my wings, using the heat from the fire to assist in lifting me. Just as I was about to clear the building, I felt a rush of water hit me. Of course, they had to start putting out the fire as I was leaving. Now, not only was I burned and in pain, but I was also wet. Someone was sure to have a laugh at my expense.

            When I finally landed, there was already a flock of people around me. People were asking questions, while others took pictures with their phones. I think I even saw one person recording. Sighing, I looked at Maddison, who was still clinging to me.

            “You can let go now, Maddison. We are safe now.” I said, tried to pry her off, but she wouldn’t budge.

            “You could have let me die. You could have just walked away and pretended that you couldn’t find me. Why did you save me after everything that happened today?” Maddison asked, still holding onto me. That question hit me hard. Did she think that I was a monster, that I would just let her die? What she did was wrong, but it didn’t warrant her to die.

            “What you did was wrong, but you don’t deserve to die. People do stupid things. Even I have done many stupid things. But that doesn’t mean I should die,” I said. That’s when I felt the tears against my neck and heard her cry.

            “It was my fault that the room exploded. After what happened, Emily said that we were no longer friends. So, I hid in the classroom so that I didn’t have to run into her in the hallway. Then all the pain and hurt boiled out, and the next thing I knew, everything in the room exploded.” She whimpered as her body went limp. So, she was a “freak,” too. I fought back a giggle at my own thought.  Just then, I saw my mom and Taylor running towards us through the crowd.

            “Angel, what are you doing here? And why is that girl holding you like that?” my mom demanded when she finally reached me. Just what I need, mom getting the wrong idea.

            “Her name is Maddison, and she was caught in the fire. If I hadn't went in and rescued her, the fire would have killed her.” I said. I could see a painful look on Taylors face.

            “You went into the fire. It is not bad enough that I find out that you were fighting in school, but now you are trying to get yourself killed. Look at your tail. Look at your leg. You should have left it to the professionals.” Mom said.  I was just about to answer her when I collapsed to the ground, taking Maddison with me before everything faded to black.