The Fire That Changed It All

Erin’s POV: The dance was supposed to be the best one in the city, but my opinion of it was slightly lessened when I had a dream that the building would burn down. Not only that, it would burn with everyone inside; the doors and windows were locked in my dream. I tried to tell my friends, but no one believed me. When I finally managed to convince one of them that it was going to happen, I was told it was only because he had received the same dream on the same night I had mine. Since none of my other friends believed me or him, we decided to go anyway, in the hopes that our dreams weren’t going to come true. The dream had been two weeks ago, and tonight was the night of the dance.
We were all dressed to the nines, my friends having forced me into one of the few dresses I owned, and ready for the dance to take off and begin already. We who had dreams were going together as each other’s date; his name was Darren. The reason for that was neither of us has a boyfriend/girlfriend, so our friends decided that we would go together. I was quite nervous about going to a dance like this, especially one that I had had a dream about, but I calmed my nerves as we reached the doors. Darren was waiting for me there.
He was dressed in a tuxedo, as was all of the boys -or men- for it was required, and he offered me his arm. I took it gratefully and we walked up the steps. Or rather, he did, for I was stumbling along, still not used to walking around in the heels I had been forced into.
“Oh, you look so beautiful!” my friend, Lauren, cried, fawning over me, “and Darren looks so handsome! You two are the best looking couple here!”
Darren blushed a deep red as I told her, “That doesn’t say much for the other couples here, since we aren’t even a real one.”
Everyone else laughed at that. Lauren was there with her boyfriend, Kyle, and our friend and her boyfriend were there as well, Annie and Ben.
We entered the room and Darren and I strode off to the side, trying not to gawp at the splendor. The room was gorgeously done, looking like a true ballroom, complete with chandeliers. It also helped with the look when you looked at the people in it, for formal attire had been required. As such, everyone was in a ballgown, evening dress, or tuxedo, making it look even more glorious than had they been dressed like teenagers.
Darren and I shared a few chuckles when we looked back at the group and found them still staring around them. He led me over to the punch bowl and got us both a glass as I took a look around. I was looking for the source of the fire, for it was no longer a matter of if, but rather when.
“You see how it happens yet?” he muttered to me as he handed me a glass of punch.
I nodded, “Yes, but that only makes it worse, not better.” I hid my mouth with the glass as if about to drink as I explained, “Did you notice the fact that the chandeliers were originally gas?” He shook his head and I nodded, “Well they were, and the idiot who turned them into electric did a bad job. The first sign that the fire is about to start is those things falling, so yell if you spot one of the chandeliers falling, ok?”
He agreed and we took opposite ends of the room as our posts.
We stayed there for most of the night and did not see one thing happen like what we had thought. However, just as everyone was starting to leave, some idiot yelled, “FIRE!” which started a stampede for the doors. The room seemed to tremble and that was when I spotted one of the chandeliers starting to fall. I lurched forward.
“Everyone, look out for the chandeliers!” I yelled, tripping on my shoes. I tore them off, “LOOK OUT!”
A bunch of people looked up, including my group, and gasped in surprise. I looked around but I didn’t see the fire that I had thought would be happening. When I glanced back around, I noticed that there were a few people still under one of the chandeliers, and the chandelier was about to fall.
I raced towards them and shoved them out of the way as something heavy fell on my legs, pinning one of them most effectively. The people I had saved ran for the door without checking to see if I was ok. I tried to cry for help, but coughed as smoke entered my system. The chandelier I was stuck under was smoking. There was another one that was burning, the flames leaping up to lick at the curtains bordering the windows. I looked around for help and noticed a pile of clothing that looked like a person near where people had run. I stretched to reach whoever it was, for it was a person, but was drawn short when my leg refused to come out from under the chandelier; it was still pinned. I saw the room getting brighter as the flames caught on the curtains and spread.
I grinned weakly at the thought that Darren and I had been correct when we thought there’d be a fire. I turned and grunted as I shoved the chandelier enough to get my leg out from underneath it. I had a feeling that the only reason I managed that was how much adrenaline was running through my body right then. I let out a gasp of pain as a broken piece sliced open a gash in my leg. I pulled off my shawl and wrapped it around the gash, trying to stand and almost crying in pain as my ankle almost gave beneath my weight. I gave up trying to stand and crawled over to the person and turned them over, unsurprised when I found myself staring at Darren’s face.
I checked his head for wounds before shaking him awake. He opened his eyes and smiled at me, albeit weakly.
“So this is the price of being a hero?” he asked me and I suddenly knew who had called the warning.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” I noticed the flames were growing and coming towards us, “Hey, can you stand? Because I think my ankle’s broken.”
“Ok, here we go.” He stood up slowly and made sure he himself was okay before lifting me up. He began to make his way towards the door and as we were in the doorway, it collapsed, pinning us.
Lauren’s POV: We watched in horror as soon the only two people left in the building were the two who had known about the fire. Annie and Ben were huddled together, but I had pushed Kyle away and stood there, watching the doorway for them to appear. I clasped my elbows and bit my lip, silently praying for them to get out in time.
“Hey! What’s that?” Kyle asked me, grabbing my arm and pointing towards the doorway; there was a shadow moving in the flames. Darren was carrying Erin, who seemed to have hurt her leg.
I moved towards the door, but Kyle and Ben both held me back.
“Wait until they clear the building,” Annie told me, “and then go.”
We nodded just as the doorframe collapsed on them. Firefighters rushed to the door, but were too late. Erin and Darren were carried on stretchers to the ambulance and then taken to the hospital, but everyone at the scene knew that there wasn’t much hope in their survival.
“If you kids would like to come with us,” Erin’s parents had arrived, “we can take you to the hospital.”
All of us agreed and the ride to the hospital was silent. When we arrived, her parents immediately went to see what the prognosis was.
The screams and sobs reached our ears and Annie and I clutched our boyfriends, knowing the result.
Weeks passed and a new building went up where the old one stood. It was named after the two who gave up their lives to save the people inside, and we were all invited to the opening, but none of us agreed to go to a club in the place where our two friends died.