Safeguard

Unfortunately the smell of smoke wafting leisurely through the inch of space between the hardwood floor and possibly fake wood door, was not a scent the girl sprawled out on her small twin bed greeted with pleasure. In sleep, nothing could wake her, only irritate her to the point of a sleepy consciousness, in which she'd probably spit many curses and fall back asleep minutes later. She grumbled, shaking her head as she found herself waking up slowly. The blaring of the fire detectors did nothing for her, hard-headed and a deep sleeper that she was, she only stirred until the smoke moved swiftly up her plain white walls and drifted towards her nose. Pushing herself up with her hands, she squinted. She was practically blind without her glasses, all she saw was blurred and as the smoke rose her vision worsened.

The smoke wasn't a surprise to her for the most part, her parents couldn't cook for shit. It was always a wonder to her how they'd managed to raise two kids, without being able to cook. Granted, one was very much successful on his own, grown with a good job and trying to start a family of his own, him. Alexander. And her, not so well off. Struggling to see half the time, stumbling quietly, mocking people often. Aria.

She wasn't happy, and the smoke didn't just recede as it usually did when her parents failed to cook, it was seeping in still. She rolled out of bed, coughing as she staggered over to the window, just above the dresser in her room. Squinting and stepping over the clothes she'd worn the day before that were littered on the floor, she made her way there.

She pushed the window up and pressed her nose to the screen, blinking the tears from her eyes and breathing hard. Seconds passed and she stayed that way, her eyes trying to focus on the tiny squares that made up the screen, though they blurred together into a dark gray blob. It was dark outside, almost pitch. That's how it was nowadays, early spring and still freezing from the long winter. At least the snow had melted. The cold air was a stinging kiss on her nose, on her cheeks until the smoke made it's way through her lips and into her lungs.

She turned as a hot rage flashed up inside her, straining against the cough tickling her throat. She was not supposed to be awake right now, and she was not supposed to be having a hard time breathing in her own house. She'd never thought that two people could burn food so badly that the smoke could pile up and travel so far. They'd probably left the food on the stove, or in the oven, left it to go grab takeout that only the two of them would share together. She seethed and moved closer to where she knew the door was, hands out in front of her, feet shuffling and kicking clothes, moving the best she could until her hands touched the door. She flinched. The fire detectors wailing, the heat blistering on the other side, hit her like a wave. Her hands trembled.

Usually cool, the door was hot and the smoke drifting underneath it slipped through her toes like lost ghosts reaching for the ceiling. She stumbled back and looked around. Where had she placed her glasses? What was the first thing that fireman had said you do if there's a fire and you're upstairs? Stop, drop and roll. Fuck that. She coughed, inhaling the smoke that was layered on top of itself, thickening. She fell to her knees, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hands, shying away from the smoke.

It seemed like ages in the hazy room before the door shattered inwards, splinters flew and a figure appeared. It was no doubt Poppy, determined, looking like a fierce angel, her hair wild and flashing red to orange as the fire flickered and crept closer towards the room.
Stepping around the crouching Aria quickly and heading back towards her closet, she grabbed a black duffle bag, filled with clothes and all the extra money Aria's parents had hidden away in their shed, and knelt at Aria's side quickly. Aria looked up hesitantly, eyes stinging as her glasses were pressed against her right hand. Aria put her glasses on hastily, the lenses smudged terribly, she was at least grateful as she saw the face of her loud counterpart, eyes filled with concern. Poppy gathered Aria in her arms and grunted, the weight of the bag shifting on her back as she rushed out of the room and back into the blaze.

The hardwood floor burned, layer and layer of wood caving as they were licked by the tongues of fire. Like termites eating away at wood, the fire thinned it out, Poppy struggled to find her footing as the caved and fell to the floor below.

The smoke was thick, weighing them down just as the duffle bag had as Poppy went lower, shifting the weight on her back and the weight in her arms she eased through the diminishing hallway.

They did not stop to wonder if Aria's parents were okay. There was just the two of them, making their way outside.

The floor on the first floor burned hotter than it had on the second. The fire had started there. Poppy took a moment and set Aria down in front of her. She took the duffle bag from her back and put it in Ari's arms. As quickly as she did, she lifted Aria up and darted in the direction of the door, coughing, as the smoke coated her throat.

Like a balloon filling up a space too tight for it, the smoke expanded in Poppy's throat, weakening her resolve. She lurched, holding Aria tighter to her chest as the ceiling collapsed behind them. A few more steps, she willed herself, legs burning as they were engulfed by the flames hiding the open door.

- -

It took minutes for the two to stagger out of the burning house, Poppy choking and placing Aria on the ground while Aria almost clung to the cold ground, sucking in air bitter from dirt. She looked at Poppy, her eyes still stinging from the smoke. Poppy wheezed, asthma that had gone away and stayed away for years reemerging as she struggled to catch her breath. Ari pulled at the duffle, opened it, and fished out the inhaler Poppy had given her in case she ever needed it. She shook it up and handed it to Poppy quickly, watching as the breaths that came afterwards came easier, slower. Aria stood, and helped Poppy up.

"Poppy, what happened?"

It was the mischievous grin that graced Poppy's lips that told Ari that Poppy didn't just show up at random as her house was burning. Aria sighed deeply and stumbled as Poppy grabbed her hand and began moving away from her house. The sirens rang through the air, and they fled, with her parent's money and all the clothes they could take.
They knew they weren't coming back, and they never planned to.