Flames

Author's Note: Tell me what you think. I don't like it. I'm not sure to continue it or not.

Not Edited – much. Urgh. Two colds in three weeks.

Disclaimer: Twilight isn't mine. You wish.

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The chemistry class was gathered around the teacher's desk as she explained the experiment to the class. She bent to get a packet of matches from a drawer and one student noticed that something seemed to be different with the gas valve as his fellow students murmured around him. In fact, it had seemed to be like that ever since he entered the room. He glanced back, checking with a different one as the teacher straightened, matchbox in one hand and match in the other. As she put the match to the box, he turned back in horror and stared at her, his gaze flickering to the gas valve as he threw himself backwards forcefully.

"No! Don't light it!"

But it was too late. There was a huge explosion as the air combusted and flames erupted in the air. There were screams of pain as people were consumed by flames and splintering and crashing as equipment broke or shattered from the force of the explosion or from people knocking it to the ground. A few people had been thrown into the walls by the sheer power of the explosion.

Someone outside wrenched the door open and pulled the person closest to the door outside. They shouted to a teacher and were calling for the fire brigade before the teacher even arrived. He took the space of one second to see what had happened, heaved the injured student onto the second student's shoulder and turned back to the students who were hanging curiously around the classroom doors.

"Evacuate!" he shouted, commanding.

Students streamed out of the doors as the teacher tried to inch inside and drag out more people out of the flames. The last person to leave, the now supervising teacher, looked back once and smashed the fire alarm as they left.

--

The alarm, which followed the loud gunshot-like sound, echoed in the hallways. It was a shrill, high-pitched ringing, and from her classroom, Isabella Swan could smell smoke. As the other students quickly grabbed what was important to them, she quickly ran to the door as students rushed past from their classrooms.

Flames were making their slow way down the corridor, leaping from whichever source of fuel it could find to the next. As people from her classroom also began to make their way into the hall, someone suddenly gasped and exclaimed from behind.

"Get back into the classroom!"

A second explosion rang in the hallways and the students still outside were littered with debris, many losing their footing as the ground rocked. Many of the students were now also cut and scratched and some were unconscious from falling to the ground suddenly.

It was then that they had noticed that fire had also started at the other end of the hallway, burning shreds having been lifted into the air by the slight breeze whipped up by the fires. A sound from the other burning side alerted them, and a teacher struggled back into view. Charred-looking students were stumbling behind him and he carried a few, while others supported a small number of half-conscious students.

Smoke was filling the corridor and Bella coughed as she breathed it in unintentionally. She slid to the floor, trying to push herself back into the classroom where it was relatively safer, and drifted into darkness.

--

Edward Cullen heard the second explosion even as he left the room of his own classroom. Sorting through the minds of everyone as fast as he could, he searched for the location of the fire. He noticed students ahead beginning to spill outside into the grounds and focused his mind on their thoughts.

Horrified, he reeled backwards and disappeared as he dashed through the crowd, going the opposite way to everyone else, running as fast as he could. He had no doubt that Bella would still be there, danger magnet that she was. That was extremely bad new for him.

He reached the hallway, but a fire burned ahead. His eyes widened in horror even as he guessed what could have happened already, even if he could still smell her. She was probably here.

Hang on, Bella.

Steeling himself, he grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and fiddled with it as his eyes scanned the instructions. Taking out the safety ring, he pushed down on the lever on the canister and sprayed it over the flames. They died out slowly and he moved down the corridor, extinguishing a few more and more flames which leapt out at him, slowly making his way to the only closed door in the hallway.

Giving one last blast and knowing there wouldn't be enough to extinguish any more flames, he dashed the last few steps to the door and knocked on it once, before twisting the handle sharply and tumbling in. The students inside looked up at him from the floor where they had been hiding, well away from the door. Another few students stepped away from the windows.

Edward glanced around and down, seeing Bella propped up against a cupboard where it seemed someone had dragged her. Looking her over quickly, he determined that she was injured pretty badly. There were some burns on her and scratches and bruises as well. He clenched his teeth in anger – anger directed internally.

"What happened?" He asked as he turned to one of the students, but she only stared at him in a terrified manner. Another girl answered.

"First there was a gas explosion." She said, with a glance at a singed teacher propped against a wall, "And then there was a chemical explosion when the fire reached the stored chemicals."

Edward stood up and grabbed a fire blanket off the wall, opening the door abruptly and throwing the blanket outside to cover the flames which were trying to creep down the corridor once again.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was shrill.

"I cleared the flames when I was trying to get here." He spoke quickly. "We should be able to get back along the corridor."

"What about the smoke?" She cried at him.

"If we move quickly…!"

Edward had dashed in the door again, picked up Bella, slinging her gently over a shoulder and picking up a few other people as well. The girl stared up at him silently, scared, yet impressed at his strength. A few people roused under her touch and stumbled their way out of the room, supporting each other.

"Who's left?"

"Two or three more."

Edward glanced at the flames which were still trying to inch up the corridor, pulled the unconscious Bella – who he hadn't dared leave anywhere or with anyone – closer to him and picked up two people, making an exaggerated show of staggering under the weight. The girl followed with the last student, half-conscious.

They managed to stumble down the corridor, even as the flames leapt again and jumped over the blanket, igniting fire behind them. They made their way outside and joined the other injured students that were being ushered away by medical personnel or hugged enthusiastically – yet painfully – by tearful friends.

Edward breathed a small sigh of relief.

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End – until otherwise.