CHAPTER 55
JASON
The alarm didn’t just ring, it screeched like some pissed-off demon had crawled into the speakers. The whole class jumped, books slammed shut, chairs scraped, everyone moving like headless chickens while our teacher flailed his arms, yelling at us to stay calm. Nobody stayed calm. Smoke curled under the doorway in thin gray fingers, and suddenly calm wasn’t even on the table.
I shoved my notebook into my bag out of reflex, slung it over my shoulder, and pushed into the stampede of students funneling into the hall. The lights flickered, the ceiling groaned, and every instinct in me screamed fire, fire, fire.
The corridor was a choking mess of elbows, backpacks, and half-screams. A sprinkler sputtered above, spraying mist that barely dented the smoke. I cut through th
