In the Alpha's Possession

Chapter Eleven- Ashes of Flames

“Choking on smoke is a version of suffocation, but being responsible for the fire itself brings liability and unforgivable guilt.”

The air around Lavender became difficult to breathe in as the sight of unnaturally brazen flames began to rise around her. They seemed to focus on the wooden structures around her, including that of the books that she came to love in the short time she had been a resident in this medieval mansion. Trying to make her way from the bed, she found there to be a great weight upon her chest that caused for her to remain put and in a dire situation among the fire. Able to bring the sheets from her by kicking them off with great force, she was able to notice that she had been tied down in her sleep. Immediately bringing suspects within her mind, she knew it would not do her any good to think of such things now, and instead, focused on what she could do to escape her imminent death if she would remain put. Knowing she was running out of time as she grew light headed, she focused all of her upper body strength upon the binds on her wrists. The secret in which she harbored from Drew would prove to be her downfall as she was unable to break free as other wolves in her position may have-a detail that was known by the person or people who had tied her down to begin with. Nevertheless, she focused upon the flames, trying to call for help, before realizing her attempts had become futile. She eyed the restraints themselves, knowing that everything had a weak point, and she just had to find it. With her feet remaining free to move about, she flipped herself to use the strength from her feet upon the wall to hopefully break the binds-but this only seemed to make them tighter. Lavender was beginning to feel her lungs sucking in the smoke instead of pure oxygen, resulting in her growing light headed. She coughed while trying to find a way to break herself free, waiting for an epiphany or death to set in. 

Finally she came up with a plan as the flames began to catch onto the fabric of the bed. As the binds themselves had been made of rope, she focused the fragile compound of the binding itself and crossed her fingers in hoping that it would burn in due time for her to escape before it would claim her life. Her plan seemed to work at the beginning, resulting in the rope catching fire, but burning incredibly slow. Growing more and more desperate, she knew her only chance to survive would be to allow her hands into the literal fire to allow the most heat to allow the ropes to burn free. While she waited for the heat to rise and unbind the sections of rope, she pulled, hoping at any moment it would now come lose. A sudden snap was heard as she made her way into the direction of the door, her body lunging towards the more distant flames. The ends of her hair catching on fire, she quickly put it out, before standing upon the bed to sort through her options. There were only three; and each one would bring great bodily harm no matter which way it was executed. The first option was to throw her body out the window, resulting in burns from the flames, possible cuts from the glass, and the potential broken bones upon hitting the ground outside. The second had been to go for the door and try to seek out help or to help someone else trapped within the home. And the third had been to remain in place to burn to a crisp. In her mind, Lavender knew her consciousness would never forgive her if she were to escape while those she cared for were victims to the flames; and so, without much hesitation, she leaped from the bed and landed in the hallway of the mansion, just catching the base of her dressing gown on fire. Putting it out by patting it quickly with her palm, she came to realize the entire mansion was lit to burn and she was making it more difficult to escape with each moment she remained inside. 

She began to call out both Astrid and Drew’s names, wanting to be sure that they were out of the vicinity before she made her way outside to meet with them-but could sense their pulses within a close area. Because of this, she quickly touched the handle of Drew’s room and saw him incapacitated within the bed, although his door had been open to relieve some of the dense smoke that had otherwise darkened and swallowed the entire residence. Lavender desperately shook Drew, trying to wake him, only to have him moan with a sign of life, but clearly affected by the fire as he found it difficult to stand and exist while conscious. Using every ounce of strength she could muster, Lavender hoisted Drew upright and set his arm over her shoulders to lead him from the house. While making her way to the balcony of his room, she knew going back would no longer be an option for them as they would be forced to both be caught on fire as he was in no case to make his way from the house otherwise. Because of this, she quickly made her way back into the room, tied his bedsheets together, and wrapped him within the confines of the knots, to lower him to the ground. As she went to make her way to Astrid, she found the door to have become completely engulfed in flames-making it impossible to go that way again. With only a bathroom in Drew’s room to hide in, she knew the only way to save Astrid would be to leave and find another way in. Taking the lead, she climbed down the very rope she made using Drew’s bed sheets, this time able to untie him as she got to the bottom, and dragging him away from the house and onto the treeline that encircled the property. Trying to wake him and keep him conscious, she knew that Astrid was losing precious time, and so she left him in safety away from the flames, and made her way back inside through the front door. Luckily, it seemed as though the foyer and the steps had been unaffected by the fire, allowing her to make her way to Astrid before she would be affected. Or so she thought. 

Knowing she could move faster in her lycan form and hold a better chance of locating Astrid and escaping, Lavender removed the attire from her body and allowed her skin to become taken with her lycan form. Following the scent that she could detect different from her own and that of Drew, Lavender ran her way around the entire mansion, growing anxious around the flames as she was now more flammable than in her human form. She was also more nimble, however, allowing access through small spaces-that would be difficult otherwise. This allowed her to follow Astrid’s scent until it led to a locked bathroom door. Desperate to try and save Astrid if the smoke hadn’t gotten to her already, she scratched viciously on the door and began to howl, hoping it would awaken her. Trying to gain a sense of her surroundings, Lavender pressed her head against the door to try and hear for a heartbeat, but only came upon a low thump of someone losing their life. 

Ramming her body into the door, it came down with a sudden thud, before her view was forced upon Astrid’s arm hanging out of the bathtub. The entire scene had been something from a morbid line of poetry speaking of beauty in death-but as Lavender approached her, she carried her nose to her hand, only for it to fall back further within the tub and smash hard into the water. Lavender set her paws over the bathroom tub, seeing Astrid’s purple lips and open eyes looking back at her-lifeless. The moment she had crossed the threshold of the door, her pulse had stopped, and water had filled her lungs instead of smoke. Even though her life seemed to be halted by that of an aquatic cause, Lavender took hold of her hair by her teeth, lifting her from the water, and pulling her free from its dangerous clutches. She managed to gracefully set her body upon the ground as the flames made their way to the door, seeming to cease and allowing Lavender a chance to save her. 

Changing back to her human form, she set her attention upon the lifeless body beneath her, trying to perform CPR to a body still warm from recent life. Fearing what would become of Drew if something were to happen to Astrid, she continued her attempts to bring her back to life. The once slight pulse had now ceased to a bitter silence that was only interrupted by the cracking of the structure around Lavender as she was becoming trapped by the failing structure. Lavender would not allow the flames to deter her any longer, as she knew she would be safe for a few more moments at least. She took this time to continue the CPR motions on Lavender, expecting water to emerge from her lips from the motions-not blood. Small streams of blood began to emerge from her lips as Lavender then brought her to her side to not choke on the blood coming from her. A slight pulse could be heard returning to the air as Lavender continued her motions, this time, doing so while Astrid was positioned mainly on her back. 

“Lavender…” Astrid spoke, a deep exhale gurgling with blood having formed in her lungs. “Be good to Drew.” She spoke, her breathing becoming more and more shallow as Lavender tried to bring the blood from her body once more.”I am sorry I was hard on you…” She paused, a breath coming in to sound as though she had all the air knocked from her. “It was nothing personal.”

“You’re going to be alright-”

“No...I can feel it…” Astrid pulled her hand to her heart, motioning the small pulse that remained in her chest. “I’m not scared ...tell Drew I wasn’t.”

“You will tell him-”

“You are good for him, don’t let him tell you otherwise…” With this word, tears fell down Lavender’s cheeks as she could feel the life slip from within Astrid, and result in a lifeless body against her legs. While trying to perform CPR again, only bubbles concealed within blood came from her lips, no motion, and no sound of life coming back. 

She was gone. The beautiful and even misunderstood life inside Astrid had now become one with the afterlife. It was a truth that was unable to be understood by Lavender in this moment as she waited for her to awaken or even for herself to awaken in hopes this was a horrible dream. But the burns on her clothing, her skin, her hair, and her heart, had reminded her that it was all too real. 

Devastated, Lavender made her way from the mansion just as the windows in the home had become bombs, forcing glass in every direction, hitting her body and making her fall back to all fours. As she tried to locate Drew upon the line of the woods, she found the location in which his body had been positioned, but could no longer make sense of where he could have gone. She tried to follow his scent, but upon turning to do so had a large sack forced over her head with the scent of an herbal flower causing her to pass out while everything became black.