1 Chapter 1

The day had started like any other, Jeremiah woke up at a bright and early seven in the morning, to the consistent and annoying chirp of an alarm clock. Today was his eighteenth birthday, the day he aged out of the system.

He dragged himself out of bed and over to the widow, glancing out over his neighborhood. It wasn’t the richest place, but it wasn’t the poorest either. There were a few smatterings of greenspaces around, and only the occasional police siren, so, not the worst place in this city by far. Average.

He’d overheard his caretakers talking the other night, something about a birthday present and a lease. “At least I’ll have somewhere to go…” He thinks to himself as he pulls on a shirt from his dresser. He was abandoned on the steps of this place as a baby and not once had anyone wanted to adopt him, but he never lost hope…so the finality that came with this birthday was not something he looked forward to.

Jeremiah found himself running through memories in this place as he got dressed, he remembered how the caretakers here always managed to get him something nice on Christmas, every birthday was celebrated, and when he turned sixteen, they actually let him use this room as his own personal bedroom. It used to be storage but hey, he took it. Everyone else at the orphanage was a young kid, ten and younger save for a few, and he loved helping take care of them, but the privacy was something he had craved.

But he knew he would miss the yelling and laughing, even the crying. But this was his birthday, there was a party and cake, there was fun to be had and he was going to do his best to enjoy it with this found, cobbled together family one last time.

Jeremiah finally opened his door, ready to head down the aging creaking steps of the orphanage to the large dining room where he would have breakfast with all the other kids, to meet this day with a smile. But as he opened his door, he was not met by yelling children playing and running down the halls, or by the smell of cooking eggs and bacon.

The screams and terrified cries of the other kids in the orphanage filled the halls as the smell of burning wood and plastic suffused the air, smoke billowing into the hallway from multiple doorways.

How hadn’t he heard this, how hadn’t he smelt this before he opened the door? Wait, that didn’t matter, he needed to help!

Jeremiah sprinted to the nearest voices he could hear, quickly turning down the hall, he saw three of the children who were only a little bit younger than him huddled in a corner. As he ran forward to grab them, the wood above him began creaking.

“No!” He shouted as the ceiling gave way and he skidded to a halt, putting his arms up in front of him as the smoke and fire and debris filled the space in front of him. When he looked again, he saw a smoking, flaming pile filling the space. He felt tears in his eyes, but how hadn’t any of that hit him…

“Oh god, no…” but this moment of horror was cut short when he heard someone screaming for help from the other room. He turned and ran towards them now, trying to block out the fact that the screaming behind him had stopped.

He saw a young girl in the corner of her room, the floor had given way and she couldn’t get out. This girl was about nine, he had known her for a few years now, Charlotte, her parents died, and she ended up here. He couldn’t let it end like this for her.

“Hey! Charlotte, stay there! I’m gonna help you, ok?” Jeremiah called out to her over the roar of fire.

“Jeremiah! Please hurry the…the floor is shaking! It’s gonna fall!” She screamed, tears in her eyes as she looked at him, covered in soot save for the streaks her tears had washed away.

He could hear the floor underneath her creaking, he’s surprised it was still standing at all. He thought about jumping to her to pick her up before jumping back across, but no way it would hold all that weight. He was going to have to ask her to be very brave.

“Alright, okay, Charlotte, I need you to jump across to me, ok? I’ll catch you! Just jump over to me alright?” He said trying to remain calm for her.

“What!? I…I don’t know if I can. Jeremiah I’m scared! Help me please!” She whimpered.

Jeremiah swallowed a bit before continuing “I’m here Charlotte, just be brave for me, you need to jump to me so I can get you out of here! Come on, you can do it!”

She shook her head again and looked as if she was going to say no again, but the floor buckled slightly as it creaked and tilted, and she screamed “Okay! Okay! I’ll jump!” She turned to him and got ready to run.

“Alright Charlotte, one, two…Three! Jump!” He held his arms out ready to catch her. As soon as he said three, she sprinted and launched off the portion of the surviving floor, just as it collapsed into an inferno beneath her. He grabbed her out of the air and quickly brought her close, putting her down in the hallway.

He suddenly felt the ground beneath them in the hallway lurch. His eyes went wide, and he looked at her and screamed “RUN!” Before shoving her away from him, the ground beneath him seemed to vanish and he fell. He just heard her scream his name as she vanished from sight.

For a moment he saw the walls rush past him and fire took most of his vision, but then he saw nothing. He just felt the heat all around him, the fire tearing at his flesh, the horrible feeling of something crunching as he hit the ground floor.

He was going to die here, on his eighteenth birthday no less…he just hoped it would end fast as he slipped out of consciousness.

The next thing he knew he felt like he was getting dragged by his arms across concrete, like on a sidewalk or driveway. His eyes fluttered open, and he saw a dark, starless sky, which only added to the confusion he was feeling as he tried to see who was dragging him.

He groaned. “What…what’s going-” He couldn’t finish as a fit of coughs wracked his body, which…didn’t feel burnt. It felt sore, God it felt sore, but he imagined that it would hurt more.

“Oh, oh goddess, Nymia, he's awake!” He heard a girl’s voice, and felt his arms drop onto the concrete as two faces suddenly loomed over him. One had black hair, striking violet eyes and brown skin, while the other had short blonde hair, red eyes, and was fairly pale.

“Oh, that’s lucky, I was worried he was dead…hey, do you think you can sit up?” The girl with the red eyes asked, her voice was more melodic and a bit deeper than the other girl’s. If he wasn’t still reeling about almost dying, he’d say sexy. The other’s voice was softer and a bit higher, but just sounded so caring.

Jeremiah groaned as, to his surprise, he managed to sit himself up with some struggle, but not nearly as much as he thought. His clothes were scorched and ruined but not gone. He was absolutely filthy, but it didn’t look like he had a scratch on him.

“Who are you two and what’s happening?” He asked quietly, his voice cracking with a cough.

“I’m Sara.” Said the girl with violet eyes, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Please, you need to take it easy. You may be okay but that was rough.”

“I’m Nymia.” Said the red-eyed girl winking at him, “Happy birthday Jeremiah.”