Page 122 of Irreversible

“Mm. Sounds like the most palatable option.”

I doubt that. “I never know what comes next. This place is unpredictable.”

He looks over at me, a mix of longing and despair dulling his green eyes. “How have you managed to cope? Mentally?”

A reasonable question.

The truth is, I just did. Human beings have no idea what they’re capable of until they’re thrown into the pits of hell withno armor, no reinforcements, and no way out. When your back is against the wall, you use that wall to stay standing. When your life flashes before your eyes, you turn those flickers into light—a light at the end of the tunnel. You take each day as it comes, knowing it’s another chance to make your way to the other side.

Nobody ever prepares for the worst-case scenario. But our survival instincts are our greatest weapon; a weapon that remains dormant until we’re faced with the unimaginable.

And then we fight.

My breathing steadies as I close my eyes and whisper, “I had no other choice.”

Time presses on.

Fifty-seven seconds.

Jasper’s voice sounds farther away with every second that ticks by, until, eventually, I doze. Exhaustion carries me into fire-drenched nightmares, and I hear Isaac calling my name as flames lick the walls and charred beams crumble from the ceiling.

I’m trapped.

My skin melts, my hair singes.

“Everly,” he calls out, a garbled jumble of syllables. He sings my name like the opening chords to a bleak overture. “You’re looking in the wrong place.”

I search for him, pushing through the wall of thick smoke. I’m moving in slow motion, fiery streaks blurring past me, everything ablaze.

I can’t find him. I can’t?—

There.

A shadow moves. It’s him. I can’t see his face…but Ifeelhim.

Comfort. Reprieve.

Isaac.

An arm extends through the flickering heat. His hand reaching for mine. Our fingers finally about to touch. No more walls, no more barriers. I reach and reach andreach…

But his hand disintegrates.

Turns to ashes the moment we clasp.

I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out. My words are ashes, too. Everything is dust and debris. It’s too late.

His voice is the last thing I hear before I’m startled awake, and reality punctures me.

But it’s not Isaac’s voice bellowing my name.

It’s Jasper’s.

And I don’t feel fire…Ismellit.

My eyelids flutter as the scent of smoke wafts underneath my nose and everything comes whirling back to me in a cloud of fear.

“Everly, wake up.” Jasper is frantic. “Everly!”

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