When They Beg I Rise (Lemira) novel Chapter 1025

For Lemira, anything involving fire triggered her darkest, most agonizing memories.

After violently shaking Stella and Janice awake, Lemira sprinted into the hallway and smashed the emergency fire alarm. A piercing, deafening siren immediately echoed throughout the dormitory.

Janice supported a coughing Stella, pressing a wet towel to her face while shoving another one into Lemira's hands. "Let's go!"

Lemira grabbed the damp cloth. "You two get downstairs right now. I'm going to bang on the other doors."

"Are you crazy? It's too dangerous!"

"Just go! I know what I'm doing!"

Lemira spun around and bolted down the hall, hammering her fists against every door she passed. She knew there were girls who would sleep right through the alarm.

She ran all the way to the top floor, making sure the entire wing was awake. But by the time she tried to head back down, the stairwell was entirely engulfed in thick, black smoke. A brutal wave of heat blasted upward, making it impossible to see if the lower levels were even structurally sound anymore.

Several terrified girls huddled around her, their voices cracking with sobs. "What do we do?"

"I don't want to die here!"

Lemira quickly assessed the direction of the flames. "Everyone, move to the room at the very end of the hall! Turn on all the faucets and start ripping the bedsheets apart to tie into a makeshift rope!"

Having someone take charge instantly grounded the panic-stricken students. They moved quickly, following her orders without hesitation.

Down below, the wail of fire engines cut through the night.

Lemira glanced out the window, her hands moving frantically as she helped knot the heavy fabric together. When the makeshift rope was secure, she tossed it out the window. Firefighters had already deployed landing pads on the ground.

Caleb Sterling was standing right below their window, shouting over the chaos. "I'm down here! Climb down now!"

Lemira looked at the crying girls. "One by one, go! He's a professional bodyguard. Even if you slip, he'll catch you."

Lemira stayed behind, anchoring the heavy fabric with her own body weight so she could control the speed of their descent. She held on until the very last girl scrambled down. But the friction was too much. The moment the girl touched the ground, the knotted sheet snapped in half.

Gasps of horror erupted from the crowd watching below.

Stella and Janice were screaming in a total panic. "What do we do?! How is Lemira supposed to get down?!"

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