Chapter 3 Smoke and Scorn

Luna's face went pale, but Julian quickly turned to the man and said anxiously, "Sir, you've got it all wrong! My friend's just cooking there!

"He's into crazy experiments. He said he wanted to try out this car kitchen thing and cook us a Thanksgiving dinner on the road. Guess he overdid it a bit. It's fine, really. The car's on fire, sure, but he's perfectly safe inside!"

"Cooking?" The man looked utterly confused.

Luna jumped in right away. "Yes! My boyfriend loves pulling stunts like this. Sorry you had to see that. We'll take him home right now."

The man looked from me to Luna and Julian, suspicion flickering in his eyes. He shook his head and muttered, "Kids these days really know how to have fun."

Then, he started his motorcycle and rode off into the distance.

Inside the car, the oxygen was nearly gone. The system blared its final warning.

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Danger! Carbon monoxide levels are critical. Oxygen below eight percent. Evacuate immediately! Evacuate immediately!"

The flames surged higher. The window glass glowed red-hot, creaking under the heat.

Suddenly, I remembered that my sister had insisted on keeping an emergency fire extinguisher under the passenger seat, just in case something like this happened.

I used the last of my strength to drag it out, but when I tried to pull the safety pin, it wouldn't budge.

I stared closer and froze. The pin had been sealed to the handle with superglue. Worse yet, the extinguisher was completely empty.

Julian saw what I was holding and burst out laughing.

"Oh, Sebastian! I told Luna the other day I'd never tried using a fire extinguisher before and was dying to know what it felt like. Luna's the best. She even showed me how to use it herself. We might've emptied the whole thing by accident."

Tilting his head with mock innocence, he added, "But you're such a careful driver, Sebastian. I figured you'd never need it anyway, so I just put it back where I found it."

Luna stood behind him, not the slightest hint of guilt on her face. Instead, she affectionately said, "You're such a kid sometimes."

Then, she turned to me, her expression hardening into pure irritation. "Sebastian, would you stop this nonsense already? What are you trying to do by putting on a whole show? You even pulled out the fire extinguisher. Keep this up and you really will get yourself killed!"

I didn't answer. I just stared at her.

Then, before they could react, I lifted the extinguisher high above my head with every ounce of strength I had left.

"Sebastian, what are you doing? Are you insane?" Luna finally lost her composure, her voice cracking with real fear as she shouted at me.

I ignored her and slammed the extinguisher against the window hard.

A deafening crack rang out. The glass shattered into a thousand pieces.

I was free.

I didn't care that the shards tore into my skin. I clawed and scrambled toward the broken window, ready to drag myself out.

But before I could, a hand shot in from outside, yanking my hair and wrenching my head backward.

Luna, furious, had thrown open the car door the second the window shattered.

"You bastard! You were faking it this whole time! Still strong enough to smash my car, huh?" she screamed, shoving me back into the driver's seat with brutal force.

She grabbed a roll of duct tape and bound me tight against the chair, layer after suffocating layer, until I couldn't move at all.

I struggled weakly, but she didn't even budge.

To my horror, she tore off another strip of tape and pressed it over my mouth and nose.

"Mmph… Mmph…"

The pain of suffocation hit instantly, flooding my brain like fire and ice all at once.

Luna watched me gasp for air, her eyes dark with something unreadable. She leaned in close and murmured, "Sebastian, you never learn, do you? Tonight, I'll make sure you do."

The fire inside the car roared, reaching its breaking point. The air vibrated with the deep, growing rumble of an impending explosion.

My vision dimmed. My thoughts blurred.

Just as the darkness swallowed me, a furious shout echoed from not far away.

"How dare you hurt my brother! Are you sick of living?"