Chapter 4

Shane let out a mocking laugh and pulled his hand off Yvette's shoulder. He gave me a thumbs-up, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt. "Fine. Stand over there and keep your eyes wide open. You'll see what being young is all about."

Yoel chuckled behind him.

"She just wants to act all high and mighty. Once the video goes viral, don't let her come crawling back to steal the spotlight."

Yvette wiped away her tears. Her expression had already returned to the excitement she had shown before, as if the person who had just crumpled up the statement and thrown it on the floor had not been her.

I took two steps toward the corner when someone suddenly grabbed my wrist. It was Shane. He dragged me into a small storage room nearby, then slammed the door shut behind us.

"You're staying here." He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, lifting his chin at me. "Don't even think about sneaking out to warn anyone. You can't stop tonight's livestream."

I looked at him without struggling or saying a word. All the while, my phone remained tucked safely in my pocket, pressed against my thigh and still warm from recording everything.

The audio recording was still running.

At 3:00 am sharp, Yvette crouched in the middle of the living room.

The lighter sparked. The smoke bomb first produced a thin orange flame, then began to hiss. Thick white smoke poured out, filling the room with the sharp, bitter smell of sulfur.

Yvette ran into the main bedroom and lit the second one.

In less than three minutes, the entire apartment was filled with smoke. White smoke seeped from beneath the door and crawled along the hallway like a living thing, while the smoke detectors overhead began to beep.

A moment later, the alarm erupted, sharp and shrill, its piercing sound loud enough to tear through the air. One alarm after another joined in until the entire floor seemed to shake.

"Hide! Hurry!" Shane shouted under his breath.

Everyone grabbed their phones and tripods and rushed out of the apartment, squeezing into the emergency stairwell.

The metal handrail was ice-cold. The alarm was even louder in there.

Shane grabbed my wrist again, squeezing so hard it felt like he was trying to crush my bones. He dragged me all the way to the farthest corner of the stairwell and shoved me against the wall.

"Crouch here. Don't make a sound. And stay out of the way."

I did not fight him. I crouched against the wall and pulled out my phone.

The entire building was in chaos.

"What's happening? Fire! Run!"

"Mom! Mom!"

A child's terrified screams cut through the alarm like a needle.

Heavy footsteps pounded down the stairs.

Someone was carrying a child. Someone else, still in slippers, stumbled and fell on the steps.

"Call 911!"

People were crying.

An elderly voice drifted up from somewhere below, nearly swallowed by the chaos. However, I knew exactly who it was.

I closed my eyes and silently repeated Melanie's apartment number in my head, clinging to the thought that she would be okay because I had warned her ahead of time.

Yvette crouched in the shadows of the stairwell, holding up her phone. She kept her voice extremely low, and excitement made her breathy.

"Can everyone see this? The fire alarm really went off! The whole building is running outside! And now we're getting to the good part!"

The comments on her livestream immediately went crazy.

[Eight thousand people are watching! This is definitely going to be the hottest video tonight!]

Shane crouched one floor above us at the stairwell landing and turned around, giving everyone a thumbs-up.

"Get ready. The main event is starting!"

In the distance, fire truck sirens pierced the quiet of the early morning. There was one at first, then another, and then a third, their deep, high-pitched wails intertwining as they raced closer and closer. Red and blue lights swept across the walls of the entire building.

Yvette trembled with excitement.

"They're here! They're here! Three trucks! At least three!"

Within moments, three fire trucks pulled up outside: a ladder truck, a pumper truck, and a rescue truck. Everything was there.

Firefighters in full gear charged through the entrance, the spotlights on their helmets slicing bright white beams through the thick smoke.

The property manager on duty came running outside. The lazy, careless attitude he had had when he had spoken to me a few hours earlier was gone. His face had gone deathly pale.

"Seventh floor! Smoke is pouring out from underneath the door on the seventh floor!"

The firefighters charged upstairs against the flow of people escaping. The commanding officer leading the team gave a hand signal to break the door. A heavy metal breaching tool slammed into the lock. The entire floor seemed to shake.

Wood splintered, and the lock cylinder went flying across the hallway. The deafening crash of the door breaking open made Yvette let out an excited whisper-scream into the camera.

"They're here! They're here!"

The moment the firefighters charged into the smoke, everyone instantly shouted, "Prank successful! Happy graduation!"

However, the scene fell into a deathly silence.