EMILYI could still hear the fire long after I stopped running.It stayed in my ears like a living thing, crackling wood, collapsing walls, the sharp chaos of people shouting over sirens. My knees hit the ground the moment I saw Ella, and for a few seconds I couldn’t even form words.“Miriam,” I gasped again, shaking her shoulders harder than I meant to. “Ella, where is she? Tell me she’s—”Ella’s lips trembled. Her face was ash-streaked, her lashes wet, but no sound came out. Only broken breaths. Like her voice had been taken from her.“No… no, don’t do this,” I whispered, my grip tightening. “Ella, please—”Then I saw movement behind her.Firefighters.Two of them emerging from the smoke-filled entrance carrying something between them.A body.My heart stopped so violently I thought I might collapse.“No,” I said instantly, stepping forward before anyone could stop me. “No, no, no—”But then the face turned slightly under the soot and blanket.Miriam.Her eyes were closed, her face
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