Home / The Fire Drill That Killed Me / Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

All Chapters of The Fire Drill That Killed Me: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Ten, nine, eight..."Out on the open ground, Ryan Warren was holding a megaphone and counting down."Quinn Warren, get out here right now! Don't hold up the entire drill!"I rushed in front of him, waving my arms frantically as I shouted, "I'm out, Ryan! I'm out!"No matter how hard I yelled, he acted as if he couldn't see me at all.I tried to grab his sleeve, but my fingers passed straight through his camouflage uniform.I stared blankly at my hands. They were a pale bluish color, almost transparent.Only then did it finally dawn on me.I was already dead."Three, two, one..."The moment the countdown ended, Ryan snapped off the megaphone.He let out a humorless laugh, furious, and roared toward the upper floor, "Quinn Warren, you've already gone over six minutes on this evacuation."If this were a real fire, you'd already be dead in there! Do you have any idea the lives you're putting at risk aren't just your own?"Hovering in midair, I could only purse my lips helplessly.I wanted

Chapter 2

The two team members behind him didn't dare say anything else.They knew their captain's temper too well. At a time like this, one more word would only make him angrier.Ryan dumped me hard onto the concrete of the athletic field.Hovering above, I looked down at my own body, my arms and legs sprawled at unnatural angles.When I still didn't move, Ryan crouched beside me and lowered his voice, grinding out the words beside my ear."Quinn Warren, are you really not satisfied until you've humiliated me in front of the entire school?"I didn't answer.I never could again.He glanced up at the staff member filming the drill, then said coldly, "Since you love pretending to be helpless, you can play the unconscious victim in the fire scenario. Let's see how long you can keep this act up."One of the faculty counselors, Lauren Lewis, finally couldn't stand watching anymore.She hurried over and said worriedly, "Captain Warren, why don't we let Quinn rest in the shade for a while? I remember h

Chapter 3

A piercing scream suddenly tore through the crowd.One of my roommates, Sophie Reed, pointed at my feet with a trembling hand."Fire! Quinn's on fire!"Apparently, when Kenzie had lost control of the extinguisher, the blast had sent a few sparks from the fire toward my feet.My plastic sneakers had already softened from the heat. The moment those sparks landed, they caught fire.One of the team members reacted immediately. He snatched the extinguisher from Kenzie's hands and aimed it at my feet.A thick cloud of white powder burst out, smothering the small flames and leaving behind the sharp stench of burnt plastic.Sophie was still shaking."Something's wrong... Something is seriously wrong."Quinn scares easily. She gets one little cut on her hand and calls home crying, so how could her shoes literally catch fire without her making a sound?"Could she... could she have passed out?"The team member who had put out the flames frowned as well. He looked up at Ryan and spoke quietly."Ca

Chapter 4

Even the principal, Daniel Mercer, standing nearby, couldn't help praising my brother, saying he truly lived up to his reputation as a fire safety expert.With Daniel's approval, Ryan stood a little straighter.He still didn't move me away from the wall. Instead, using the smoldering remains of the fire in front of me, he lit another blaze, this one even stronger than before.He called several students forward one by one to practice putting it out.The flames whipped wildly in the wind, and each new burst of heat felt hotter than the last.I was sitting less than three feet from the fire. After being exposed to dense smoke and severe dehydration, my body had already begun to change.The exposed skin had turned an unnatural dark red, and tiny blisters were starting to form.I floated far above, staring down at my own body, and somehow even my soul felt scorched.At last, the drill moved into its final wrap-up.Ryan put away the firefighting equipment and straightened his sweat-soaked un

Chapter 5

The next second, Ryan collapsed onto the ground, his eyes blank and unfocused.Someone nearby started vomiting. Others covered their mouths as they cried.Daniel and Lauren called over the campus doctor. He crouched beside me, pressed two fingers to my neck, then lifted one of my eyelids to check my pupils."She's been dead for about an hour."He stood, delivering the words with a calmness that felt almost cruel."Her airway is severely swollen. She died from an asthma attack. And..."He paused."Her body was exposed to extreme heat for so long that the tissue has suffered extensive heat damage."Only then did Ryan seem to come back to himself.He staggered to his feet and pointed at the doctor, his hand shaking violently."You don't know what you're talking about! You're a terrible doctor! Everything you're saying is bullshit!"My sister was perfectly fine. How could she possibly be dead?"He lunged forward as if to shove the doctor aside, but Lauren and several team members quickly g

Chapter 6

Ryan was still desperately trying to explain himself."It wasn't me. I could never kill my own sister!"His voice was hoarse as he repeated the same words over and over."I was only trying to help her. I just wanted her to fit in, to be a little more normal..."Mom stood beside him. She didn't hit him again. She only spoke in a raw, exhausted voice."What's done is done. Stop trying to argue your way out of it."Your father passed out twice after he heard what happened. He's on his way back now."Please, just hold yourself together. I can't lose another child too. All right?"Ryan froze.His throat worked hard as he swallowed twice. At last, he lowered his head and followed the officers toward the police car, his back hunched.The moment the door shut, I saw him staring out through the window.His eyes were so empty, as if his soul had been hollowed out.The evidence was collected without much difficulty.That night, the police questioned Kenzie first.The interrogation room was washed

Chapter 7

Just as she was denying everything, the interrogation room door opened, and someone from forensics came in with a report.Her fingerprints had been found on the storage room door handle.Not just there. They were also on the edge of the doorframe and on the broken piece of key lodged inside the lock.My heart lurched.She had been the one who locked the door.Kenzie collapsed back into her chair.After several seconds of silence, she suddenly began trembling violently. She clutched her head in both hands and let out a muffled sob."I just wanted to teach her a lesson."I wanted her to know what it feels like when people don't always give in to her. I didn't know she was really having an attack. I swear I didn't know..."She looked up, her face covered in tears."Her brother is so strong. Kicking down a door would've been nothing for him. There's no way he couldn't have done it!"I never wanted her to die. I just wanted her to stay in there for a little while, so she'd understand that n

Chapter 8

The day I was buried, my parents didn't tell anyone.They chose a small, quiet gravesite and planned to say goodbye to me alone.But my roommates and Laura still made the trip down.I had no idea how they'd found out about the funeral. They were all dressed in dark clothes, standing together in front of my headstone with plastic takeout bags hanging from their hands.When I drifted closer, I recognized the logos from the campus cafeteria and the little rotisserie chicken place by the east gate.Sophie opened the containers one by one and arranged them on the stone ledge in front of my grave.Chicken tenders with barbecue sauce, loaded fries, mac and cheese, and a serving of scrambled eggs from my favorite breakfast counter on campus.Another roommate tore the rotisserie chicken into smaller pieces and carefully arranged them in a takeout box.Laura crouched beside the grave, straightened the food, then gently wiped a layer of dust from my headstone with a tissue.Dad remained silent, s

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