As she drew closer to the end of the hall, and her room, the heat became intense. As she walked through the threshold of the bedroom, the core of the fire was raging all around her. She thought for a minute that the heat was going to scald her face. She shielded her eyes to the glaring flames, searching the room for Meagan.

"You stupid whore," a thin voice screeched at her. Cairo swung around to see Meagan in front of her. She was blocking her way out, the only exit of the room.

"Meagan, we have to get out of here," Cairo said, trying to back her out into the hall. Meagan stood her ground, and when Cairo was too close to her, she grabbed a bottle of iced-tea that had been on Cairo's nightstand and shattered one end on the edge of the desk. She thrust the jagged edge towards Cairo, threateningly.

"You just had to come back. You had to try to show him that I didn't love him. Everything I did, I did it for love!" she screamed, swiping the bottle near Cairo. She jumped back, closer to the flames.

"We can talk about this later, Meagan. Right now, this building is going to blow up. We need to get the hell out of here," Cairo tried to reason with her, but one glance into her eyes, and she knew that she was too far into her insanity to really listen.

"Why? Why was it always you? He could never see me, it was only you! Katherine, why?" Meagan screamed, throwing the piece of glass down, and collapsing onto the ground, sobbing. Cairo was terrified. Meagan was hysterical, and in the moments since she had entered the room, the fire seemed to have engulfed the hallway.

"Meagan, we have to get out of here. Please come with me," Cairo begged. Meagan looked up at her and nodded weakly. Relief flooded through her, until she realised they had no way out. Unless…

"Come with me, to the balcony," she ordered.

* * * *

Nick led Maggie out of the building, into the fresh air, which struck their lungs with both relief and pain. Gasping for more of the fresh air, they both collapsed on the grass, sucking in the cool air gratefully. Lacey and Brian came running, and struggled to pull them further away from the house.

"Where's Kay?" Brian asked.

"She went to find Meagan," Nick gasped, coughing.

"Oh my god!" Lacey gasped, looking at the house. She could see flames licking the top of the roof, and her best friend was inside.

"I'm going back in there," Nick said, trying to stand up.
Brian held him back, and Nick tried to push him away, desperate to have her safe in his arms. He had almost broken free when suddenly, flames seemed to fill the house, and it was suddenly no more.

The fire had reached the gas line. The house had blown up.

As the falling debris and the loud, echoing noise filled their senses, Brian had managed to hold onto Nick. He was screaming Cairo's name, trying to run to her, trying to save her. As they watched helplessly, the remains of the once elegant manor house scattered in the air, and the greedy fire began to consume whatever hadn't been destroyed by the explosion. Finally, Nick could no longer fight, and he fell to the ground, silent now. Watching and waiting for her to exit the house she hated so much, the exit that would never come.