The world was nothing but sirens and smoke.
My breath came in shallow bursts as hands dragged me away from the burning wreckage. I didn't know whose they were—friend, stranger, ghost. All I knew was Rafael wasn't beside me anymore.
"Where is he?" I screamed, fighting against the arms that held me. "Where is he?!"
No one answered. The sound of engines swallowed their voices, and I felt the cold sting of night air whip against my face as they shoved me into a car. My ears rang; my fingers were shaking so hard I could barely reach for the door handle.
"Stay down!" someone barked, slamming it shut before the tires screeched against gravel.
The headlights sliced through the darkness, but my mind was stuck back there—in the chaos, the flames, the gunfire. I could still see Rafael falling, the sharp twist of his body, the way his eyes locked with mine just before the explosion bloomed like a second sun behind him.
"No," I whispered. "He can't be gone."
