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to draw breath, she ended up doubled over, hacking out what air was available. She rolled off the couch, onto the floor and into the tiniest pocket of fresh air that still remained. Reaching around with her hand, she somehow had the presence of mind to find the straps of her backpack and pull it to her. Rowen was yelling out something to her, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. She shook her head and tried to focus, to remember her bearings. The couch was less than twenty feet from the front door. Just move forward three or four feet, turn left and head for it.
    She took in a deep breath and stood up. Climbing over the coffee table, she took two more strides and turned. Through the haze of smoke, she could just make out the vague shape of the door and the daylight that lay beyond. She waved her hand back and forth, trying to clear the smoke away as she made her way out, already coughing and wheezing from the effort. Her feet got tangled up in each other and she pitched forward, hitting her forehead roughly against the floor. Seeing stars, she gritted her teeth and pulled herself forward until she felt the door frame underneath her. She struggled for a new grip when a set of hands reached around her, pulled her up and out.
    The fresh air tasted sweet in her mouth, but as she tried to draw in a full breath, she felt the burning in her throat and her midsection began to cramp. She bent down, in the arms of whoever held her and was vaguely aware of heaving up what food was in her stomach. As they made their way down the steps of the porch her vision clarified. Rowen carried her away from the house, James staggering along as well. Behind them she saw the house, now engulfed in raging fire.
    Rowen saw the look on her face and smirked, nodding behind her as he did so. She turned and saw Corrine, looking up at the house as if she was a kid at a drive-in movie theater. She pushed at Rowen to get him to put her down and ran up to her.
    "Did you do this?" she asked. "Did you start that fire?"
    "Who the hell cares?" Corrine asked in response. "It isn't like we were going to be staying here."
    "You started that fire! What the hell is wrong with you?"
    Rowen held her back, trying to separate the two of them. "Stop," he said, "We need to get clear of the area. That smoke is going to attract anyone from miles around, we need to get out of here."
    "Why did you do it?" Sophie asked, already feeling her throat going hoarse from yelling. She wanted to reach out and smack her, anything to wipe that indignant, entitled look off of her face.
    "I don't want that house to stand here for another minute!" Corrine yelled back, getting right up in her face. "You don't understand what that piece of shit did to me, what he was about to do to you. Who knows how many other times it happened here before he got his dirty, fucking hands on us and I am ending it!"
    "Corrine, the guy is dead."
    "I don't care! This place needs to end. I did what I had to do. If you don't like it, that's just tough shit."
    "Corrine," Sophie said, trying to understand what was going on in her head, what she could possibly be thinking. She needed to break through to her. "Corrine. You set fire to that house while we were still in it!"
    She thought that would be the end of it, the emotional straw that would break her. Instead, Corrine's expression managed to get even more stoic and withdrawn. She stared through Sophie, as if she wasn't even there.
    "You got out."
    Sophie pulled her backpack tighter around her and stalked up the driveway to the main road. She had to get away, just so she could clear her head and get out of this head space of wanting to reach down her sister's throat and yank every last bitchy cell out of her body. She wanted to hit her, and keep hitting her until Corrine saw reason. If they were going to stay alive, they needed to support each other, and that was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment. She had to get past this, or they would end up in