Finally, George choked out, "I-love-you."

Ezra removed him fingers grin his throat. George crumpled to the floor. His chest was rising and falling in uneven patterns; he was barely hanging onto consciousness. Ezra had an evil grin plastered on his face and he was glaring directly at me.

Then, he slowly started approaching me. "Did you hear that?" he snickered, "He loves me."

________________________________

George kept slipping in and out of consciousness in Ezra's arms; his eyelids drooping then slowly reopening. His eyes were rimmed with dark circles and the skin on his face clung to his cheeks.

Ezra slowly whipped a knife out of his pocket and he smiled, emily. The blade was sharp; deadly sharp.

He angled the blade at George's arm and drove it into his flesh. Blood instantly spilled from the cut and George cried in pain.

"NO! Stop it!!" I begged but he dragged the knife down his arm, tearing at the flesh.

"Please," George rasped, before slumping limply to the floor, unconsious, his body overwhelmed with exhaustion and pain.

I squeezed my eyes shut and looked in the other direction; I didn't want to watch him in pain. Then, Ezra approached me, he grabbed my chin and turned my face so I could see George lying on the floor. I thrashed my head around because I couldn't bare to watch.

"This is your fault Dream," he spat in my face.

Warm, red blood leaked from George's bleeding arm.

All of a sudden, my wrists came loose from the rope that tied them together, the pain distinguished. I shot Sapnap an anxious look and I then noticed the little shard of glass in his hands. When Ezra's attention was focused on something else, I mouthed, Thank you to Sapnap. He grinned and cut his own restraints.

I burst up from off of the floor and threw myself at Ezra. Kicking him, I knocked him away from George. His knife clattered to the floor. Ezra's eyes were terrified, he took one look at Sapnap and I, and started to scramble away. I lunged forward to chase after him, but I slipped, crashing to the floor.

Sapnap gasped in shock. The floor was covered in gasoline. And Ezra was lighting a match.

Ezra snarled, "If I'm going down you're going down with me Dream."

Sapnap was now holding George on the other side of the room. I put my hands forward in a surrendering manner and slowly said, "Ezra put the matches down."

As he fiddled with the matched he exclaimed, "Why, Dream? So you can save your boyfriend's pathetic ass? So the three of you can escape and live happily ever after? If you won't be with me, you won't be with anyone."

He started dragging the match along the box, sparks were flying into the air, illuminating the dimly- lit room.

"Dreeeaaam! He's losing a lot of blood!" Sapnap urged as he held George's limp body.

If we didn't stop George's bleeding he would die. If I didn't stop Ezra, we'd all die. It was a lose-lose situation. I glanced back at my two best friends, Sapnap kneeling on the floor and George bleeding out at his side.

Finally, the match in Ezra's hand was alight. A flame burned on it. He was grinning as he let it drop from his grip and fall to the floor.

"RUN!" I shrieked and bolted in the other direction. Flames spread across that corner of the room, smoke was billowing from it. Approaching Sapnap, I grasped George's hand and pulled him away from the fire and ushered him to the other side of the room.

At this point, I couldn't see nor hear Ezra, he had disappeared. Bringing my hands to George's face I yelled, "Wake up! WAKE UP! FUCK GEORGE PLEASE!"

His eyes cracked open ever so slightly and he let out a pained whimper. I gasped and held his cheeks, "Are you okay? How badly are you hurt?"

His eyelids were flagging; struggling to keep them open. I slapped him gently and urged him to stay awake. Sapnap found a door and yelled, "GUYS! Over here!"

Just as we were fiddling with the lock, I felt George's hand slip from my grip. I turned behind. Ezra seized George's t-shirt and was dragging him away from me. George squirmed, trying to get Ezra to unhand him. Quickly, they were submerged into the flames.

"GEORGE!" I yelled, my eyes scanning through fire but I couldn't see them.

I tore through the fire. The flames burned my face and the smoke stung my eyes. I couldn't see anything but I continued to aimlessly stumble around in pain. I called out for him again.

George screamed. A shrill, blood-curdling, agonised scream. Then, I heard a thump.

The whole room was on fire now. Flames covered every corner. Sapnap called out my name but I ignored him.

Suddenly, I came across two figures. Ezra was continuously punching George. George was desperately trying to get away and kicking him in the chest. Then, George dropped to the floor after a devastating blow to the chest.

"NO!" I dropped the his side. Blood was dripping from his nose and lip. His breathing was fast and shallow.

The fire had pretty much engulfed the whole room now. I brushed away the hair in George's eyes, my thumb grazing across his cheeks. Admiring the individual features on his face, I pulled him in close to me.

"The door," he whispered. I looked down at him, "We're i-in my basement of my house, the door is over there and we have to get out."

The door was across the other side of the basement. It was no use. We wouldn't be able to get to that door without being burned to a crisp. We were all going to die in here.

"DREAM! GEORGE!" Sapnap yelled because he couldn't find us. I heard him stumble around, blindly.

Eventually, he found us.

George's chest was rising and falling in uneven patterns, and he whimpered with every breath. I was trembling. Pulling him into me, I held him and kissed his head. His eyes were glittering with tears, spilling down his face.

He reached his hand out and caressed my cheeks, trailing his fingers over the burns on my cheeks and forehead.

"You're hurt" he whispered, staring up at me.

"It doesn't hurt that much," I said with a weak smile.

Sapnap said miserably, "We're going to die in here."

No one said anything.

"I don't want to die..." George croaked, barely audible and I held him close to my chest. I didn't want to lose George. I couldn't lose George.

"We're not going to die," I said sternly.

George winced and his eyes were getting heavy and drooping. He coughed from the smoke intoxicating his lungs. I gave Sapnap a worried look and when I turned back to George, his eyes were closed.

"George?"

"George." I said sternly, shaking him gently.

Still nothing.

"George no!" I began sobbing, unable to stop myself, "Please stay awake, you gotta stay awake!"

Then George breathed, "I'm trying Dream."

"I know... I know just a little longer..."

Clenching my teeth together, I helped him to his feet, by wrapping my arm around his waist. I lifted him up and hoisted him onto my back. He let out ragged breaths every so often.

The fire was blinding, I couldn't see anything. Sapnap was trailing along behind me. Suddenly, my legs felt slow and tired, my eyes were getting heavy, my breathing was sluggish.

"Sapnap," I slurred. He glanced at me and worry washed over his face.

"Dream...?" he said, drowsily.

"We... we gotta g-get outta here."

Suddenly the dead weight on my shoulders grew significantly heavier and George slumped limply over my back, now unconscious. His head fell against my shoulder. I slipped my hands under his thighs and lifted him up a little higher, so that he was laying across my back as I held him in a 'piggy back' like style.

"Gotta... get... out..." I whispered, trekking through the flames, the heat scorching my arms.

Finally, I stumbled to what appeared to be a door.

"Sapnap," I called out weakly and he hobbled over, frantically moving his arms around until there was a loud click and it flew open. We immediately hurried out and gasped for air, filling our lungs with oxegyn. Sapnap collapsed onto the floor, clutching his throat, his chest heaving with every breath.

Ambulances, fire engines and police cars were beginning to arrive at the scene.

I fell to my knees and lowered George's body onto the floor. His skin was charred and scarred, his eyes were dark and sunken in and his face, his face was pale and lifeless. Officers burst into the house and paramedics instantly rushed over to us.

They helped Sapnap clamber into an ambulance. I brushed the hair out of Georges eyes and rasped, "Help him!" I tried to yell but it came out as nothing more than a mere whisper, "Help him , you gotta help him, please!"

I couldn't hear anything, everything was silent apart for the ringing in my ears. The world was spinning and I felt like I was going to throw up.

Then a pair of strong arms grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet, ushering me into an ambulance.

My vision was blurred, my eyes were stinging, every limb ached and my brain was so foggy that I couldn't even remember my own name. All I could think about... was George.

"Where's George? I need George, is he okay? Help him! You gotta help George!" The paramedics layed me down on a bright orange stretcher and I was lifted into an ambulance.

"George. George has to live, you have to save George!"

I fought for as long as I possibly could before finally succumbing to the darkness that swallowed my vision.