The Beautiful Monster

"No, no!" Melina gasped, coughs breaking from her as the smoke started to fill the room. "Help!"

Melina slammed her fists against the door. She couldn\'t get to the window because the flames had already covered that side of the room.

She had to get out of her room through her door, or she was going to perish. She beat her hands against the door until they ached, refusing to give up on herself. She didn\'t want to die like this.

"Melina? Melina!" a familiar voice shouted outside of her door.

It was Tyler. She could\'ve recognized his voice anywhere. She was still upset with him for what happened earlier, but she had to put her anger aside so that she wouldn\'t die. She needed his help.

"There\'s a fire in here! The door won\'t open!" Melina shouted through the door, hoping that he could help her.

She couldn\'t believe that she was somehow trapped. There was no reason why the door shouldn\'t open.

"Stand back!" Tyler yelled back.

Melina warily glanced behind her at the fire, but she did as he told her, moving away from the door. She kept her distance from the fire as much as she could, but she was forced to step into the billows of smoke filling her room.

Heavy coughs racked her body, her chest and throat burning and aching. She couldn\'t believe how much it hurt.

A loud shout sounded from outside of the room before the door was knocked right off its hinges. Melina peered around the corner at the door, seeing Tyler at the doorway.

She stared at him with wide eyes, surprised that he managed to do that. She was glad for it, though. Now, she could get out.

"Come on!" Tyler said, grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the room as the fire crackled loudly. He brought her out into the hallway as other students crowded around, gasping and pointing at Melina\'s room.

Melina couldn\'t stop coughing. She wheezed heavily, grabbing at her chest and throat. It burned so badly. She leaned into Tyler\'s side, tears streaming from her eyes as they burned from the smoke. Soot covered her face, hands, and arms.

"Let\'s get you outside," Tyler said, putting his arm around her and helping her toward the stairs. When her feet started to drag, he swept his arms under her back and legs, picking her up and carrying her the rest of the way.

He kicked open the door that led outside, carrying her out into the courtyard away from the others so that he could set her down on a bench. He knelt in front of her, checking her over. "Does anything hurt?"

Melina grimaced as she pointed to her throat.

"It burns," she whispered, unable to make her voice come out any stronger. She was surprised that she could even somewhat speak.

Tyler nodded.

"I\'ll go get you some water," he offered, beginning to stand.

Melina shook her head as she looked around warily. Something or someone started that fire in her room. She didn\'t feel safe being left alone right now, but was Tyler the best person to be around right now? He was the first one there to help her, despite his dorm being on a whole other hallway.

"How did you know… that I needed help?" she gasped out, narrowing her eyes at him. After everything that had been happening, she didn\'t trust him. She didn\'t know who she trusted.

"I… I was nearby," Tyler admitted.

Melina scooted away from him, staring at him with wide eyes. She had no explanation for his strange, stalker-like behavior. It made her uneasy, and she wasn\'t sure about his whole savior act. What if he planned all of this?

"You probably did all of this," she said, her body tensing as she prepared to run.

Tyler shook his head, frowning at her.

"I didn\'t start that fire, Melina. Why would I start the fire just to save you from it?" Tyler asked her.

"To gain my trust or something," Melina said, staring at him hard. She wasn\'t going to let him out of her sight. If he made one weird move, she was going to bolt, even if she felt exhausted and lightheaded.

Tyler scoffed and shook his head.

"There are easier ways to gain your trust," he pointed out.

Melina threw her hands up, not even knowing how to react to that. He never directly answered her questions, which made her even more suspicious of him.

He came out of nowhere, seemed to be in the oddest places at the oddest times, and was always right around the corner from her. It was weird.

"Why were you nearby? Did you know something was going to happen?" she asked him before breaking out into a cough.

When he lifted his hand, she shied away from him, narrowing her eyes at him to warn him to not come near her. She was glad that he got her out of her room, but she still didn\'t trust him.

Tyler rubbed at the back of his neck as he glanced around the courtyard before looking at her.

"Look, I heard things have been a little weird around here. Attacks, damaged property, suspicious activity," Tyler told her in a low voice.

"And?" Melina questioned him. That still wasn\'t an explanation or an excuse for his behavior. He was up to something else. For some reason, it involved her. It made her question the genuineness of their first meeting.

Did he actually need help, or was he scoping her out for some suspicious reason? She was leaning toward the second one.

"And I saw someone lingering around your dorm the other day, looking real suspicious," Tyler continued. "I went into your dorm to see if they did anything weird."

Melina screwed up her face at him. She didn\'t understand why he was being so protective over someone he didn\'t even know. Unless he was just making all of this up.. She would believe that more than what he told her.