Aster wrapped his arm around me and didn't let go. His arm was stiff around my shoulders, but I didn't mind. His body was warm, and the vibration I felt when we walked soothed me. Anytime I drifted slightly to the side, Aster would tug me closer to him, too scared to let me go.

I wasn't worried, though. The ringing had stopped, and ever since then, I had yet to melt down. I couldn't help but ask: why was I the only one that heard it for so long? Aster said that he heard it, too, but that it stopped after the first fifteen minutes. I had heard it an extra ten minutes after.

Maybe it wasn't the ringing I had heard. Perhaps it was all in my head. It was possible that I had just imagined it still being there.

But that would mean that I had officially gone insane, and I didn't want to think about that.

Aster's arm lifted off of my shoulders. With a shriek, he slid off of his feet and onto his back. I stopped in my tracks. He groaned next to me, sliding his hands on the floor. Every time he tried to lift himself up, his palms slid back down. Ed bent his knees and grabbed Aster's wrist in an attempt to pull him up. Before he could, though, Ed slipped right next to Aster, cursing as he fell. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Ow." Ed groaned. Cautiously, I took a step forward. I could feel a liquid squishing under my soles. It was like sliding on a wooden floor in socks. I had to catch myself several times, but I managed to shuffle over and help Ed and Aster up. Ed nearly fell again, which made Tilly laugh. He cracked a smile before letting it fall back into a firm line.

We continued walking, tripping, and stumbling a few times. Tilly fell once, giggling as she tried to get up. After a while, we all ended up rolling in the liquid, not really caring about what it was going to do later.

At least, we didn't regret it for a little bit.

It didn't take long to come face to face with two tubelike objects, which were staring right at the path. There was an opening that I could probably slither into if I wanted to take the chances, but listing the many things that could kill me, I wouldn't dare. I froze, my heart in my throat.

"Can't we go around them?" Tilly whispered. I nodded. It seemed simple enough. I slid ahead, shooting a smile at Tilly. She shied away and looked at the floor.

I stepped off of the path and slid behind a few trees. I kept close enough to the path that I could go around one of the white tubes. Right when my foot stepped behind it, the object spun around. A red dot blinked at me.

Uh oh.

A liquid shot right in my face, soaking my body. I cried out as it scorched my skin. I placed my hands over my face. My palms felt like they were getting skinned, but I refused to put them down. My shoulders were on fire. I arched my back, my stomach taking most of the blow. I tried to sidestep out of the way, but the tube just followed me.

More screams echoed mine. My friends were going through the same thing as me.

My throat grew too dry to scream. I was too dehydrated to cry. I silently accepted the pain that overwhelmed me. If my skin got burned any longer, I would surely have a full body of burns.

The storm of liquid died down, turning into drops. The red dot returned, blinking at me. The machine spun around and went to sleep.

Even when it was over, my body was on fire...literally. When I looked down at my body, I saw that my suit had caught on fire. Everyone else had noticed this, too. Aster tried to take out Tilly's fire. Ed was rolling in the dirt. As stupid as it looked, it appeared to be working. I fell and did the same thing. I couldn't have my suit burn to ashes. I didn't want to continue the course naked.

The fire went out, but I refused to stand up. My skin was bright red, blistered, and scabbing. My hands shook as I lifted them up to inspect them. My palms had taken a severe blow. The skin was torn and was already turning pink. I felt the blisters underneath my fingertips. I placed my hands back on my stomach.

The first layer of my suit had burned entirely. Now it showed a thin metallic layer, which was rusted and made moving around more difficult. At least I wasn't running around in my bra and boots.

"I know that we're all in pain," Aster said after a minute. He was breathing heavily, "but we can't stay here. It might go off again, we're not sure. Let's just walk a little further, and then we can take a break for a bit. Okay?"

No one answered. This obstacle had definitely gotten all of us. It was worse than any of the burns yet—even the house, acidic water, none of it compared to being caught on fire.

I stood up in response. A heat wave rushed through my body, causing me to nearly collapse again. I caught myself before I could. Walking was beyond the pain that I had mentally prepared for when I was standing up. I had to walk it off, though. This time I didn't have Aster to wrap his arms around me. He was in pain, too. We were all going through this.

We all swallowed our complaints as we continued on. Soon enough, the dreadful tubes were gone from our sight, and all we had to look at was the path and the trees. I wasn't complaining. I knew that those were at least kind enough to not burn me every time I had finally loosened up.

Walking had turned my legs numb, so I felt nothing as we kept going. We didn't stop until we saw our next obstacle.

And guess what it was? You probably guessed it.

Another freaking wall.

Happy Tuesday! Today was my second day of school, and I'm glad that I could get this chapter up. :) We're so far into the story it's crazy!

On Thursday, August 24th will be the official year anniversary of this book. How crazy is that?! I was hoping to do something special for that. Do you guys have any suggestions? Do you want me to write another chapter? Do a fun Q&A or something? Tell me your ideas in the comments below!

Don't forget to comment, vote, and share this story with your friends. We are so close to 6,000 reads, which is incredible. You guys rock! Don't forget to like this story with a school book (for everyone in school, I hope that it isn't too crazy). Stay amazing everyone!

This is Burn by Ellie Goulding. I hope you enjoy it.