Project: Neverbound (A Double Life AU fanfic)

19 - Canary in the Coal Mine

Jimmy could feel the fragility of the floorboards beneath him as he dashed in, but he wasn't even remotely focused on that. He looked around frantically for Norman, a part of him not wanting to leave until he found his cat. Of course, the other part of him wanted him to get the fuck out right now, but he wasn't listening to that at all as he went up the stairs to his and Tango's shared bedroom. The door had burned in half, leaving Jimmy to make a quick leap over it to get inside.

"NORMAN!" The blonde called, the smoke starting to get to him as he coughed. He heard a loud meow from behind the bed, looking closer to find his beloved cat curled in a ball. He hastily picked his companion up, quickly finding that his front paw had a burn mark running from the side of his toe up to a little bit into his underbelly. He hoped it only burned the surface fur and not any of his skin, but at the very least he was relieved to see Norman alive.

He covered Norman's nose and jumped back over the door once again, this time having to pat out a small flame that caught his pant leg just barely. As he ran back downstairs, a loud crash could be heard from the front. To his horror, the front entryway collapsed in on itself, leaving Jimmy and Norman stuck in their own burning house as the blonde was starting to feel weak at the lack of oxygen. He looked behind him, but the backdoor was burned over too. Norman meowed, pointing his head to the staircase, which Jimmy took instantly as a sign and ran back up. Norman meowed again, now looking at the end of the hallway that led to their balcony.

As awful as it was, it was a way out. Holding his cat close to his chest, he bolted to the other side, not wanting his faltering strength to keep him from escaping. As soon as he came through the other side, he went to take a deep breath of fresh air when nothing but more smoke went down his lungs. He coughed up a storm, feeling stupid as he realized he was still too close to the house to be out of the grey cloud.

He felt himself suddenly drop a solid few inches, having to regain his balance on his knees. He looked back to see a massive split between the balcony and the house, and he didn't have much more time to react before it collapsed completely, sending him and Norman plunging down without so much as a chance to jump down safely.

All he could do was twist himself in the air so his back would hit the gravel path leading to what used to be the front porch. At least then Norman wouldn't take the brunt of the fall.

A sharp pain flew through his entire back, Jimmy hearing a sickening crack before his head whipped down with it, knocking him nearly unconscious. He felt someone drag him away from the house as he faded in and out of the darkness, still keeping his cat tightly hugged to his chest despite feeling like he was going to die soon.

The blaring of sirens in the distance felt muted to the ringing in his ears, at least when he could hear. He could only internally panic when he felt someone gently take Norman from his arms, but it didn't last long when an oxygen mask was placed over his mouth and he finally blacked out for good.

It felt... weird. They never tell you what happens after you black out, like it's just a time skip and a headache later, but apparently that's not for everyone. Jimmy felt like he was in a weird sort of purgatory, not really dead but not really alive either. He couldn't feel himself breathe, which was odd, obviously, but surprisingly not painful, like he didn't have to breathe to live at the moment. In fact, all of his body, beating heart, twitching hands, whatever else should've been felt and moving, were non-existent now.

But he couldn't have been dead, could he? He could still think a little bit, still feel himself exist. Wasn't all of that supposed to be gone when you died? Oh, what kind of question was that? No one knew what death was like except for the dead, and it wasn't like you could just walk up and ask them. Maybe this was the afterlife. Unmoving yet everywhere, emotionless yet full of nothing but.