All Roads Lead to Hell *Matt Murdock* (book three of Damned-3a)

15) Purgatory

She couldn't move a single muscle. She stared at the wave of explosion running up the building, glass shattering, floor by floor, fire exploding through, sending shards into air, panels of concrete collapsing. The fancy skyscraper turned into a fiery monster, swallowing everything.

Everything.

And everyone.

You left him there, whispered a wicked voice in her ear, making her world swim. You left him there to die.

Vera finally snapped from her shock, lunging forward.

A vice squeezed her body immediately, grip as strong as steel. Tears spurted from her eyes as she jerked from it – or she tried. The arms around her only held her closer to the body of whoever had caught her. A dozen of ways of breaking out flickered through her mind, too frantically for her to pick one.

She instinctively kicked the person in their shin with brutal strength she didn't knew she could possess, the vice loosening slightly, enough for her to free one of her arms and elbow the person right in their stupid face. She glimpsed a dark red sleeve even with her eyes still fixed on the metal monster spewing fire and glass.

"Goddammit," a rough voice cursed, trying to get a secure hold on her again, but vainly. She used her other elbow to attack his gut and his arms finally disappeared.

Go. Get there. Right now, the voice ordered right into her ear and she listened. There was nothing else. Only the fire and the person in it. Nothing else existed.

Vera threw herself forward, running towards the building; she managed two steps before a truly unbreakable grasp sent her flying back, colliding with another body. She could feel the energy from the glowing fist even without seeing its light.

She screamed, kicking her captor furiously.

"LET ME GO!" she cried out, trashing her arms and legs around, feeling the rush of adrenaline in her veins, a desperate desire to break free and run.

Run.

Fight.

Save him.

"Vera. Vera, stop," a quiet male voice pleaded, soft and cracked. She knew that voice, but she didn't give a crap right now. She didn't give a fuck if she hurt him when breaking free.

"HE'S STILL IN THERE!" she yelled in response, vainly trying to gain some oxygen between her raging attempts to fight of the Iron Fist's chi.

"I know. I'm so sorry, Vera. There's nothing you can do now. None of us can," his voice replied lowly. The crack in it changed into a break; the glass barely held in the frame now, just a light poke with her finger and it would shatter into million pieces. Just like the building.

'There's nothing you can do now.'

To prove him right, the giant of Midland Circle gave in, collapsing into the ground, leaving only cloud of ash behind.

"NO!" someone screamed in an ear-tearing cry, the sound returning in an echo to its source. Vera realized it was her, it was her own voice and it only made her fight harder, because why they were all just standing here?! Why was she the only one who was making any effort?!

'There's nothing you can do now. None of us can.'

You failed, the voice which had been ordering her around before supplied helpfully, turning her boiling blood into ice. You knew this was about to happen. You could have saved him, but you failed.

"I failed," she breathed, the icy blood still somehow roaring in her ears, muffling the world around. The arms around her body squeezed tighter.