[Espy]

And then that panic changed to flame. He was back in the burning house of thirteen years ago, reliving the nightmare he had time and time again, carrying his brother, pushed out into the chilly night wind by his father...

...But something was wrong. The fire followed him out, latching onto his limbs, his skin. Gasping for air, he shoved Gabe ahead of him, trying to speak, but his whole body was burning up, and then everything around him besides the flames was gone. The inferno bore into him, set every molecule of his flesh on fire, and he curled up into the tightest ball he could manage, screaming, desperate to escape from the burning agony. Even death, he could cope with. This was unbearable.

Too abruptly, the fire was swept clean by an empty nothingness.

Dante screamed, still, or rather, tried to, before realizing his mouth was shut and he was choking. Managing to claw his way into some approximation of "sitting", he tried to take a deep breath, failing as a violent shiver shot up his spine. Not yet processing the details of what had happened, he staggered upright and careened into the wall next to him.

Then it clicked into place. He whirled around and grabbed Thomas by the collar.

"WHAT. DID YOU DO TO ME?! Wha--" Coughs tore the remaining wind out of his lungs and he dropped down to all fours, wheezing for breath. But something felt...different. Suddenly aware of the few people staring at him, he waved a hand exasperatedly and immediately regretted it, collapsing sideways.

"...Go on. Go ahead. I'll...catch up when I...recover." He flopped onto his back, content for his back to be in contact with icy cold once again, a coldness that was different from the bone-chilling grip of death.