☭ POST WORLD WAR II, the world was a confusing place. Between the United States and Russia, the threat of nuclear war plagued the minds of everyone. The former allies fought with shady, backhanded trade agreements, showing off which nation had...
･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*chapter twenty one — heat; 1588 words ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
HEAT — THAT'S WHAT SHE FELT. Her body burned from the inside out, flames catching on her bones and charring them. Her lungs filled with smoke, and she coughed, typing to expel the soot. But she failed. Oh, she failed so many times. She failed trying to save the world from herself, from Apocalypse, from the Enchantress. It all failed. When time came down to it, Anastasia was no hero. Even now, as she sat up in her bed, catching her breath, Anastasia knew the inevitable was coming. The end of the world was knocking on her door, and she could not ignore it anymore.
Anastasia flicked the television on, turning the channel with old Tom Baker's Doctor Who reruns. She sat up against her headboard, watching the images pass by on the screen. Her face felt cold, but she placed her hands on her cheeks, feeling intense heat. She sighed deeply, stumbling out of bed and into the bathroom. Immediately, she turned on the shower water to ice cold and peeled off her clothes.
The water felt amazing on her skin. She stood directly under the flow, letting the stream run all over her body. Tilting her head back, the water splashed over her face. A heavy sigh left her lips. Her body was finally cooling down.
After she was done with her cool down, Anastasia dressed herself in a pair of soft pants and a multi-colored sweater. Boy, did she love those pants. They were far more comfortable than her multiple pairs of jeans, but easily passable for formal attire when paired with a nice blouse. But it was Saturday morning, and there wasn't a need for her to look nice today.
She quickly tidied up her room, cleaning the floor of all scattered clothing items and small pieces of trash. She organized the plants by her window, letting the dwindling ones get more sunlight.
Sunlight peaked through her white curtains. Morning had officially arrived, and Anastasia heard more and more footsteps outside of her door as kids woke up. However, Anastasia wouldn't leave her room until that one special kid woke up. Just as the thought entered her mind, her door swung open.
"Sweet baby Jesus," Ariadne sighed, jumping onto Anastasia's bed. "If David wakes me up early one more time, I'm going to snap him like a twig."
Anastasia laughed softly and joined her daughter on the bed. "He probably just has a crush on you."
Ariadne looked at Anastasia with disgust. "Yeah, sure."
Her eyes traveled to the television, lighting up when she caught the program. "I love Sarah Jane. I cried so much when the Doctor left her."
"I remember," Anastasia said with sigh. "You cried for three days."
Ariadne bit down on her bottom lip, recalling those three days where Anastasia would come in with water and food to keep her healthy, Charles would roll in and play some of Sarah Jane's best stories, and Jean would sit on the bed and talk to her. Obviously, she was overreacting, but it was still endearing to know that people cared for her enough to let her work through those emotions.
