Burning Secrets

Chapter 9: New Pain

April 17, 2011
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Hayley's POV:

Eric quickly leaves after only taking a small sip of his coffee before quickly rambling that he had good news, then rushing back to his room. I just give Zack a knowing look as I smile and he lightly laughs as we already knew what the news would be about.

Sure enough Eric ends up pulling a man out of his room. He smiles slightly at us as the two of them hold hands. He had dark curly hair and a shy smile.

"Zack and... Hayley. This is my boyfriend, Mattheo," he shyly waved at us both, "Theo this is my cousin, Zack and his girlfriend Hayley." He introduced nonchalantly.

I choked on my coffee and Zack's face turned bright red. Mattheo just stared at our expressions as we shook our heads no and tried to deny Eric's joke. Meanwhile Eric had the most devilish grin on his face.

"Fuck off man." Zack said after we sorted out that I was just a house guest to Mattheo.

I rolled my eyes at Eric before eating a small bowl of cereal as breakfast. Eric and Mattheo left to "hang with the gang." as Eric put it. Zack said he had to run an errand really quick before dashing out the door.

I sat in silence for a moment unsure of what to do exactly. I decided to take a shower and get cleaned up for the day.

I grabbed my stuff and went into the small bathroom. I turned the hot water on and pulled off my clothes as it warmed up. Feeling that the water was steaming just how I liked it, I jumped in.

Scrubbing shampoo and conditioner into my hair before rinsing it out with the scorching water. The shower head pelted the water into my skin but it didn't feel so hot to me. My skin turned red from the temperature but it only made my body feel numb.

I stood there under the scorching water, taking deep breaths while droplets fell down my face. My hands ran through my hair, rinsing the last of the conditioner out before the feeling hit me.

Almost like an electric shock was running through me. My chest ached and my body felt... I don't know. My skin itched and my insides felt like they were boiling, but I also felt numb at the same time. But it burned. I felt ready to die.

I immediately turned off the hot water and turned the cold knob. Frustrated by the fact that I had to then pull the tiny knob on the tub's facet spout just so that the water would shower over me and not fill the tub. The freezing water splashed into me as I wrapped my arms around myself, pulling myself into a ball.

The icy water didn't help with the burning inside of me so I quickly turned it off and sat there in too much pain to get out of the tub. I finally gripped into the sides of the slippery, wet walls before hefting myself over the edge, not thinking about the pain of falling out of the bathtub onto the hard tiled floor. The burning left as I fell out for only a second, letting me feel bruised by the fall before coming right back.

Jee thanks.

I wished I could fall out of the bathtub a trillion times if only the burning would stop.

I could barely manage to crawl around in the cramped spot, pulling on my clothes and my towel that I had set on the sink's counter. My hair dripped onto the clothes but at this point I didn't even care.

I forced myself to sit up, leaning against the cold wall for support. My breath was knocked out of me and I tried to keep inhaling air but I ended up choking, making it worse. My throat burned but not the same scorching burn that I felt all over.

I pulled my clothes on as fast as I could, as little as I could but still enough to cover my scars. I didn't put on my jacket only because I already had on a long sleeved shirt, despite the weather being pretty nice out.

Once dressed I pushed myself out of the bathroom, leaning on the walls, or anything really, for support. My clothes stuck to my still wet skin and the burning intensified. I felt numb from all the pain yet I could feel. Every. Single. Burn.

I stumbled into the kitchen which held the house phone. Zack had written his and Eric's number on a sticky note which he left by the phone incase I needed it for emergencies. I made my way over to the counter and quickly dialed Zack's number, accidentally hitting wrong keys and having to restart.

A sharp pain in my stomach made me double over, clutching around me with one hand while still trying to call Zack. I curled my hands into fists as unbearable pain hit me. My nails dug into my palm and I clenched my eyes shut.

A small whimper escaped as a wave of electric shock ran through me. My body tensed, trying to brace for this new pain that I was not used to. I felt so overwhelmed with the burning that I couldn't hear the voice in my head trying to get me to calm down.

Успокоиться.
Успокоиться.
Успокоиться.
Успокоиться.
УСПОКОИТЬСЯ! (calm down)

But I couldn't. I couldn't even breathe. My whole body felt like it was burning from lava and my head pounded with so many whispers. It seemed as though my thoughts had turned into a gigantic tornado and was storming inside my head.

My hands were trembling as I tried to call Zack again, but I quickly gave up. Instead I curled into a ball and died. Well it felt like death. But it was worse because I could still feel everything. I'd rather have actually died than last another second in this agonizing inferno of pain.

All I could focus on was the pain and nothing else. As I layed on the floor, curled in it as the burning grew even more intense with every second.

I tried to think of something else while the voice in my head was saying something, I blocked it out along with the pain as much as I could as I started to force myself into happy memories.

Meeting Zack for the first time.

Walking down the busy streets as I started my life as Hayley Stonefield.

Celebrating Eric's birthday with Zack and a couple of his friends.

Laughing at jokes as the group of happy friends told old stories of each other.

My favorite one was actually about Eric. My mind takes me back to about a few weeks after Zack offered to help me out, trying to block away as much of the burning as possible.

..........

April 8, 2011
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Zack sat next to me on the couch that I usually sleep on while some of his friends joked with each other. My hand held a cup of water as I silently sip, listening to the stories and watching everyone's happy faces light up as they laugh together. Zack sometimes would say a few of his own but he mostly listened in on the conversation with me.

Eric was sitting on the other couch on the right side so that he was as close to Zack as he could be. He would occasionally add a few snippets himself or try to start a conversation with Zack.

My throat felt sore out of nowhere. I got up and Zack looked at me. I rubbed my neck and motioned at my empty cup before heading for the kitchen. I refilled my cup with cold water before leaning against the counter as I take small sips, still able to hear the conversation in the living room.

As the cold water rushed down my aching throat my fingers shook slightly with a weird tingle of a feeling. I ignored it as I overheard the change in stories from the living room.