Rejected At First Sight

Chapter Six

I was in a hallway. This hallway, however, was completely made of wood. It stretched on, never ending in both ways. I turned around again and saw a yellow light down the hall.

"Hello?" I called out. I started to take a few steps toward the light. The only response I got was my echo and the light turned brighter.

All of a sudden, I knew what the light was. The fire rushed forward at an incredible speed. I turned around and ran with all I had. Adrenaline pumped through my body as I ran from the fire. My breath started to come out in pants and I found myself involuntarily running slower.

The fire nipped at my heels. It's heat consumed me and suddenly I found myself surrounded by fire. I came to an abrupt stop and turned in a circle. The fire surrounded me and it caught onto my clothes. It burned straight through my clothes and started to burn my skin.

My eyes shot open. The fire was a dream, but the burning is not. My arms went straight to my stomach and started cradling it. I drew my knees up to my stomach and found myself once again in the fatal position.

It started again. "Please, please stop." I whimpered to the dark room. The fire increased, more so then even last night. Tears started forming in my eyes and soon enough were streaming down my face.

The fire ripped through me, burning everything in its path. My breath started coming out in short pants and gasps as it raged inside me. It seemed to be worse tonight than it was last night though I have no idea how. The thought barely crossed my mind when the most tortuous round started. The temperature increased, the pain increased, the intensity increased.

I finally couldn't hold it in. A soft scream fell from my lips. Then another, then another. I was gasping, small screams emitting from me as I tried to keep the volume of the screams from increasing.

My soft screams eventually turned into soft sobs as the fire decreased. It finally stopped, but I couldn't control the sobs leaving my mouth. I stayed curled up in the fatal position and cried.

Why the hell was this happening to me? Where the hell is it coming from?

Questions swirled in my brain as I started to calm down. My eyes stopped producing tears and I was no longer sobbing. I cautiously moved my hand to wipe my wet cheeks.

I laid there, like last night, for what seemed like hours. I couldn't fall back asleep, I was terrified that it would happen again.

The music from my alarm started playing awhile later. I stayed up half the night expecting the fire to return. I quickly pushed the snooze button, but stayed where I was.

Ten minutes later, my music started playing again. This time, I pressed the off button and got up. I tip-toed to the hallway and heard my parents up and moving. I ran across the hall to the bathroom and quickly shut the door. I looked into the mirror.

I slowly took off my tank top and pajama booty shorts. I looked at my naked body in the mirror. My eyes watered as I took in my appearance.

I looked like a vanilla Oreo with chocolate creme in the middle. Up until the middle of my stomach was my normal pale skin. Half of my thighs until my feet were also my normal pale skin. The skin from my stomach to my thighs was a deep purplish black color. The bruises became worse.

"Sweetie, you okay?" Dad knocked on the bathroom door.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I yelled back.

"Okay, but you've been in there for ten minutes. We need to leave in about twenty minutes." I watched his foot shadow from the crack between the floor and the door, leave. I waited until I heard him walk down the stairs, then I ran back to my room, holding my pajamas.