PINK

4

'Dreams may not be explicit,

But I know the interpretations are.'

She watches with dread, eyes half-open, she witnesses the flames surpass her and the entity. Iara feels relief and astonishment. Did this being protect her?

"Thank you." She mutters as her surroundings are wilting and dying.

"It's right in front of you." It speaks, this time, the mouth is covered in red, blue and green pixels.

"What? Tell me." She pleads. The image of her parents fly into her hands. It has a flame dancing on the corner of the photo. She looks at the figure.

"I'm sorry." Its eyes become white hollow lights which juxtapose with its grey body. The pixels appear again on the eyes, blinding it. She furrows her eyebrows in confusion and watches as the tiny flame slowly burns through the image of her dad; his face crumbles and becomes ash that falls to the burning ground.

She looks at the being for support but it has turned into smoke and now joins the cloud of grey mist billowing at the ceiling.

Her lungs constrict and she feels the burning intensify on her exposed skin. The flesh on her hands transition from red to black and her white bone creeps into her vision. All she hears is her deafening screams of agony that escape from her burning body.

Suddenly, she becomes cool. She opens her eyes and sees the bedroom. Taking deep breaths in and out she holds her hands in front of her and see that they are fine.

"Oh gosh." She mutters to herself. The visions are getting more vivid by the day and they are taking a toll on Iara. She swallows and notices how dry her throat is. The congested ambience of downstairs deters her from fetching the much needed glass of water. Instead, she lifts herself up and hobbles over to the ensuite. The dress is so tight around her thighs, it prevents her from walking properly.

As she reaches the mirror her phone vibrates in the trench coat pocket. She takes it out and sees it is a suggested job application. Iara since dropping out of school a year before she would finish the entirety of it, had been job hunting to progress her into her adult life. She opens the email.

"Housekeeper wanted." She says out loud. "Free residence at the house, yearly vacation included in salary."

If she took this job she would be getting free dinners and shelter. Iara likes this job opportunity. The only thing stopping her is Braden. She would be moving quite far from where she usually is and that means losing him.

The two options weigh her down. She was sick of this place. Nothing was left for her here, only him. But is he really worth it? She decides not to think about it now, Braden should have a say in this. She puts her phone away.

The grey figure appears in the mirror's reflection. Iara stays still, frozen with fear. This was not one of her visions, why is this apparition bleeding through to her reality? It does not move, just stands next to Iara's reflection.

She slowly turns her head to peek behind her, but it's not there. She snaps her head back to the mirror and the grey ghost is crying. Her heart hurts for it.

"What's wrong?" She asks a tone of empathy. As she asks the question she leans in closer to the mirror, hand gently touching its surface.

"Help me." It cries, wailing, as another figure stands over the one Iara is familiar with. The new being starts to strangle the other and the screams of pain become louder and louder.

"Stop!" Iara screeches her hands tense and are wrung out in front of her.

The figures disperse and she collapses onto the hard tiles. The cold temperature of the tiles hits Iara's exposed legs and combat with the heat she is producing.

The door opens and Braden comes in; his blonde hair disheveled and flat with sweat.

"What happened?" He asks, examining her position on the cold, hard tiles.

"Do you want me to leave Braden?" She asks.

Braden is taken aback with the foreign bluntness in Iara's tone.

"Leave, why? Where?"

"I got offered a job somewhere away from here. I'm not sure if you want me to leave or stay."

"I-I'm not in the best condition to tell you Iara." He laughs nervously whilst rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why? Are you drunk or high, or both?"

His eyes dart around the room. Iara hates him for doing this to himself.

"Why do you hurt yourself?" She asks him. "You know I hate it, I always have to pick up your broken pieces and I never get anything substantial in return."

He stays silent.

Her body shakes with uncontrollable sobs; wet tears burning across her face.

"I'm sorry." He says sheepishly.

"Do you-you want me or not?!" She half screams.

"Yes, yes, of course I do." He kneels next to her.

"I want to go Braden. I want to go. You don't treat me well."

His eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"What the fuck is this then?"

Iara is shocked with his sudden change in personality. She goes to get up but he pulls her back down. She hits the tiles with a thud and this sends a painful feeling through her.

"Let go Braden!" She pulls her arm away from him but his grip tightens as his knuckles turn white. "Braden stop please." She starts to feel scared. Her strength diminishes as his multiplies. She tries to kick him but for some reason her power is gone, her body immobilised.

A lump forms in her throat as she tries to hold her strong demeanour. "Stay with me please. I love you." But his words were empty. They were letters joint together to form words but not meaning. "I'll show you please. Let me show you." He begs.

"I don't love you, let me go!" But he grabs her other hand and wraps them around his body.

"Fuck you Braden get off!" She shakes her arms with all the power she has left. Her arms are let loose but he brings his hand up to her cheek as hits her with all his rage.