Through Fire And Water

The Story

"Hey, Jen," the girl said carefully, smiling tiredly.

I stared, unable to respond, and caught movement behind her. A boy our age came up behind her, hair like honey and eyes like chocolate. Our eyes met, my knees went weak, he stopped, and he smiled at me. It made my heart skip beats in my chest. I snapped, slamming the door shut and locking it behind me. Galen came running down the stairs at the sudden noise and, seeing my panic-stricken expression, ran to my side. I couldn't speak, so I just pointed to the door as I began to hyperventilate. He looked through the peephole, confused, and looked at me once again, placing his hands on my shoulders.

"It's Jaisa. What's the matter with you?"

I shook my head, tears spilling from my eyes, and ran to the stairs. I began to sob, running to my room and locking the door. I dived into the bed, burrowing under my comforter as I did my best to block out the presence below me and control my breathing at the same time. Memories rushed into my mind's eye, making it that much more difficult to get ahold of myself. I quickly sat up, going to my desk and grabbing paper and a pencil. I scratched a note for Galen and rushed to the door, stuffing it through the space between it and the floor. I ran back to my bed, the pencil broken in half, still on my desktop, and forgotten. I heard footsteps growing closer to my door and held my breath, listening closely. Whoever was on the other side tried the knob, found it locked, and picked up my note. I knew it was terribly written, but it was clear to see what the message was:

Get them out.

I released my held breath as the footsteps receded and went back underneath my comforter, trying to calm my racing emotions. My mind, still forcing me to see what I couldn't bear to remember, and my heart, beating so hard and so fast I thought I would soon fall into cardiac arrest, couldn't take the pressure I was putting them both under. I forced myself to calm down, which took half an hour thanks to the few minutes of voices downstairs that gradually raised to yelling. When the voices ceased entirely, I ran to the door, unlocked it, and ran back to my bed.

Galen came to my side very soon after the door was opened, sitting next to me on my bed and rubbing my side.

"They left a few minutes after you ran out," he said quietly, convincing me to poke my head out of the quilt. "They didn't want to. They were pretty pi- I mean mad that you didn't want them here, but they didn't put up much of a fight. They wanted me to pass a message to you, but they wouldn't tell me what was going on so I refused."

"That's because they have no right to be here and they know it," I said harshly, wiping my face and glasses as I sat up. "I don't care about what they have to say. The world could be ending as we know it and I still wouldn't care. They don't deserve my time."

He watched my every movement, face and eyes blank. He didn't say anything, but I knew what he wanted to ask.

"I guess I should tell you," I said bitterly. "I haven't told many people, not even my grandmother, who paid for me to come to college early. Or Benji, who I most definitely should have told. I haven't spoken to either of them since it happened, though. As much as I want them to be hated by more than just me, I think I'll let them spill the beans themselves."

I couldn't hide the venom in my voice as I laid back down, letting Galen curl in next to me. I took a deep breath, and I began the Story.

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It started when I got back from my time with Starkiller. The day reset as if nothing had happened in the first place, but this time there was no evil hooded man to kidnap me in the middle of my class. As the days went on and Brian and I had grown closer, I had begun to break out of my shell. I still only had one good friend besides Mary, or Jaisa - Anya, who had finished school at the same time as me and come to college with me - and we were still quite close since she had been with me through the whole ordeal. Besides Mary, Brian and I, she was the only one who knew about what happened, which is why she left with me. Even though she was my only good friend at the time, I found myself more brave and outspoken than ever before, and eventually found the courage to start talking again. Everyone loved my accent, calling it cute or hot, sometimes even both. Being originally from Texas, I didn't really mind much. I grew to start liking myself and started gaining some confidence.

When I turned fifteen, Brian came to my grandmother's house to visit for a while. The night we celebrated my  birthday he confessed that he was completely in love with me, and I honestly felt the same way. It turns out we had always felt this way, though neither of us really had the courage to tell the other. He kissed me - as in really kissed me - and I was the happiest I had been in a very long time.

We dated for nearly a year, and we were happy. At least, I had thought that we were. One day Anya showed me a picture a "concerned third party" had sent her of Brian and I kissing at a little pre-highschool party we had gone to. The issue with the picture was that I didn't remember curling my hair that night. I didn't think much of it and Anya didn't either because we both expected that that girl was me.

I soon found out wrong, however, when I walked in on Brian and my own sister kissing very passionately. They jumped apart when they heard me walk in, but it was too late. I ran out, and I ran hard.

Brian found me in the park much later, just before night fell. I demanded to know how long it had been happening. Not why or how it even began, just how long. He was sad and angry at himself as he admitted that it had been happening for over two months.

I didn't speak to either of them. I told my grandmother that I was testing out of school and heading to college early to get a head start on my adult life. She was hesitant to let me go, but when Anya told her she would come along, she relented. I left just two days after my sixteenth birthday.

My eighteenth birthday was now close and I still didn't regret my actions. With its arrival, however, I could feel deep within myself that not only would something very, very bad happen, but that my nightmares were soon going to come true.

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My nightmares started three months before Galen's arrival, and got progressively worse with each day that passed. The night I had told Galen what happened between who used to be my best friends and I was no exception, and my nightmares had progressed so far that I woke up nearly screaming. Galen slept peacefully next to me, snoring, and all I had the courage to do at that point was to curl up against him, hoping he could pass me some bravery as he slept.

My nightmare only worsened.