His Darkest Obsession

SIX{Fire on fire}

FRIDA

He pulled me away from my friends with speed and force, giving little or no time for me to speak. However, when he led me out of the hallway, into an abandoned corridor, and pinned me against the wall, he was panting heavily. The small activity had taken a lot out of him too.

I glared at him with stern eyes. Once upon a time, Jacob Harts and I were friends. However, the second he refused to speak against the engagement plans our parents had made, everything changed. Now, Jacob Harts was the last guy in Everleigh I wanted to be looking at.

He opened his mouth to speak, but we suddenly heard loud footsteps approaching the alley we stood in. I parted my lips to speak, but Jacob covered them with his right palm, and pressed my head against the wall. My eyes widened, but he ignored me.

Whoever was coming walked past us, and a strange cool breeze followed the person behind. This breeze kissed my face, and disappeared almost immediately, but not without leaving the strong scent of male cologne, with a mixture of aftershave. It smelt a lot like an older man.

Jacob removed his hand from my mouth and leaned against the wall in front of me.

"Why do you always have to be so stubborn, Adams?" As he spoke, he caressed the creases on his sweaty forehead with his left thumb and index finger.

I managed a snort and frowned at him.

"I have chemistry practicals to prepare for. What do you want, Jacob?"

"So we are not just going to talk about what happened on Friday night?"

And revisit the worst day of my life again? Nope. I do not think so.

The Universe must have heard my prayer, because the bell signifying the starting of classes echoed in the hallway, reaching our ears as well.

I flashed him a bright, though forced smile and winked.

"That's my cue. I've got to go." With that, I spun around, clutched my tote bag firmly and moved away from him.

"Frida!"

I did not turn back.

Immediately I stepped into the hallway, the scent that had hit me before filled my nose. As though the person had just walked past me again. But so far, no one had done so.

Why did this person's scent linger in my nose, when I could barely smell whatever expensive perfume Jacob had on, except when his face was inches away from my mouth?

Anyway, that did not matter. I had chemistry practicals and I had to hurry to the laboratory. The last thing I wanted to do was end up sitting in the backseat, where all the s*x raging teenagers of Everleigh High loved to sit.

The chemistry laboratory was…well, basically like every other chemistry laboratory. White polished walls with colorful paper charts about chemistry on them. Long white tables and wooden stills at every corner, and a sparkling white marble floor.

Immediately I entered, I placed my bag on the table and walked to the lab's closet to pick up a labcoat of my size. Our teacher, Mr Enderson, was too busy with the chemicals in front of him to look up at my face while I greeted him. That, and he didn't like me, at all. Even though I was the best chemistry student in his class. It was normal, the man hated my guts. Every other teacher in Everleigh High did too.

In five minutes, people began to swarm in. Before I knew it, the laboratory was filled to its capacity. Mr Enderson had already placed our bunsen burners and everything else we needed for the practical.

As he walked to the front of the class, he suddenly hesitated and turned around.

"Excuse me, class. Turns out I did not come with a board marker. I'll get one from the principal's office, so make sure you do not make any noise."

I'm very sure he knew he was giving others to the wind, because the students I knew were not going to listen to him. Maybe if I had friends taking chemistry, I wouldn't have. But, it was just me here, so…

Ouch.

Something that felt a lot like the cover of a pen clashed with the skin of the back of my neck. I frowned and turned around immediately.

Tony Fredrick and Havertz Maloney were both seated behind me. Everleigh's biggest, tallest, and according to the words of mouth, most good looking bullies.

My fists rolled into tight balls by my side, and my teeth clenched in my mouth.

Anger caused my blood to run cold.

I hated…I absolutely hated whenever people looked at me like that. When they looked down at me like there was nothing I was capable of, like I was a small bug they could squash.

"Boy, boy, if it isn't Frida f*****g Adams." Tony was the first to speak.

"Frida with the big ass!" Maloney chipped in.

Bile rose up to my stomach, poisoning my gut. I saw their eyes fall to my thighs. Maloney's tongue licked his lower lip gently, before he raised his head to look at me.

"Think you could give me some of that? I could tap it real nice. Have you bent over and shit."

The boys around him broke out into laughter.

I had three words and three words only, for all of them.

Even if I wanted to take the beaker of acid in front of me and pour a generous amount into their eyes, so that they would never be able to look at anything or anyone again, I settled with the option of telling them exactly what I wanted them to do.

"Burn in hell."

They laughed, of course they did. But I turned to face my laboratory manual and buried my eyes into it.

I suddenly started to feel very cold. In a split second, goosebumps crept to the surface of my skin.

I tried to clutch my pen in my right hand, but both my hands began to shake violently.

I knew this feeling, I knew it too well.

It was often before something went wrong.

"Jesus Christ!" I heard a guy scream from behind me.

His screen was accompanied with shouts of commotion that erupted from the lab, and the smell of…smoke?

I turned around, and what I saw caused my jaw to drop to the ground.

Maloney and Tony were…they were…

"Fire!"

"There's a fire! Run!"

All around me, students started to troop out of the laboratory. But, I couldn't move.

I jumped from the stool, but my legs were glued to the floor.

The door was right in front of me, I could run out and leave the both of them to burn, but I could not move.

Tony was on fire, and so was Maloney. Before I knew it, they were not the only things burning.

Everything around them was set ablaze.

Their screams and wails sent fear down my spine. Cold sweat dropped from my forehead, my heart pounded against my chest, so fast that I could barely breathe.

I wanted to run, but I could not bring myself to move.

It was happening again. The one thing that I had never understood, even as a child.

"I…I didn't mean it." I muttered, as tears ran down my eyes.

"Oh, but you did." The sinister voice in my head spoke.

"You wanted them to burn, didn't you? They obeyed your command, I obeyed your command and set them on fire. I would always obey your command."

I shook my head and pressed both hands to my ears. The fire was spreading around the lab, the air around me was filled with smoke.

I could not breathe, I could not move.

Hot tears trickled down my eyes.

"No! No! Someone! Help us, please!" I cried out.

I didn't know what was happening, I was so confused.

"They'll burn, they have to!"

"Go away! Go away!"

A strong force pushed me forward, as if urging me to run, but before I could get to the door, our burning shelf fell to the ground in front of it.

The front of the door was blocked by flames, and I was caught in it.

My eyes widened in horror as I stared at the fiery furnace.

I was going to die here, there was no one to save me this time.

~•~

XANDER

~•~

"Fire! In the lab!"

Ten minutes to the end of my first class, the alarm went off.

Like mad men and women on the loose, my students ran out of the class, and I followed them behind.

The laboratory seemed to be only a few doors away from my class.

I saw the students run helter-skelter, even though their teachers tried to lead them outside the school. I ran towards the smell of smoke, and finally stood in front of the laboratory.

"Call the fire service!"

Fire service?

I stared at the male teacher in disbelief, a deep frown formed on my face.

Did they not have safety measures in place for things like this?

"Did you have safety measures in place for your wife and daughter, Xander?"

I shook my head, as though the voice in it would disappear.

I was going to continue leading students down the hallway.

But that was until two girls ran towards the laboratory, crying out loud.

"Frida! Frida!"

I turned to them and watched as they tried to push past the male teacher who fought to hold them back.

"You have to let us in, our friend is in there!"

"Please!"

"We are waiting for the fire service, they'll…"

"She'll be dead before anything happens! You have to let us save her! You have to let us go!"

I turned away from them and looked at the door of the lab.

Someone was in there, their friend was in there, and they were watching. If she died, they would never be able to forgive themselves.

"Just like you, Xander."

The voices around me became inaudible, all I could hear was the sound of my heart beating in my chest.

And the voice of my daughter, as she screamed and cried for help. I could see her face through the window, I could see her hands reach out to me from the fire.

"Daddy! Daddy help me!"

But I couldn't go, I didn't move.

I could see Emerald leave my side and run as fast as she could. My eyes widened, I started to run in a bid to pursue her.

She was too fast for me. She was going to save our daughter.

She pushed the door of the house open and rushed into the burning building.

In front of my eyes, the house exploded, the force pushing me back and sending me towards the ground.

I lost them that night.

I was not going to let these girls lose their friends.

I had to do what I failed to do five months ago.

In one swift move, I ran into the laboratory, and I didn't look back.