Chapter 6
1104 Words
Tiara’s POV
I stared in horror as Jeff dismissed me from his house. I didn’t want to go home alone. I couldn’t.
Tears began to flow from my eyes as I walked down the lonely road.
I could swear someone was watching me.
“Tiara!” Sofia called out, and I ran into her arms in tears.
“Did something happen at work?”
I shook my head; Sofia understood that I didn’t want to talk about the incident.
“Let’s go inside,” Sofia comforted
“Thank you,” I muttered, sniffing back tears.
Sofia patted me gently and helped me into the house.
I sniffed back tears and went into the room, allowing sleep take over.
The dreams were getting worse and beginning to look real.
My hands were glowing with a heat that didn’t burn. Flames danced around me, and I saw a vast shadow circling the sky watching me.
I could feel it speak to me.
Awaken.
I jumped off the bed, gasping, my sheets wet from sweat. I was shaking and could still feel the warmth in my palms.
“What is happening to me?” I whispered.
It was becoming real, and it terrified me.
——————————————
I couldn’t tell anyone about it. They wouldn’t believe me anyway.
Jeff already made me look unstable. I was the girl with the problem. How would I explain that I felt fire in my bones?
Later that afternoon, I walked into the library when something strange happened.
The air changed.
It was familiar, and I felt like I had walked into a memory that I didn’t know I had. The sun went down suddenly, and the sky was red.
I cleaned my eyes to be sure that it was not my imagination.
Then I saw him.
Not Nathan. Not Jeff.
A stranger.
Tall. Unmoving.
He stood under the tree and stared at me as I kept him waiting.
Something about the way he looked at me scared me. His face was sharp but cruelly beautiful, like a painting that had gone wrong. He looked at me coldly, like he was calculating.
I took a step back, and he tilted his head.
Then smiled.
“Flame,” he said loud enough for me to hear.
My heart raced, and before I could speak, someone grabbed my waist.
Nathan.
Out of nowhere, he stood by my side and whispered, “Do not look at him. Come with me Now.”
I stuttered, trying to process what was happening. “Who is—
“No questions,” Nathan said, pulling me faster than my feet could move. “You are not ready.”
Nathan didn’t stop until we were inside the greenhouse at the back of the admin block. He slammed the door shut and pressed his palm against it.
I saw his hand glow, or maybe I did.
“What’s going on?” I asked, gasping for air.
“Tiara—
“Who is that guy?!” I yelled, pulling away from him.
Nathan stared at me and sighed.
“You are beginning to wake up.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Nathan couldn’t look me in the eye, and it scared me.
“You are not human, Tiara,” Nathan let out
I froze for a second and burst out laughing
Silence.
Nathan looked more serious than ever.
“You have fire in you. Real fire,” he continued. “It’s dangerous, and someone out there can smell it.”
“I—what?” I whispered. “This is impossible.”
“I know,” Nathan replied and tried to hold me.
I took a step back. “What does it mean?”
Nathan hesitated. “It means people are after you.”
A tear dropped from my eye.
“Am I… dangerous?” I whispered to nobody in particular.
“No,” Nathan replied quickly. Then, quieter, “Not yet.”
“What do you mean by that?!”
I bent down to the ground and held my head.
It had to be a dream; there was no way it could be my reality.
I pinched myself and felt a sharp pain.
My life was turning upside down, and I couldn’t place it.
“What about the man under the tree?”
“I can’t tell you yet, Tiara; you are not ready.”
What did it even mean?
I wanted answers, but Nathan wasn’t going to tell me more than he already had.
Nathan came toward me and held me in his arms.
It felt safe.
“I’m with you, Tiara,” Nathan whispered.
At night, I stood in front of the mirror, replaying the scene from earlier.
Jeff hadn’t tried to contact me or talk to me all day.
It hurt.
The least he could have done was contact me after taking all my money.
I held my brush with one hand when something caught my eye.
My reflection.
It was different.
It didn’t move with me.
I turned slowly, but my reflection stared at me with glowing golden eyes.
And smiled.
The brush fell from my hands, and I screamed.
Sofia ran into the bathroom and looked around.
“What’s going on?”
“Can you see it?” I asked, pointing at my reflection.
Sofia looked at the mirror but couldn’t see what I saw.
“Are you drunk?” Sofia asked
“What?”
I looked at the reflection and noticed it wasn’t there.
“I’m scared,” I said in tears.
“You need to calm down. Do you want to talk about what happened the other night?” Sofia inquired
I explained how I almost got r***d but skipped the part where Jeff took my money and hit me.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. Did you see the person that saved you?”
“I wish I did.”
I sighed.
Sofia smiled at me, and I told her I was okay. I knew she needed to go out, and I wasn’t going to use my presence to disturb her.
I stumbled into the bathroom like a ghost. My heart was beating faster than usual. I wanted to cry, scream, and vanish.
Instead, I showered and sat on the bathroom floor until the water turned cold.
And when I finally lay in bed, hugging my pillow. I felt it again.
Warmth.
Not in my skin. In my chest.
I dreamt of flames again, eyes that glowed and held me while I cried.
- Writer
