Through fire and vengeance 1

Screams filled the air as I stood in complete darkness, my feet moving forward on their own. The shadows pressed in around me, suffocating me, but I couldn’t stop myself from walking deeper in. My chest tightened with an ache I couldn’t name, and yet my legs carried me deeper into the void.

I kept walking and walking til I laid my eyes upon a woman, she was sitting, her figure glowing faintly like a dying ember. She sang softly, her voice chanting and alluring, as if she were weaving a spell. Tears trickled down her face, glistening like silver, pooling at her feet.

I froze, a strange pull tightening in my chest, a pull I didn’t understand. She felt familiar, like I should know her, like she was part of me.

Who are you? I moved my mouth to say but my voice couldn’t come out.

Her song faltered til it stopped. Slowly, she lifted her head. Her eyes were breathtaking, A mix of purple and pink, they looked unreal. Her stare pierced through me, rooting me in place. A sudden chill swept through my body, colder than the darkest winter. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.

She smiled. A bitter smile. Her mouth moved yet no sound would come out. The screams around grew louder. I blinked once, and she was gone, and in her stead lay hundreds of corpses. The surface broke and suddenly I was underwater. It was so dark yet it felt like the darkness was embracing me. I felt cold and empty, yet calm and peaceful as I was shrouded in complete darkness.

"Wake up!"

I jolted awake, gasping for air. My heart pounding wildly in my chest, my body drenched in sweat, and my eyes overflowing with tears?

“Hey, what’s wrong? You feeling alright? Did you have a nightmare?”

I glanced up and saw two pairs of muddy brown eyes staring back. He wore an expression of annoyance and concern. I quickly wiped my tears.

“I…I don’t remember,” I lied.

It was always the same dream. The same woman, the same song, the same scene. The same ending. What did it mean? Who was she? Why won’t she stop haunting my dreams?

“Well if you're awake now. get out of bed” Jacob said ripping the blanket off exposing me to the cruel chilling mourning air “No I want to sleep more” I mumbled reaching out for the blanket only to meet the floor with a thud.

“You're such a lazy log, you've been sleeping for over 9 hours yet you want some more? gosh your 15 years old now why don't you start acting like one” I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’m up now, you happy?” Who does he think he is nagging someone the same age as him especially when he's not all that great either.

The icy water was a slap to my face chasing away the last vestiges of sleep I had as I plunged my head into the bowl of water the orphanage provides us. After fixing up my bed, I headed downstairs following Jacob from behind “You gonna join me and lily for breakfast today Kael?” he asked.

“No I'd rather skip, the moment I enter that room all the kids are gonna stare daggers at me” I said bitterly “Can you just sneak me some food? I promise to do half your cleaning for today if you do” I batted my eyes and wore my best puppy face expression I could conquer up. Jacob gave me a look that screamed your not cute before nodding and walking off.

I lay down on the cold floor of the orphanage's abandoned storage room. I liked it here. There were no judgmental stares, no one to cuss me out, no one to hate me. It's not fair, I never asked to be born with these stupid abilities. Its not fair, I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. Screams filled the air, I felt smoke suffocating my lungs, I was running, I have to hurry, wait why am I running? Why do I have to hurry? I stumble against something hard that makes me tumble to the ground. I scream from the top of my lungs. Lying on the floor was Jacob but he was still, the light from his eyes gone, blood gushing out he's neck painting the grass a bright vibrant scarlet. No no no no no no no no no no no. This can’t be happening this isn't real, it's just an illusion, it's just an illusion it’s just an illusion it’s just an illusion an illusion an illusion. Before I knew it everything went black and the last thing I saw was lily running up to me.

“bwig brother Kael waking up?”

"lily thank goodness it’s you” I pulled her into a tight hug kissing her forehead multiple times as she laugh her eyes pure and green full of innocence. Jacob! Where was he? "wait lily where's Jacob?

“I’m right here, loser. That’s a first, you're actually looking for me” standing with a bowl of water and a cloth was Jacob, brown hair, green eyes, freckles all over his face, and that beauty mark at the corner of his left eye, and most importantly his neck wasn't injured. “Jacob!” I swung myself at him holding him tightly “Thank goodness it’s you Jacob I’m sorry for calling you a jerk in my head”

“Get off me freak what the hell is wrong with you, have you finally gone crazy now? ugh get off me you're heavy as hell!" The smell of fire still lingered in my nostril though but I don't understand what it mean "um Jacob what exactly happened?“

"well you went missing for some time so i figure you were in the storange room so I went to check on you only to find you on the floor crying hysteriaclly while pulling at your hair so I took you back to our dorm but you had a fever so the sisters asked me to take care of you though you were only out for a day"

"I see thank you" I felt my cheeks growing wet as tears trickled down my face "Hey seriously what's wrong with you, your acting weird, though I hate to admit it I'm worried about you so tell me if there's something wrong."

"sniffle... I'm fine really i just had a nightmare thats all" Jacob sighs "Fine if you say so me and I are gonna step out for a bit so get some rest"

They're coming, here coming, run, run, run run, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. The voices in my head grew louder and louder. I hated it, I hate being alone, I hate these stupid delusions and nightmares, I wish they'd just go away already.

...

“Jacob"

“What, you better not say something stupid. You're not sweeping either your just swinging the broom randomly on the floor"

“I say we sneak out and go down to the village festival for lily's 5th birthday”

“Are you crazy? Do you remember the last time we snuck? The headmistress made us kneel in front of her door for ten hours. Not three, not five, not seven, but ten hours! And to top it off we had no food or water! I’m not going through that again, go by yourself.”

I winced at the memory, my knees aching just from thinking about it. “Well, yeah, but this time it's for lily's birthday don't you want to make it special I don't think the ragged doll we made her is enough. besides wether i broom properly or not they’ll just get dirty the moment we turn our head anyaway”

Jacob raised an eyebrow at me, clearly unimpressed.

I pressed on, grinning. “Come on, pretty please? Think of Lily, the smile will bring her immense joy. Don't you love her?”

Jacob huffed, rolling his eyes. “Fine,” he muttered reluctantly.

After sweeping the halls, we headed out to the garden to pull weeds and water the plants. The sun shone brightly burning us with its heat as I chased down Jacob with a handful of mud, ignoring his protests.

“Kael leave me alone!”

I crashed into Sister Jess, one of the orphanage nuns, tumbling to the ground. She sighed, helping me up despite it dirtying her hand. “Are you causing trouble again Kael? You’re going to get yourself in trouble...again.”

I smiled my most innocent smile. “I was just having some fun.”

Lisa shook her head, though there was a playful smile. “Okay, Jacob, that’s enough. You just turned fourteen—you should start acting more you know,,, mature.”

Jacob let out a scoff “pfft like he could, he could be forty-three years old still be causing chaos he’s a lost case”

She ruffled my hair before sending me off to pluck carrots and potatoes before I could make Jacob swallow the words he spat out at me. As I crouched in the dirt, I heard whispers from a group of older orphans passing by. Their expressions twisted into familiar looks of disgust and fear as they saw.

I ignored them. I was used to it. The only people who ever accepted me were Lisa, Jacob, and little Lily, who should be five by now.

Still, their gossip caught my attention. I tilted my head, pretending to focus on the vegetables, but my ears sharpened to their conversation.

“I heard the Celestial Kingdom has been advancing into our territories,” one of them whispered, her voice shaking. “What if they come here?”

The other scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would they bother with a tiny village like ours? They probably don’t even know we exist, they’ll probably go for the bigger villages or cities”

I stopped plucking the carrots, my hands still. A chill crept over me, despite the heat of the afternoon. I suddenly felt as though something was very wrong but I didn’t focus too much on it.