Nearly thirty minutes into my charging and the damn nightmares started. I hated it when they did that, it was so annoying, making me think that I was going to have a silent sleep but no!
Well, the nightmares started with that night, one year ago. It was strange because usually, the cycle started with the things that the disgusting principal and the freaky science teacher had done to me in high school. Then it would go to the night of the fire when I was fifteen and then to the night of the prank but tonight was different and I wondered why.
That night of the prank, that horrible, stupid prank; that night I couldn't save them....
God, I hated this part of the nightmare cycle! I just wanted to forget about that night entirely, I couldn't stand remembering it over and over again, every single time I closed my damn eyes. I cried, physically while I slept, though I never felt it as I dreamt. I would always find out after I had woken up, the residue they left behind still on my cheeks.
Hannah had run out into the freezing cold night, humiliated and hurt. Everyone stood around outside the lodge, just freezing their asses off, doing absolutely nothing else at all. Beth pushed her way through Mike and Matt, not caring if she hurt them. Her sister was in pain and she was pist off about it. She set off after her sister, merely only minutes behind her. I was still inside, so I was much later than Beth was but I was running through the cabin, through the opened doors, pushing past Mike who was in my way and we'd tumbled to the ground.
'Beth! Hannah!'
I called after them into the winter wind that was rushing past us, blowing my hair around my face and naturally just messing it up but I didn't care. I needed to get Beth and Hannah back to the safety of the lodge and fast.
Someone reached out, grasped my arm.
'Nessie, don't!'
It had been Josh.
'I HAVE TO SAVE THEM!'
I roared at him and he let go.
'If none of you will help me get them back, then I will do it all by myself! I'm a big girl! I don't need assholes like you getting in my way!'
I was glaring right at Mike as I said those words. I was mostly talking to him if it wasn't clear to him in my glare. He didn't just hurt Hannah tonight. He hurt me, deeply. I thought he was a good guy, albeit controlled by a bad girl but I was shown wrong by the actions he went through this evening and it broke my heart in the slightest.
Mike seemed to cringe at my glare, he seemed to actually feel bad about what he had done to Hannah, what he had indirectly done to me. He looked away from my glare, very uncomfortable.
With that I let out an agonized cry and raced after the twins, running as fast as my aching legs would carry me. I didn't stop, I kept running. Running, running, running, until I could hear them. I could hear the twins, I could hear a man shouting, I could hear a flamethrower, I could hear creatures screeching, all in the distance.
I ran faster. I could see the scene up ahead. I could see Hannah slip. My heart jumped in fear. I forced myself to run faster. I was finally running past the man with the flamethrower, past the creature he was blasting. I ran with such force that I jumped toward the ledge, sliding until I reached the edge but I was too late....
Beth had already let go, and I got there just in time to see them fall, to see Beth's back hit a boulder on the way down. I heard the blood-curdling crack of her spine as she made contact with the boulder.
'NOOOOOOOOO!'
I screamed, sobbing and turning away, unable to bear to keep looking. I staggered to my knees, and then to my feet. The man shouted for me to run, to run away, that it was not safe. I cried in protest but did as I was told, running and never stopping until I was back at the lodge.
I immediately glared at Mike....
'YOU!'
I screamed at him, aiming to deck him with a mighty right hook to the face but I was so distraught I barely had time to take a step forward before dropping to my knees.
'Vanessa?!���
That was Chris.
'Where are my sisters?!'
That was Josh.
Chris knelt down to hold me as I then sobbed into Chris' shoulder; I sobbed loudly, hysterically.
'Beth is dead! I dunno about Hannah! They fell, they fell off a ledge! I couldn't save them! I was too late! I was too damn late! They're gone!'
I could scarcely breathe, oxygen was just not getting in. I breathed hoarsely, coughing and sobbing into Chris' ear. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and held me close, crying himself albeit quietly. Josh was unable to comprehend what I had just said, still having a hold of Mike's shirt in his fist from their fight. I glanced at Mike, and all I could see was shocked eyes full of pain and remorse and apology for Hannah, for me, especially for me. I could barely care at that moment, I was too devastated to acknowledge him....
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, my brow physically furrowed while I slept.
Fire....
There was fire!
Fire was everywhere!
Burning, burning, burning....
A burning building! There was a burning building!
The Castellanos estate in Krimson City was burning to the ground!
My father and I arrived to see it engulfed in flames, my heart tearing, breaking. The only home I'd ever known up until that point was burning away, everything I owned, turning to ashes.
Suddenly, we both realized something!
'LILY!'
We screamed as we quickly entered the burning building to try and find her.
My baby sister, his baby girl....
Lily was the youngest, the baby of the family, so naturally, we needed to protect, to save.
Sadly, there was no use.
She was gone!
Nowhere to be found.
I immediately broke down into tears....
Dad had to grab a hold of my waist, picking me up into his arms and carrying me out of the burning building; I'd have burned right along with it if he hadn't acted quickly.
Lily was gone, and there was nothing I could do....
Another blinding flash of light and a different scene appeared before my eyes....
The little cabin Josh had sent Mike and Jessica to appeared. There was glass on the ground. The small window in the door was broken, shattered. Mike was in my dreams but he seemed very distraught, and Jessica was nowhere to be found, where could she be?
'Jessica!'
Mike called for the blond but there was no answer, she was too far away to hear him. Then, for some strange reason, he seemed to turn toward me and stared, asking for help.
'Vanessa! Find Jessica!'
He yelled at me before disappearing off toward the sanatorium that was further up the mountain.
And that's when fire engulfed my entire body, burning me right down to my very core. I screamed in agonizing pain, reaching out toward Mike who was fading into the distance.
'MIKE!'
I screamed his name.
'Come back to me! Don't leave me!'
I began to cry, agonizingly so, the fire pierced my heart, I thought it was going to explode inside my chest....