Serving us the cake my mom says "So
this isn't the surprise."
"It's not?" I acted puzzled.
Here we go. Show time.
"No, tomorrow your best friends are taking
you to Eureka to see your favorite band, Bad Wolves. Your father and I got you
three a hotel room close to the venue so you don't have to drive and can drink
responsibly." My mom said.
"What? Are you serious!?" I shouted
dropping my fork.
"Yes, Josie has a friend and was able to get you
tickets." My mom said "I wanted Josie to wait to tell you as a surprise for
dinner and I surprised you three with a hotel room."
I jump up and run over to her giving
her a big hug.
"Mom, dad, you guys are the best." I
hug her and then hug my dad.
"I have the best people in my life." I
said smiling.
My heart felt so full of love and
warmth. I had a near perfect life.
Laughing the rest of the dinner while
we enjoyed my chocolate ice cream cake.
"You guys plan to sleep over? It's
getting late." My dad asked.
"Yeah if that's cool with you." Josie
responded.
"It's preferred. I have to get out this
weekend and fix them. Things have finally slowed down a bit in the ER." My dad
was saying "it's the weirdest thing how many accident's have been happening
lately."
"Yeah, I've noticed my dads been a lot
busier with work too." Josie said.
"I bet lots of insurance disputes so
I'm betting his got a full case load." My dad said.
"Nailed it." Josie finger gunned my
dad.
"So what's your plan for the night?" My
mom asked.
The three of us looked at each other
and said "Girls Night!" And laughed.
"Pajamas, snacks, movies, facial masks
and nails."
"Oouu sounds like fun girls." Don't
stay up to late and remember, smoking outside ONLY."
My mother really emphasized that 'only'
in the sentence there.
"Kay, mom."
"Leave the mess to us and go have fun."
My dad said.
"Thanks dad."
Running up the spiral staircase he head
into my room.
My room was pretty cool, I worked hard
to make it my sanctuary. It was my art space and my dance spa; my reading space
and my safe space. I had all white furniture and a canopy bed with beaded
pearls that looped around the top. My dresser was decorated with little
trinkets and a silver jewelry box in the middle. I loved fresh flowers so I
always had a vase with them in my room. My comforter was baby blue and looked
like it was made for a doll. It was pretty girlie for someone who listened to
metal music and painted surrealism.
I had an art corner that had a tarp on
the ground, a white desk covered in paint and an easel with a sheet over my current
work. I never liked it when people saw my art before I was done. If someone did
I couldn't finish it and I had to throw it away. I don't know why I was like
that, but it was like if someone saw it before it was done, its magic was
ruined and I needed to start completely over, it felt disgusting to look at.
My mom wanted to send me to an art school,
but I didn't want to far from home. She even applied for me at Columbia, which
I was accepted, but I it turned down and I go to Trinity College with my best
friends instead and I get to stay close to my family.
"Onesies anyone?" Josie said appearing
from my walk-in closet.
"Duh."
Josie tosses me my Hello Kitty Onesie.
She tossed Brooke her Eeyee from Pokemón onesie. And held her Rainbow
Dash from My Little Pony onesie.
We strip naked in front of each other.
And I'm always impressed with their bodies. Brooke was so perfect, every part
of her proportioned perfectly. Her but had tear shape to it and her stomach was
flat. Her breasts were perky. Her skin was almost as flawless as mine, with the
exception of a few freckles and a small birthmark on her upper inner thigh in
the shape of Florida.
Josie was curvy and sexy. Her breasts
were large and her nipples were pierced. She had a tattoo on her diaphragm that
went under her breast with a Buddhist design. Being Chinese, her parent's were
Buddhist, and because tattoos were taboo and usually meant gang relations, they
were super mad when they saw her with it for the first time.
After getting in our pajamas I get the
face mask cream, Josie gets the nail
stuff from my closet, and Brooke starts searching for something to watch. The
one thing we all always agreed on was, anime.
We'd probably put on a Ghibli movie
since it was a comfort show and a favorite of ours.
"How excited are you for tomorrow?"
Josie asked taking my hand into hers and begins priming my nails for acrylics.
Josie was obsessed with fashion, especially cosmetology, she loved doing hair
and make up. She tolerated nails.
"I don't know if I'll sleep tonight
because I can barely breathe, my heart is pounding so hard, I think I might
faint." I laughed. I really was the happiest I've been in a while.
"I'm going to style your nails baby
blue with black angel wings and silver glitter." Josie said.
Brooke got behind me and started doing
my hair. She brushed out all the tangles with gentles strokes and began to
braid it in French pig tails.
"Your hair is just so pretty. It's so
thick and long and the prettiest shade of copper Seri, I'm so jealous." Brooke
said.
I blushed, I always felt a little
embarrassed about my bright colored hair. Neither of my parents had red hair,
so kids at school used to make fun of me and say my mom cheated on my dad with
the milkman and that's why I don't look like them.
"Thanks."
"Which outfit are you planning to wear
for the beach?" Josie asked as she started the painting on my nails.
"Well, it'll probably be cooler than
here because its on the coast and it'll be windy. Probably my thick dark red
petit coat and the new white turtle neck long sleeve crop top with my other new
pair of black jeans and my black boost with the 2in wide heel." I answered
"What about you? You bought a lot of outfits too, we probably spent about 6
grand today between the three of us."
"Oh I'm wearing my new anime girl
hoodie with a pair of black joggers and my new Nike tennis shoes." Josie answered.
"I'm going to wear the new white pants
with big thick black sweater that has a brown teddy bear head on the front and
the khaki jeans and a pair your flat black boots." Brooke said and then smiled
"Pleaseeee."
"You don't have to beg, Jesus, you can just borrow them." She always
killed me with those faces.
"But I want to use it." Brooke tilted
her head and smiled slightly.
"This is gonna be the best weekend
ever!" Josie shouted after she finished my nails.
"I know, I don't think I've been this
excited since Sammy got potty trained." I joked.
"You think we'll meet some hot guys?"
Josie asked.
"You will set some hot guys. Brooke and
I will be each other date. Wanna be gay for the night?"
"I'll always be gay for you Seri."
Brooke laughed with me.
"You guys just going to leave me out
huh?" Josie pretended to be offended.
"Never!" Brooke and I shout and tackle
Josie.
"Let's go to bed we've got to be up at
a decent hour to travel and enjoy the day before we have to get ready for the
concert tomorrow tonight." Brooke said. Always so responsible.
"By the way Happy Birthday!" Both my
best friends say hugging me. Looking at the clock it was 12:15am.
"Thanks guy I love you."
I change the movie and put on Beauty
and the Beast form Disney+. And the three of us drift off to sleep.
***
"I need more fluids. Some one get me
more fluids, the patient is fading" I heard Eleanor shouting beside me.
"Don't let me die" The man says to me
as he grabs my hand, staring deep into my eyes. Pity and sorrow fill my soul
when I look at his sickly face. 888
The man coughs and blood spews from his
mouth covering his face with splatter. The blisters and sores on his face were
oozing. There was no saving this man. He was going to die.
"Please" He grabbed my hand begging me.
I have a family to care for.
My heart ached for him, I knew all to
well what is was like losing your father to the plague, it's I became a doctor
to help. The plague had been spreading rapidly through Europe.
I try to remove the ants hand and get
up to to make him more pain meds, but his grip loosened and his hand fell beside
him.
I watched as the last of his life
drained from his eyes and a glaze set over them. The light of life from inside
him had been stifled and he died right before me.
I sobbed. Another life ended to soon.
"Open up, we have a warrant from the
lord to arrest a witch." A man yelled while banging on the door.
"There's no witch here, only people
dying of the plague and people helping those who are dying." Eleanor shouted
beside me.
"I won't ask nicely again, open up."
The man yelled from outside.
I look over at Eleanor and her face was
full of terror and dread.
The soldiers were here to arrest us for
witchcraft, a crime punishable by death in England.
After a moment of silence they kicked
the door down and barreled in, one after another surrounding us.
"Stay where you are and don't move witches.
You'll pay for spreading the plague to innocent people." One man said spitting
on the ground.
Surrounded by sick men and women they
quickly move to arrest us.
"Take them and burn the place, leave no
trace of their devilry and free these peoples souls from being taken down the
path of damnation." The man who'd been speaking behind the door said.
The man grabbed m by the back of head
by my hair and jerks me upward. The pain cause me to scream out.
"I'm not a witch, I just use the same
herbs you o cook with make medicine."
"Sounds like potion making to me, is
that a confession witch?" He yelled into my face, bits of spit spraying on me.
His teeth looked awful and his breath was rancid.
"No it's not a confession!" I yelled.
They dragged me and Eleanor at of the
house kicking and screaming and then set the house on fire burning all those
sick people alive inside.
"Noooo! How can you call yourselves
human! They were just sick people in their and you murdered them. You
murderers!"
The man walking next to whom I presume
is the leader, holding me by my hair, punched me in the mouth.
Blood started to trickle down my lip,
throbbing in pain immediately, but I refused to let them see my tears. I spit
the blood out my mouth.
"You're lucky I'm not a witch or I'd
have killed you. Scum."
"Shut the fuck up witch." We're the
last words I heard before he punched me again.
I was in and out of consciousness, in
some waking moments, I could see the guards around me, their pants around their
ankles.
"Look at this pretty red haired little
witch. I love the days I'm on guard in this cell block, this ones always my
favorite."
I could sometimes feel their grimy
hands rub all over me. I don't know how many days of this went by but finally
the day it would wend would come, I welcomed death.
*Splash*
Cold and wet I'm awakened and dragged
from the cell. I haven't seen Eleanor in days. I can only hope she had it
better than me.
I didn't have memory of the past few
days but the evidence of my torture was displayed for everyone to see once I
was dragged up to the stage. I was covered in bruises and cuts and whip
markings. The blood was stained to my skin, caked on legs and face. Every inch
of my body ached.
I was so weak I couldn't walk or stand.
They tied me to a wooden pillar.
Looking to my left I see Eleanor in the
same condition as me. My heart lurched for her. It broke seeing her look like
me, knowing what she must have endured during her time imprisoned. She had the
same look on her face that I'm sure was on mine. Relief.
"These two women have confessed to
witchcraft and are sentenced to burning at the stake." A well dressed man said
loudly as he read from a piece of parchment. They stand accused of furthering
and aiding in the spread of the plague. They were caught communing with the
devil."
"To free their souls from the grasp of
Satan we must purifier them through fire. May god have mercy on their souls."
First they lit Eleanor, forcing to me
to watch as her pyre ignited. Raging flames began consuming the hay and wood
that sat underneath her, the heat blistering her skin. Eleanor screamed in
agony as she was burned alive.
The crowd cheered and yelled "Burn
her!" "Go to hell Witch!" "May god have mercy on your soul."
The I watched as Eleanor screamed her
last scream. Her body blackened from char, the smell of her burnt flesh filled
the air, ravaging anyone with a sense of smell.
They lit my pyre. And I felt the heat
rise from under my feet. I began sweating. I was ready to die. But not like
this. I wasn't ready to be burned alive. I started to trash and scream as the
flames began to rage around me. The fir setting my dress on fire, I could feel
my flesh melting and hear this sizzle in my ears. Blisters formed on my arms.
All I could do was scream, tears evaporated from my face before they could fall
down my cheek. The flames finally engulf me entirely.
"Wake up, Seri, wake up."
What?
"Seri, you're having a bad nightmare,
you have to wake up."
Is that Brooke talking to me?
"Ugh…" rubbing my eyes and wiping the
sweat from my face. Another night soaking the bed with sweat. I went through
like 4/5 sets of sheets a week. My heart was racing I was panting and coughing
like I couldn't breathe and was being suffocated.
"Are you still having nightmares? I
thought they stopped?" Brooke asked me.
"No. To be honest, they just got worse.
That was the longest one I think I've ever had."
"What happened?" She asked me.
"I'll a joint and we can go outside and
talk. Do me a favor, don't tell Josie. I don't want her to worry."
"I don't know if I can keep this from
her, she's our best friend, she's supposed to worry about both of us. I'd be
hurt if she didn't." Brooke answered.
"Please, it's already a lot having
them, and I hate talking about them." I sighed.
I roll out of bed and head over to my
art station, opening the short center drawer I pull out my tray and weed. And
begin grinding, I was trying to make sense of being burned a live. These dreams
were getting more and more real. My skin even feels hot still, like it was just
burning. I roll the joint and grab the lighter.
"Ready? Grab some blanket's its cold
outside."
"Yeah let's go." Brooke responds
grabbing her blanket and me a blanket we head downstairs to the back door and
on to the porch.
I take a seat on the porch swing with
Brooke and light the joint.
"So what happened do you remember?" She
asked me.
"Yeah, I died, again. Just over and
over and over. Some time deaths I've seen before sometimes new deaths." I took
a deep breath and readied myself.
"I was burned alive this time. It was
so real Brooke. Feel, my skins still hot." I rolled up my pajama pant leg and
insisted she touch it.
"Oh my god Seri, you're burning up."
"I know… I was burned for being a
witch, Brooke I was only trying to help sick and dying people. And they burned
me for it." My eyes were wet from tears. My skin still tingled from the pain.
"This was my most intense dream yet.
The most real." Brooke reached for a hug and I leaned in absorbing the comfort
she was offering me.
"It's not real you know, you're alive
and being a witch is a trend now." Brooke reassured me.
"Doesn't make the dream any less real
for me. It was like I was there living it."
"I know baby, I know." Brooke soothed
me by humming and rocking in the porch swing.
I smoked my joint, resting my head on
her shoulder, making an attempt at relaxing and calming down.
"Are they always this bad?" Brooke
asked quietly. Her voice delicate and careful.
"Lately, yeah. But this was the worst
yet. Brooke I FELT the burn." I said, my lip was quivering, tears were swelling
in my eyes. I was trying to blink them away, still some slid past falling down
my cheeks leaving a warm wet stain behind. Brooke wraps her arm around me
pulling me in tightly and rubs my head.
"Thank you." She whispered.
Shocked I sat up, going to take another
hit I realize the joint had gone out.
"Thank you for what?" I ask sparking up
again.
"For being vulnerable with me." She
said wiping the tear stain on my cheek.