Flames and Starlight

22🌘

Ruben

I stormed down the sidewalk, anger, and fury churning inside of me. I felt like screaming, hitting, and kicking one of the punching bags in the gym, throwing something heavy across the room, and kicking someone's ass.

People took one look at me as I barrelled down the street and immediately got out of my way. I knew I was scowling and probably looked like I'd murder someone if they so much as even looked in my direction for more than five seconds, which I would. I'd never been this furious before in my life.

I had another fight with my parents - surprise surprise - but this time was a lot different. This had to be the worst one we'd ever had.

It went how it usually did - Dad telling me I was worthless, me telling him he was a poor excuse of a father, him telling me if it were up to him he would've never had me, me telling him I didn't even want to have anything to do with him anyway, Mom finally jumping in and telling me to stop, you know, the usual spiel.

Then it got even uglier than it usually did. He went low, even for him. He brought up all my past relationships, told me it was my fault that they all didn't work out and I would never get married or have kids, that no female would ever want to have a family with me. That stung immensely and I shot back, telling him Mom probably only married him because he was the only male in her life, for which she slapped me for.

I kind of blacked out after that. I couldn't remember exactly what was said after that because all I said was red and all the years of putting up with that asshole's verbal abuse came unleashed inside of me. In a way, I was glad I blacked out, because I may not want to remember what was said and done between us, but on the other hand, I wondered what his reaction was to me fully going off on him.

The next thing I remembered was running out of the house into town. I didn't know how long I'd been walking around town. I was trying to work off all my anger and calm down before I went back home - 

I paused at the thought. I didn't know if I could go back home or not. Not after that. I'd said multiple times that I had to get out of that house, that I had to be somewhere else before I lost time, but this time I meant it. I couldn't take it anymore. That fight was the last straw. I couldn't be in that house anymore.

I was seventeen and it would be six more months until I turned eighteen, so legally, they could have me brought back to the house - not that they would be devastated if I left, but they'd call the cops just to piss me off.

I thought about moving in with Nick. He wouldn't mind letting me crash at his place, but one time when I was fifteen I ran away from home and lived with him until I had to come back to my parent's house and it was a nightmare. It wasn't because he was a bad roommate by any means - okay, he was a terrible roommate. He lived in a pig stein - I wasn't the cleanest guy in the world and wasn't picky but even I had limits - and blasted music 'til four in the morning. I couldn't get any sleep there. And the walls were paper thin.

However, Nick was the only friend I had that would let me stay with him and I'd rather live with him in that house - unless it had cockroaches - and tolerate his loud music if it meant I'd be able to get out of that hellhole. Or maybe -

A scream from nearby had me coming to a screeching halt. I looked up at the sky and gaped as crows were falling from the sky. I ran inside a nearby store and watched as dead crows - shapeshifters - fell onto the sidewalk, onto the windshields of the driving cars. People screamed and ran as the birds kept falling and falling, shoving each other out of the way so they wouldn't get by the dead crows that wouldn't stop falling from the air.

The shapeshifters' bodies exploded as they hit the ground, covering the pavement with blood as well as the unfortunate bystanders that were standing too close and couldn't get out of the way on time. They splattered the windshields of the passing cars with their blood, causing the drivers to swerve dangerously. Panic fully set in when I realized a huge wreck was about to happen.

"Oh my god!" the woman beside me screamed in my ear as she watched the scene in horror. "What the hell's happening?!"

One of the cars slammed into each other, causing the other car to drive headfirst into a small restaurant. Other cars started slamming into each other, becoming a chaos of metal, sparks flying, vehicles being turned over and over, slamming into even more cars in the process, some flying off the road and hitting the local stores and restaurants in the process.

Screams and cries filled the air as the chaos seemed to never stop as more and more cars kept crashing into each other as the crows never stopped falling from the sky.

Then the ever-growing pile of cars exploded into flames, causing the screams and wails to increase in the air.

I watched in horror as the people in the car started to get burned alive.

EDITED: 8/23/21