Everyone was dead.
The smell of blood and smoke struck his nose while the scorching flames around him seared his skin. Matt stared at the six blood-soaked bodies lying on the ground. One of those bodies... was Aelia's.
She was on the ground. A bloody kitchen knife buried hilt deep in her heart. A white haired body had its limbs ripped apart and scattered around. One with bright red hair had slashes and cuts all around it. Beside it was another thin, measly body with sickly green skin and a frothing mouth. One girl with a leather jacket had its head separated from its neck. And one with a muscular form had a hole in its chest with the heart smashed beside it.
Matt covered his mouth, holding the vomit that threatened to spew out. Suddenly, a laugh hollered through the suffocating air.
He turned around to face the speaker. Behind him was a boy holding a kitchen knife, bearing a scar that travelled across his face.
The boy smiled at him. "You think you're a hero? You can't do anything. Just like me, you're useless. We're useless," he said.
Matt fell to his knees. The air was suffocating his lungs and his mind. It's like his brain was being fried. He stared at the ground with lifeless eyes. Aelia is dead. Several other people were dead.
"This," he spread his arms at the destruction, "is all your fault."
And it was all his fault.
"You're a failure, man. Look at all this. Even if you'd tried harder then you'd fail anyway. Maybe it would be better if you were the one who died instead, right?"
Matt clutched his hair and his breathing became ragged while another holler rang out. His heart stopped beating, and he was suddenly on a bed, staring at a white ceiling.
------
The room he was in had a neatly placed desk, chair, and cupboard. The clock hanging on the wall struck 7 as it kept ticking and ticking. Sweat soaked the collar of his shirt as he gripped his chest. A faint ring resonated inside his head like an alarm clock. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Why was it so loud?!
He let out a long breath. "Calm down, calm down. Nothing is wrong. It's just a dream. Don't do anything crazy."
Sleeping beside him was Aelia. Her chest rose and dropped in a rhythmic pattern. Without a knife jammed into it.
Aelia's fine! It was all a dream. Just calm down. Breathe in... and out... There we go. The ringing resonating in his head faded away and the annoying ticking paled. Everything is fine. There's nothing to be worried about...
Even then... it still seemed so... real. It was a weird kind of real. Maybe he was just being paranoid... He ceased the thoughts in his mind and sighed.
Aelia wore a new pair of golden-white leather boots he bought with Colt's money. Last night, she cringed every time she stepped. When he checked, various cuts were on her feet. So he bought her the boots and took care of the wounds when they arrived. It was weird that she could heal him but not herself.
Last night, she was really overjoyed at the boots. Maybe that's why she was wearing it in her sleep.
Suddenly, the fact she was sleeping with him made him blush and rush off the bed.
He walked up to the window and sighed. Outside was a lush garden with pebble paths and dots of snow here and there. The heaters in his room warmed the air. Everyone on the sidewalk was minding their own business. Not being suspicious at all.
