Something Wicked

Chapter One: Welcome Home

Thick smoke filled my nostrils, jolting me awake as I choked. Bright flames warmed my room, a comfortable heat at first that rapidly became blistering. My door was consumed with fire, the walls crackling as smoke continued to pour in. I scrambled up my mattress, pressing against the headboard as my heart pounded against my rib cage. The top of the door frame split with a loud snap. My eyes followed the crack as it grew. The rift ran the length of my ceiling and stopped directly above me.

Riley.

A haunting voice called my name.

Riley.

My head snapped side to side, trying to find whoever was calling out for me. A shriek escaped me as another loud snap came from somewhere deep inside the house. A layer of sweat made my thin tank top damp, the fabric clinging to my body. With every passing second, the heat became more and more intense. I needed to get out.

The window on the wall adjacent to me was cracked open. A jump from the second story wasn't ideal, but it was better than burning alive. I stopped short just as I went to toss back my sheets when I felt something crawling up my shoulder, forcing me to shift my gaze down.

Long, delicate legs moved up my arm languidly. It was ink black and there was no mistaking what it was. The Black Widow spider crawled lazily, with no sense of urgency, but my heart raced as I swiped it off abruptly. My head snapped back to look up at the split ceiling as my dad's voice called for me now, tears brimming in my eyes as fear constricted my chest. Several Black Widow spiders began to fall from above as they swarmed from the crevice.

* * *

"Riley," My body startled as I came to. A hand held my shoulder tightly while my heart rate gradually returned to normal. "Another nightmare?" My head nodded shakily in response to the question. My mom's thumb rubbed back and forth gently, a heavy look in her eyes.

"It's okay," I tried to reassure her. "It's just-" My head shook, cutting myself off.

"What?"

"It was..." I paused as I felt the lingering heat on my skin. "Different." I mumbled, shrugging her hand off my shoulder as I turned towards the window just in time to watch the 'Welcome to Hawkins' sign blur past us. My forehead bounced against the cool glass, relieving my clammy skin. Pain prickled in my fingertips as I picked absently at the skin around my fingers, a bad habit I hadn't been able to break since the fire. Yet another thing that had changed since that night. It was exhausting how drastically different everything had become since then.

"Do you want to listen to some music?" My mom tried to start a conversation. She couldn't stand silence anymore. Everything used to be so loud she would joke that one day she would go deaf from all the noise. Now she was desperate for anything to fill the empty space. I glanced over my shoulder at her, giving a one shoulder shrug.

"Sure," I murmured when I saw her posture slouch. A tight, apologetic smile tugged at my lips as I leaned forward and flicked on the radio. My hand hovered above the tuner, listening to the lyrics of the song playing.

Oh-wo-ho, oh-wo-ho

Tell me can you feel it

Tell me can you feel it

Tell me can you feel it

The heat is on, yeah, the heat is on, the heat is on

Burning, burning, burning