Redemption

Chapter 2

Slamming onto the stone floor jolted Azalea out of her daze. Feeling a tug at her arm, she glanced down, cuffs circling her wrists, the thick chain heavy, trailing down to the floor as it reached where it was bolted to the wall. Azalea slowly stood to her feet, her chains giving her enough length to freely move around the room. Trailing her fingers against the smooth stone walls, she looked for weakness. None. There was no possible way she could escape her fate. Any remnant of hope was immediately snatched away; the air around her hung heavy with a sinister stillness, suffocating as she waited for her predicament.

The walls burst with infernal light. Embers cascaded from the ceiling, transforming into tongues of flames. They danced in a frenzied intensity, the orange light drawing closer and closer to Azalea as she scooched farther away. Her chains clanged against the floor.

"Azalea, where are you? You need to run," a voice echoed, bouncing against the walls.

Azalea let out a choked sob,

"Mo-, Mom, MOM. NO, NO, NO," Azalea screamed.

She tried to ground herself, but the smoke was suffocating, restricting.

"Azalea, listen to your mom. I promise you're going to be alright, and so are we," another voice joined the echo.

"Dad? DAD!" Azalea screeched, leaping to her feet.

Running to where the voice was, frantic as she looked around, but finding no one but herself. The crackling of the flames ebbed away as she stood in an empty room once more. Azalea fell to her knees, shaking as she tried to will herself back into that calm state she had spent all her life carefully honing.

"Azalea?" a voice behind her squeaked.

Azalea stiffened as her ears recognized that voice. One that she never thought she would hear again. Slowly pivoting, her eyes landed on an 8-year-old pale-faced, dark-haired boy whose wistful brown eyes stared back at her. A gasp escaped her throat as she stared in shock at the child.

He grinned, a big goofy smile, and said, "Azzy, you wanna play?"

Azalea stared at the kid, frozen after hearing that nickname that hadn't been spoken for 12 years.

"Do you still remember me? Think of me? Or did you forget about me? Just like how you forgot about your parents, you forgot about me, right?" the boy pouted.

"No, I didn't... I didn't forget any of you", Azalea whispered in disbelief.

The goofy smile on the boy disappeared, and anger clouded his eyes, his features drawn tight in anger. Hissing out, "LIE, you forgot, you tried to forget about your best friend, your mom, and your dad. The guilt must have been consuming, as it should, because you are the reason WHY WE ARE ALL DEAD, WHY WE BURNED TO A CRISP, while YOU were safely out of the way."

Azalea flinched as if slapped, shaking her head.

The boy continued, "You were always a selfish little thing, you had everything, and still, you didn't help me, your best friend, the boy that would have supported you in every step of your life if only I survived. But no, you will suffer for what you did to us every second for eternity."

"Samael is right; it is your fault," Her dad said, materializing before her.

"Everything is your fault; even after us, you couldn't live life; birthing you was the biggest regret of my life," her mother sneered, standing next to her dad.

Frozen in her place, Azalea gawked at the sight ahead of her. Her parents' words just now hitting the mark, she shuffled back, almost in a trance, as she shook her head. Walking backwards until her back hit the wall, she slid down, drawing her knees to her chest.