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The full moon's light shone down onto the forest below, filtering through the tree branches and their leaves so Darcy could see everything- the curves in the bark on the trees, every blade of grass, animals scurrying in the underbrush. The forest was living in balance and her presence disrupted it.
Out of the corner of her eye, something moved.
Eyes shining yellow, she tracked the movement. Someone was running away from her. She didn't hesitate to start after them.
The wind whistled in her ears and threw her hair across her face. As she ran, the forest's light went from a soft white glow to shades of orange and yellow and red. Shadows scattered across the trees, but she didn't look, didn't even notice, until the entire forest was on fire. Flames licked at the sky, dancing along tree branches and sending ashes into the wind.
Darcy stopped running abruptly upon noticing the fire, and her momentum sending her stumbling. When she finally straightened, she found herself looking at a tree... well, what was left of it.
Over five feet wide and untouched by the flames, a tree stump sat in the middle of the woods.
She took a wary step forward, closer to what remained of the tree. Her foot landed in a burning bush and the fire immediately caught. She watched flames climb up her leg but it didn't burn, not like she thought it would. The smell of smoke flooded her nose. She looked up from the fire to see something that made her heart stop.
Bodies upon bodies lay around the stump, faces mangled out of recognition. There were too many to count, piled on top of each other over and over. They were all dead, every single one of them in various stages of decomposition.
She couldn't help it- she screamed as the fire consumed her.
Darcy sat up straight, her chest heaving.
Sunlight filtered in through the windows behind the couch, shining onto the blanket covering her body. She stared at the light rays until her heartbeat calmed down, whispering Derek's mantra under her breath. Once it slowed enough for her to concentrate, she laid back down. The nightmare was monetarily forgotten about once she noticed where she was.
She didn't remember moving to the couch, which made her think someone had moved her to it. Dimly, she recalled seeing Liam and Hayden leave, their rounded shoulders and dragging feet. There was something else there about them going home while she stayed at Scott's. She didn't know why she'd been the one to stay, but she was glad for the excessive amount of sleep she'd gotten because of it.
Darcy sighed heavily, running her hands over her face. Would her life ever be easy?
"Good morning, sunshine."
She spread her fingers, peeking through the cracks to see Melissa standing before her.
