Burned

Chapter 17

"Breathe... Breathe...", I tried to calm myself as panic completely overwhelmed me.

"Are you sure you're okay, miss?" the driver asks me for the third time.

As he looks at me in his rearview mirror, I try to hide me with the rest of the charred shreds of Knox's shirt, because my bare skin is visible in places.

I imagine that from an outside view, you would think that someone had just attacked or assaulted me. I meet his eyes through the mirror and nod while remaining focused on my breathing.

How could I have attacked this guard when I don't remember anything? I'm not a violent person so this really bothers me. I take stock of my recent memory loss: yesterday, at the bar, and today, with this more than traumatic experience.

Attacking a man twice as strong as me is one thing, but finding myself under Knox with my clothes completely scorched as if the flames had devoured them is something much more worrying.

That I could produce fire in any way is completely unimaginable. I'm not a superhero from Marvel movies, and no beast has ever dared to bite me. Come to think of it, I can't find any explanation for all this mess.

The driver takes another look at me through the rearview mirror as I reach for my phone, which hasn't stopped vibrating since I got into this car. My hands shake so much when I enter the unlock code that it may fall to the floor repeatedly.

I look at the many notifications I have received since yesterday. "Shit," I say to myself as I see my friends' messages scrolling by.

"Hey! Where have you been?"

"Nova, did you get yourself another hot guy?"

"Let us know if you're okay."

"We're leaving, it's late, I hope everything is okay?"

I didn't think to send them a message to tell them where I was. I sent them a message to let them know that I'm still alive and to reassure them. I also notice multiple posts from Knox as I scroll through.

"Nova, where are you going?"

"I worry about you"

"Tell me you're okay"

"Please, baby"

I ignore him, because I don't want to talk to him or see him at the moment. Well, not until I can regain my senses and explain what is happening to me. I could have hurt him too without knowing it.

Fortunately, the fire was limited to our clothes; we don't have any third-degree burns at this time. Who knows if I won't suffer memory loss again and burn everything down? All I want right now is to go home and get back to my little drama-free life. I let the scenery pass by as I search for an answer to everything.

***
As soon as the driver drops me off at home, I run into the apartment and jump straight into the shower. I remove the debris that serves as clothing and I walk under the jet of hot water.

As soon as my skin comes into contact with water, my tears start to flow. I can finally let go. This could have alerted the driver, who already believed that something serious had just happened to me, which wasn't completely wrong.

Fear of the unknown or suffering from mental illness also crosses my mind. I feel overwhelmed by all these thoughts going through my head, which makes my sobbing even worse. I slide to the ground and grab my legs with my arms to reassure myself.

The more I sort through it all, the more I notice similarities with my nightmares, which accentuates my fear in my stomach. The fire that consumes me in these is eerily similar to what happened earlier. I continue to cry in the shower for countless minutes. Once all the hot water ran out, all I had the strength to do was dry off and hide under the covers on my bed.

***
I sit at my desk and gaze at the horizon, which darkens as the minutes pass. I sigh and begin stretching to relax my sore muscles from my relentlessness over the past few days. All this in order to prevent unanswered questions from assaulting my head.

In addition, it helped me stay awake because I hadn't slept enough recently. Since the "unexplained phenomenon," as I call it, my nightmares have multiplied.

It almost seems like this traumatic event has triggered them again. Since then, I have dreamed of fire, burning, charred corpses and the end of the world. It seems that I have activated the "loop" mode.

That's not all, I had to tell Knox to leave me alone and that I needed some time to myself. He was tiring me with his half-coded messages that I didn't even understand anyway. I kept running into him everywhere too. This overload is therefore welcome in my quest to forget everything.

I get up as my appointment time approaches. I take my jacket, which is hanging on the hook, and I head towards the exit. I meet Asher at Bella to discuss business. We spent the week finalizing the final adjustments to the contract. I can say that it hasn't been easy for me either. He gave me several additional tasks to move the project forward.

This evening, he must approve the first steps of the experimental protocol for the project, and then we can start the research. He will pick me up from the office at 7 p.m. As he made it clear to me, I must be punctual. After some protests on my part, saying that I could join him directly there, he became adamant and very convincing.

As I leave the company, I see him waiting for me in a very luxurious car whose name I don't even know. I've never been very impressed with people who want to blow their money on this sort of thing. On the other hand, I think this car fits him perfectly: it's black, shiny, luxurious and quite flashy.

He opens the door and gets out of the car to greet me. He wears a black designer suit that matches his car and looks great on him.

"Novalie, you're right on time!" He told me with a smile while looking at his gold Rolex.

"It could happen to me," I tell him with a smirk as I reach him.

"Are you ready?" He asked me, pointing to his car.

I nod to him and he goes to the passenger side door to open it for me. I slide into the black leather seat and he closes the door. The interior designers built it in the same luxury as the exterior, emphasizing simplicity and quality of materials. The scent of Asher is also perceptible there, a mixture of spices and wood.

"This smell is captivating and masculine, but it doesn't beat Knox's," I thought.

I don't know why this crossed my mind, to be honest. Asher opens the door and gets in behind the wheel, pulling me out of my thoughts. When he presses the start button, the engine of his racing car rumbles loudly.

I turn my head in Asher's direction. He then stabs the accelerator a few times while winking at me as the rumbles of his car increase. I roll my eyes to the sky;

"Men and their toys," I thought as he easily entered traffic.