The Phoenix and her Flame

Chapter 4

I get released that night, with promises to come back if anything feels strange or usual.
Yeah, as if being a huge freaking flaming bird isn't 'strange' or 'unusual'
The girls had come by after school to give me all the homework I missed, which wasn't much, besides the THREE PAGE ELA ESSAY DUE TOMORROW! UUUGGGHH!
I finish all the small assignments first, deciding to save satan's homework for last.
Luckly, it is on the history of someone significant of your animals kind, and since I'm still known as a Kincaid at school, I can technically do it on any animal I want without looking suspicious, especially on Phoenixes since I'm such a well-known nerd.
So, of course, I do just that.
I look at the clock by my bedside table. It's only nine, so I will have plenty of time to do this.
Lazily, I open my simple orange laptop and pull up my search engine to type in 'Phoenix History'.
Not much comes up at first, so I scroll through dozens of results, each one seemingly useless.
I am about to try a different search when I see something that catches my eye.
"Phoenix Past Lives and Reincarnations to Date"
Intrigued, I click on the link, and it takes me to a dull beige coloured page, that actually looks a lot like copied birth records or something.
There are no other tabs to click on, no links to other pages, no ANYTHING, so I am just about to click back when I see a name.
Akaelya Canicus.
My name.
On this site.
But that means somebody knows!
I try to calm myself down, thinking thoroughly through this.
Maybe somebody hacked some medical records?
I go through the names, each birth date exactly a thousand years apart from the last.
My latest ancestor, a man named Áedan, I see died long before his time, only a mere twenty-four years old.
I try clicking on his name, but nothing happens. I sigh, seeing no help from the page.
I scroll down the page out of pure curiosity, and realize that there are hundreds of people on here, the dates slowly going farther and farther back in history.
Then I see the third oldest name.
Ariean Dùrmeuse.
It's not really the name that frightens me though. It's one of the facts.
'Gender- Female.'
Which means that there WAS, in fact, another.
There was another girl Phoenix.
Oh my god! This changes everything! I am not, in fact, the first female Phoenix ever! There was another!
But, wait.
How come nobody else knows about this other girl? How come the fact that there was another girl Phoenix was hidden away and forgotten?
I try clicking on her name, but surprise surprise, nothing happens.
I growl in frustration.
I decide to look her name up on the engine.
I, like an idiot, back off the site, and search her name.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing comes up.
No suggestions, no 'go back' signs, no random ads, nothing.
Just whiteness and the top options bar thing.
Weird.
So I go back to see if I spelled her name wrong, and the website is gone.
I scroll back and forth, up and down, EVERYWHERE, but it's gone, as if erased from the internet.
I get a funny feeling about this, and decide to be more careful about what I search up, suddenly becoming completely paranoid that someone is
monitoring me.
So I just go back and decide to use this Áedan character as my essay focus, still unable to rid myself of the feeling of being watched.

3 hours, a finished essay, a cramped hand and a huge headache later, I finally close my laptop, quite satisfied with all the information I got on Áedan.
I seriously hope it gets a good mark.
Yawning, I get up and look at my clock.
12:30! Holy shiznits, it'll be fun getting up in the morning now.
I rub my eyes, suddenly realizing just how tired I am, my limbs all feeling as if they're made of lead or
something.
I slowly change into my pajamas, brush my teeth like some demented zombie, and collapse into bed, falling asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

I am running through the forest again, the poachers chasing me past all of the past Phoenixes, each one dying a horrible death while screaming in agony,the screams echoing endlessly, while I hear evil voices screaming that I'm next.
This seems to go on for eternity, the screams of agony filling and deafening my ears as more images of bloody carnage zoom past.
I am suddenly flung upwards, caught once again in the rope trap from the forest.
I see blood everywhere, and realize that it's mine.
I am a Phoenix again, and I try to scream as the men yank at everything they can get a hand on, but nothing comes out, and they continue to torture me.
Just as I feel I am about to die from pain and bloodless, something comes out of nowhere and the men disappear, and somehow I know that the something is the wolf, and that he got rid of the men.
The bloody scenery disappears and the screaming with it, along with the pain, and suddenly it is Kyrin, holding me bridal style as a human once again, asking if I am alright.
I can't even respond, only stare into his piercing blue eyes.
He opens his mouth to say something.
I look at his perfect lips and listen closely.
He opens his mouth, takes a breath and says,
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I am so confused and it is so loud and disorienting that I try to roll away, and unfortunately, it works.
I freefall down until I hit something.
HARD.
I jolt awake as I hit my hardwood flooring, tangled hopelessly in my bedsheets, as my new alarm continues to blare deafeningly loud.
I scramble to hit the snooze button, but it's not there!
I scream and try to smash it to stop the noise, but nope, nothing.
It's FREAKING INDESTRUCTIBLE!
I panic and hurl it across the room, but apparently the outlet has an extremely strong grip on the plug-in, as it just whiplashes back and hits me square in the face.
I fall backwards, my head hitting the wall as I yelp from the blow.
The alarm FINALLY stops on the floor, mercilessly glaring the time at me.
I massage my face, the pounding pain fading quickly.
'HAHA EVIL CLOCK! I CAN HEAL FROM YUUU! MWAHAHAHAHA!'
I almost do a dance around the room until I remember my dream.
What the heck? I can understand the scary part -I shiver as I remember it- but Kyrin? What on Earth was that about? I face palm as I think about what my own stupid brain dreamed.
Like, really, KISSABLE
LIPS?!
Yep, it finally happened.
I have finally gone insane.
"Akaelya, you are going to be late!" A voice yells up the stairs.
I try to push the disturbing dream put of my head as I run through my morning routine and fly down the stairs for breakfast.
"So how did you sleep, dear?" My mom asks as I shove cereal into my face like the world ends tomorrow.
I swallow, considering all that happened last night, and how I didn't actually get that much sleep to consider.
"Pretty good" I reply.
I am OBVIOUSLY not going to tell her about my dream.
"Good" she says making her way to the garage connector door, keys jangling in her hand.
"Have a great day at school honey!" She calls as she shuts the door behind her.
I hear her start up her car and leave as I finish my cereal and collect my stuff from everywhere around the house, smiling as I look at my 3 page essay that I think will do rather well for marks.
I pull on my boots and jacket just as the bus stops at my driveway.