thunderstruck ⁑ lrh

I

The irritable sound of her alarm goes off as she rolls out of the bed.  With a smack to it once to shut it off, it doesn't stop. Axel frowns and then peels her eyes open to check the time-- 3:57. That is definitely not the time she had set it for.

The bottoms of her feet suddenly felt warm from the soft carpet, a satisfying heat rising through her entire body as her toes curled in on the soft material--That is when her eyes widen in realization that there is a non-existent alarm: there's a fire in her house.

And that alarm is but only a fire alarm. Her eyes widened beyond belief as she grabbed her fleece bathrobe off her doorknob and scurried down the stairs. The incandescence of fluttering flames made heat collide with her face as smoke filled her lungs, making her choke with no room to breathe.

She darted through the window next to the stairwell, shatters of glass surrounding and sticking her body as she hit the damp ground. Axel brushed muck and dew off of her face and nightclothes as she looked at her house that used to be so lovely light the entire neighbourhood. Different parts of her limbs stung as she glided her fingertips over the shards still grafted onto her skin. Her face cringed as she attempted to pull a piece out. She was out of luck. She tried calling her parents, but the flames were too full and flared to hear anything. Instead, she ran about the outside of each side of the house.

Axel found her mother standing there, witnessing the flames. She found herself speculating over her small amount of luck as only escaping.

"Where's Daddy?" Axel asked with a worried look.

Her mother frowned, not saying one thing to her poor, oblivious daughter.

Axel's heart beat rose and her head pounded as she couldn't keep a calm face anymore. This was the last time she had ever burst into tears right in front of her mother.

"Axel. Axel wake up it's only a dream." She heard someone say while shaking her body.

She looked up to see a disfigured face through her tears. She couldn't make out who it was, but they were attempting to console her.

She sat shaking and sobbing on her bed, oblivious to her surroundings. All that was on her mind was that day. The day that changed everything.

She could remember the adrenaline she felt coursing through her veins when she realized the imminent danger. When she realized how this event would play out.

She could recall the feeling of not being able to breathe. The feeling of constricted airways. The feeling of choking.

She remembered the feeling of numb pain as she had fallen through her escape window. The pain she felt as she made impact with the ground.

She recounted the feeling of panic as she frantically searched for her parents, hoping that they had been spared.

But the most haunting memory was when she realized that he was gone. When she found that she would never get him back. The one person that truly understood her had been taken from her life and would never come back.

As Axel lay in midst of a panic attack, Luke sat beside her trying to calm her with futile attempts. He tried to think of anything that he may have learned about this, but he couldn't recall anything.

So, Luke resorted to whispering soothing things in her ears while holding her body close to his.

As Axel slowly calmed down, Luke rocked them both slightly back and forth. When Luke was sure that Axel was alright again, he pulled away and turned her to look at him.