Still: Prologue

Part One- six

When we arrived at home I let the children go up to their room to change then do whatever the wanted. They most likely were on the new Nintendo 3Ds that their father had bought them. It was silent upstairs, which allowed me to cook and prepare dinner. I remember how much I love cooking, whether it included baking, arranging, or even creating desserts. I loved food in such a weird way.

I remember that time where I had baked a wonderful vanilla ice cream cake for Nikka’s crew, along with a large feast.

Nikka had eaten all of it by herself.

I smiled at her, I remember, in celebration for being able to solve the mystery that she had to solve with the team.

She even brought Zimmer, Simple, Aden, Will, and Harold over to eat as well, and they devoured my food in less than an hour. I was very satisfied.

It’s always to a cook’s pleasure when his or her audience enjoys the food.

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The sweet smell of fresh veggies and perfectly prepared meat filled the kitchen.

The kids came running in, their mouths drooling from the smell. They helped me prepare the table quickly as I washed some dishes, looking out the window and wondering when Travis would be able to come home soon.

I wiped the large blacktop kitchen, and finally sat down to eat dinner with Adais and Solana. I smiled and laughed subtly as I watched them stuff themselves with the food, and told them to eat slower.

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I tucked them away to sleep some hours after dinner, they were tired and I didn’t even need to finish the first sentence of the night time book I usually read to them. They slept in their bunk beds, little Adais taking the bottom while Solana slept on top. The rest of the room I kept clean, and had a separate trunk of toys for each of them. I quietly closed the door and exited the room before I went to mine.

I changed into my long pink pajama dress and got on the bed and soon fell asleep.

Half asleep I turned onto my side, still half dreaming about blackness. I thought I smelled something funky, but I believed that it was part of that blackness, so I turned to my other side.

Soon I came to my senses as I realized that the smell was actually real. I sat up, distressed, until I comprehended that there was a burning smell in the house.

Oh. My. God. Fire.

I could feel the heat emitting past the door.

I threw my sheets off and immediately ran to the door and attempted to open it, even though I had unlocked it from the inside, there was some kind of object obstructing the door. I couldn’t push past it.

I had to get to Adais and Solana, quick! I yelled their names out, but there was no response. I only heard wood burning and fire crackling outside my room.

Panicking, I ran back into the interior of my room and grabbed the phone, punching the numbers 911.

The line was dead.

I watched in horror as I saw smoke seep into my room through the gap under my door. As the smoke began to enclose the room, I soon started coughing.

“Oh my god, nooooo…” I whispered to myself, still wheezing.

I had to do to something, now.

Without even thinking properly, I grabbed the rifle that laid in Travis’s dresser- one that he barely used.

Having never pulled a trigger in my life, I aimed it at the wall where it was safe to shoot, and fired several rounds. The impact of each shot made me wince and pull back, but I kept going, formulating a circle so that I could get through.

Come on, please please…

I held the half empty rifle in my hands and prayed that it would work. As a result luck was on my side, and my stupid stunt worked. It collapsed. By now, it was getting extremely hot inside, and I could barely breathe.

Coughing, I crawled into the kids' room. The two held each other against the wall, tears running down their faces. When they saw me, they came running.

They were wheezing as well. My eyes began to tear up from the smoke. I felt that I could faint anytime soon.

I crawled on the floor to the children’s closet and hastily grabbed clothes, putting one over my mouth and telling the two to put them on as well.

How were we going to get out now?

I looked at the window. And immediately slid it open, popping the net outside. I looked out, and to my dismay, there was nothing to help us out.

I could hear the walls behind me begin to crackle with the sound of fire. No alarms had been set off. I could not believe that this was happening to us.

The kids were crying, and I had no way of helping them. Jumping out of the fifth floor meant immediate death.

I walked back and forth, looking around the room, trying to find something that could save us. Something, anything. I tried the door but it was blocked as well. I yelled and slapped the door, and kicked it.

It was all no use.

It was as if someone meant to kill us.

I looked back at the kids, on the floor, scared to death. My eyes were filled with water now as I could not stand the heat and smoke that now was pervading throughout the room. My vision blurred gradually and my head was spinning. Before I knew it, the black dots in my vision consumed me.