Finding Finn Reed

XV

"You wanna tell me why you did that?" Atticus asked. I had acted upon selfish desires when I went back to Finn. I had driven myself nearly mad just trying to figure out how I'd save him. Upon coming to the conclusion that I couldn't, I had to achieve some sort of closure, for the sole purpose of my sanity. I was beginning to regret it however. It was at a moments impulse that I decided to go back. After seeing my apartment, the burnt boxes and belongings; I broke down. I was infuriated, and heartbroken all at the same time. "Are you going to answer my question, or are you just going to keep your head up your ass?" Atticus asked once more. "I needed to see him one more time, what does it matter to you anyway, what do you care?" I muttered. Atticus rushed up to me, grabbed me by the shoulder, and sat me down on the burnt couch. "Keep time hopping, and you'll be gone. Poof. No longer in existence, is that even important to you?" he loudly asked. I rolled my eyes, and tried to block him out. But no matter how hard I tried to block him out, he was in my face and he was livid.

"I try to care, but at this point why should I?" I somberly asked. Atticus made sure we both made clear eye contact with one another, not once did he let me out of his sight. He deeply sighed and said, "I don't think you want to die." Despite how angry I was, he was right. I didn't want to die, but I didn't want to time hop anymore. It began to hurt. It was always confusing and painful when I knew that I'd have to back eventually, to save Finn. "I just want to be normal" I softly whispered. Atticus looked at me with confusion, not being able to comprehend what I had said. "You are normal," he said, "What are you talking about?" "I don't want to be a time hopper anymore, I want it gone" I raised my voice a little louder, "It feels like death is my only loop hole." Atticus's face switched from confusion to anger, "Don't be a stupid idiot" he shouted. "And then there's that" I went on, "You're a fucking asshole sometimes, why am I your victim?" I stood up from the burnt couch, and walked over to the dining room. I began to pace back and forth, taking deep breaths in order to calm the anxiety.

"I've never met another time hopper," Atticus whispered, "I don't want you to die." I continued to pace back and forth, however I was looking at Atticus at the same time. "So what? You meet a time hopper and you're suddenly in love?" I asked, my body beginning to shake. Atticus said nothing for a while, but when he spoke, he made sure I was able to completely hear him. "Is that so bad?" I stopped pacing, my body stood still for a while as I tried to process what just happened. "Stop screwing with me, sometimes you're a real fucking assho-", "I'm not screwing with you," Atticus interrupted, "I don't want you to leave." I let out a mordant chuckle, and turned my back to Atticus. "Please tell me you're lying" I begged. "Why? What's wrong with liking you?" he asked with a cracking voice. "I'm in love with Finn" I strictly said. "What happened to the whole closure ordeal you had with him? What kind of a person does that, and still has the guts to love them?" he asked. I could tell he was tensing up, even though my back was still facing him. I knew he was choking up. "I guess I'm that kind of person" I softly murmured. I heard footsteps coming towards me. Atticus gripped me right shoulder, and turned me around. He began walking forward until I was pinned against the wall.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, get the hell off of me" I screamed, my words echoing through the entire house. "Not until you look me in the eyes, and tell me you feel absolutely nothing towards me," he said, "Tell me you love Finn." "You're fucking psychotic, let me go" I kept yelling for Atticus to let me go, and to go away. But he wouldn't, not unless I told him I loved Finn. "If I tell you I love Finn, will you let me go, and get the hell away from me?" I asked. Atticus gave me a smirk, and slightly shut his eyes. "Say it, and I'll let you go for good, I'll walk right out those doors and never see you again." My body trembled with uneasiness. I began to feel a heavy pressure on my chest, and I could feel my heart pounding against my bones.

"I love Finn" I whispered into Atticus's ears. "You're lying," Atticus whispered back, "You want to know how I know?" "Screw you, you son of a bitch, I don't want to hear you speak anymore" I cried. Atticus didn't pay attention to my struggle, or how much I wanted him to leave. Instead, he came in closer to me, and whispered so close to my ear, I could feel his breath on my neck. "It's because you know you can't save him," he whispered, "And you know you can't love a dead man." Atticus's words infuriated me, and hurt me at the same time. I tried to pull myself away from him, but it only made him come closer. "What do you want from me?" I whispered as I cried. Atticus grabbed my chin, and faced me towards him, our faces an inch apart. "You" he muttered. My heart sank at his words, and before anything else could happen, he pulled himself away from me and started laughing hysterically. I was utterly shaken by what Atticus had deliberately done. "What in the fuck is wrong with you?" I shouted, clenching my fists. Atticus kept laughing, and looked at me. "I didn't think you'd be so serious," he laughed, "God, you give a good show." My body bolted with pure anger. "I've had enough" I angrily whispered. "What was that?" Atticus continued to laugh. The burning sensation began to creep again, but this time it was stronger than ever. My body began to convulse, and I immediately dropped to the floor. Atticus stopped laughing, and walked over to me. 

"Alright, knock it off you don't have to be so dramatic" he whined as he reached his hand out. "Fuck off, you monster!" I shouted as loud as ever. Suddenly, the floor began to shake, and eventually crack open. "What are you doing?" Atticus asked, his serious tone was back. I didn't reply, however. Atticus's words began to fade away, and everything became bleary. The burning sensation had made it's way out of my body, on onto my skin. I looked down at my hands, both of them were bright red. 'Am I on fire?' I asked myself over and over and my body scorched with an unbelievable amount of heat. "Melanie! Stop it, stop! Stop, please just stop!" Atticus's words echoed. His words only made me angrier, my bodies heat began to shoot out in all directions, burning anything in its path. My skin began to crawl, I could feel my skin move in all sorts of directions. It itched, and burned all at the same time. I could see Atticus trying to get closer to me, but the heat that came off my body kept shooting him back to the furthest corner in the room. Aside from the unbearable heat my body produced, a strong bright light was also emitted. The light gave off a blistering red hue, which lit the room like an inferno blanket.

With every minute that passed by, my body burned more. Eventually, all of my tension seemed to just explode everywhere, releasing intensive energy. I began to scream as the energy was being released, the pain felt completely inadmissible. With the remaining strength I had, I looked up at Atticus, and looked at him with painful eyes. I could see the pain in his eyes as well, the pain he caused. I clenched my face from the pain, and screamed even louder, which only emitted even more massive amounts of energy. This feeling was like no other feeling I had ever wanted to experience.

I dug my hands into the cracked floors, and lit the entire floor with the inferno light. Atticus stood in the corner, and watched with horrified expressions. Suddenly, all of the pain, all of the heat and inferno lighting, receded. It was all replaced by a whitest hue I had ever seen. It was such a bright light, my eyes were the only thing that hurt from staring into it. My body began to feel light, almost like I was floating. At this time, Atticus was able to rush over to me, and put his arms around me. I pushed him away, and shouted at him to leave, it was all his fault. But before I could say or do anything else, my heart had stopped momentarily. My body became frigid, and I collapsed onto the floor once more and closed my eyes, the bright light still being emitted. "Oh my god, It's all over your skin" Atticus cried to himself. I was unable to see what he was seeing, the only thing I was capable of doing, was lying still. "Everything's fading, what did you do?!" his words slowly fading away, along with my sense of reality.

When I had woken up, I wasn't in my apartment anymore. In fact, I wasn't in Intemilly anymore. I was in my own world, my own timeline.