Flame Rekindled

A Promise With A Consequence

The air is thin.. and darkness swells around me. I have to keep strong for her. I love her to much to let her know the pain I am truly facing. I feel the ground around me which cuts me from the glass from the floor, and has patches of dirt in certain areas. I don't know what to do... Fear has over come my body but I force a smile, and she notices. I see tears roll down her cheek, but I am to weak to wipe them away. "It's okay Dezi." I finally release. That took almost all of my energy the instant it left my lips. The wound in my abdomen hurts like hell... It feels like someone put my insides in a blender. Dark spots start to cloud my vision, so I reach for her hand wanting to touch her one last time before slipping away into the void slowly... seeing no promised light that you are suppose to when you die.

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I jump straight up. The same dream happened, but this time was different... I forget almost instantly though. I get up and dressed then head down stairs. Mom has finally come around and started to speak, but only a few words. She suggested that I see a therapist soon about this, but I don't want to tell some stranger what I am going through... I want my friends, my girlfriend, my mom, my best friend. I want all of them to help me, not some outsider. 

I come to the counter of the kitchen to see a note. Working late tonight. Love you XOXO. -Mom. I half frown. Of course she is working late tonight. "Lighten up, she is working for you." I hear a voice. I stop in my tracks. Not able to move. "Panki...?" I gasp. After all this time, is this when she finally comes back. I hear light footsteps behind me stop. I turn with the biggest smile I could throw on and have it erased immediately. "Brianna." I realize. She smiles back. "Glad you came to your senses now!" She teased. I growled at her and stomped to the pantry to make breakfast. 

I open the door and without hardly any effort it shuts right after with Bri's hand on the door frame. "You leave for three months, then come waltzing back here? Cruel." I bark at her. She tsk's my way then uses her free hand to trap me against the wall. "That is no way to greet a friend now is it?" She laughs. I glare at her. It has been three months since she went with the undertakers for training and hunting. I have kept up with her file from her parents every now and then, so I would make sure she was fine, but she is the new heir for leader down there. She is considered Top of her class, and she is not the same Bri that was with me long ago. That Bri wouldn't be in my personal space, and not act like one of their mutts.

"Don't look so down luv." She stares back, not budging from her stance. "Any reason you're here 'luv '." I mocked. She snickered and backed up against the counter behind her, freeing me. "Would you believe me if I wanted to visit and old friend from my past?" She smirks. "Not unless you had information on either A.) You killed the killer or B.) You found Panki." She starred back with no expression. I guess something still rattles her after all this time. I don't fully resent her, and this isn't the first time she visited me. Last time she was half of what she was now, and half of her old self. Kind of two different people fighting for dominance in one body, and I don't like this side of her. She is ruthless and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She pushes people to their limits and she has no boundaries. The old her would be ashamed of what she has become.

"I came here to ask for your help." She finally caved in. Some form of old sad look in her eye she use to get when she almost lost cards against anyone was there. I felt somewhat bad for her in this state. "What do you need help with?" She perks up a bit. "We need for you to give any information about Panki as possible. Every detail is important." I slouched down a bit. Trying to register everything I know about her. How we use to play inside as we were kids, how she moved away when we were real young, her ears different from mine. My mouth tightens to a line as I study every inch of Panki's face in my mind. Her image now is starting to blur since it has been so long, but I slowly remember. I open my eyes. With Bri's face studied on mine. "I'll help." I finally answer back. Her face becomes a bright smile and she grips my hand. "Thank you, this will be one step closer to getting her back to you." Her voice jumps with excitement. "What do you mean just me? For both of us." She calms a bit. "Deziree... I am staying with them." What?! "No your not... You can't!" I stand up. "I made a deal with them before I left. They would allow me to join them if I stay after we solve the case." She mumbles. I can see the pain in her eyes and she gets up straight to walk away, but I grab her arm and spin her to face me. I feel tears build up behind my eyes as she slowly slips back to that stranger she was. Her face fills with shock to my touch.

I finally pull her in for a hug, rapping my arms around her neck. I quietly sob as she returns the hug. "Shh.. It's okay, it's okay." She tells me. As she says those words my grip got tighter. "I'm so sorry..." She finally said. "But I did this for her... for you." I release my grip but she keeps hers around my waist. We face each other as she studies the tear marks that trace my face. I look like an injured child who just got her knee scraped. "When do you have to leave?" I ask her. She looks down at her watch. "Not for a couple hours." I smile at her wiping away the the tears. "Good."

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I slump over my Mom. Her hair as curly as it was the day we moved back here. Her face pail... Her clothes covered in blood... Her blood. Who could have done this to such an innocent person?! This fills me with rage more than depression, and my fuel is my own mothers corpse. Do it my luv.... Kill my killer... Her words echo in my head. My ears flame with fury.. My vision becomes dark till I can only see in black and white. This doesn't surprise me... This doesn't even scare me... I don't even know how I feel anymore once I stand to my feet. I pick up my mother and start to carry her out of the coffee shop with no expression... No one must see her this way. She would be disappointed if people saw her this way. Another voice told me. What brings me back was a scream. Dez's scream... for Lillian? My vision floods with color, and fear takes back my body buckling my knees. "What's happening to me..." I cry to myself. I place my mother down then jump back up, trying to find her. I run to the front of the shop still in shambles from the shadowed man. "What happened?" I yelled, seeing Dez slumped to the ground holding someone. "It's Lillian.... A man... Stabbed her... He ran..." Before she could finish I bolted out the door. This creature has crossed my path once again. The next time I see him... He. Will. Die.