Discovering Riley

Chapter 4: The Fire

Chapter 4

Riley’s POV

This is the first time in two years that I went a night without those dreams about that fire. And it felt good not having that bother me. The next morning, I felt more alive than ever. I’m working on forgetting what happened yesterday and I’m doing a good job at it. It was hard enough getting into this college, so I’m not going to ruin it now.

I tied my hair up in a messy bun and stuffed my books into my messenger bag. I hauled it over my shoulder and walked out of my dorm room in a rather happy mood.

As I made my way towards the school building, I ran into Liz and Adam. I was really hoping to avoid the both of them, well, really only Adam. I actually missed Liz’s happy attitude from yesterday.

“Hey!” Liz exclaimed and pulled me in for a hug. I glanced at Adam for a moment, who had his eyes on the ground, as she pulled away. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. I was just heading to my anatomy lab.” I told the both of them.

“Do you know where that is?” Liz asked me. “We could show you to it, if you’d like?”

I nodded hesitantly. “Sure.” If I did know where it was, I wouldn’t have really wanted to ask them for help. I honestly didn’t want to be near Adam right now.

Liz looped her arm through mine and pulled me into the building while Adam followed in suit. “So, did your roommate ever show up?” She asked me.

“No. I’ve been thinking maybe I wasn’t assigned one.” I suggested.

“No, that can’t be right. The dormitory this year is a full house.” Liz said. “You were supposed to have a roommate.”

I shrugged. “I don’t see the problem with no roommate, though.”

“That’s true.” Liz muttered. “I just hope nothing happened to her or anything, you know?”

I didn’t think about something bad happening to her. I hope she’s alright.

Liz released my arm to replace it with Adam’s and smiled at me. “Well, this is the anatomy lab. Enjoy your class.”

“Thanks. You too. See you guys later.” I called out and slipped into the classroom.

I was glad that I only had one class every Tuesday and Thursday. That means that I had time to do my homework during that time.

I was walking back to my dorm when Josh and Derek fell in step with me.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked them cautiously. I doubt with so many people around they would try anything, so I wasn’t as worried as I should be. I was safe. For now.

“Just wanted to apologize for yesterday.” Josh said, digging his hands into his pockets.

“Apology accepted.” I tried walking a bit faster, but they easily caught up with me.

“You don’t need to be scared of us, Riley.” Derek whispered from my left side.

I glanced at him and could see the sincerity in his eyes. He wasn’t the one who attacked me, it was Josh.

“I’m not scared. I’m cautious.” I explained to them.

“We’re on your side. Don’t worry.” Josh assured me.

“Says the one who tried to burn me alive.”

Josh chuckled. “It was an accident. Anyways, Adam healed you so everything’s fine now. We’re cool, right?”

I stopped walking and turned towards the both of them, causing them to stop in their tracks. “Look, I don’t want to be around you guys. After what happened yesterday, I really don’t want any of you near me. What you three guys do isn’t normal and is dangerous and I don’t need that right now. So do me a favor and back off.” I snapped at them, turning back around towards my dorm.

When I got back in, I threw my bag onto the bed and fell on it. I looked up at the ceiling in thought, folding my arms behind my head. Why does this have to happen to me? How can I get over everything that happened yesterday? And I can’t even trick myself by saying that it was all fake either. It was too real. And painful.

I couldn’t help but compare the fire in the forest to the fire in my dreams. It felt like I was in the same situation as my dream was. The fire wouldn’t go out as much struggling, wafting, and even throwing water on it as I did. It kept growing every time I tried to get away from it. No fire does that.

Then that’s when it hit me.

That fire in my dreams had to be real. And it had something to do with witchcraft.

I clicked the Internet Explorer icon and waited patiently for the page to load.

I was in the computer lab that was conveniently located at the far end of the girls’ dormitory. It was quiet and there were only a few people in there so it wouldn’t be a problem if I were to investigate about that house.

Finally, the page opened. In the tab I typed in ‘house fires in 2009’. A long list of result came up, causing me to groan in annoyance.

I clicked on the very first tab and watched the page open, revealing an article about a house fire in a house in the middle of nowhere. I scrolled down a bit more and saw the large picture it had of the house in flames.

I gasped when I realized that it was the exact same house in my dreams. I scrolled back up and quickly skimmed through the article. “It was so sudden…everything burned to the ground…no survivors…only witness was Adam Hunter.”

I furrowed my brows at the name and clicked the external link for it. Then on the screen was Adam. Of course, he looked younger in this picture since it was from two years ago. But isn’t it a coincidence how Adam was a witness to the fire I’ve been having dreams about for two years?

No, I answered myself. It’s isn’t a coincidence.

I right clicked on the photo of the fire and clicked on the print icon.

“We need to talk.” I told Adam once I made it to the student lounge. I had a feeling he’d be there and I was glad I was right.

He pushed away from the pool table and looked at me. “I thought you said you were going to ignore me.”

“I still am.” I replied and slammed the photo of the fire onto the pool table.

His eyes widened at the sight of it and I wasn’t surprised. “Where’d you get that?”

“It doesn’t matter where I got it.” I leaned closer towards him, that way no one could hear us. Ignoring the feeling in the pit of my stomach, I gazed up at him. “This has something to do with witchcraft. I know it does. So, I want answers. Now.”