Recap!
Images still flashed through Ally’s mind, and she couldn’t stop them; the little boy, her and Joy, her parents. But she still couldn’t remember. Finally, walking back to where he friends stood, she saw the front door, and all the damage it had taken from the inside. Ally was once again flooded by the memory of her father, the night of the fire. Flames licked at her skin as he flung himself with all his might against the door. Why wouldn’t it open? He had more than enough power to break down a door… Her head pulsed with a searing pain, and Annalee fell to the ground, unconscious.
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War Cry Ch 10.1 When you cant remember...
*flashback*
She was there again, in that room, that horrible room, being shielded by her mother’s arms. Where the paint peeled and the stench of burning flesh filled her nose, where the heat stung her skin and that sound, oh that sound. It drummed in her ears and made her flinch every time it happened.
THUD
THUD
THUD
It wouldn’t stop, no matter how much her mother pleaded. No matter how much her mother told him it was useless, her father wouldn’t stop flinging himself against the door with all his might. He was doing everything in his power to save his wife and child from this fate. Someone had to know, right? He thought, continuing his assault on the door. They had to… no one would just let them die… watch their house burn down... let them be eaten alive by the never ending flames…
How did it end up like this? How did their home become their hell, their grave?
Annalee watched him, her eyes narrowing on the door, as with every blow the cracks deepened but the door would not budge. She willed the door to open. She willed the flames licking at her skin, burning her and singing her nightgown, to go away. But most of all, she willed this to be nothing but a dream.
Who would be so cruel as to set her home on fire? It was a haunting thought that gave her chills even though the heat of the fire was making her skin darken and crack. Her mother looked down at her, growing teary eyed and shaking her head as if doing the same as she was –willing this all away.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered into Annalee’s ears, pulling her close and hugging her as tight as she could. “I am so, so, sorry.”
Annalee’s eyes opened as she was overtaken by a searing pain in her head. She looked at her mother, not understanding what she had just done, but knowing their time was coming to an end. Her eyes roamed the house in slow motion, as roof paneling cracked but did not fall, and furniture burned to ashes before them. The last thing she saw was that dirty green shirt her father wore, covered in soot and sweat as he continued to thrust himself against the door, completely oblivious to what had just conspired between his love and his daughter.
THUD
THUD
THUD
Annalee flinched, and then the world around her went dark.
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*present*
Annalee woke with a start when an unfamiliar and stinging smell burnt her nostrils. Ammonia. It took a few seconds for her to regain her bearings, and to realize where she was- the clearing, laying in the soft, moist covered grass just outside of what was once her home. A wave of nausea hit her as she sat up, taking in her surroundings and noticing that there were more people here now, than before she fell unconscious. How had she fainted anyways?
YOU ARE READING
War Cry
AksiAnnalee Sullivan lost her parents in a fire when she was a child. She remembers that night with great clarity, but nothing else. Her grandparents took her in and raised her in her mothers footsteps - to be a fine Illian woman, and a strong leader of...
