Stars of Tomorrow [A Bloody Painter Story]

Chapter 13

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??? POV

'I'm scared...' I was the only thing I could think of as I pressed my back against a wall, curled up into a ball. All I could see was thick gray smoke coming from the fire which engulfed everything it touched. Sweat poured down my face, the heat along with the smoke made me weaker. I could hardly breath and my vision would go black every now and then. I coughed and grabbed my chest.

"There's another one here!" Someone nearby yelled.

My head perked up and I felt a smile appear on my face. 'Someone is here to help!' Pain gathered in my chest, forcing me to cough multiple times. My body hunched forward and suddenly...an explosion.

I let out a scream, the fire singed the left side of my face. All there was was agony. I rolled around on the ground while holding my left eye, now unable to open it.

"Oh, you poor thing," a voice cooed. Shakingly, I turned my head towards the man, catching a glimpse of his bright blue eyes and blonde hair. I reached out to him but he stepped backwards. "Don't you dare lay your filthy hands on me!" His voice caused me to flinch and pull my arm back. "You're kind is not needed here." With that, an object came flying towards my face and then...darkness.

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I jolted forward from my bed, a hand over my left eye which was throbbing. I sat there and soon the pain slowly went away. I then looked down at my hands. They wouldn't stop trembling. "What was that? That felt too real..."

Glancing over at the clock, I let out a groan. "5 more minutes till my alarm would of gone off." Gingerly I got out of bed and walked towards the bathroom. Turning on the faucet, I leaned forward and splashed the cool water on my face. I took a deep breath and straightened myself. Slowly I looked up from the sink to the mirror above only to not see me

I was staring at a monster, one that resembled that of a cat except the left side of its face looked almost decayed or scarred and its hair had covered the left eye as well. There were stitches going along the edge of that scar, as well as stitches going from the corner of its mouth and stoping just before its cheeks. What was strange was that it had the same shocked expression on its face that I wore on mine. Slowly, my hand reaching towards it and my eyes trailed after it. The tips of my fingers touched the cold glass that sent a shiver down my spine. Looking back at the one in the mirror, it gave me a blank, bored look and then...it smiled.

I jumped backwards, hitting the door in the process. "....?!" My neighbor shouted, only I couldn't hear what she said. All I could focus on was the cheshire cat like smile in front of me. I hated it.

It seemed to have laughed or gave a small chuckle to my reaction. It then tilted its head to the left and what I saw brought pain into my left eye. Its left eye was not normal, everything was black. Its iris's, the sclera (white part of the eye), all of it was black. But what made me more terrified was that in its eye, where the edge of the iris would be, was a white O and a X right through it.

Clenching my fists, I glared at the one in the mirror. Then it did it again. It smiled that cheshire cat smile and I felt like I was going to lose it...and I did. With all my might, despite being spooked, I hurtled my fist dead center of its face. Blood trickled down into the sink, my breath became heavy and my whole body was in pain. But it was worth it, now that that despicable smile was gone.