Charred Feelings

Chapter 8:Burnt

When I returned home the house was silent. It was 4 in the afternoon and I laid down.

I wanted to scream my heart out. I wanted to thrash my soul out. My body felt icky and ugly. I was basically a camera for them. My stomach knotted. How much did they know? Did they know that I lost my compact?

Is this why Kira got raped? Was this a warning?

I covered my face and fell asleep.

Somewhere in the middle of the night I heard screams. I jumped out of bed and walked out onto the steps of my house. My neighbors that I've grown up with were out there In their pajamas also. We all stood and watched as a woman was pulled out from her house by Green Coats.

It was Andrew's mother.

A scream escapes my throat. Her cries fill the night. A GreenCoat held his hand above his head. In his hands was a knife.

He moves his hand down dives the knife straight into her neck.

The lights flicker as she screams for one last time. The light shined on his eyes for a second. That was enough for me to make out his face. It was Andrew.

I ran down the my steps and
over to Him.

I heard crying and screams behind me. I clench my fist and punch across his jaw. With the small impact Andrew fell back dropping hid mom's limp body.

I fall to the ground. I sit there and stare at her. Andrew recovers and grabs me from behind.

His face is brought close to mine. I almost gasp when I see it. In his eyes were tears. His face contorted. He was crying.

He grabs the knife that had slipped out of his hand when I punched him. He held it close to my throat.

I scream and struggle. The lights flicker again.

"They made me do it. They made me Lyra. All of this..I-I'm sorry.", those were his last words.

He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and pins me against the wall.

His knife is still held to me. I look at the witnesses. They stand there frozen. There's a faint ringing in my ear again.

His hand moves and I braced for impact. It got quiet. There was no movement or noise.

I open my eyes. The grip on my collar was gone. Andrew laid on the ground.

He was bleeding and there was a black hole on his back. I looked up. There was a crowd of GreenCoats and WhiteCoat Officials. One of the GreenCoats had a raised gun.

I slumped to the ground. Mike was the One with the Gun.

I screamed again. I crawled over to his body, shaking his shoulders. All the hate I had for him. Gone.

"A-Andrew come back..p-please.", I cried.

He was innocent. I looked up to the other Green and White coats. They set him up. And they killed him.

Mike.

I didn't know Mike worked with them.

I had instantly forgotten that I had cried with Mike just today. I forgotten how hurt he was. Because he killed.

Someone called out my name in the distance. I just stared at The Whitecoats as they cleaned up the bodies of Andrew and his mom.

Someone brushes against me. It was Apsen. He helped me up.

My neighbors just stood there. Shocked just like me. We watched as the GreenCoats left our streets. The Whitecoats stood there waiting for something.

That's when he turned around. Mike. He looked me hard in the eye.

"Mike.", I mouthed.

He left along with the others.

"Everyone, take out your green pills.", a WhiteCoat yells.

Everyone shuffles into their homes to get their compacts. My heart beats fast. I move out of Aspen's arms and run into the house. I lock the door behind me. I looked out the window as everyone was lined up. Aspen was too. I bite down. I forgot to take Aspen inside. But of course he would still obey orders.

They all took their pills. When they did their shoulders slumped. They walked in sync back into their homes. Is that what the Green pill does? My stomach knots. Where is Kira?

I run up to her room and her door was wide open. I panic. All of her stuff is there. Except her. I resist the urge to run outside. The Whitecoats still might might be out there. I curled myself up on the couch trying to calm myself down from all the events that had just happened.

I assured myself that Kira was ok, that The murders that night was fake. And most of all..that the GreenCoat wasn't Mike and that he didn't shoot Andrew.