Short Stories

Finding Nicolai

*Slight gore*

This is my fault, I should have saved him, I caused this, I can't live with myself, I shouldn't have ran in fear, now he's gone... forever. We were only 10 when it happened, the fire swallowed our house.

"Nicolai? Where are you?" I cried.

"Lily, RUN!" Nicolai demanded.

Terror clenched at my chest, the pain was too much to bare. In an instant a dark silhouette emerged out of the fire and grabbed Nicolai.

"I SAID RUN LILY!" Terror ran down Nicolai's face as the strange man dragged him into the burning house. My eyes swelled with tears, my hands trembled, my knees clenched together but I ran 'till the only sight of the house was a faint glow in the distance.

The memory burnt into my mind. Every day I have to live with the memory of that night.

The sun fell upon the horizon, my body grew weak, my eyes blinked closed and I fell into a deep sleep. In my dream flames flickered high and I wept in sorrow, I heard cries as the thunder rolled through the dark misty night, the cries were my own. I saw my younger self and Nicolai, I saw the man drag Nicolai through the burning house but something was different. The man dragged Nicolai past the house and down the road. My body shook and a light gleamed through the dark clouds, I was waking up.

"Nicolai!" I yelled as I awoke. Tears stung my eyes but I quickly shook them away. I heaved myself off the ground.

"I must find him!" I proclaimed as I ran down the road.

A memory squeezed into my mind as I ran. A man with scruffy hair, bright green eyes and a disappointed look on his face, he looked a lot like Nicolai just older. He grabbed my hand and demanded

"Follow me!"

"No, you will not take me away from Lily!" I didn't know what was happening, the voice that came out of my mouth was not mine but Nicolai's. My body went limp as the man tightened his hands around my neck. In a heartbeat the world went black and I returned to the present. My mind was racing, I knew where to find Nicolai.

The streets were empty as the storm clouds rolled in, I wasn't going to quit, not until I found him. The rain bucketed down soaking my dark hair, thunder shook the sky and lightning crackled as I attempted to creep my way to the only place I thought Nicolai could be, the abandoned warehouse.

As I neared the warehouse I heard screams, screams of fear and cries of terror. All in a moment the sounds died down. The big wooden door was rotting and the paint on the bricks was peeling. The door swung open.

"Help me!" a voice desperately croaked.

"Save me!" another voice cried faintly.

Screams emerged out of the darkness, painful pleas and weak wails filled the air. Tears ran down my face as I entered the warehouse, the dark, gloomy warehouse. Cobwebs covered bones of once living children, burnt leaves covered the cold concrete floor.

All of a sudden a large piece of the roof fell on me. My muscles felt like they were being torn apart, my heart slowed down, then stopped. A bright light shined into my eyes. I was dead.

"NO!" I pushed myself off the floor, ignoring the pain that burned in my body.

"Lily?!" the whisper came "Save me!" it was Nicolai.

My heart pounded, a smile grew on my face but as the strange man approached Nicolai, the anger I've been holding in for 7 years came out. I charged at the man, my heart racing but I stopped.

My face went pale, my stomach dropped, my skin went cold as I recognised the man.

"FATHER?!" The word echoed through building. My father drew a sinister smile on his face then pointed a gun at Nicolai, terror ran through my blood. I dived towards my father.

The bullet hit its target, Lily was raised by her parents Kate and Brandon until she was ten when her mother died in a fire and her father kidnapped her twin brother Nicolai. For 7 years Lily lived on the streets.

No one could save her, the bullet when straight into her heart but it wouldn't have hurt as much because her heart was already broke