Trapped

Part 2: Fire

"Clarissa, wait! Don't leave!" The man ran after his wife, grabbing her arm and forcefully pulling her to him.

"Let go of me!" The woman screamed, yanking her arm free of his hold.
"You need to listen," The man shook his head repeatedly and blinked rapidly, "I-I need you to listen. Will you please just listen?!"

The woman stared at the man who her husband had become in shock. He was unrecognizable.

"Who are you?" She questioned, getting as far away from him as the room would allow.

"I-It's me butterfly. It's John, your husband, the father of your child." The man said softly, hoping to remove the fear he had planted in his wife's eyes.

"Whoever you are, you are not the man I married. You're a monster."

The man's anger bubbled and he let out a loud laugh, "I'm not a monster Clarissa. You're the monster. Shall we go find our precious little ladybug today? Where on earth could she be hiding?"

The woman's body turned ice cold in fear as she ran through the house calling for her daughter to return safely to her. After being unable to locate her daughter in the house, Clarissa ran to the run down shed in the backyard and shrieked when she saw it aflame.

"No! No! My baby, my baby!" Clarissa ran towards the fire without hesitation only to be propelled back by the scorching heat that threatened to singe her to the bone. She dropped to her knees and wept as she felt her soul being ripped from her body, the heat from the flames no match to the agony in her heart.

John knelt at his wife's side and held her firmly against him, not allowing her any space to try to escape his hold. 

"Don't cry butterfly. You wanted this. You told me the other day that you wanted it to be how it was when we first met and now it can be. We can finally be the way we were when we first met, together and in love, just you and me, no distractions."

In that moment, Clarissa's heart went cold, her soul leaving with her daughters, and all that remained of Clarissa was an empty carcass.