The Spirit Within

Chapter Four: Repeat of Events

The voice haunting her mind, Cassandra swung the bag over her shoulder, ready to head outside with Reina. A few hours earlier, Reina had told her to pack a duffel bag full of clothes and necessities. Cassandra obeyed, not asking why.

The mysterious noise was still sticking inside her head. She had no idea where it had come from. Her friends, who she thought wouldn't lie to her, hadn't heard a peep, while the voice had boomed over their own. It surely couldn't have come form her head, could it?

Cassandra shook it off. A trick of the wind wasn't about to make her go insane.

Yet, it had seemed so real...

"Hey," Russ waved a hand in front of her face, "Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there like a statue?" Cassandra looked up at him. His blue eyes were staring strait through her. She just stood there, not able to move under his gaze.

"Russ, stop it. Your scaring her," Reina was inside a truck Cassandra was all too familiar with. Her window was rolled down, her arms hanging out of it. "Let's get going already."

Russ rolled his eyes and migrated to the drivers seat. Cassandra followed suit, plopping into the back seat. The duffel bag took up most of the space, leaving her cramped and staring out the window. Reina plugging her phone into the stereo and playing her music, loudly might I add, didn't help the situation.

The sun shone brightly outside, barely any clouds hovering in the sky. Rows upon rows of houses were packed tightly, each one mimicking the other. No decorations, except maybe a few trees, were to be spotted. It all looked the same, like one big mirror, mirroring another, creating a cascading pattern. To some, it may look pretty, gorgeous even. But to Cassandra, it was boring. 

Nothing exciting ever happened. Everyone she met acted the same, cheery, like everything and everyone was happy. It scared her, making her feel trapped. She had to act the same as everyone else it seemed, or she would be an outcast. She just wanted to be-

Free...

Cassandra jumped. She had heard it again. It sounded vaguely familiar, somewhere she had heard it before today.

She rubbed her head, having banged it against the window when she jumped. She laid it back, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

^*^*^*^

A dagger slid across her chest, barely making a mark as she backed away. Her emerald blocked most of the damage, but the blade still tore her shirt a bit. The figure holding the dagger grunted in frustration, obviously annoyed at his target. He swung again, his aim off as the dagger tried to collide with her. It missed.

Cassandra took her chance. While the man pulled his arm back once more, Cassandra swung her leg and knocked his feet right out from under him. He crashed to the ground with a thud, the dagger clattering out of his hand.

She picked it up and held it against his throat. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly shut it when she heard her name.

"Cassandra!" A strained voice screamed. She stood slowly, keeping her foot planted to the mans chest. She surveyed her area when she was knocked back, a shattering sound ringing in her ears.

A low rumble woke her from her dream. The truck was pulled to a stop outside of the forest. Reina's head poked out from behind the front seat. "Wake up sleepy head," she said in a too sweet way, "You don't want to sleep through the whole trip do you?"

Cassandra opened one eye to look at her. "I do, actually," she said sleepily, "Sleep is better than hearing you talk all the time."

"Offence taken." Reina turned around, opened her door, and exited the truck.

Cassandra yawned and opened her own door. She tumbled out, taking the bag with her. The view before her was... well, green. The trees towered over her, branches hanging low in  her face. The fresh green leaves were still damp with dew.

Reina stepped into the scene, breathing in the fresh summer air. "Haven't been here in a while," she reached for a branch and pulled it down, just as Russ walked behind her. He was standing where the branch once was, and Reina let go of it. The branch whacked Russ in the arm, leaving a tiny mark.

"Why?" He asked turning to Cassandra, "Why did I agree to go?" Cassandra shrugged, "Your choice, not mine." She walked by him, catching up to Reina, who had walked ahead of the two. She looked like she was enjoying being here, gazing into the depths of the forest.

It took what seemed like hours of walking to find the "perfect place" as Reina had put it. The sky was darkening into night, the stars popping out of the shadows.

Russ pulled a flash light from his bag and shined it at the ground. Reina had led them to a clearing with a circle of trees surrounding them. Brightly colored flowers were scattered across the ground.

Reina and Russ started to build the huge tent while Cassandra held two flashlights to help them see.

"Reina, your not putting it together right," Russ had been instructing her the entire time. It took them a while to finally finish, but Cassandra was sure Reina would explode if Russ pestered her further. Her fists were clenched to her sides, and she would glare at Russ when he wasn't looking.

"I'm going to sleep," Cassandra yawned. She crawled through the doorway of the tent and laid on a blanket. The tent was pretty spacious, and she had went to the corner of it, well away from the opening. Reina soon followed her lead. She took one side of it, near where they had piled their bags inside. Russ then went in, making sure to stay as far away from Reina as possible.

Cassandra then closed her eyes, and drifted to the sound of crickets chirping.

^*^*^*^

When she woke, Cassandra thought it was sunlight seeping into the tent. The light shone into her eyes, and she covered them with her hand. She groggily sat up and looked through the doorway. Cassandra's heartbeat then speed up to a ridiculously fast pace, growing faster as the light grew brighter.

That isn't sunlight, she thought, That's fire light.

She tried to scream, move, but was paralyzed to the spot as she recognized the sound. That crackling noise, like when you step on a chip, only more frightening. The memory of the shadow, seeping through all the flames, moving closer to her, talking to her, only made her breath even harder. Her vision became blurry, and her ears were filled with the noise.

By some miracle, Reina heard her breathing.  She sat up quickly and saw Cassandra staring into the forest. She froze for a second, then turned back and screamed for Russ. She started shaking Cassandra's shoulders, yelling for her, but Cassandra couldn't hear. She was a statue, not moving a muscle, the only sign that she was alive her breathing.

Cassandra's mind was screaming at her body to run, get away from there, but it wouldn't listen. Not until Reina had managed to pull her to her feet, did her body listen. Adrenaline kicked in, and the three bolted from the tent.

They ran through the forest, following Reina. She knew the way out of there. Surely she would know where to go. The fire was lighting the forest like a torch, stomping all in its path. It seemed wherever they ran, the fire would follow. It licked at their heels, never stopping.

Cassandra dared to look back once, thinking all she would see were flames. She was half right. Gliding towards them, dodging the trees turning to ashes, was a thick, black shadow. Red slits pierced the shadow, glowing bright.  It moved with the flames, guiding them towards the group.

She held back her scream, and just pumped her legs even harder.