When Earth Turns To Ashes

Emergency Contact

"Let me out of here!" Selene screamed. Her voice was beginning to fade into a hoarse whisper from all of her yelling. The smell of smoke filling the room wasn't helping. Her head was starting to swim. She couldn't see where the smoke was coming from, but then again, she couldn't see anything.

Memories of flames and screaming and ghosts filled her head. The smoke sent panic down all of her nerves. Who would She hurt next?

"Please," Selene sobbed in panic. "I'll do anything. Just let me go!" Laughter echoed from the other side of the door. Selene curled into the fetal position, crying into her knees. Her eyes burned, her throat stung, her head throbbed. She felt as if she were about to die.

When Selene had been grabbed around the waist in the middle of the hallway and dragged into an empty room blindfolded, she had thought that it was just a mean prank. She had assumed that someone was just teasing her, and that it would end. Now she knew better.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Selene whispered, more to herself than to the others. It wasn't as if she needed the extra torment. She got enough of it at home. She got plenty of it from herself. Why did her peers need to do it as well?

Someone seemed to be talking to Selene from the other side of the door. Selene tried to listen, but her consciousness was fleeting. She caught only the last bit of what they were saying. "... by the time we're done with you, the only thing left over will be cinders."

Then Selene blacked out, the words of her tormentors still echoing within her mind. 

***

"Who is she?" Kai questioned, his heart beating erratically in his chest. He wanted to know who this mysterious girl was, and why she haunted him. Why he felt such a pull to her, even though he only met her that day, and in a burning car at that.

Nainsi walked towards Kai and sat down on the stool beside his bed. "Her name is Selene Lihn, according to the license plate record." She panted while placing a hand on her chest.

"And?" Kai said, impatiently. He wanted to know who she was, and a name certainly wasn't enough.

The nurse frowned, all cheerfulness forgotten. "Well, that's about it. She is nineteen years old. Goes to school at the nearby community college. Has a mechanics job. She has no family, no friends, no emergency contacts. She's lived in Foster Homes since her mother was imprisoned when she was six, but never seemed to stay in the same spot for long. The final family she lived with tried to adopt her, and that's why her name is Lihn. They cut off all ties with her though, after she ran away at seventeen. She has no connections." Nainsi looked down at her hands, tears visible in her eyes.

Kai shifted, unsure why Nainsi was so upset. They knew who she was, and they could save her. The girl, Selene, would be able to go and live her life. "What?" Kai questioned, "What are you upset about? We know who she is. Someone will want to help her, I know it."

Nainsi looked at Kai, a single tear tracing down her cheek. "Kaito, you don't get it. This girl, is going to need months, maybe even years of rehab. We already have a tissue donor set up, so that will help, but she is going to need a lot of help, and medical attention. She needs so much, but has nothing. She doesn't even have an emergency contact. Selene has nothing." She swiped her hands through the air for emphasis. 

Suddenly Kai also felt sorrowful. He didn't even know why. This girl was no one to him. He had never met her, and yet he felt an unexplained sadness on her behalf. "I'll be it," Kai whispered, and Nainsi gave him a questioning look.

"You'll be what, exactly?" Nainsi asked, tilting her head to the side.

Kai sighed. "I'll be her emergency contact."