The Scars That Burn

Chapter 11

A/N Mature content at the end of the chapter

The smell of smoke wakes me from sleep. As I start to wake up I realize it's not part of my dream, but very real. I bolt up from the couch and realize the house is filled with smoke. Oh my God! Jessica! Mom! Dad! I run from the back living room towards the stairs. I look up and see smoke bellowing from the right side of the house where my parents are sleeping. No!! I'm crying and panicking now deciding my next move when I hear screaming from Jessica's room!

"Jessica!!" I scream not knowing what to do. 

"Becca! I can't get out! The door is stuck! Becca!" I dash up the stairs without thinking. The smoke immediately starts to choke me. I put the sleeve of my hoodie up to my mouth trying to cover it. I reach her door. 

"I'm here, stand back. I'm gonna try to kick it in." I kick with all my might but it wont budge. Fuck! I try again, kicking as hard as I can, thinking I might break my leg in the process. It's giving slightly now. I throw my entire body into it hoping it will finally break but it doesn't.

"Becca!" I hear Jessica wail. Fuck! I throw my body into it one more time and it finally gives way. I fall in and Jessica rushes to me, helping me stand and pulls me into a hug. "Oh my God Becca! What are we gonna do? Mom..." She's sobbing now.  The smoke is everywhere and I can feel myself start to lose consciousness. 

"We..we have to get out of here. Come on." We leave the room , heading for the stairs but the smoke is too thick and flames are now in the hallway. "Shit." We head back into the room and go to the window. It's too high. We could die or severely hurt ourselves if we tried to jump. The concrete patio is right below her window. We're trapped. I'm crying now with Jessica, just holding on to each other. No, this can't be happening. I don't want to die like this.

"Becca..."

"I know, I know. We need to just make a run for it."

"Down the stairs? We can't."

"It's our only option. We have to."

An idea pops into my frantic mind. I grab her throw blanket and pull her into her bathroom. I turn the bath tub faucet on cold and soak the blanket. I grab two towels, soaking them in cold water. "Here wrap this around your face and we will wrap the blanket around us." She takes the towel, wrapping it like a scarf and I do the same. I take one side of the blanket and she takes the other wrapping ourselves in it. "OK ready?" She nods.

We leave the room and the flames are now right in front of the stairs. I can feel the heat from here. Please God don't let us burn alive.

"Becca!"

"We have to. Don't be scared I'm right here."

We run towards the stairs keeping our blanket wrapped tight. We reach the stairs and the heat and smoke is overwhelming. Jessica hesitates but I urge her on. We take our first steps when she screams. As if in slow motion, I see her trip and start to fall and I'm unable to stop it before the pull of the blanket takes me down with her. We tumble down the stairs and I land next to her. I get one glimpse of her battered face before everything goes black.

"Becca. Becca wake up." I hear Johnathan as I come out of my sleep, feeling the tears on my cheeks. I sit up and he does with me. He reaches over and turns on the nightstand light on his side. "You were crying in your sleep. Are you OK?"

The weight of reality, knowing I'm not actually reliving the memory causes the damn to break and I cry into my hands. 

"Shit Becca." He pulls me into him and I start to cry into his chest.

"I..I couldn't save them. We...we almost died." I choke out in between my sobbing.

"Shh, shh you're OK now." After a few more minutes I finally collect myself. I haven't dreamed of that night in a long time. I think that the anniversary of that night coming up next week has something to do with it. We are silent for a while. "Becca." Johnathan whispers finally. "Do you..do you want to talk about it? What your dream was about?"