Race Against Time

Freak Out

Over the next week I fell into a routine. I would wake up at seven o'clock and take a shower. Me and Sam would head to breakfast together, often joined by her pet hamster. The hamster often roamed around the house unattended since Sam could communicate with him. His name was Fluffy, which according to Sam, annoyed the animal.

The first time I had laid eyes on Fluffy was an absolute disaster. I was walking out of my room to grab a snack at midnight when I heard a scurrying. I froze and held my breath. Long story short, the event ended in the animal racing past me while I screamed, effectively waking up the whole floor.

After we ate we would go to our lessons. My teacher was Bailey, which I was none too excited about. Don't get me wrong, she's nice enough, but she just isn't exactly someone who likes to talk or have fun.

Directly after lessons we go to our sessions. No one knows what the others do because we aren't supposed to tell each other. Bailey and I had been trying tirelessly to get me to have a vision, but nothing worked. We even tried yoga. That was a bust. Part of me was relieved though. Having a vision meant seeing someone else die.

Despite that, a small part of me wanted to see if I could have another vision. I hoped that I would have one just to make sure I was a Pouvior. Sam said I shouldn't worry about it, but that did nothing to calm my fears.

Aiden and I still hadn't said a word to each other, but our staring contests while the other wasn't looking continued. Sometimes I could feel his steely gaze on me and I had to force myself not to look back.

I was currently eating lunch with the others and Fluffy. Noah had just made a lame joke and I opened my mouth to say a clever response, but I found I couldn't speak. I blinked hard, trying to expel the blurryness clouding my vision. Not even a second later, my eye lids drooped and I vaguely felt my body thump to the carpeted floor.

"Brandy!" The voice seemed distant, but familiar. I wanted to reply, but I was too far gone.

Heat. It was like there were a thousand suns surrounding me. Flames flickered around my head; each one bringing a new wave of fiery pain.

"Help!" A voice cried weakly from a corner.

A teenage boy lay curled up in a ball in the corner of a bathroom. The sink and toilet appeared slowly. His dark hair was cut short, his pain filled eyes squinting from the smoke. The door to the bathroom and the shower curtain were ablaze.

"Someone please, help," the boy whispered this time. He coughed into his shirt. It was a horrible, dry cough that had to hurt his throat. He looked terrified. He was trapped. There was nothing he could do to escape. A large, flaming wooden beam laid accross the door.

"Breathe into your shirt!" I tried to scream, but there was no noise. I could only think the words.

Tears ran down his cheeks. He couldn't be older than sixteen. He was around my age. "It's ok," I tried to comfort him.

He was sobbing now. The curtain fell from the curtain rod and onto the rug. Fire spread across the rug in seconds. The rug was only a foot away from him. His sweat mixed with his tears as he coughed. He was coughing so hard it almost looked like he was gagging. He struggled to take in each breath.

The oxygen in the room had to be diminishing. Smoke was the only thing left to breathe and that did nothing to help him.

He coughed again and his eyes started drooping. They were still filled with an indescribable fear, but they looked tired now. The fight had gone out of him.

He lay there, his eyes closing.

He took one last shuddering breath before his body went limp.

"No!" I screamed. The scream seemed to go on forever and echo around me.

I gasped as I came back to reality. Noah, Sam, Selina, Aiden, and Petunia were all gathered around me. I was overcome with sudden, shuddering sobs.

"Brandy! Are you ok? Calm down. It's ok." They tried to comfort me, but I had to leave. There was no time. I had to save the boy.

I shook my head frantically as I climbed to my feet. My whole body was trembling and I stumbled into Aiden. He steadied me, his eyes scrutinizing my every move.

I jerked myself out of his hold and made it one step closer to the door before he grabbed me again. I couldn't breathe. My lungs wouldn't let me get in enough air. Desperation and dread unfurled in my chest as I tried to get to the door.

"Let me go!" I shrieked. I sounded insane. I probably looked it too. Tears were rolling down my face freely.

I pulled out of his grip again and bolted to the door. I was sobbing now. I had to get to the boy before it was too late.

I wrenched it open, the others right on my heels. Poor Petunia just stood in the kitchen, frozen like she didn't know what to do.

My feet pounded on the gravel as I raced up the driveway and turned right. I dug my toes into the ground to propel myself forward more. I don't know how I knew where to go, but I did. It was like I was in a trance.

"Brandy, stop!" I heard Aiden yell from a few feet behind me. His footsteps were getting steadily closer and then suddenly I was on the ground, him on top of me. All my breath left my body as I hit the ground with a desperate groan.

"I have to go!" I screamed like a cornered animal as he pinned me to the ground. We were both breathing hard from the running and me from crying.

"What's wrong with you?!" He yelled back. His blue eyes looked almost concerned. The first ever emotion I saw in them.

"I have to go! Please! He's going to die!" I begged.

"Who's going to die?" He shouted.

"I'm sorry, but there's no time!" with that, I kneed him in the crotch. He groaned and fell to the side of me and I shot up. I started running again.

After a few minutes, I stopped about a quarter mile away from a house. There were fire trucks and an ambulance in the drive way. Smoke rose from the house still, but it was charred black. The fire had obviously been put out.

Maybe they saved him. I thought. Maybe he didn't die.

But then my blood ran cold. Two paramedics carried a stretcher out of the house. A black bag covered whatever was on the stretcher, but I knew right away what it was. Who it was.

I sank to my knees, exhausted. My throat burned from screaming and my body ached. My head throbbed and my lungs fought for oxygen. Sweat covered me from head to toe and my clothes stuck to me uncomfortably. My hair had long ago fallen out of its braid.

"Brandy?"

Aiden's voice sounded gentler than before. He knelt in front of me. "Shh, it's alright. It's ok."

I launched myself into his shoulder and sobbed. His strong arms encased me and rubbed soothing circles on my back. He murmured softly into my ear until my sobs died down and my eyelids started to fall.

I tried to fight it, but the last thing I saw before fading into the world of dreams was the charred house and then we were suddenly in my room back at the house.