From Heaven Through Hell

PART 1: THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 1:

Thud-ump, thud-ump, thud-ump….I could hear my heart beating inside my chest, as if it were playing my ribs. I steadied my breathing rhythm to match my pace. I was yards in front of the pack as I sloshed through the mud and leaped over the creek. A slight drizzle was starting again as I rounded the last turn and raced out of the woods. The finish was straight ahead, one hundred yards away.

                  I leaned forward and crossed the line. People clapped around me as I was handed a small stick with a number one on the end. I gasped and coughed, placing my hands on top of my head. Deep breaths. You’re done now. Just relax, breathe. I wandered over to the table at the end of the flags.

                  “Name, please.” a short, plump lady said.

                  “Skye Irevera.”

                  I walked over to the water jug and gulped down three glasses, turned and grabbed a banana, and headed over to the rest of the team.

                  “Well done Skye. That’s a…hang on a sec…thirteen second drop! Again!” Coach Rachel said as she showed me my time and commented on my running form.

                  “Thanks.”

                  “Hey Skye, you were a-maz-ingggg!” sang my best friend Leon. He’s always telling me how great I am. Like he isn’t the all-state champion and not worthy enough to even speak to me.

                  “Skye…how… do…you…do...it?” Caroline walked up then, still out of breath from the run. The three of us have been friends since, well, forever. There is no separating us; we are stuck like super glue.

                  “I don’t know. It all just comes naturally I guess.” I said smiling. We both cracked up laughing after that. Leon walked away shaking his head, and loosening up for his own race. “Good luck Leon! We’ll be cheering for you!”

                  I finished my banana and ran around for a warm down with Caroline. Why was I so fast? I never work hard at it. The next thing I know, I’m sprawled out on the ground by the starting line and I hear Caroline chuckling. I looked up and the boys were stifling their own laughter, everyone except Leon.

                  “Nice, Skye.” He said as he trotted over and helped me up. “Clumsy as ever, I see. When will you learn to watch where you’re running?”

                  “I don’t know! I was, well, just…thinking.”

                  “Thinking?” he raised an eyebrow.

                  “About…things. Like running.” I said back defensively.

                  “Well, if you say so.” He turned as the starter called them all over.

                  At home, I logged onto my Facebook and checked out my latest wall writings. Nothing new, as usual. Sighing, I logged back off and went to brush my teeth. Still not sure what to do, I grabbed my journal and lounged back on my bed to write.

Why am I good at everything I try? When I was seven, Caroline and I did gymnastics. I was able to twist and turn my body the way the professionals do, but Caroline and the other girls could barely stand on their hands. We then tried soccer. That went well until Caroline knocked a tooth out. Our moms got tired of us switching sports, so they had us take swimming lessons at the high school. After that, we just gave up and hung out instead.

                  Leon was busy with his boy scouts during the summers when we were experimenting with our sports, so we never became close until we all started junior high. Since I lived in the house with my foster family between both of theirs, the bus would stop in front of my house.

                  As little seventh graders, we all decided to experiment with sports again since there were so many new choices to choose from. In the fall, we joined the cross-country team, which we found to be exciting and we all went on to be the top runners. In the winter, I joined the cheerleading squad. Caroline and Leon came to every game I cheered at. When spring came around, together, we ran with the track team and, once again, we were the top runners for distance.

                  It is now five years later, starting our senior year of high school, star runners for the cross- country team, and the closest friends in the whole school. But for some reason, that doesn’t fit. How can I be so good. I mean, I am at least a minuet faster that Caroline and she is forty seconds ahead of the rest of the girls. And then Leon is thirty-two seconds faster than the second place boy, yet I am faster than him by eleven seconds. Something is definitely wrong with that picture.

“’Night honey. Turn your lights out in five minuets. Wake me in the morning when you are leaving.” My mom said peeking in through my door.

“’Night, Mom.”  Sighing, I set down my journal and climbed into bed. There really was no point in writing more. My thoughts are always the same.

A breeze blew against my face as I stood in the field, miles away from civilization. I looked up at the moon, full, shining brightly down on me with twinkling stars around it. Sighing, I sat down and enjoyed the peace.

I woke with a start, as the smell of smoke drifted into my room. Crinkling my nose, I hopped out of bed and wandered over to the closed door. I hesitated by the handle, wondering if it was safe to open. I reached out attentively and grabbed the handle, which in reality was extremely cold, almost icy. I swung the door open and looked into the eyes of a beast. A hideous beast with blazing flames of wild hair framing his ash burnt face. His eyes were a startling beautiful blue, clear as the sky.

“Beauty’s…..blood….scarlet…..red….I’ve come to drink…..until you’re dead!” he chuckled, music bells ringing, echoing around the room. The flames shot up around him. Baring his teeth at me in a wicked grin, he charged me.

Brightness filled my sight as I quickly closed my eyes. A sudden calm darkness filled me as a dull pain came from my chest. The stars came rushing back, everything a blur as time went by at the speed of light.