Faceless Love

Chapter 1

Melissa ruefully looked out onto the lonely moor, watching the stars slowly twinkle. It was a night where the cold stung your cheeks, your breath coming out as nothing but a misty puff. She was only in a tight, short red dress as a result of going to a bar with her friends. She sighed. The cold was really starting to irritate her. Melissa sighed once more,d made her way into her tiny house. It was always quiet in there, and that had never bothered Melissa until now. The silence was agonising, slicing into her heart. She shivered. In the cold winters s the heating never worked, however in the sweltering summer it seemed to work perfectly fine. Melissa put a pizza in the oven. She changed into sweatpants and a jumper put her light brown hair into a messy bun and snuggled up in her duvet. She started to read, her light blue eyes quickly scanning the yellowed pages. Currently, she was reading a hideous romance book. It was terribly written, awfully clichèd, however, it did its job of distracting her for a good few hours. She adored reading. It was an escape, it opened up new worlds and new possibilities for her that had never previously seemed to be an option. In a book, she could find new friends, friends who didn't betray her or gossip about her behind her back, or send hurtful messages and laugh about it afterwards. Not that she would tell anyone apart from her best friend, Savanna, about her passion for reading, though. To be seen as a hopeless bookworm? No. Everyone else had normal hobbies, like going on their phone or watching Netflix, or playing football. She told everyone who asked that her favourite thing to do was watch YouTube videos. Not that she had ever seen the point of them. She had always loved to read. Melissa pondered the plot of the novel. It was so, hopelessly, unoriginal. She bet that she could write something better. Not that she had ever tried. Reading was what she was destined for. But she could always try...

Three hours later, after a countless number of hastily made coffees and banging her head on the kitchen table multiple times, she had a carelessly written short story from the point of view of a purple candle who had just been bought after several months of sitting on a dusty store shelf and being mocked by its fellow candle friends after they had been bought. Yeah, she really wasn't cut out for writing. She read through it and laughed hysterically. Comedy writer? Possibly.Author of virtually unknown children's books?Perhaps. She looked at her clock. It was four in the morning and she hadn't had a wink of sleep. She wasn't tired, however, thanks to the coffee. She stared at her laptop. More books? No. Last time, she had spent over 400 pounds on them. When you're on a minimum wage and work long hours, that's not a good idea. She settled down and, although she wasn't tired, fell asleep.

When Melissa woke up, she became increasingly aware of a beeping sound. It was getting louder and louder until it was deafening. She got up groggily to see flames licking the side of her bed. No. The pizza. No, no, no. The smoke was suffocating her, her eyes were watering. She could barely see the window, which was on the other side of the room. Flames fiercely guarded it. Melissa tried to take one more step towards it, but she couldn't go on. She collapsed, and the hungry flames licked at her unconscious body.