My Darkest Desire (girlxgirl)

Chapter Two

Warning: this chapter contains material that might be sensitive to some readers.

---------------------------

The scene around her was familiar. Fire burning as a result of the burst gas tank, debris everywhere - hell, she could even feel the pain from the burns she'd sustained during the explosion.

How many times had she seen this tragedy unfold?

Countless, but she could never prepare herself for what was to come.

Her thirteen year old self was still strapped into the back seat, tears streaking down her ashy face as she looked desperately to the front seats, where she willed her dad to tell her it was all okay, her mom to somehow make a joke out of the situation as they always did whenever Cricket fell from her bike or became frightened from their town's haunted house.

Instead, there was only silence.

"Mom?" She croaked, her throat sore and dry from smoke inhalation. She coughed twice, hoping to relieve some of the strain. "Daddy?"

Still, not a word spoken in response. It was a struggle, but Cricket managed to pry off her seat belt and crawl between the front seats. The moment she laid eyes on her father in the driver's seat, she gasped.

His eyes were lifeless but still open, that was the first thing she noticed. But the expression on his face was frozen in a state of shock, adorned by blood and bits of glass that had cut into his skin when the windshield shattered. His hands were still gripping the wheel, positioned for a turn he'd never make.

Cricket was shaking now, small sobs escaping her throat as she looked to her mother on her right. A woman that was once so beautiful was now nothing but a bloody, empty corpse. Unlike her father, her mother's eyes were closed and there were shards of glass lodged in her left eye lid. Her body was slumped sideways, head resting on jagged pieces of the broken window. Cricket collapsed back into her own seat.

Her parents were gone, and now she was all alone. She couldn't hear any sirens coming to her rescue, nor could she find her cellphone amongst the debris.

She began to scream.

-x-

"Cricket! Cricket, open your eyes, it was just a bad dream..."

Gasping, she did as the voice told her to do and blinked open her eyes, not surprised to find tears in them. She rubbed them away with her hands as fast as she could and looked up at Carolina, who was standing over her with the same worried expression she always wore when Cricket had a nightmare.

"I'm sorry," She choked, trying to get a handle on herself. "I don't know what happened...that hasn't happened in forever..."

"You're fine." Carolina whispered, crawling into bed next to her best friend the same way she did almost every night four years ago when the accident had happened. She wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and drew her closer, and Cricket didn't fight her away. Folding herself into the blonde's embrace, she let her eyes close and took a few minutes to calm down.

"Did I scream?" The brunette asked moments later, the tears gone but her form still shaking.

Carolina looked reluctant to answer, but she knew Cricket wouldn't believe her if she lied. "Yes."

Groaning, she dropped her head onto the girl's chest and let the steady rhythm of the beating heart finish calming her down. "I hate when this happens..."

"Don't beat yourself up," The blonde whispered, tugging the blanket over them both. "You can't control your dreams. Now let's get some sleep, okay? It's four in the morning on a Saturday and I have no plans later, and I know you don't either."

Cricket was about to open her mouth and point out that Carolina never had plans anymore, but she was too tired to form a coherent argument about the topic, when and if one would arise. So she simply mumbled in agreement and let her eyes flutter shut, enveloped in her best friend's warmth.