Horizon Lines

~7~

Belle couldn't ease the worry and concern that had been stirring inside of her all day as she got ready for bed that night. She stood in front of the sink in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, her mind going back to Laura Lewis's picture, how identical she was to her mom, and how it seemed like something had happened to Mom's sister.

Mom had locked herself in her room for the rest of the day, telling Belle not to bother her. That did nothing to make Belle feel better or assured.

She knew, when it came to her mother, when to push, and when to back off. Right now, the case was to back off. She'd never seen her mother so upset and off kilter.

She would leave her mother alone for now, but in the morning, if her mother was still acting like this, she would ask some questions.

She finished brushing her teeth, brushed her hair and tied it in a messy bun, then headed back into her bedroom for bed.

She hoped her mom was better by the time she got up in the morning. If she wasn't better, Belle wasn't sure what she'd do.

The room was pitch black when Belle opened her eyes. Frowning, Belle slowly sat up and looked around. The room was unusually hot, like her mom had cranked up the heat to a hundred degrees. Her skin was coated and slicked with sweat, her hair damp.

An uneasy feeling settled over her, as though someone in the darkness was watching her. It felt like there was an inevitable danger lurking in the shadows.

Belle carefully climbed out of bed, trying to use her advanced vision to see her surroundings, but all she could see was black, like she was stuck in an abyss.

"Mom?" Belle called out.

There was no answer.

She took a few steps forward and stumbled into what felt like her nightstand. She winced as she sensed the nightstand tip forward and she managed to right it.

She was growing more nervous by the second. Something wasn't right.

"Mom?" Belle called out again, praying her mother would call out and assure her that everything was alright.

It wasn't her mother that answered her.

"Belle," a dark, gravelly, sinister voice answered somewhere in the darkness.

Then she saw it.

Yellow, glowing eyes filled with such hatred and maliciousness it filled her with sickening dread.

"Belle," the voice growled again.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an orange light flickering, the heat in the room growing more intense. Then, flames suddenly erupted from the left side of the room, devouring her possessions in the unforgiving embers.

Belle screamed and ran toward the door as the fire spread rapidly through her room. She tried to swing open the door but it wouldn't budge. She tried unlocking it, but it was jammed, preventing her from escaping. She pounded her fists on the door, yelling out for her mother, anyone. She tried to break down the door.

The heat was growing more intense by the second. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed the fire coming even closer to her.