Talented (On Hold)

Chapter Fourteen

Hi! This is a surprise chapter that I was able to write on the weekend.

Chapter Fourteen

Alina lay on her bed in her room and stared at the walls. Unlike the Dragon dormitory, her room just had images of a forest on the walls. Animals peeked out here and there; never all the way out in the open. Hiding, Alina thought. Like me, suspicious of everything. Other than that, the room was pretty bare, with a wardrobe bolted to the wall, a bed, and a wall lamp. She sighed and rolled over, dreading actually falling asleep. She knew the nightmares would come, just like they always did. Eventually, she drifted off.

Alina stood alone in an empty room. She recognized where she was instantly. It was her room when she was young, her room at her parent’s house. Walking over to her shelf, she picked up a small glass fish. It was a souvenir from their time at the beach. This was before she couldn’t have anything breakable anywhere near her when she was asleep. Suddenly the room seemed to get hotter, and flames licked up the walls and the door. Alina backed away in panic. This is wrong, she thought. I wasn’t inside. I was outside.

The image changed. Now she was outside, watching the house burn. “Mom!” She cried. “Dad!” She felt like she was four again, helpless to do anything but watch. She ran toward the door, trying to get inside, but a man caught her. “Where are your parents?” He asked, concerned.

“Inside!” She cried. At that moment the roof collapsed, sparks shooting in the air like deadly fireworks.

Alina woke up with a gasp, her heart beating fast. An annoying beeping sounded from the floor. She sighed and found her clock, which was far from where it had been when she had fallen asleep, amid the clothes that had come from her dresser. She must have forgotten to latch the door. 7:13 flashed in red letters at her as she shut off the alarm. With another sigh, she dressed in her traditional black long sleeve shirt and black pants and began cleaning up. She hurried a bit, because breakfast started at 7:00 and she was already late. She had set her alarm for 6:45, but must not have heard it, which was usual for the nights with bad dreams. By the time she finished, the clock read 7:30. Breakfast ended at 7:45, and school started thirty minutes later. Alina sat back down on her bed. She didn’t feel like going to breakfast anymore.

            Kaolin knocked on the door. “Alina?” She called.

“Come in!” Alina answered.

Kaolin walked inside. Alina was sitting on her bed, a book open in her lap.

“Last-minute studying?” Kaolin asked.

“Yeah.” Alina replied.

“I was worried when you didn’t come to breakfast.” Kaolin said.

“I’m fine. I just didn’t feel like it.” Alina answered.

Kaolin looked at her knowingly. “Another nightmare? About your foster father?”

“No.” Alina replied shortly.

Kaolin walked over and sat on the end of the bed. “Then what about?”

Alina opened her mouth, about to tell her off for being nosy, then stopped. She did kind of want to talk about it, she supposed. “It was about before that. About my old house. When I was really little”

“That’s good, right?” Kaolin was confused.

“It was about the night my parents died.”

Alina told Kaolin about the dream. Kaolin was a bit confused. “Wait, you were outside when the house was on fire? How’d you get out?”

Alina looked away. “That’s the problem. I don’t remember. I remember falling asleep that night, and the next thing I knew I was standing outside in the snow in my pajamas.”