His Pink Teddybear

Chapter 1

Kaiya

Fire.

An unstopping, seething burn. Unforgiving and harsh. Even the air was alight. I couldn't breathe.

It consumed everything. Every scrap of wood, every molecule of oxygen until there was nothing left but you. And now that was what it was after.

It was hot, unbelievably so. You had nothing to do as you watched it creep closer and closer to you, its orange light in everything, everywhere.

It was my fault. Something whispered those god awful words to me over and over until it was my entire world. Nothing but that and the flames. Suddenly I was pushed into them. And my entire world was lost to them.

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I awoke with a start, breathing heavily to consume as much oxygen as I could fill my lungs with.

There was no flames, nothing but the dead of night and the croaking of frogs.

Everything stood still. So quiet, and yet loud in my ears. And still, my subconscious echoed the words.

It's your fault.

I couldn't get them out of my head. It was too loud, too overbearing. Once again, my hands were shaking.

I needed to breathe. I needed air, real air.

I rose on wobbly knees. My world tilted, and it took and lot of straining to stop it from shaking. Sweat caked my hands and slid down my back, my forehead.

I fumbled in the dark for the door, but the placing was unfamiliar and so was the shape of the room. Panic still held my heart in its grasp.

It's your fault. Yours- and no one else's.

A shaky breath left my lips as I remembered.

This was a new place. A new home, a new state. This was my new house. Our new house. My father lived here too.

It's all your fault. The voice said again. But it wasn't my voice, wasn't my words.

I need air.

Once again I fumbled for the doorknob. I knew where it was, but still the placement felt wrong. That was always something that happened in a new house. Everything felt wrong.

I pulled the door open, quietly so that if my father were here I wouldn't wake him. I knew he wasn't, but habit kept me doing it.

I slowly padded on the wooden floors. I could see clearly now.

It was empty, devoid of a home. There was bare minimum, and that's all we kept. All we- all I needed. Even then, I kept everything neat and organized. Just the way he liked it.

I opened the door to our open-air garage and stepped out into the cold air. Took a deep breath and steadied myself.

The frogs were louder out here. I liked it compared to the sound of traffic and airplanes at the house we used to live in. The air was a lot cleaner, too.

I could faintly hear stray dogs howling in the distance.

I was glad to live in the country. But it was so far off and distanced from the world. Your neighbors couldn't hear anything, not even a scream.

I looked up, glad I could see the stars. I stood there for a while, and even longer. I could feel my fingers freezing. That was good. That meant they couldn't burn.

It's all. Your. Fault.

I breathed in the cold, fresh air once again. The sky was starting to get lighter, and I knew the sun would come up very soon.