A Beautiful Reflection From Firework Eyes

The Smoke And The Drowning Flames

(Five months ago)

It's just pain. That's the only thing that registers as I first come back into consciousness. I don't so much wake up, more so drift through the murky gray.

Then I remember. The man tied to a stake in the middle of the room—the person I was meant to kill. My stab wound. The dark blood all over my shirt.

For a minute, I wonder if I'm dying. It certainly feels like it. I can't open my eyes, can't move at all. It hurts to breathe, hurts to think. The thought terrifies me. I can't die yet. Not now. I'm only sixteen. I have so much more to live for. There's so much more in life I haven't experienced yet. I won't die now. I won't let myself. I struggle to sit up, then almost scream as the pain flares, worse than it was before.

A weight comes down across my body, holding me down, even as I struggle against it. I fight against my captors—my thoughts whirling through my mind. I have to get free. I can't let them hold me here. I don't know what they are doing to me. I can't—

"Hold still," I hear a voice curse as something presses down against my wound. Darkness creeps to the edges of my vision, threatening to spill over.

"He's losing too much—"

"Keep it—"

"Someone get the—"

"Quickly—"

"We're losing—"

The words fly by, too quickly for my mind to register through the pain. I fight back against the darkness, struggling to stay awake. Just stay awake for a bit longer, I tell myself. A few more moments, then I can give in to the sweet darkness. Just a few more—

I feel sharp pinpricks of pain in my stomach and try to move away, but something tightens around my wrists, holding me down. Through the haze in my mind, I register a needle and the sound of a machine beeping.

I don't recall summoning flames, but the smell of smoke cuts through my senses. Even in my half-conscious state, I register the sound of fire crackling and the wail of a nearby smoke alarm. I hear a yell of panic and frantic voices in the background. But my senses are screaming with too much pain to think straight.

Something digs into my left arm, and ice-cold liquid seeps through my veins. I try to move away, but I can't as my senses fade even more, and the world goes dark around me again.

---

I wake up as I'm being half dragged, half carried down the hallway. I try not to scream as pain jolts through me, searing hot. It hurts so much I can't breathe, my mind spinning. I will myself to pass out, will the darkness to come back. Please make this end, I beg silently. The pain is almost too much for me to bear.

I don't even register the fact that we've reached my room until the door is yanked open and I'm thrown in. I nearly faint from the pain, collapsing to the ground, agony shooting through my whole body. I'm hot and cold all over, my breaths coming in gasps.

Jaime jumps to his feet as he sees me come in, relief flickering on his features. It quickly turns to shock, then horror as he takes in my bloodied and disheveled appearance.