Fearless?

Fearless? - Chapter Fifteen

‘Fear not those who argue but those who dodge,’

- Dale Carnegie

Chapter Fifteen

  

‘The merry-go-round goes 'round and 'round,’

Azelie stood still in the darkness. The sensation of feeling as if she was floating filled her, even though her feet were firmly planted to the ground. Twirling around, she could see nothing in the infinite darkness. Nothing was there. She was alone. 

Suddenly, in the darkness in front of her, a light appeared, burning brightly before disappearing with a flash. A figured appeared. It was her mother, wearing a warm smile on her face with her golden brown eyes lit up with happiness. Even though it was pitch dark, Azelie could make out her mother perfectly - it was as if she shone like a single flame in the midnight sky. 

‘The children laughed and laughed and laughed,’

“Mom,” Azelie smiled, happiness filling her, giving her a warm feeling of comfort and relief. Her mother slowly nodded, looking straight at Azelie. She tried to walk towards her mother, but her feet refused to move, like they were stuck in dried concrete. And then out of nowhere a truck sped right past Azelie, heading towards her mother. She screamed as the truck collided with her mom, blood splattering everywhere. Azelie cried out as everything disappeared again, only her mother’s splattered blood left. 

‘So many were going 'round and 'round,’

Noise erupted from all around Azelie. Screams, blood curling screams. Pleas for help. Just noise. Everywhere. All around Azelie. So loud she was terrified that she might go deaf. Figures appeared from nowhere, memories beginning to play around and around, not stopping for one merciful second. She looked from person to person. Mum. Dad. She tried to shut her eyes, block it all out but she couldn’t. Something wouldn’t let her. Grandma. Grandpa. Azelie let out a scream, her memories re-playing over and over. Tears flooded down her face, it wasn’t over yet. Rick.Tina. Still one more. One more she didn’t want. Haley. 

‘That the merry-go-round collapsed,’

Everything stopped when she spotted Haley. Azelie’s world stopped spinning and the deafening noise faded into a silence. Haley stood in one spot, her black eyes staring at Azelie. 

‘Your fault,’ she whispered. ‘All your fault!’ And with that, Azelie was pushed out of the labyrinth of her nightmare, and woke up. Lungs crying out for air. Sweat running down her back. Azelie’s eyes bolted open, now fully awake as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She was surprised that she hadn’t woke Ted up, she must not have been screaming. Azelie lay in her bed, unable to move as she tried to grasp back onto reality. Telling her that her nightmare wasn’t real, that it was all just in her mind. She told herself over and over that the people were gone, dead. But that’s just want the problem was. They were dead, and well, Azelie... Azelie couldn’t get over it. She couldn’t bear to face that facts that one of her aunts had once beat her into believing. 

“Okay - do you sleep? Like at all?” Kelly questioned, as she placed her tray of food down on the table. Azelie was sat at the table, her head resting on her hands and her eyes slowly drooping closed as she tried to catch up on the sleep she hadn’t been able to get the night before.