The Final Inferno

Chapter One

Fire burned through her. A scream ripped from her throat. Nothing, not even death, compared to this torture. The demons laughed as they tore her apart piece by piece. They pulled her soul out of her. 'Abandon.' They laughed, their voices sending chills down her spine. 'Abandon all hope.' They sang. She screamed again, her voice echoing through all of the nine circles of hell. The screaming stopped. The demons stepped away. Everything was silent. She looked up, The eyes that were once blue and full of fear were now white. White with anger and evil and hate. She laughed, a menacing laugh that belonged to the devil himself. The girl, if she was even that anymore stared at me. She smiled. 'Everyone gives in,' she said, 'in the end. Everyone falls. Especially you.' She lunged at me. Only then did I realize, as I was falling through the final circle, that she was me.

I woke up, drenched in sweat. The sun was just beginning to rise outside my window. There was a pounding on my door. "Up, up, up! C'mon Lizzy!. You're gonna be late!" my mother's voice echoed through the wood. I groaned and rolled over. I landed on the floor. I heard the front door open. My mother spoke quickly to the person. High heels clicked on the wooden staircase. I groaned under my breath and opened the door. Annabelle was standing in the hallway. "Hey girly. C'mon its the first day. We gotta go! Get dressed!" I rolled my eyes at my best friend. She was the popular one. She was the pretty one. I was just sort of there. I threw on a pair of jeans and t-shirt. Annabelle pulled me out of the door, and practically dragged me to her car. "You really need to update your wardrobe." She criticised as she drove. "Really? Star wars? That movie came out a million years ago!" I ignored her chastising. The school wasn't very far away from my house, but the drive seemed to take forever.

Annabelle continued her complaining all the way to homeroom. Then her voice stopped. I looked up at her. It was very rare that she stopped talking in the middle of a rant. "Who is that!" She breathed, pointing to an (admittedly) attractive guy in the front row. I shrugged and brushed past Annabelle. My seat was in the back, where I liked it to be. It wasn't long until Annabelle had started talking to the mystery man in the front row. "Alright class, settle down. Settle down!" Mr. Jackson yelled from his desk. The bell rang loud in my ears. "Alright, I know it's the first day, but once again, homeroom is to be silent." The teacher said, making his way to the front of the room. "Yeah, silent but deadly." Somebody whispered, igniting snickers and chuckles from the class. Mr. Jackson started writing notes for his next class on the board. The scratching of chalk on the blackboard was barely heard over the whispering coming from the front row.

"Ms. Havens. Mr. Butler. What part of silence do you not understand?" Mr. Jackson said, turning around to stare at the two. "I understand all of it Mr. Jackson. What part of 'I don't care' do you not understand?" The voice came from the front row. I had never heard the voice before so I assumed that it was the new guy. A shrill laughter came from the seat next to him. I cringed. Annabelle did always have a thing for the bad boys. "Where is your brother, Mr. Butler? I'm assuming he is still planning on coming to school on the first day?" A knock on the door made me look up. "I'm here, Mr. J. Got lost is all." A chuckle resonated through the now quiet classroom. "Don't call me, Mr. J. My name is Mr. Jackson and I expect you to call me as such." Mr. Jackson paused to look around the classroom. "Why don't you take a seat next to Elizabeth, in the back. That will keep you and your brother away from each other. I don't need any childish sibling bickering in my class." I looked up at the mention of my name, but kept my eyes averted from the figure in the doorway. That's how I was. Never the loud one, always in the back. Completely anonymous.

"Ooh. Is the Shy Queen finally making a friend?" One of the girls asked. I snickered, leaning back in my chair and shooting a menacing grin at her. "I'm already friends with your boyfriend. Might as well dump him now." I cocked my head at the bitch as she turned bright red. Mr. Jackson shook his head and resumed writing on the board. The boy took a seat next to me. I was very conscious of his eyes on me. "Hi." He said, reaching a hand out, "I'm Leo." I shook his hand, noting the small tattoo on his wrist. "Elizabeth. Call me Lizzy."