Pyrophobia

Arsonphobia -4-

A/N Sorry for the longish wait! At least it's pretty long, so please comment and vote! :) Thank you!

Chapter Four

“Melinda!” I heard a scream. My eyes started to open on their own accord, my vision gradually adjusting to the sudden glow in my room.

“Melinda!” Dawson’s cries reached my ears again. Groaning like a zombie, I walked to the door opening it. The sudden heat that touched my body was weird, it was unexpected. The hairs on my arms felt like they were being burned off. I screamed once I realized it was a fire that had erupted even more from the sudden oxygen in my room.

“Dawson!” I screamed, trying to find out where he was. I saw his little head pop up from a flame in front of his room.

“I’m coming baby brother!” I screamed back, looking around the floor. As I was walking a heard a loud snap, and soon after a piece of the roofing fell off right in front of me. It was blocking my path.

“Melinda!” Dawson was sobbing in his room, breaking my heart. Where were my parents? We made slight eye contact, his eyes were terrified. My arms were still burning and my lungs were feeling heavy, making it hard to breathe.

“Ma’am, this is the city fire department, we need you to get out of the house!” A man said, stepping in front of me as he started pushing me towards the front door.

“Dawson!” I screamed, feeling fresh tears roll down my face.

“There’s nothing we can do about it!” He screamed back. My heart instantly shattered and I moved on impulse and adrenaline. Yanking my arm away, I ran towards Dawson. His terrified gaze soon turned into a blank one, he was just looking at me with no emotion.

I felt my feet lift off the ground as I jumped over the piece of ceiling; two hands brought me back over to the other side, making me fall before I got to my brother. My back started to burn, it was boiling. I let out a blood curdling scream as I felt myself being shoved, making me roll. I was light headed and dizzy. The firefighter picked me up and brought me outside to safety.

Soon enough a mask was placed on my face, making it easier to breathe. A moment of silence happened, then I heard it, the piercing scream from my four year old little brother. It was so loud it rattled my bones. I found myself not moving, not making a sound. I knew, that sound would forever be engraved into my memory.

The ambulance workers were taking my shirt off and getting out gauze. I lay there, knowing I now had no brother, my one and only sibling was killed, and I could have saved him. I should have tried harder! I felt needles all over my back; it was only seconds later until my body couldn’t handle all the pain anymore and I passed out.

My body flinched itself awake, my heart racing, my body wet with sweat and my breathing was rapid. I clenched my hand on my chest, trying to catch my breath and calm down. It was only my dream. The red letters on my alarm clock flashed 5:45 AM, fifteen minutes until it was supposed to go off.

My parents were worried about me all weekend; I never told them what happened at the beach party. I thought I could handle it myself. I got out of my bed and walked to the shower, stepping in and just standing under it, allowing myself to relax and wake up.

I stepped out of the shower about half an hour later, drying my body off and looking at my scars in the mirror. I hated myself, why did I have to look like this? No ones going to want an ugly beast like me.

I got changed into a long sleeved shirt and sweatshirt, leaving my hair untouched as I walked towards the kitchen. My dad was sitting at the table with a newspaper in one hand, and a coffee in the other.