Flames of Solitude - Volume 1

Chapter 7 - Hope

As if fleeing from Meren's anguished scream, the fire dissipated into thin air, leaving behind a bewildered little girl. Stunned by the sudden outburst, Jessica sat frozen like a statue, motionless.

"You were doing it intentionally!!" Meren's voice reverberated with rage as she stormed toward Jessica, her fingers clamping onto the child's arm and yanking her forcefully from the bed.

"All this time I thought it was an accident... But you played me!"

"It hurts!" Jessica staggered out of bed, nearly losing her balance, only to be hoisted up abruptly by her mother. Meren's fingernails dug into Jessica's delicate skin, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Mom!"

But Meren seemed impervious to her daughter's pleas, her grip tightening as she continued to ignore Jessica's desperate words.

Jessica was dragged to the door she knew all too well. Behind it lay a staircase leading down one floor into the dreaded basement – the very place she had recently awoken in.

With a resounding bang, Meren flung the door wide open, and it collided forcefully with the adjacent wall. Then, almost with a hurl, she thrust Jessica inside. The bewildered girl was too perplexed to grasp the unfolding events.

"You are going to stay inside until I figure out what to do with you."

"Mom, I—" Jessica attempted to speak, her voice quivering.

"NOW!"

Meren's tone brooked no argument, silencing Jessica instantly. She obediently stepped further into the darkness, standing hesitantly on the first step as she turned back.

"Mom—"

With another deafening bang, the door slammed shut, plunging her into total darkness. Not even the dim basement light was turned on for her. Tears streamed down Jessica's cheeks as she began to pound on the basement door. And once again she felt like she was in a prison.

Jessica continued to bang on the door, her small fists hammering away in desperation. She called for her mother, her voice echoing in the cold void, but there was no response, only the hollow reverberation of her cries. It felt like an eternity of pounding and shouting before she finally gave up, her throat sore and her knuckles bruised.

Sitting on the first step of the stairs, she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Her tiny hands shielded her eyes from the oppressive blackness that surrounded her. She could still hear the faint sound of Melody's running footsteps, but those too eventually faded away, leaving her alone in silence.

As Jessica sat there in the stillness, her thoughts turned to her mother. Why had she done this? What had Jessica done wrong to deserve such treatment? She felt a surge of anger and hatred welling up inside her, but it was quickly tempered by the deep love she held for her mother. Conflicted, she needed an outlet for her emotions, and the only target available was herself.

Her anger turned inward, and she began to blame herself. It had to be her fault, she thought. She had done something to deserve this punishment. Raising her hands, she examined her ten fingers, each one a potential source of the mysterious fire. She clenched her fists, frustration building within her.

The fire. It was the fire's fault. But where had it come from? What did it want from her? These questions tormented her as she tried to make sense of the inexplicable power that seemed to have taken hold of her. If she could just get rid of it, maybe everything would return to normal. She longed for the familiar warmth of her mother's embrace, for the safety of her home, and for the answers that remained frustratingly out of reach in the gloominess of the basement.

Jessica felt utterly helpless. She sat there on the cold step, her tears flowing freely until there were no more left to shed. Her emerald eyes had turned the same fiery hue as her hair, pure red.

Time seemed to slip away from her, its passage marked only by the sound of her quiet sobs. Jessica leaned back against the border between light and darkness, her head tilted upward, searching for any sign of relief. But no matter where she looked, all she found was an unending void of blackness.

In her isolation, Jessica wrestled with her thoughts and emotions. She couldn't shake the feeling of being abandoned and unloved. The mysterious fire within her only added to her confusion and fear. It was a cruel and relentless presence, lurking within her like a sinister secret.

As she sat there, lost in the abyss of her own thoughts, Jessica's mind swirled with questions and doubts. She yearned for answers, for a way out of this nightmare, but for now, she was trapped, waiting for something, anything to change her fate.

After what felt like endless hours in the cold room, a faint line of light appeared as the door behind Jessica creaked open just an inch. Startled, she woke up abruptly, the sudden loss of support jolting her back to consciousness.

The line of light slowly widened, and Jessica squinted her eyes as it pierced through the oppressive veil. She sprang to her feet in an instant, feeling a growing sensation she hadn't experienced in what seemed like an eternity — hope.

Hope was a peculiar thing. It could be both a lifeline and a poison, capable of healing or shattering a person's heart. But humans, like moths drawn to flames, couldn't resist its allure. No matter how many times they were burned, they reached for it, again and again.

With cautious optimism, Jessica ventured toward the beckoning light. It had lost its warmth, and in its glow, she didn't find an angel waiting for her but the silhouette of her mother, her brown eyes fixed upon Jessica. Whether she saw her daughter or something else entirely remained a mystery.

Jessica stood hesitantly at the doorway, her heart pounding. She didn't dare to utter a word or rush into her mother's arms as she had done countless times before. Like a wounded animal, she was wary of getting hurt a second time.

Meren's voice broke the silence, devoid of emotion. "If I see you doing your tricks again, you'll stay down there... Go to your room."

Though Meren's tone remained unchanged, her words stung like a lash, and Jessica couldn't help but sniffle. With her short, trembling legs, she shuffled into her room, only to realize that Melody's belongings were absent. So, in the end, she had been moved to a different cell, but at least this one was not shrouded in darkness.