The Client List

Chapter Two: Burned

I closed my book and removed my reading glasses, setting both down on the night stand next to my bed. I pinched the bridge of my nose, an exhausted sigh making its way through my dry lips. I didn't need glasses normally, but at night after I read, my eyes were so tired and dry that not a thing around me would look like it was supposed to. I could mistake a pile of laundry for a sleeping dog if I didn't know any better.

I bent over to the other side of my night stand to pull the cord to my lamp to turn it off. I was just about to give it a tug when a shadow creeped across my line of vision, just out of site enough that I couldn't catch a glimpse. My blinds blew in the breeze, so I shook it off as the shadow of swaying branches outside and got up to close my window. I stared intently at the street light across from my apartment building. Below the emanating light, you could see sparkling rain falling softly beneath it, but as soon as the light faded closer to the ground, so did the drops of rain.

Watching this gave me a warm sense of comfort, and I smiled as I pulled the window shut and made my way back into my bed and under my covers. The best feeling was when the silk sheets were cool against my sockless feet. I fidgeted for awhile before finally closing my heavy eyelids. When I did, not too long after, I drifted off to a dreamless sleep, my breathing steady and my body weightless.

When I awoke, it wasn't a natural awakening. My body trembled as I looked over at my glowing red clock. 02:36AM. I felt off as I pulled my covers back over my body and sat up slowly, my vision going black as all of the blood rushed back to its designated places. My body became warm when my vision returned. And then it became hot. Sweat drained from my forehead as I rushed into bathroom, flicking on the light in a panicked motion. I looked up into my mirror and stumbled back at the sight of my flesh burning and peeling. I pulled off my shirt, exposing even more dark red around my increasingly warm body. I turned the tap on cold, splashing the water onto myself, but the burning only became more painful and more progressive.

By this point it was almost unbearable. Flecks of my skin were falling off of my body and onto the floor. Bone was becoming exposed and I couldn't breathe evenly anymore; my lungs shrivelling up just as quickly as I burned. So I screamed. My shriek pierced the empty night like a blade as I fell to my knees. Thoughts raced through my mind, and at one point I just wanted it all to end. I wanted to die! I wanted this pain to be gone! What had I done for this to happen to me? Why weren't my friends rushing in to save me while I'm slowly losing my voice from my scarring screams?

And then it went black, and the pain was gone.

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[Authors note] So what do you guys think so far? I tried to make this chapter as long as possible, but I wanted to keep you on your toes as you read on. I'm saving the good stuff for later on. Do you have any predictions on what is going to happen to Oakley? Keep the title of the story in mine when you think of this. Let me know if I have any edits to make on grammar or description!