BLACKBIRD {COMPLETED}

Chapter 14

I stood facing the mirror, as Seth dabbed my face with a damp cloth, removing the ashy smudges that invaded my skin. I felt like I was outside of my body, watching in third person as Seth cleaned my face.

I instantly felt terrible for causing Seth more stress and I tried to imagine how I would feel if I were him. My mind raced as I thought about the fire, and the vision, and about Seth.

I jumped as I reentered my body, my eyes blinking and my heart racing. Seth was still, watching me intently. I looked him in the eye, feeling sorry for making him waste his time fixing me again and I could feel my eyes beginning to water.

"I'm so sorry.", I choked, coughing into my arm. Seth's eyes widened and he grabbed my shoulders.

"I told you.", he whispered softly, "you never ever have to apologize to me. Okay?" Hearing his kind words, I began to cry. Out of nowhere, the tears just streamed out of my eyelids, flowing down my cheeks like a river.

Seth wrapped me in his arms, my head pressed up against his chest. I could hear his heart as it beat in a steady rhythm which sounded like a song.

Seth finally convinced me to get some rest and I lay in my bed, the covers pulled up to my neck. The room was dark, the only light came from the tiny crack under the door of our room. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see were flames, smoke, and that little girls face as she lay lifeless in her flaming apartment. So I lay there with my eyes wide open staring at the ceiling unable to calm my troubled mind.

I glanced towards Seth as he lay in his bed, the covers rising and falling with every breath. It was too dark to tell if his eyes were opened but it was comforting to know that I wasn't alone.

My eyes grew heavier with every moment and I could now hear a low humming coming from Seth's side of the room which told me that he managed to fall asleep. The world was so quiet at that moment that I could hear my heart beating. It was a perfect silence.