The Girl Who Breathes Fire

Prologue

In The Beginning...

November 19th.
Smoke.

It's 2 in the morning and I smelt smoke. Not a good sign, but who knows, it could be Mama is up cooking again, Mama always cooked at the weirdest times. Then, I heard a blood curling scream from the bedroom across from mine, my sister Ophelia's bedroom. Not good.

My eyes shot open, immediately to be clouded by smoke. Coughing and hacking I sat up on my floral covered bed and stood up running blindly to my door,my cold feet touched a hot floor, fumbling to grasp the brass doorknob finally and tearing it open, a gust of grey smoke blew my hair off my face, the smoke caked the inside of  my throat making it hard for me to get a full breath of air, my eyes watering getting clouded over I almost tripped over my own two feet.

Stepping across the hallway I saw clouds of smoke seeping out of the bottom of Ophelia’s door, the whimpers of her cries were getting louder every second. My hands scrambled for her burning hot door knob. I gasped, grasping my wrist and looking down at my now red hand. Angry now, I picked up my foot and kicked her door, cracking it, I kicked again this time harder and cracking it more this time. This time I screamed when I kicked it, I wanted to see my only baby sister and try to save her.

“Ophelia!” I screamed a through the big crack in her door “I’m coming for you, hold on baby!” I hollered again.

I heard her tiny sniffle, then she gasped and I heard a lighter being clicked to life.

“No, pwease no.” I heard her whisper to whatever had the lighter.

“Don’t you touch her you son of bitch!” I screamed, cursing for the first time in my life, through the heavy flow of tears streaming down my soot covered face.

With one final kick the door knocked open, the knob hitting the wall when it opened.

A dark slinky shadow the color of ink and in the form of a man towering over my 5'10 frame turned towards me, a tentacle shadow outstretched towards Ophelia’s crib, holding a flame, with Ophelia cowered in the corner of her white and pink Disney Princess crib was holding her stuffed duck Richard was now trembling with fear.

“Don’t you dare touch her.” I seethed through clenched teeth. I was livid, my hands trembled by my side.

The dark figure cackled as he through the flame on her crib.

Everything was slow motion now, as the flame touched her crib it burst into flames, cloaking Ophelia and Richard in a mass of fire. I was numb, I heard my screaming echo through the room, knowing it couldn't save my sister. I could picture Ophelia, her 4 year old self, opposite of me. Curly blonde hair and big, round blue eyes, chubby and rosy cheeks that were very pinchable. The memories encased my mind, clouding my vision as I remembered her play in our big green bag yard on our old and rusty swingset, which had one swing since the other broke. I could remember it oh so clearly as if it were yesterday, the vines that grew and danced up the poles of the brown and rusty support poles of the swing. I could here Ophelia's giggle through the air as I pushed her up to the sky on the swing.

How could she be gone?

~

I must have passed out from the shock, because the last thing I remember is something touching my shoulders as I fell to the ground. I am lying on the frost covered grass in just flannel pants and a soot covered white 2013 Central Falls High School State Champions Track & Field shirt.

All I could see above me was a pitch black sky, scattered across the sky were teeny tiny stars. I suddenly felt nauseous so I sat up and turned my head to the right and coughed, then I vomitted up black liquid. Not very pleasant, I know. I faintly heard a fire engine in the background, I stood up only to feel vertigo and collapse only hoping the engine and ambulance would be here soon.

~

The engine finally arrived.
I saw the fire fighters spray the harsh water onto the black and burnt skeleton of my one was house. At this point I was going in and out of consiousness, and finally the loud ambulance, with it's flashing lights pulled uo to the side of my frosty yard. The back of the ambulance was opened from the inside and a white and grey with straps was pulled out. I faintly saw two EMT's through my clouded vision, one blonde woman, and an African American male jogged with the stretcher to my aid. I could hear the crunching of their shoes on the grass as they jogged over to where I was on the middle of my large lawn. I flicked my eyes on to the sky, I could see the milky moon in the sky and smiled. I thought of my mother and how she used to say that somewhere out there, your soulmate was looking at the moon while you were. Tears clouded my eyes as I though about my parents, both stuck in that house but probably dead. The house was completely burnt, a few single support beams were last but the harsh waster being sprayed on them made them collapse.

I saw the blonde female kneal over me, the male standing over her,one hand on the stretcher, waiting for the signal. The blonde put a hand on my forehead, I looked up into her eyes. I could see the sadness in her beautiful, crystal eyes. I felt her pain, and mine.

The last thing I remember was her saying "Can you hear me, sweetie?" before I blacked out for good.