Wings of Ember (Book One, S. Stilinksi)

Chapter 1 - Insecurities

Smoke stung my eyes. They watered and tears rolled down my cheeks from the pain. But at a time like this, it was the least of my concerns. My dark orbs scanned the room, searching for any sign of long, light brown hair or sky-colored eyes. Yet, I saw nothing except for the blurry tongues of red and orange that surrounded me. I felt my heartbeat quicken and a piercing scream escaped my lips. "Kaylee!" I yelled. "Kaylee! Where are you?!"

"Vienna! I'm over here! In my room!" A feminine voice shouted. "I'm in my room!" I spun on my heels and faced the doorway to Kaylee's bedroom. Sure enough, I saw the dark figure of my friend, crumpled on the ground with her head sticking up to look around.

"I'm coming!" I shouted. A threw myself on the floor and then propped myself on my elbows to crawl underneath the smoke. I began to crawl by using my elbows and dragging the rest of my body along the ash-stained carpet. The door to her bedroom was long burned down and now only remained as a pile of ash on the floor. I shuffled hastily past the pile of dark ash and then rolled over to the dark figure of my friend.

I saw Kaylee's usually-pale face darkened by the cinders of the fire, and her hair was blackened and knotted. Her bright blue eyes contrasted greatly with the rest of her appearance, and held my gaze firmly. "We need to get out, Vienna!"

"I know! I know! But where are your parents? And your brother, too! They need to get out with the rest of us!" I yelled over the roar of the fire. Then, the roar became even louder, and the awful creak of burning wood crumpled in my ears. I could do nothing but watch helplessly as a beam of wood came hurtling to the ground and landed right on top of Kaylee. Our screams escaped in unison, and suddenly, her clothes were lit up with the fingers of heat that had consumed the house. "No! No, Kaylee!"

"Vienna! Go! Go, you need to get out of here!"

"No," I said. "No, not without you!"

"Never mind about me! You need to make it out! Now, go!"

Suddenly I was being pulled away from Kaylee by something invisible, and my entire body felt like it was on fire. I screamed. Then, everything was black.

I sat upright in my bed. My eyes were wide and I felt a small amount of sweat running across my forehead. The covers on top of me were hot and my pajamas irritated me. My eyes darted around the room, taking in my surroundings. Nothing was on fire. The air didn't smell of smoke. I breathed a big sigh of relief as I realized that I was in the protection of my own home, inside my room. I'd just had another nightmare about the fire from a month ago.

I stripped the covers of my bed off of me and swung my legs around to make contact with the cool wooden floor. Then, slowly, I made my way over to my vanity and focused my vision on a picture of Kaylee and I when we were ten, playing inside her room with American Girl dolls. My eyes watered at the memory of the girl who had used to be my best friend, and I forced myself to look away from the photo.

My feet began to lead me toward the door, and I opened it quietly and stepped out onto the soft carpet of the hallway. I made my way over to the stairs and let my mind wander for just a minute. Tomorrow was the first day of school, and I'd have to do it without Kaylee by my side. I bit my lip nervously, and turned my eyes to look at the stairs. I straightened my back and made my way down, turning again and descending until I was at the first floor. It was quiet and empty. I pursed my lips and began to quietly step into the dining room and then into one of the entrances to the kitchen.

I wasn't surprised to see my Aunt Serafina there, dressed in a black blouse and jeans with gold jewelry and curled dark caramel hair, cutting up a couple of apples. "Your up early, Vienna," she said. "Good morning."