Chapter 1
Smoke obscured my vision as I rush deeper into the burning soaking wet with my protective gears on. I held a wet towel in my hands while I tried to look past the fire.
"Livia!" I could hear my mom calling for me, but I did not listen. I know that it's here somewhere. I just have to look carefully.
"Livia, go back! "
She's wrong. My mother is wrong.
I look up at the trees. My eyes were burning despite the protective gear I was wearing. The relief that I felt when I saw the koala that I was looking for hanging for dear life on one of the branches. But as soon as I noticed the branch it was clinging to starting to fall, my relief quickly turned to fear. I ran just as the connection broke, I made a dive to catch the animal. I felt what little air I had left rush out of my lungs when I made contact with the ground. I quickly covered the koala with my body to protect it from the burning branch that was about to fall on us. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact that never came.
I sat up and looked around me, ignoring the pain in my hand. I saw the branch cut into two and lay on either side of me. That struck me as odd, but I pushed those thoughts aside for now because I need to move.
I picked up the koala and began to walk back to the others and away from the forest fire after wrapping its burned body in a wet towel.
The smoke started to clear, and I could finally remove my mask to breathe in fresher air. A team of medics headed towards me, which was led by my mother, who was looking furious. She paused when she saw the animal in my arms and quickly looked back to call for help.
"We got an injured one here! We need the medical vet team immediately!" She shouted the orders to them.
The team approached me, and I gently handed them the koala that was covered in a wet blanket. My mother pulled me to the side and grabbed my shoulders as soon as they left.
"Are you hurt?!" She demanded. Her eyes and hands were roaming all around me to check and see if I was hurt.
"I'm fine, mom." I dropped my gears on the ground after giving her an assuring smile. "I told you that I know what I am doing."
"Yes, yes." She answered, but I knew that she wasn't listening to me. "Why do you never listen to me?" She shakes her head and sighs.
"I listen. I just don't follow what you tell me to." I throw up my hands in resignation and begin advancing through the hordes of people scurrying to put out the forest fire. My throat was getting dry and I just needed something to soothe my throat.
Despite the noise in the background, I could hear my mother stalking me from behind. She didn't say anything until I got to the cooler and got myself a cold bottle of water and drank.
"Livia, seriously. You just can't blindly head into a forest fire, suspecting that there's an animal who needs help!"
I poured the rest of the cold water over my face and my pink dyed hair to further cool myself before I answered her. "Mom, I wasn't suspecting anything. I know that there would be an animal there."
"Not this again." She shakes her head. "Liv, sweetie, I know how much you love animals, but unless you see or hear them, don't rush into the forest and call for someone who is trained to rescue them. This is the fourth time that you have disobeyed me. Next time, I am sending you home back to the city with your father, you hear?" She sighs. "Sometimes I regret allowing you to join the volunteers."
"Sam, come. We need you!" I was so relieved when one of my mom's teammates in the medical department called for her. "One of the firefighters got second degree burns."
"I'll be right there." She says before she gives me a glare. "Go back to the trailer and stay there until I get back. If I don't see you, expect to see your father in the morning." She warned me before running off to follow her team.
My mom, Samantha Ovard, is head of the medical team volunteering in the event of wildfires. When there isn't a fire, she works as a nurse in a city hospital.
I turned to the ground in dismay. She didn't even praise me for saving an endangered animal! Well, it's not like it's the only thing that matters at the moment.
With the busy bodies around me, it seemed like I was becoming more of a hindrance than help. People were running in and out to put out the fire and help those who got burned by it. I wanted to help, but I was afraid that I had exhausted what was left of her patience with me.
I admit that I was a little rebellious with my actions, but I know what I was doing.
I took my headphones out and went back to my mother's trailer to listen to some music. I peered out the window to see what was going on. The fire was slowly starting to recede. A chopper from above was sprinkling water, making me feel a little relieved.
I let my eyes flit about until I spotted a shadowy figure behind the trees. Although the trailer was far from the woods, I could tell from the man's height and skin tone that whoever was hiding behind the tree wasn't a person. I calmly closed the curtains and lay down on the seat, blasting my music at full volume to distract myself.
Two years ago, I fell into an accident that forever changed my life. I don't remember much about it, but I remember falling into a coma for a year - at least that's what they told me.
I read that people who wake up from a coma usually change when they wake up, but those changes are usually temporary. They are usually about personality changes, but mine is a little different and...unique.
I can see things that shouldn't be there; things that shouldn't belong in the human realm.
I rested my head on my pillow and closed my eyes tightly to shake off the creature that I had just seen in the woods.
Forget about it. Forget about it.
I kept repeating the words over and over in my head like a mantra long enough until I fell asleep.
In my dream, I was swimming in a lake, doing backstrokes while watching the sky in a swimsuit.
There are some people who have crazy dreams that they can't remember, but me? I don't know if this is a side effect of my coma, but I usually have calm dreams that I can remember.
And that's not all.
In this dream, I have a friend.
"You must have had a stressful day if you're relaxing this much." Steve, a friend I made in my dream, was sitting on a boulder and looking at me with amusement. He's a guy with black hair and deep purple eyes.
I know that I might be out of my mind because I know that I am just talking to a figment of my imagination - I know this because my brain fashioned him as my ideal guy; at least when it comes to looks.
People have different ways of dealing with stress. I guess that this is just how I cope with mine.
I grinned and swam towards him. "I have." I told him, perching myself on the boulder next to him as I addressed him. "I just saved a koala from burning to death."
"That's amazing, Liv." He smiled before raising a brow at me in suspicion. "But why do you seem angry rather than happy? You did a good thing."
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Tell that to my mother. She never praises me for saving lives!" I threw my hands in the air in exasperation, splashing him with water in the process.
Steve chuckles and wipes away the droplets of water from his face. "She's just worried. It's not like it's the first time you risked your life to save another."
I narrowed my gaze. "Why are you siding with her?"
"Because you almost got yourself hurt when you caught the koala. To me, an animal's life is not worth comparing to yours, Liv."
"All lives are important, Steve." I said it with disbelief evident in my tone. I know that my brain must be trying to please and make me feel good, but this is not something that I wish to hear.
I saw Steve pursing his lips just before I looked away. Silence fell between us for a brief moment before Steve started talking again.
"I'm sorry, Liv. I'm just worried. I don't want you to get-"
My dream world was starting to get a little shaky when Steve and I looked at each other. Disappointment was evident in his eyes when he smiled. "Seems like you're steering awake." He notes before his expression starts to change in a serious manner. "I know that I keep repeating myself when I say this, but I just want to remind you again that if you see anything weird in the forest, you have to leave immediately, alright?"
I wish to answer and tell him about the man that I saw in the woods just before I fell asleep, but I have already lost the ability to speak.
Steve chuckles as the dream world starts to slowly disappear. "See you next time, Liv."
And just like that, everything disappeared and I was brought back to the real world with hard rock music blaring from my headphones. I sigh and place my arm over my eyes irritably.
I really should arrange my sleeping playlist next time.