Amelia was falling through the Earth. Her hands were flailing about as she watched the hole that connected to the surface grow smaller. She was falling with her back facing the ground – if there was one in the first place. Although she could not stop from staring at the surface that was now a speck in the darkness, she somehow knew that she would survive her plummet down the long dark tunnel. She closed her eyes and counted, trying to ignore the fear that gripped her body.
... 97... 98... 99... she counted before the air pressure changed around her. She dared to open her eyes and saw that she was not falling through a tunnel anymore. She was now in a huge cavern that was lit up with lava. Her descent suddenly slowed to a crawl and she let out a groan as gravity took its toll on her body. Soon after, her back rested gently on a rocky surface and she knew she had reached the bottom.
Amelia slowly stood up and gasped. She stood on a rocky island surrounded by boiling lava. When she looked around, all she could see was darkness and a sea of lava reaching out into the distance. Where am I?
"Amelia!" a female voice yelled from behind her.
She immediately turned around and saw someone hovering above the lava. For some reason, Amelia could not make out her face but could tell that she was in a hurry to tell her something.
"Amelia, listen to me! You have to—" the woman's voice was cut off as a monstrous roar echoed through the caverns.
Following the sound was a huge lava wave forming behind the woman, rising as high as a five-storey building and heading towards her like a tsunami. The woman gasped as she disappeared into the lava wave from behind and Amelia froze with fear. In the middle of the red-hot tsunami were glowing yellow eyes staring at her fiercely. She had seen those eyes before. The tsunami now towered above her and she screamed as the lava wave collapsed onto her.
"No!" she yelled as she suddenly found herself staring at the ceiling. The room that she was in now was dark and familiar. It was her bedroom. Amelia threw off her blanket and got up into a sitting position as she swung her legs to the side of her bed, gasping as her heart raced. What... how? That felt so real. She shook her head and concentrated on her breathing.
Amelia had been having nightmares every two to three days, but none of them had compared to this. For one thing, the nightmares she had were mostly forgotten by the time she woke up, but this one was vivid. She could still recall falling through the Earth, landing on a rocky island filled with lava and seeing that giant lava wave heading towards her. And then there was that mysterious woman whose face was unclear.
Nothing made any sense in that dream, and even though she wanted to forget about it, Amelia knew that it would still linger in the back of her mind. She sighed, stood up and reached for her phone. There were a dozen text messages from Drake and a few missed calls. Only two texts were from today, as the rest has been received throughout the week.
She decided to read the recent ones from yesterday. Amy plz reply :( it sucks not being able to speak with you for a week. How long are u gonna ignore me? was the first text. Amy im going to a beach party on Saturday. Hope u forgive me by then D:
Amelia turned off her phone and placed it in her pocket. She remembered Monday night at Drake's house, and how she had confessed her feelings for him only to not have them returned. She remembered getting home that night, going to bed early and then crying herself to sleep. Why does loving someone who does not share the same feelings hurt so much?
She had ignored him for a week. Of course, Drake had tried to reach her and apologise to her the whole week, but she did not want to face him. After Tuesday, she was no longer mad at him and was not as upset, but she was too embarrassed to look him in the eye. Amelia checked her phone again for the time. It was only four in the morning, and today was Saturday.
Amelia walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She tiptoed past her father's room, not wanting to wake him up. She could hear snores coming from his room and she smiled. At least one of us is getting a good night's rest.
When she reached the kitchen, she felt the atmosphere shift. Her heart began to beat quickly again and something told her that she was in danger. Oh no, she thought when she recognised the feeling she was having. It was that strange pull she experienced after school on Monday, the same pull that led her to that monster – a corrupt fire elemental as Drake had mentioned.
Amelia followed the pull to the front door and she peeked out the window. There were three hooded figures approaching her house from across the road and she gasped when one of them looked in her direction. Golden eyes stared back at her.
Oh crap, oh crap! she panicked and looked around her for a weapon of some sort. The only thing she could use was her father's baseball bat, which he kept underneath the couch. Amelia was about to grab the bat when she heard footsteps. Then there was a knock at the door.
"Who's there?" she whispered out then realised how stupid her question was. She knew exactly who – or what – was standing outside her door. And there were three of them. She dashed towards the couch and reached for the baseball bat underneath. Simultaneously, the front door burst open as three hooded figures walked inside. In that moment, she could not help but wonder why they had even bothered to knock in the first place.
Anger replaced her fear and she gripped the baseball bat tight. "Get out of my house!" she yelled as she brought her arm back and threw the bat towards them with all her might.
It struck one of them in the head and he fell to the ground unconscious. The other two glared at her with glowing eyes and began to morph into their true forms. Amelia did not wait for them to finish their transformation and ran towards her father's room.
She threw open the door. "Dad, wake up! We need to get out of here!" She was not surprised to see him already wide awake and searching for something in his closet.
"Sweetheart, get behind me. Did you see who they were? Are they burglars?" he asked as he rummaged through his messy closet. "If we were still in New York, I would have chased them out with my shotgun by now."
"D-Dad," her voice croaked. "They're not burglars, they're—"
A loud crash came from somewhere in the house and the smell of smoke began to fill the air. Her father reappeared from the closet and was carrying a strange-looking sword in hand. Even though it was dark, Amelia could make out its ancient features and design.
"Amelia, listen to me." Her father was looking her in the eyes with a serious expression. "Lock yourself in this room and do not let anyone in, do you hear?" he began marching out of the room with sword raised cautiously.
"But—"
"No buts, stay put!" he commanded firmly before disappearing into the hallway after closing the room door.
Amelia's first thought was to call the police, but then thought against it when she realised she would have to do a lot of explaining to them. She shook her head. I can't just sit here! I need to help Dad. She suddenly heard another crash and the sound of her father grunting from somewhere within the house. Desperate, Amelia slowly raised a trembling palm in front of her and tried to summon a small flame. She searched for the power inside her, the same power that granted her control over fire, but all she felt was fear and dread.
She cursed under her breath and cautiously walked towards the door, opened it slowly and took a peek outside. "Dad?" she called out in a whisper as she took a step into the dark hallway. It was eerily quiet, and there were no signs of her father or any of the monsters. Her heart was pounding so fast that she was afraid for a second that the monsters would hear her.
Amelia bit her lip, wondering if she should return to her father's room, lock the door and wait there like he had told her to. But she talked herself out of it and took a few brave steps through the shadowy hallway. That was when she could smell something all too familiar, and it reminded her of the time she accidentally burned dinner when she had first started to learn how to cook.
Crap. No! She quickly dashed into the kitchen, now fully aware of what was happening. There was light coming from the kitchen window. Or rather, the curtains on the sides were on fire, and it was rapidly spreading. She tried to run to the bathroom to grab a bucket of water, but she remained frozen to the spot.
There was something very wrong with the fire. The fire that lit the curtains ablaze was a glowing dark red, and not your usual bright orange. Smoke began to fill the air as the flames spread across the walls and ceiling of the house. It occurred to her that this fire was not natural in any way, this fire was something darker. It consumed everything in its path like a hungry lion.
She began coughing from all the smoke, and that was enough to get her legs moving again. Amelia ran towards the front door, desperately calling for her father in-between coughs. She wasted no time in opening the door and getting herself out of the house.
When she was at least half a dozen metres away from the door, she looked back and watched with horror as the dark red fire continued to devour her home. "Dad! Dad!" she called out as she sank to her knees. She reached out her hand towards the building as if trying to save it.
That was when her helplessness and dread turned into something more productive, something that felt like determination, anger, and fear, all at the same time. She stretched out both arms towards her house and instantly, she felt surges of power enter her fingertips and travel through her arms as the fire that was consuming her house began to turn towards her.
She concentrated on what she was doing and soon, the dark red fire swooped towards her fingertips. Before it could scorch her hands, the fire dissolved into nothing. Amelia noticed that the fire around her house was starting to weaken and she concluded that she was absorbing the fire into her own body.
After what seemed like a couple of intense minutes, she had absorbed all the fire into her and she collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion. With the fire now gone, the area around her returned to its dark state. But the damage had already been done. Her home was in fiery ruins... except the fire had now gone. It had destroyed half of the house, and she knew that the inside would be even worse.
With her home in ruins, the monsters nowhere in sight and her father either missing or worse, she broke down into heart-wrenching sobs. She was too tired and too overwhelmed to do anything but break down. Amelia could hear the neighbours waking up, probably from all the smoke that had escaped the house just before. But she did not care. Just like her home minutes before, she felt that her life was now in fiery ruins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:
This chapter was the last pre-written chapter before this novel was published, so chapter 7 and onwards will be released slowly (hopefully 1-2 chapters every month). So what did you think of this chapter? What do you think Amelia will do now? Please share your thoughts :)