Death Trail

Flames

Red.

Orange.

Black.

The colors my pupils seem to focus on. The only colors my brain is able to process.

Smoke.

The only thing my lungs are able to breathe in.

Pain.

The thing that devours my heart, bit by bit as I watch my childhood home burn away to ashes and dust. Fading away like it never existed, like it never mattered.

I kick and yell for whoever is holding me back to let me go so I can save my home, so I can try and save my sorry excuse of a father, to save the only memories I have of my mother. But they won't let me go, strong arms around my waist refuse to unlatch the death grip they have upon me.

"LET ME GO," I yell into oblivion

"LET ME SAVE THEM," I scream into toxic air.

I'm pulled back harder into whoever is holding me back and they start whispering in my ear trying to calm me down and it works.

But I still needed to save him.

I elbow whoever is holding me back and run towards the flaming house, I kick down the door and start searching for him.

"DAD," I yell for any sign of life. I hear a groan coming from the living room, I doge the flames and start running towards the living room looking for him. I cover my mouth with shirt trying not to inhale the flames and squint trying to find him through the smoke.

"Dad where are you?" I drop down to the floor and start crawling to get away from the smoke. I hear another groan to my right and see my dad lying there on the floor. I start crawling towards him.

"Olivia, where are you?!" I hear Nathan from the entrance.

I ignore his calls and look towards my father. "Hey dad you're gonna be okay let's get you out of here," I hear him groan something.

"Tiger," He whispers.

"What? dad what are you talking about? you need to get up, come on let's go," I try to get him to stand up but he lets out a groan of pain. I look down to see what's wrong and what I see almost kills me.

It was a gunshot wound.

"Come on dad please get up. You gotta help me so I can get you out of here," I pull him up but he's too heavy for me. A piece of wood falls from the ceiling.

"I love you, Olivia. I always have. I'm sorry for ever-" And before he gets to finish his sentence his eyes close, as the petals of his eyes shut, the light in his eyes that I haven't seen since my mother was alive returns for just a second and disappears again.

I lay my head against his chest and listen to his heart beats fade away.

"NO." THUMP

"please." thump

"Come back." silence

I hear a shuffle behind me and see Nathan silhouette standing by the entrance. "Come on Ollie we need to go," He offers his hand and as I reach for it a flame bursts between us cause my hand to burn. I jump back with a scream. And the smoke gets heavier.

"OLIVIA," Is all I hear before the smoke was too much for my lungs to handle and the pain in my forearm was too much to bear and I lay there next to my dead father against the burning floor.

A thud next to me causes me to open my eyes, and there he is.

My knight in shining armor.

And that's when everything fades to darkness.

***

Beep, beep, beep.

Is all I'm able to register as I slowly regain consciousness, and as my mind slowly awakens so does the pain. And just like a closed door that has just been unlocked the pain rushes through. I try to open my eyes but they seem to have a mind of their own and stay shut.

"Why isn't she waking up?" I hear a frantic voice right next to me.

But I am awake.

"I'm afraid that if she doesn't wake up in the next hour, we will have a physical exam and check if she is in a coma," this voice was calm and gentle.

Footsteps, they come closer and closer towards me until they stop.

"Hey Ollie," a soft palm brushes against my cheek.

"Come on, you need to wake up," the voice breaks.

"I need to know you're okay," and that's when I recognize the voice, It's Nathan.

His voice was enough for me to try and open my eyes. After three tries I manage to flutter my eyes.

"Olivia?" The hope in his voice rose.

I finally manage to open my eyes.

"Oh, thank god you're awake," he sighs in relief. Warms hands engulf my own as he gently kisses my forehead.

I open my mouth to speak but the words don't manage to escape pass my vocal cords.

"You're probably thirsty, here drink some water," filling up a glass of water he hands it to me. I almost devour the cup as I gulp down the water. And the words that have been ringing through my mind is the most prominent between the jumbled mess in my mind.

"Where am I?" I finally take in my surroundings and I see a doctor in the corner just watching our exchange, which was a little creepy.

"You're in the hospital," the Doctor finally speaks.

"What? Why? What happened?" My mind running a million miles a minute trying to remember what happened to me last night, or was it last night?

"Hey calm down," he squeezes my hand in effort to calm me down. "You don't remember anything? " I shake my head.

"You don't remember the fire?"

Click.

The memories start rushing through my mind like a movie in fast forward. Xavier being kidnapped, meeting Nathan, and finally the fire.

My father. He's gone. Sure, he wasn't much of a dad but he was MY father. He was once kind and gentle, loving even. I remember when he used to sneak me a cookie before dinner and eat the broccoli off my plate because he knew how much I hated it. Or take me to the park to eat ice cream whenever I was feeling sad. I knew my dad was under there somewhere just buried under grief of my mother's death. It may not have been good enough excuse for him to beat me but I always thought he had a chance for redemption. But now it's too late.

I didn't even realize I was crying until Nathan wiped my tears away.

"You're gonna be okay Ollie, I'll make sure of it," he flashes me one of his smiles and for a second, I believe him.

"Your injuries could have been way worse if Nathan here hadn't gotten you out on time," the doctor finally decided to join the conversation. I didn't know him and Nathan were on first name bases, but there's something familiar about him but I just can't put my finger on it.

"Do I know you?" I ask him, and tilt my head to the side.

"Oh, sorry I haven't introduced myself," He shoots me smile.

"I am Doctor Samuel Baker, Nathans father."

Oh.     

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This chapter took me a while to write but im taking my time cause no one is currently reading it.

Not one of my favorite chapter but I needed to get it out of the way.

whoever is reading this i hope you enjoyed the chapter :)

Yeup thats pretty much it.

Tell me your thoughts about the story so far and where you think its going. 

Bye