I stared at the blank TV screen for what felt like thirty minutes before I groaned in frustration. It had been a while since I'd spent time without Arden. Or if Arden was at school, then Jayden. It felt odd watching the television without Arden.
In the end, I went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and called my mom.
"Hey, mommy!" I said into the phone whilst the kettle was turning hot.
"Mommy! You haven't called me that in a long while," my mother said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm lonely as of the moment and making coffee," I replied.
"Without using the coffee machine," My mom added.
"I can't use that. Too complicated."
"You can solve a rubik's cube in under two minutes, sure, but a coffee machine..."
I laughed. "How's dad?"
"He's at work," My mom replied. "And he complains about how you never call him. Say that your favourite is me."
"Between you and me, you're my favourite," I said.
"I know that, dear. I raised your wild self to know what you like."
"Hmm," I angled my phone between my ear and shoulder to grab the mug from the overhead counter.
"You know, Ivy, there's one thing I've realised whilst talking to you," said my mom.
"What? I'm your favourite?"
"Well, between you and me, you've always been my favourite," my mom said. "But no, that's not it. You know, when you talk with me now, compared to well....before you left, I can clearly see the difference. Or rather, hear the difference."
"What's the difference?" I asked.
"Life," my mom replied. "Your voice has life, as though you're very, very happy whereas before, there was no happiness or life. I hear the sunshine, how it's supposed to sound and all I hear is the snowstorm that took place for ten years."
"Very poetic," I said as I turned off the kettle and placed the mug in front of me. "What's your point?"
"You found someone, didn't you? Someone I can call my future son-in-law?"
I immediately dropped the phone from the awkward angle between my ear and shoulder as the kettle water fell on my hand.
I screamed and quickly placed the kettle down.
"Ivy!" My mom called.
"Yeah, I just got burned, mom," I shouted. "Talk to you....."
I crouched to the floor and closed my eyes, as a warmth began to spread over my body from my burnt hand. A warmth that turned hotter and hotter and hotter......
I screamed whilst my entire body began to burn, though there was no flame.
"Ivy!" My mom called worriedly. "What happened?"
I raised a hand to reach the phone but the burning was too much. It increased with each breath I took, burning my insides to crips as I continued to scream.
What was happening? What was wrong with me?
My mind began to look for details....any medical condition that resulted in a burning sensation like this.
Nothing.
"IVORY THORNE!" my mom shouted. "YOU BETTER TELL ME WHAT—-"
"I'M BURNING!" I shouted back. "I'M BURNING, MOM!"
Tears began to fall from my eyes as I began to wish that my mother was here, right by my side. She wasn't a doctor but she had a cure for everything.
"IVY!" My mom said, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
"I don't know," I weeped. "I was talking to you and all of a sudden, my body began to burn and IT'S NOT STOPPING! IT'S NOT STOPPING!"
"Ivory, tell me where you are!" my mom ordered.
"NO!"
"IVY!"
"NO! I can't do that!"
"Then I'll make Isaiah track your—"
"He can't! Not this one!"
"IVORY THORNE! TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!"
"NO!" I crawled to the phone and disconnected it.
Then I immediately wished I hadn't because my mother's voice was giving me a sense of security that nothing else could.
"Mom," I cried out. "Mommy!"
I pressed my cheek against the cold floor and closed my eyes, trying to get some relief. But the floor seemed to get warm, as if heat was seeping through the pores of my skin.
"Mommy!" I called. "Mommy!"
I brought my hands and legs closed and began to cry even more, as the hellfire in me didn't stop.
Instead, it brought a vision. Jayden, standing in front of someone wearing a black suit with a black shirt, his golden eyes blazing with fury as he was looking at someone.
A second later, the fury turned into fear and pain and I wondered if perhaps he was able to see me the way I was able to see him.
"No," he whispered. "No."
"Yes," said another voice and my throat began to burn. I coughed but every time I did, the burning in my throat seemed to have increased.
What was happening to me? What was the medical condition?
I tried to call for help but the throat constricted me. I couldn't even scream.
I tried to think rationally.
So, I was burning, right?
And what was the antidote to burning?
Ice. Or rather, the cold.
Cold was the antidote.
And what was the coldest thing in the entire house?
Right.
I began to crawl, praying that the door was slid open.
It wasn't. The door to the pool wasn't left open. I pounded on the door, expecting it to open.
Of course, it didn't. The glass was too strong.
So, I stayed huddled up whilst the pain in me exploded like a dying star.
***
"Ivory!" Jayden called. "Ivory!"
A slap across my cheeks and I slowly opened my eyes to Jayden's face staring back at me.
"Jayden...." I asked, and then cleared my throat. My throat was burning, though the rest of my body had cooled down.
"Shh! Don't talk," he said. "No need to talk. I'm here."
He wrapped his hands around me and I gripped onto his collar, closing my eyes.
"Jayden...." I called. "You're here."
