Blaze by Kaitlyn Davis

you made your choice,” he spoke softly
but Kira heard every word.
    “Choice?” she asked, wrinkling her nose in
confusion. What choice had she made?
    “You know, I was worried about you turning
into a smurf on me, blue eyes and everything,” he laughed quietly,
almost like a sigh. “I didn’t think I had to worry about this.”
    “About what?” Kira said. This boy, Luke, was
very strange. He spoke in riddles.
    “I wish I could help you,” he said next, but
Kira had given up on understanding him. “I wish I could,” he
reached his hand over her heart, “but she’s not in there. My best
friend is gone and this is the only thing I can do to save
her.”
    And Kira was on fire. His hand scorched her
skin, burning her to the core, melting her heart. She stumbled back
on unsteady feet. What was happening?
    Flames burst from his palm, following her as
she fumbled backwards, trying to escape. A shout reached her senses
and Kira turned around blindly, just in time to see Tristan
drenched in flames, circled by four men with red hair. He was
trapped. Kira could see his skin melt. There was nothing she could
do to save him. But she tried, she ran to him, and another set of
flames slammed into her from the side, sending her flying in the
wrong direction.
    When she looked up from the grassy patch
that she had landed in, everyone was gone and she was alone in the
clearing.
    “Tristan!” Kira shrieked, but there was no
answer. “Tristan!” She yelled again.
    “He’s dead,” came the reply from behind
her.
    Kira stood and faced that sound. But it was
a girl. A girl with curly red hair. No curly blonde hair. No,
both.
    Her eyes were blue, bright light shards of
cobalt with orange burns along the edges. They seemed to glow as
they sunk into her skull, blinding Kira with their brightness. They
seemed to burn, almost alive like fire.
    But no, her hands were burning. Flames
gathered on each palm, engulfing the entirety of her arms.
    Kira turned to run, but before she could
take a step, fire blasted into her back and she was thrown face
first to the ground. She scrambled to stand, but the fire was
unceasing. It sank into her skin, latching onto her bones. It
coursed through her veins, bursting blood cells apart, traveling
closer to her heart.
    Her hands were like claws, sinking into the
dirt, pulling for an escape. But her skin was melting away, turning
to ash in the wind until she could see boils sprout along her
forearms and bone stick out from the tips of her fingers.
    The pain was unlike anything she had ever
experienced. She was burning. She was boiling alive. Even her sweat
was hot enough to sting. Her last ounce of strength was spent and
she was falling, falling into a black abyss, a bottomless hole. And
the flames chased after her, scorching her toes, raining down upon
her as she continued to fall, and fall, and fall…
    Kira jerked awake.
    She bolted upright and her vision swam with
the head rush, but she didn’t care. She heaved, forcing air into
her lungs. Her throat was dry. She couldn’t breathe. The air was
too thick and it scratched its way down into her burning lungs.
Kira clutched at her chest, willing her heart to slow down before
it burst apart.
    “Kira?” Tristan’s hand was on her back,
trying to sooth her.
    “Water,” she croaked out and he disappeared,
only to return a minute later with a glass of cold water in his
hands. Kira grabbed for it and greedily drank it down.
    The chill brought her focus back. Kira
blinked away the black spots in her vision, slowed down her breath
and collapsed back against her pillow with wide eyes.
    “Kira, what happened?” Tristan propped
himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. Kira forced herself
to smile.
    “It was just a bad dream, nothing to worry
about,” she told him. But deep down, Kira knew it was so much more
than that. Already her mind was buzzing, trying to figure out what
it all meant. She had killed herself. This wasn’t just a