Broken Nightmare

The flames licked up Claire's legs, fire shooting out of her pale hands, fire surrounding her before I could get there. Her piercing screams splitting the air in two, and for the longest moment of my life, I couldn't get to her fast enough.

I rounded the burning cafeteria tables and reached out to help her, but only finding a pile of ash in the place she last occupied.

There was no way she was gone. She just got away, right?

An overwhelming feeling of helplessness sat heavy in my chest as I continued to search for her.

The sight flashed over and over in my mind and no matter where I was or what I was doing, my dream was still hauntingly fresh.

"Suthard! What is it?" I finally snapped out of my trance and was greeted by my ticked off history teacher.

"I'm sorry, I don't know, Mrs. Kirkwood." I blurted, not even knowing the question.

"You don't know why the American Civil war started?" She asked, dumbfounded as the rest of the class burst into a mass of giggles.

I didn't want her to catch on my dozing again, so I hung my head low and mumbled, "No."

Mrs. Kirkwood seemed to buy it, "Alright then, let's hope your friend here can help you. Ms. Bound, what is it?"

My best friend tore her gaze from me to the teacher and told her, "because of slavery." When Claire replied, she turned back to me and mouthed, 'are you okay?'

With a quick nod, I turned back to our teacher and tried to focus on what she was saying, but my mind kept drifting back to this dream I had.

The bell snapped my attention back into the present and I scurried all my belongings back into my backpack. I flung it onto my shoulder and looked up to find Claire waiting for me by the door.

I hurried to catch up with her, the whole time avoiding eye contact with my flustered teacher, who was watching me intently. I finally reached the door and rushed Claire into the hallway.

We made our way to my locker, like we always did after sixth period, with Claire shooting me worried looks all the way there.

When we made it to my locker, Claire finally demanded, "Alright, spill it."

I tried to shake her off, still knowing it wouldn't happen.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, please. Don't play this with me. I saw how distant you were in class. You were practically drooling. What's going on in that mind of yours?"

I tried not to make it sound too creepy. "I haven't been sleeping too well lately."

She stared blandly at me for a second before her mouth dropped open and stayed that way until I finished placing my history book in my locker.

She finally spoke after what seemed like forever, but it came out as a small whisper, "Shut-up! You had another dream! Like the other mojo one? What happened?" She demanded.

I faced her full on after I shut my locker. "Nothing really. This one was really stupid and I doubt it would ever happen like my 'mojo ones'." I let some sarcasm seep into my voice at the end of the sentence.

"Yeah, but if it's not a stupid one, it could mean something or tell the future like your last ones. Tell me!" She begged.

A year ago, I told her I had a dream about her current boyfriend, Brody, getting mugged in an alleyway behind the old bookstore. I had never told anybody besides my brother, and I was surprised when she believed that I have these kind of psychic dreams that can tell the future.

We had called the authorities ahead of time and they arrived before anyone managed to get hurt. When asked by them why we called it in, Claire covered for me, saying she saw these creeps watching her boyfriend recently, and she was just worried. They are no longer together, but that incident has made me put my trust her in the highest possible way. The only other person I trust as completely as her is my older brother, Liam.

"You're probably going to think I'm losing it. Seriously, it's stupid."

"Yeah, right. When was the last time I laughed at you? Come on, I've known you for years. Just tell me what happened."

I took a deep breath and gave in, "Fine, but you can't laugh at me, okay?"

I waited for her nod before continuing.

"You set the school on fire-and it wasn't matches or anything. You actually shot the fire out of your hands."

I tried to ignore her confused look and continued.

"But, I couldn't get to you in time. No matter what I did, the fire made sure you were unreachable then you-"

I cut myself short, because I couldn't tell her the two of us went in there, but only one came out. I just stopped and looked at her

She was looking at me as if I had three heads.

She opened and closed her mouth three times, and I took the time to turn around and start heading for our next classes.

She appeared beside me before I could go far.

"Well, maybe this one is figurative, like, I start a problem or something, and there is no backing out of it?" she suggested

"Yeah, maybe..."

I let the skepticism seep into my tone, but then dropped it.

"But, it all felt so real. I felt the heat and the smoke suffocating me, like I couldn't breathe anymore. I don't know. Maybe this time, I am losing it."

"No, El. Look at me." She grabbed my shoulder and forced me to look at her.

She stared into my eyes as she spoke, "You haven't lost it. This entire thing means something like it always does. Okay?"

I still didn't really believe her, but didn't get a chance to voice my opinion before the bell rang.

She mirrored my smile and we both rushed up the stairs and into our classes, hers thankfully right next to mine.

I walked into my advanced Calculus class, which was full of seniors. I have to say it was a little awkward being the only junior in this class, but I loved math. It was one subject I was good at.

The assignment was easy, as always, and I finished early again. So, instead of studying or reading, like I usually did when I finished the assignment, I just sat back and let my mind wander.

What if Claire was right? What if it were just figurative, then what did it mean? Or was it just a regular, stupid, pointless dream like normal people had?

As much as I wanted to believe that, my dreams have never been normal, and there was no reason why they would start now.

-

The bell took an excruciating long time to ring, and, glad school was out, I began walking out in the halls. I saw Claire and waved to her as I walked down the stairs and out the back door of the high school.

My brother, Liam, was on the wrestling team and while he stayed after school, I left as soon as I could. I shot my brother a quick text and waited for his response, which was once again a warning to be careful.

I told him I will and slid the phone back into my pocket.

The sun soaked in all my pores as the slight breeze brushed against my body. I closed my eyes and let myself soak in the moment. It was nice to be walking home on sunny days and I relished in the feel of the warm sun bathing my skin.

The walk home was relaxing. It was a good mile, and I enjoyed every step. All my stresses and worries were lost in an instant. Most people complained about having to walk home from school, but I quite enjoyed the stroll.

"Look at you walking alone on the streets. It's like you were waiting for me."

I stopped abruptly and snapped open my eyes to find a man leaning against one of the walls of a home in my neighborhood. He sauntered out of the shadows and glided towards me. This man truly was intimidating.

He was well over six feet tall, with an intimidatingly large, muscular build. His eyes were two different colors-one dark brown and the other icy blue.

He had a scar under his pale eye, and another reaching from the bottom of his right nostril to the top of his lip. His smile sent shivers up my spine, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get myself to escape it.

He was about a yard away when I finally found my feet and slowly stepped away from him.

Another man came from my street behind him and yelled, "She's not home, boss", but stopped as he saw me.

The evil man grinned and replied, "It's okay. She's right here."

I must have looked confused, because the man spoke up.

"We're not here to hurt you. Yet. If you don't stay away, I won't be so nice. You have no part in this, and if I hear of you interfering again, I will not hesitate to discard of you, are we understood?"

With each word, he moved forward a little until he was in my face. His breath smelled like tobacco, mixing with the scent of sweat to burn my nostrils.

I decided to take the easy way out. I thought back to some of the self-defense moves Liam had shown me.

Doing the easiest one I could think of, I grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the groin. He doubled over, obviously not expecting me to fight back, and I took the opportunity to knee him again in the nose.

Without any other delays or hesitation, I snatched a lanyard from his pocket and took off, hearing the muffled noise of yelling behind me.

I turned around to see the other guy charging towards me. I quickened my pace, with the jungle of keys hanging from my hand.

Why did I have to grab the lanyard?

Knowing I could run longer than him, I took the long way home. Surprisingly, this guy managed to make it longer than I expected, but I still beat him.

Waiting until he had to stop, I sprinted home and didn't stop until my key was in the lock and I was inside the sanctuary of my own home.

I walked in the door and locked it as I took a deep breath. Without knowing it, I leaned against the door to catch my breath.

I tried to wrap my mind around the fact that this man, who I've never met before, was chasing after me, yelling at me to 'stay out of it'-whatever that meant. What was he talking about?

Nothing ever happened in my life that was exciting enough to have someone trail me down with threats. People didn't even know my name at school.

Without knowing it, I felt myself go to my brother's bedroom.

My big brother and I have always been tight. The down side to that was he was overprotective. He always had to intimidate all my friends-boys or girls-not to hurt me. Sometimes, they got scared out of being my friend that way, because Liam was, after all, a wrestling champion.

I found my way up the stairs like a zombie and swung open Liam's door without knocking.

He was hunched over his desk staring menacingly at his Calculus text book. My dad worked a deal with him that if he kept straight 'A's, he could join wrestling. I guess he didn't realize what he got himself into because he was always huddled around his desk.

I stepped into his room and, without hesitation, plopped on his bed. He swiveled around in his massive work chair and faced me.

Before he could say anything, I mumbled, "How did you get home before me?"

Liam didn't even glance at me as he grunted a short response. "Practice was canceled. I tried calling you and tried to pick you up on my way home, but I couldn't reach you or find you."

Liam turned around and finally glanced at me. The frustrated look of concentration melted into worry at the one glance. "What happened?"

Now feeling a little guilty for interrupting his studies, I hesitated. "Aren't you supposed to be doing... whatever it is you are doing?"

"Nah. This is just calculus. Who needs this crap in their life? I mean, seriously? When will I need to know about Taylor Polynomials? They teach us stupid things is school. So, talk away."

I let that one slide, looking back at what just happened and knew he could help me.

My voice was still quivering a little as I recounted what happened on the way home with the dangerous stranger.

His face hardened with my every word, and by the time I was finished, it felt like I was sitting before a wild bull.

Trying to delay the lecture I was about to get, I handed him the lanyard I swiped with keys dangling from it. I had almost forgotten about them.

"I'm not sure why I grabbed this. It would have been nice if he had an ID on it or some way of verification so I could tell the police or something, but no such luck. I think I just gave him more motivation to find me."

Liam took the keys and stared at me.

His face was stoned with anger as he spoke, "El, are you hearing yourself right now? You just got attacked! And for something you don't know what for. I know you're going to scream at me, but I'm not going to let you walk home alone again."

"Well, lucky for me, you are not my father, so, no. I'm not waiting for hours after school for you to drive me home." I responded, matter-of-factly.

"I'm serious, El." He responded, a fire burning in his eyes.

"So am I, Liam. I'm not going to sit back and let this change my life."

"I know you never like to lose arguments, but this one is important. Please. This is the one thing I'm going to ask of you. This guy is dangerous, and we have no way of verifying who he is. Just wait until we find him, okay?"

I sighed at the concern in Liam's face.

"Liam. It was thanks to you and those moves you showed me that I was able to get out. How bout this? You can come with me on my daily runs, and when I want to walk, I will text you when I leave and get home. Deal?"

I knew I wasn't going to win this one because it had to do with my safety, but I wasn't just going to give up like that.

Liam sighed, thinking of my proposition.

After a while of me biting on my lip, he finally opened his mouth, "You aren't giving in for anything else, are you?" He waited until I shook my head before sighing again, "Alright, deal. But only if you let me show you a few more self-defense moves."

He had already shown me enough to be considered a ninja, and I tried not to use the dangerous ones, even in training. I can't stand the thought of hurting someone-if they were doing it to me or not.

Before he changed his mind, I stuck out my hand, "Deal." I pronounced as he grabbed it tightly.

Liam started to rise from his seat, "Well, let's get started on these lessons. How about this time, I'll teach-"

"Uh-uh." I said, recalling where I found him in the first place. "You still have Calculus to do. After you finish, we can do it," I said as I pushed lightly on his chest, forcing him in his seat.

"But, El. Seriously, I don't get this stuff and I need to get my mind off it for a minute."

"Ha!" I exclaimed, "I've heard that one before. I know you probably just opened your book, considering you haven't even been home that long. Besides, if you need help, I'm always here..." I said, enthusiastically.

He sighed in defeat, "I guess that's what I get for having a genius as a sister. Alright. I'll get finished here, then we'll head to the basement and we'll do what I want for a while."

I left at that and headed next door into my room.

I walked into my bland room and plopped on my bed. I looked around, studying it to make sure it was as I left it. I sat up from my bed and looked at the mess staring back at me in the mirror.

My normally wavy dirty blonde hair was a mess, scattered messily around my shoulders. My skinny frame looked extra small as my clothes clung tightly by sweat to my body-no doubt due to my unscheduled run this afternoon. And last of all, my eyes. My eyes were a strange color-a dark purple.

I grunted as I marched over to my closet to pull out some more comfortable sweats I could train in later.

Just as I pulled on a loose shirt, I heard the front door open.

Knowing it was one of two different groups, I listened at the door to see which one it was. When I heard children's laughter, I knew it was my younger siblings back from school.

Compared to most people, I had a large family-having two older brothers, two younger brothers, and one younger sister. We all rely on my Father nowadays because my mother abandoned us a few years ago.

My poor sister was growing up strong and very much like a tom-boy with her brothers to boss her around. I've tried to do girl things with her-hair, nails, make up, dress up-but she is too far in the dark side to care about those things anymore.

I tugged my baggy shirt down as I stepped out of my room. I turned the corner to find all three of my siblings. David was the oldest of the three, being in seventh grade. To be honest, I think he was done having to put up to the kids' tantrums and having to ride the bus with them. He was still very patient, though.

David went downstairs to his room-no doubt to play video games-and Shawn and Lucy came upstairs.

As they climbed the stairs, Lucy started yelling my name. Shawn wasn't too far behind, hysterically yelling my name as well.

Lucy rose up a slip from her hand and placed it gently in mine. "You in trouble again, Luce? What did you do now?" I teased her.

Lucy laughed then replied, "No, it's for you, silly. It's your turn this time."

Curious, I looked at the wrinkled paper resting in my hand. I opened it slowly, and read the sloppy handwriting:

'We have much to discuss. I would suggest we meet soon if you care about them.'

I immediately shuddered and my hand started trembling.

"Lucy, who gave this to you?!" I demanded.

Lucy smiled her innocent smile again.

"The nice man who gave us these suckers. He said you would know who he was when we gave you the paper."

I ripped the sucker from her grasp and threw it somewhere else. Shawn had one identical and I did the same.

"Hey!" they yelled in unison as I threw the candy.

This creep had the guts to come after my siblings? What a stalker! I screamed at myself.

I felt so stupid! Of course he knew where I lived! He had that guy go check if I was home. I shouldn't have EVER put them in harm's way!

But at the same time, what was I supposed to do? Why did they even target me and why are they so persistent about meeting?

I stared at my brother and sister for a second while I recollected my calm so I wouldn't scare them.

"This man is bad. He wants to hurt us, okay? Next time you see him, have David call Liam or me immediately and run, okay?"

Shawn was staring at me as if I had three heads. "But, he was nice to us. He gave us candy."

I grabbed one of each of their shoulders and tried to remain calm. "I know, but I need you to trust me, okay? This guy is not nice-if he has candy or not. Just believe me, okay?"

Shawn and Lucy looked at each other for a second before responding, "Okay, Ellie."

I took a deep breath and tried to calm my thudding heart. I didn't care if this guy had an entire army; I was going to make him think twice before he confronts my family again.

I let go of the kids' shoulders and stood back up. "You have homework?"

They both groaned in response, and I took that as a yes. As they retrieved their backpacks, I marched towards Liam's room again.

I barged in again to find Liam playing on his phone. "I want that training now."

"What made you change your mind?" He asked as getting up from his chair.

"I'll tell you later. Now, I just want that training."

Liam accepted the answer and led me down to the basement where the workout room was. This was pretty much Liam's life down here as he was always training and working out. He was the one who would drag me down here so he could teach me some self-defense moves.

Whenever anyone got in trouble, their punishment was another lesson with Liam.

The room was not any larger than a bedroom, but Liam fixed it up and messed with it one summer until it worked as his own practice room.

For the next few hours, Liam helped me blow off steam and learn more self-defense.

My muscles ached, but adrenaline pumped through my veins to keep me punching. Once the kids finished with their homework, they came to watch us, like always. Even David came out of his cave to watch us train.

Whoever this guy was, he'll be sorry he ever crossed my path.

-