Chapter 6

Fire. Why does it have to be so beautiful as love yet cause as much pain as a heartbreak? Fire raged through the night. First quietly, then all of sudden it was everywhere. It was engulfing all I treasured. I was running, escaping. I had grabbed my most precious item, my ipod and earphones. The house was going down. I heard yells from my family. I thought they were behind me. I thought. I really did. Maybe their footsteps were those of my imagination. Someone help me. Please.
It has been a week seen I last saw Xavier. It has been a week since I heard from anyone. Anyone real. It has been a week since the music had stopped and darkness returned. I didn't want to return back to music. I was more suited to be surrounded by the blanket of these creatures. My parents were starting to sense their return but said nothing about it.
A Saturday. About 1am in the morning. The moon had disappeared by now and stars bright. It was quiet. Everybody asleep soundly in bed. Everybody, except me. No one knows why it started, all I know was that it was real. The heat was real. The screams were real. The fire was real. I remember only grabbing my Ipod. I don't know why. I had stashed it away, not wanting to listen to music any longer. Not wanting to do anything with music.
I scrambled past the rooms and down the stairs, passing every member of my family. I heard footsteps. I heard them talking. I ran and ran. The cold, crisp air met my unprotected skin. It was only then that I turned to look back. Not a soul was in sight. It was silent as if there was no fire, as if I was just imagining the whole scenario. Like a movie with no sound. I waited. No one emerged.
It seemed that everything was in slow motion. The police. The firemen. The ambulance. They all came. The fire was extinguished and they searched for any survivors. None. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. But, I couldn't. I felt empty. Why was I the only one to survive? Why did I survive? Why? Why? Why?
Then, they brought out the bodies. My mother. My father. My older brother. They were all in body bags. All covered. All wrapped up. My knees buckled. I couldn't look. I couldn't stand to think about it anymore. I think that this is the first time in my life that I could think straight without any help. It was the first time the darkness cleared completely. Everything hurt, everything was crumbling. As people surrounded me, the darkness fell back and I succumbed to fatigue.