t a l k

jdkdjkdjdkdjd this was supposed to be for the #WritersGuild prompt "The aftermath" but halfway through writing this, I completely forgot my idea and the story got a life of its own- oops

TW//fire

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t a l k

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The brisk breeze nipped at her skin as she walked towards the building. Her strawberry-blonde hair gently swishing from side to side with her calm long strides, while the beautiful orange hue of the sky brought out her hazel eyes. A tranquil expression laid on her features to mask the nervousness bubbling inside her.

It had been quite a while since the incident. As gorgeous as she was, the horrific sight, that tainted her memories every moment she closed her eyes, had taken a toll on her beauty. The skin underneath her eyes had darkened from the lack of sleep and she seemed skinnier, probably from skipping meals. Yet, no one around her had noticed anything wrong. She still acted as cheerful as ever, brightening up everyone's day. 'Acted'.

A small gasp left her lips as she stumbled over a few rocks, snapping her out of her thoughts. Her cheeks heating up only a bit from the embarrassment as she looked back, lucky enough for no one to have seen her. Quickening her pace, she noticed how the house was exactly the same as her last visit. She felt guilty. Should she have stayed home? No, that would've been worse. Should she have come sooner? Maybe, but who knows how she would've acted towards him.

Finally reaching the door, she lifted her hand to knock but hesitated. 'It's not too late to turn back, right?' she thought to herself. In fact it was, because the door opened before she could even blink. Her eyes widened as she looked at him, slowly lowering her fist. The man, however, just gave her a warm smile, stepping aside to let her in. She nodded, walking in before looking around as he closed the door behind her. Taking her shoes off before following him into the living room, she let put a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Neither of them have spoken a word to each other since forever. Not a single soul, other than them, knew what exactly happened that night. She couldn't dare tell a human about the truth. She knew he wasn't a bad person. Or more, she couldn't believe he was a bad person. She kept reminding herself that it was an accident. He didn't mean to. Kept lying about the incident.

"How have you been?" he finally spoke up, making her jump. "Well enough, I suppose. What about you?" she replied, not meeting his gaze, making him sigh. "Lonely." The word immediately struck guilt in the girl as she started playing with the end of her sleeves. "I apologize for not-" her words cut short as he interrupted, "Don't worry about it, Rae. As they say, the phone works both ways. It's not like I have been reaching out to you." She nodded, still looking at the ground.

"I just... wanted to talk about it," he mumbled, fixing his gaze onto old pictures on the wall. She glanced at him for a moment. "Go on." She placed her hands on her lap, finally looking up at him and making eye . Why should she be scared? He is a friend afterall. "What happened... It wasn't an accident. I mean, I didn't plan on burning it down. I knocked a candle over and as it slowly started to set the house on fire, I didn't make a move to stop it," he explained, his eyes showing no indication of a lie.

Sucking in a quick breath, she processed before shaking her head. "No." He furrowed his eyebrows. "No? What do you mean no?" She straightened her back. "It was an accident. Like you said, you didn't plan on-" he interrupted yet again, "But I didn't stop it!" She held up a hand, signaling him to stay quiet. "You were too scared to stop it, Drew. If you knew what to do- if you weren't just a kid, you would've stopped it! I know you would've! I know it's just your regret and guilt making you think this way. It was just an accident!"

"Rae, we weren't kids," he disagreed. "Yes we were! Just because we all had finally turned 18 doesn't mean we weren't just kids!" Her voice was a bit louder now. She was desperate to make him not be a villian. "But I watched them burn! I did nothing! Nothing to save them! Felix looked me in the eyes and begged me to help him but I just stared! My body didn't move!" He raised his voice as well. "Because you were scared!" Her hands were shaking. "But I wasn't, Rae! I was completely calm! I felt comforted by the fire! I felt at ease while all our friends were crying and dying! What don't you understand?! What don't you understand, Rae?..." His voice softened at the end.

"What?" she asked. Her voice had gone quiet and soft. She couldn't believe what she heard. No, she denied it. "You heard me," he mumbled, sitting back down. Neither had even realised that they were standing up. She fell onto her chair, looking at the ground. 'No, no, no, this can't be the truth?' she thought. "But..." she started but never finished.

His words floated in the air between them, like a catchy song you couldn't get out of your head. It was haunting them. After all this time, she finally knew the truth herself. She always thought that Drew was just scared. He wasn't like those heroes in movies whose body moved on their own. He was a normal person. Someone who felt fear. Someone whose emotions controlled them. He wanted to move but just couldn't. But it was something else.

Was this the dark side that's talked about? The shadow self. All your deepest darkest secrets. Your worst fears. Your regrets. Your guilty conscience. All your lies. Everything bad about you. Everything that makes you a monster. The devil over your shoulder you can't quite shake. As much as you want to ignore him, his whispers sound oh-so desirable. They make you forget about the angel on your other side that tries to help you, save you. The two fight over you and at that moment, the devil takes control.

Dragged back to reality, she finally noticed how he was wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. An unknown look in his eyes. "I'm not sorry, Rae." She felt as though those words echoed in the air. Words getting stuck in the back of her throat as she looked at him. All those happy memories they shared. Their friends who are now burned to death. She can't accept this. How could she? They were all so close, so happy, like a family. They were laughing together before the house went up in flames. After everything, she always thought that it was just an accident. Nothing more. Nothing deeper. Yet there was a dark truth to it.

While she had been haunted by that incident, 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙞𝙩.

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bOoM, let's pretend that I didn't write this during my classes :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: