Alexandra woke up feeling sick. Her head pounded and she was drenched with sweat, blankets tangled around her legs and falling to the floor. She moaned as she rolled over, slowly detangling herself from the knot of sheets, and fell to the floor. She stood up stiffly and hobbled through her door and down the stairs.
As she staggered into the kitchen her mother looked up, concern eclipsing her normally mild features, "Lexie are you alright? You look terrible!"
"Gee thanks mom," Lexie half laughed, "but yeah… I think I have a fever… Can I stay home from school today?"
Her mom, Lisa, rested the back of her hand gently against Lexie's forehead, it was cool an soothing to the touch, "oh sweetie, you're definitely warm, how about you go up to bed and I'll make you some tea and toast before I leave for work?"
...
A couple hours later Lexie was sitting in bed, still feverish, but trying to distract herself from the uncomfortable heat. She had continually shed layers throughout the morning and was now sweating in cartoon patterned boxer-shorts she'd bought at target the month before and a soft yellow cami-tanktop. She turned the TV on to the news to keep her mind off her roasting.
The anchor was talking through his animated frozen smile at the camera. Too much botox again Rob… Lexie thought to herself. "And now, live from city hall, the governor is holding a press conference to address what his administration is calling 'The Mutant Crisis.' Here's Abigail Rochester with the story."
"Thanks, Robert. Here I am at the steps of city hall where a crowd has gathered to listen to Governor Barlowe talk about his proposed Mutant registration protocols."
Lexie turned off the TV. She was proud of her dad, but she'd heard this speech a dozen times, he always wanted to get his daughters' opinions before he ever made a speech to the public. "Knock 'em dead daddy," she whispered before falling into a restless and troubled sleep.
...
She woke up about an hour later because of the unbearable heat. She'd never had a fever this bad before, it felt like she was trapped in a sauna that was on fire.
She staggered into her bathroom, turned the shower onto the coldest it could go and stepped in, not even bothering to remove her clothes first. The cold water felt like a blessing of rain on a parched desert flower and she closed her eyes, oblivious to the steam that formed as the water hit her scorching shoulders.
Lexie woke again, this time for lack of air, she was choking, the air in the room was thick, heavy, and burnt. Smoke. She coughed and rolled sideways out of her bed, hitting the floor with a thud, but instead of fresher air she was greeted by flames. They were leaping out from under the floorboards, climbing the walls and devouring her pictures. A high pitched wail pierced the air, she couldn't tell if it was the house or her own lungs until she snapped her mouth closed. Need to conserve oxygen, I have to get out of here. She pushed herself off the floor and sprinted for the doorway, grasping the knob without thinking.
She drew her hand back in shock, the knob was red hot, she stopped in the midst of the terror and flames and stared at her palm, expecting a circle of seared flesh, but it was unharmed. Terrified, she threw her shoulder into the door, splintering the jam and sprinting for the stairwell. Tongues of flame rose up to greet her from below. The entire house was ablaze!
She whirled and ran for her father's office, only to be met with a wall of fire. Trapped! There was nowhere else to run, nothing else to do. Lexie curled herself in a ball as far from the flames as she could get. She was going to die. She squeezed her eyes shut against her fate, and waited for the end.