Chapter 2 – Shattered Hexagonally

Tabby Morris sang very loud while painting the walls of her living room. Her living room, her house, her own spot in the world. After the life she had, she never thought she'd see this moment. Her long red hair was tucked under a pink bandana to avoid getting stuck together from the eggshell paint that dripped off of the roller. Her pale pink tank top and cut off jeans were splattered with all shades of paint. She had painted every room of her new place. Next would be wallpaper boarders in some of the rooms and curtains.

A very old boom box was plugged into the wall, playing a tape that she had copied from one of her cds. She remembered this cd, the first one she ever bought with her first ever paycheck. Spacehog, Resident Alien, from Replay's, $3.50 plus tax. Most people never understood that moment, only the people from the center did. Being able to have a job, have money, have a safe place to stay. Now, in her little piece of heaven, a small Victorian cottage. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a living room, a basement, a kitchen, an attic, a yard.

She mentally made a note to check the back fence so that her dog couldn't get out. Ginger, a brindled greyhound, was staying with her friend. Ginger had been saved from a horrible owner that had wanted to splatter her brains over the racetrack parking lot with a glock for losing her races that weekend. Luckily for the dog, the man was drunk and ended up shooting himself in the foot. Tabby was walking by and hid herself and the dog until the police had left with the man. She promised the dog that she would never make her run or hurt her like he had. The dog seemed to understand her and her problems. So for the last 5 years, the two of them lived together in a tiny apartment. Now, Ginger would have a yard, a doggie door to go in and out as she pleased, and a place by the fireplace in the winter if she wanted.

This would be the last coat of paint inside that she would need to do. Tomorrow, she would start on the finishing touches on the house before the move in. She moved into the kitchen, changed tapes to Beck's Odelay, and opened up the last can of lemon crème. The kitchen was to be sunny and warm, a welcome place to be in the morning while getting ready for work. Painting, singing, and dancing. She hadn't been this happy in a long time.

She hoped the others would appreciate her hard work and like what she did with the place. Sometimes they would fight over things and make life difficult. Some of them had a habit of destroying things that they didn't like and she didn't want to have to repair or replace things. She was determined to have calm in the house and happiness. It was time that they all were able to be at peace, without all the problems that they dealt with in the past.

She finished up then sat down on an empty five gallon bucket of primer. She was tired and ached from that last bit of work. She opened a bottle of Mountain Dew and took a long drink. It was very bad for her, but she didn't really care at the moment. It was cold and sweet, it hit the spot.

"Hello baby."

Tabby froze, then looked over at the young man at the back door. He leered at her and leaned up against the door.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm hurt! You don't remember me? Well, maybe I'll help you." He grinned evilly and kicked in the door.

Tabby ran back to the living room. She grabbed a putty knife to defend herself. She didn't know this creep, and she wasn't going to take any shit from him.

"Come here baby. I got something for you!"

She found another putty knife and started for the front door. She didn't see him, coming around the corner until the bottle hit her over the head. She fell to the floor, holding her bleeding head.

"Poor baby, you can't block a bottle with your head! You also cannot have want isn't yours. You stole from us and I'm here to take it back." He landed a kick to her back, then another to her stomach.

"When the police find you, you'll go to jail with the rest of them. You'll fry with the rest of them!" She growled at him.

He stabbed her twice in the back with the broken bottle. She tried to scream but ended up coughing up blood instead. He smirked, and then left the room.

"_You need to focus. It is just pain. You need to get up and go through the front door. The neighbor across the street is home and she has a dog. The dog will smell the blood and bug her until she answers the door. He's going to kill you, go now!_"

She started to get up but was kicked down to the floor. She looked up to see her killer looming over her.

"You're gonna burn for burning us. You should have been a good girl and took it. Look at what I'm having to do. Burn down such a nice house because you had to leave. Oh well, I guess if you want it so bad to die for, not much I can do now."

The room smelled of gasoline, he doused the place from attic to basement. He also made sure to put extra gas cans next the main supports of the house. The fire would make the house collapse into the basement and most likely burn hot enough to destroy even her bones. He smiled and took out a match.

"Daddy dearest says hi, by the way. He didn't want it to end like this. But like I said, you did this to yourself. Too bad you're gonna burn, you were a good piece of ass."

He lit the match and touched it to the gasoline. As the house caught fire, he smiled and walked out the back. He would find himself a nice place to watch it burn. Maybe he would drink a beer while he watched. The whole thing made him giddy and he whistled as he jumped the back fence.

Everything was on fire. Tabby knew that if she didn't do something, she would burn to death. She never wanted to die like this. She knew about the others, that they had died like this or worse. She was dangerous alive, if only to those scumbags, and she wanted to stay that way.

A neighbor did see the fire and called 911. She told the cops that she didn't know if the lady was still inside painting, like she was earlier when she got home. Firefighters rushed to the house and hooked up the truck to the hoses and hydrant. They started working to put out the fire. Three firefighters went into the house looking for anyone inside.

Tabby curled up into the corner. She couldn't breath, not only from the smoke but from the blood she coughed up. The fire twisted and turned around her, dancing a strange dance from every surface. Normally, she would have been fascinated to see such a thing, but not now. She could feel herself burning and was powerless to stop the horrific pain. So she did the only thing she knew how, she retreated into herself.

"Careful, the floor is unstable on the second level," the voice crackled over the radio. The firemen had gone into the house looking for the woman the neighbor had seen earlier. The one that had been upstairs had come back down to the ground floor. He hadn't found anyone and it wasn't safe to stay up there. They felt the floor start to shake even on the ground floor and decided that they should get out.

"Hey, I found her! She's burned bad and coughing up blood!"

"Grab her and get out, the floor is going to give way at anytime!"

The firemen grabbed her and got her out of the house. A few seconds after they had gotten out, the house collapsed into the basement. The firemen passed Tabby off to the paramedics and went back to fight the fire. She was loaded into the ambulance, then wrapped her in wet sheets. One of the paramedics started an IV while the other poured water onto the sheets. The put an oxygen mask on her, only to have to wipe the blood out of it when she coughed.

Detective Cooper walked over to the ambulance. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of burned flesh. It always made her a bit sick. She could deal with a lot, but not this. She put her card on the clipboard, and nodded to the paramedic.

"Which hospital?" She asked, before popping a mint into her mouth.

"Good Sam, they have the closest burn unit." The paramedic got out, shut the doors, and walked to the driver's door.

"I'll be over there as soon as I'm done talking to the fire marshal. Plus, one of the other officers said I might need to call a dog to trace the suspect. A kid said he saw a guy walking down the alley before the fire."

"She looked like she got a good beating before the burns. She's on full O2 and still can't breath. Coughing up blood."

The ambulance drove off to Good Samaritan hospital ER…