A/N
If you read my work, it would be great if you faved, or reviewed, just to give feedback. This should be my average chapter length from now, about 1500-2000 words. I will try and make an even uploading time. I don't want to spoil you too much, but I don't want to keep you guys waiting. So I might put up two a week, at random times. Hope you enjoy this one, Bring your tissues.
Chapter Two.
I'm sitting on Rowan's bed, in his small room. It's only about ten minutes' walk from my own home, which is a rather small distance in district 7. Rowans house is further into the district, as my own home is hidden in the trees on the very outskirts of district 7. I left my parents alone for the evening, knowing they would be fine in each other company. After an interesting evening I'm now sitting in Rowans lap, on his bed, watching a movie, in the middle of the night.
"How was your day?" He asks politely, as he gently braids my hair, over and over again, all interest lost from the movie that is playing in the corner of the room. "Lovely, thank you" I whisper softly as I snuggle into him more, feeling his warmth, I can feel him smile, as I snuggle down. When he finishes doing my hair I add another comment, slightly snide, "I had a lovely surprise when I heard my mother screaming at me this evening while holding a frying pan, "I say teasingly, grinning at my own memories of the event. I turn to look at him, his brown eyes looking down at me, he wraps his strong arms around me, smiling in his own cute way, "I had to make up for not seeing you yesterday" he whispers in my ear, his hot breathe makes me shiver, it's so warm, it makes me feel loved. "You weren't the one who wasn't at school," I whisper, breathing on him deliberately, knowing the effect it has on him, he shivers just as I did, it makes me smile, I can tell he now knows that I know his plan. His grin becomes smug, and teasing, "Do explain to me then, why you weren't at school" He whispers the words, with his lips getting closer to my neck, shivers run through me again, and he wraps his arms around me a little tighter. "My mother needed me to take care of Blossom; she was helping Ogden with his house furbishing's, and little sisters can't take care of their own fevers." I whisper as I lean up and kiss his jawline, "Well," he looks down at me, caringly, "That makes two of us," he mutters "I was here with Willow, little sisters can't take care of their own fevers, can they?" he mutters softly into my hair.
I pull away to look at him, a quizzical look upon my face, "How did you know I wasn't at school then?" I ask teasingly. His smug expression is coming back, "A little birdy told me." He whispers, pulling me closer to him again, holding me to his warm breath. "Because little birds can talk and all…." I whisper sarcastically, as he readjusts himself to be hugging me closer. "It was a rather large bird, who can talk..." He mutters, running his fingers through my hair, pulling out the braid that h did only a few minutes ago.
"So you admit to having spies…" I whisper teasingly, poking him in the stomach, I can feel his muscles tense. "One spy, just one spy" he says squirming away from my finger, I glare at him. "And your spy is who?" I ask, with a mocking tone of seduction, Rowan laughs at me, looking down at me with a warming smile, he leans in closer to my ear. "If I told you, it would ruin the entire point of having a spy…" He whispers, breathing in my ear again. I turn and glare at him; he is just trying to make me squirm again. "It's Jasper again, isn't it? "I ask, knowing what happened last time he asked his little brother to follow me. It ended with his little brother accidentally falling into a river, while he followed me at work. He looked down at me smiling; I could tell by the mischievous look in his eye, that I was correct. I gawked at him, "You really trying that again? " I ask questioningly. He kissed my forehead, gently, hugging me into the depths of his arms; I could feel the warmth of his breath on my neck, and the love flowing from his breathing. I held him closer, kissing his chin, pressing myself towards his warmth; this was the way I wanted to spend the rest of my life, happy and filled with love.
I awoke in his strong arms, Rowans arms, everything felt safe, secure and a little bit perfect. I felt his muscles stiffen as he woke, yawning slowly, looking out of his mess of brown hair, and peering curiously at me. I felt my face smile, of its own accord, there is no place I would rather be than now.
The morning light is shining in through Rowans window, making the room warm a filled with light; he lifts his hand and brushes it through my tousled hair, combing it free of any knots. He stiffens and sits up quickly, I'm confused and lying on his chest as he sits up, I spin my head as I hear a sharp tapping of knuckles against glass, I peer out the window, blinded momentarily by the light streaming through the window. I hear the frame shove up on its rust hangers and the scrapping of rough fabric as someone comes in through the window. It takes me a second to recognise them, the look different and the light is still blinding, it's Jasper. Shortly after his entrance there is a sharp tug of the bed clothes to cover Rowans half-nakedness from the cold streaming through the window, the morning air is fresh and biting. I am slightly confused as to why Jasper is standing in the middle of Rowan's room, especially at this time in the morning; my opinion has no time to voice before Rowan speaks up.
"What the hell are you doing in MY room" he growls, but Jasper doesn't reply, he looks a little out of breath, "You have your own God damned window" I can tell Rowan is angry, but something is wrong, Jasper looks panicky, his breathing is laboured and sharp, I look closer at him, before I get a good glance, a pillow is thrown at him, he falls to the floor as the pillow hits him, like an egg breaking when you hit it with a brick. I rush to his side, sliding quickly out of the bed, I kneel beside him, Rowan follows suit. He is on his knee's, at the foot of the bed, I can see him now, he is sobbing, "I tried to save them," he is covered in thick red blood, "but I couldn't" he gurgles out, words catching in his throat, he is covered in small deep cuts, "it was too strong" his eyes are wildly searching the room, words slurring further, He has a layer of soot covering him, blackening his clothes and skin, "There was nothing I could do" he has slightly burns, running along his arms, "they're just kept screaming!" he places his hands over his ears, trying to drown out the sound that is no longer here and rocks forwards on his knees, rocking himself as he sobs. I see it now; He is bloody, like death, sooty, like the fires of hell and crying, as though there is much pain. The last words he utter, scare me more than anything I have ever seen in my life, "They're dead." I stand, wavering slightly, immediately looking out the open window, and I see it, in the distance, I can see the small plume of smoke in the trees, rising up to heaven.
My legs carry me, before my mind knows what it wants to do; I am climbing out Rowans beaten window, in my thin nightgown, I grasp the tree, as I shimmy down it. I am excellent in trees, but I can tell my nerves were faltered, as I grazed both hands deeply, desperately trying to fall out of the large tree, which lead to Rowans second story window. I did not succeed. Both my hands felt like they were grated with a cheese grater, I landed heavily at the base of the tree, landing awkwardly on a jumble of roots beside Rowans house. My hands were bleeding furiously as I pushed myself off the wet ground, my head spinning slightly, I started running, pushing myself, I could feel my feet against the gravel, the crunching of my feet, sliding through the tiny stones, and Rowans feet trying to keep up with me. Before long my chest hurt, my skin was clamped and cold, the morning air feeling bitter and repugnant now. I ran, towards the pleats of smoke flying through the trees, my mind spinning faster than my legs were beating against the ground.
It takes five minutes of solid running, my chest heaving with effort, my diaphragm aching, as I break through the last scrape of trees; they pull at my tousled hair, the effort to take myself the last few steps until I reach the smouldering clearing are the most agonizing. My knees fall into the grass next to them, my vision blurring with tears.
Their bodies are red, hot; their arms locked around each others bodies. Their red skin is peeling and black, my mother's luscious hair is burnt, and blotched on her head, my chest heaves, I can't bring myself to touch their dead bodies, they look so peacefully, even in their agonizing death, I know they died in each others arm. I hear Rowan enter through the trees behind me, his footsteps stopping as he see's it all; his shocked gasp draws me to pull my head up off my knees. The sight of their bodies is making me shake; their blood is seeping out into the grass, drowning my nightgown in its red horror. My eyes blur, my parents dead bodies are lying on the footpath leading to my smouldering wreck of a house.
Rowan stood helplessly, next to the burning wreck of a house that was once mine, He watched as part of the roof fell into the wreck, leaving no distinguishable feature of the house remaining.
I reached out, my bloody hand, touching my mother's hand, her skin was no longer smooth, it was crumbly and tough, as though it had been licked by the flames of hell itself. I raised my hand weakly, touching my fathers hand, which had been rougher than mothers before, but now it was just wet and flaky, with the blood of hell spat all over it.
The last word either of my parents uttered to me, was "Cassie, Be careful", I laughed mockingly at the thought, this was really careful, my jerking laughter turned quickly into racking sobs. My entire body racked with sobs, my breathes heaving, my chest feeling as though it had been cleaved in half, with an axe of death, was letting my heart feel the heat, pain and suffering of this event. I knelt up, letting my hand rest on the burn remnants of my mothers beautiful brown hair, its blotchy remains crumbled and broke under my touch, I stared at the burning house, feeling my fingers combing roughly through her bloody curls. The sky gently spewed out a constant stream of ash, which looked like snow, making the hole inside my chest ache harder, the event was turning hazy in my already tear streaked eyes. I felt my body slip, knowing my heart would too, almost willing my heart to stop, so I would be away from this scene. I fell to be against my mother side, feeling the heat of the flames, and the dampness of the earth and blood of my family.
I could tell it was a shock; I was lying next to my parent's dead bodies, ash falling from the sky, in a pool of blood, knowing that life wasn't going to be the same any more.
And then everything was black.
