Violet's Pov:

"How much longer till we get there, J?" I asked as I put my feet up on the back of the seat in boredom.

"Didn't you just ask me that like five minutes ago?" He says to me as he looks in the rearview mirror.

My face turned a light shade of red. "Um..no."

Jackson chuckles at my reply. "Relax, we're not that far from home now. Will be there in about twenty minutes, okay sissy."

I sigh and look out the car window seeing the snow coming down quite heavily. It's kind of hard to see the lines in the road as it's covered up by the white flurries. That's when a thought crosses my mind. "Hey, Jackson? When I'm older, can you teach me to drive?"

He chuckles again and shakes his head. "Where is this coming from? You want to start driving already?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I just think it'd be cool if I could drive like you."

He smiles at my reply. "Sure thing, Vi. When you're old enough I'll teach you to drive and then right after you get your license were going on a road trip."

I giggle at his reply. "Where would we go?"

"Where do you wanna go?" I get asked and I don't even hesitate. "McDonald's!"

Jackson bursts into laughter. "Vi we can get McDonald's anywhere."

I smile at his remark. "I'd still drive there."

Jackson shakes his head in amusement. I guess that's what he gets when he asks a ten-year-old that kind of question. "Okay, we could stop at McDonald's first. Then where would we go? What place would you want to go see that's far away?"

I take a minute to think of an actual response and I remember grandpa telling me about this place he once went that he said was really cool. "Can we go see the Grand Canyon?"

Jackson smiles at my response. "Sure thing Sissy. When you get your license you and me will drive out to go see the Grand Canyon. Then I'll be done with college by then."

I frown as the subject of Jackson's school comes up. "Do you have to go back to college? I like it when you're here with me." I fiddle with my hands nervously as I say the next part. "Daddy...scares me sometimes."

Jackson frowns at this and I can tell the mood has just dropped way down. "I know, Violet. But it'll be okay. I'll be back next weekend and then we can do whatever you want, okay?"

I don't like it when Jackson leaves and I'm alone all week, but I nod sadly anyway. "Okay." Then I look up at him from the backseat. "I love you J."

"I love you too, Sissy."

Then the car is filled with silence for a few minutes and I start to feel tired as I just watch the other cars drive by. Then soon I find myself falling asleep.

. . .

When I wake up it's dark and I can't tell where I am. I can hear the sharp squeal of tires as someone tries to break, then a large crash is heard. Then there's a bright light that brings life to the world around me. I have to shield my eyes from it at first, but once the intensity has died down I can see that I'm on the side of the road. There are also flashing red and blue lights up ahead, but they don't seem to concern me.

I look over to my left and I can see worn rubber that's blown from a car tire that lays on the road. I stand up and walk over and I start to see pieces of broken glass that are sprinkled all around the asphalt. There are bit's and pieces of warped metal that have sprung loose in various places. But I notice that they get more frequent as I continue to walk.

There's a white car up ahead that's parked by the side of the road and I can clearly see the side has a large dent in it. But it looks unscathed compare to whatever has been destroyed here. There are also about eight cop cars surrounding the area and there blocking off a section of the highway.

I come closer towards the ruckus and soon I can make out what the light is. And what I see scares me, because I see fire. Fire and total destruction. And I run to the edge of the road where the ditch begins. I can see another car is at the bottom. It's been flipped over so many times it doesn't even look like a car anymore. The outside is completely missing like someone had ripped it away as pieces of metal and glass coat the ground leading up to it. It's by far the worst wreck I've ever seen. It didn't even look like a car anymore. Completely unrecognizable, except I would know that car anywhere.

Fire and smoke billow out of it and up into the sky. I can feel my heart skyrocket, as panic overtakes me. I don't even think as I run down the side of the slope towards the destruction. As I get closer I can feel the heat that radiates from the carnage, but I don't care. All I care about is getting there so I can save him.

I'm about ten yards away when I feel someone grab me from behind and pin my arms back. Stop right there! It's too dangerous to get close."

I don't turn back to see who it is, but I know it's a police officer that has me by the wrists. I just struggle in their grasp. "Let me go! That's my brother in there!"

"Honey, no one wants to leave your brother, but we need to get you away from here. It's not safe." She tells me, but I only continue to struggle against her. My mind and vision are only focused on the flames the continue to dance in the wind. It's snowing outside, but I don't feel the cold when all I can feel is the heat that radiates from the flames.

Seeing as I'm not giving up I can hear her call for someone else to help escort me away from the accident. This time it's a guy and I can feel his rough hands against my arms as he tries to help the lady from before to pull me away. "Come on kid."

I try to fight back, but he's too strong and I can feel tears slide down my face as we slowly move away. But we don't make it very far before there's a short ticking sound and that's when the car blows and fire rages into a furnace of smoke and ash. The heat is intense and the smell of burnt rubber and debris is thick in the air. If anyone was alive before they aren't anymore.

But that doesn't stop me from battling to break free as the policeman drags me up the hill. I'm losing the fight, and tears stream down my face as I desperately call out his name.

"J?"

"J!"

"...Jackson!"

Now all I can see is fire. The explosion is vivid in my mind. I see fire, inside the car. I see fire, burning the trees. Watching the flames burn on and on. I see fire, with smoke in the breeze.

I bolt upright in bed. I feel like I want to scream out, but I can't. I frantically look around my surroundings and it scars me that it's dark, but I feel slightly better that I don't see the light from before. My breathing is fast and heavy as I look around, but everything just seems blurry. I bring a hand up to my face and I realize I'm crying when it comes away wet with tears.

That's when I remember that I'm in my own room. My eyes instinctively shift to the door to make sure it's closed and then to Woody to make sure he's still there like I do every time I wake up. Everything is in it's right where it should be. Nothing has shifted, nothing has changed, but...everything still feels different.

The back of my shirt is drenched in sweat and the neck is wet with tears. I can feel the heat on my skin and it only reminds me of the fire in my dream. It feels hard to breathe all of a sudden as the images of fire are brought to the forefront of my mind. I squeeze my eyes shut and I'm scared that I'm going to see them again. "It's okay. Everything is fine, it wasn't real. You're okay, you're both okay."

But no matter how much I tell myself that everything is okay, it doesn't feel like it.

I really wish Clem was with me right now, like she was two nights ago while I stayed at her house. I don't want to be alone right now. I really want Woody to be in my arms right now, but I'm too scared to move. I'm afraid to get off my bed because I feel like somethings going to happen if I move, but I can't get to him unless I get up. I'm even afraid to turn on the light that's next to me. If I turn on the lamp all I'm going to see is fire.

So instead of Woody, I hug Clover tightly against my chest as the tears continue to slip from my eyes. I feel slightly better with him in my arms because he still has the scent of Clem's house on him and I can almost pretend that she's here with me.

I feel kind of ashamed that I'm scared like I shouldn't be afraid of a nightmare at this age. But I can't help the feeling and I hate how weak it makes me feel. Is it alright for me to be scared? Is that okay? Because I'm terrified of the darkness that lurks in my room right now and I feel like everyone would tease me for it.

I'm scared to fall back asleep because if the dark returns I'm afraid I'm going to find out that someone's died, that someone else has died.

I really want to pull out my phone and call Clementine right now. I don't want to just have a conversation with her through text message, I want to hear her voice. I want her to tell me that it'll be okay. And most importantly...I want her here.

I can't though. If I actually call her and she answers, I won't be able to say anything. She's going to think somethings wrong and I don't want her running over here when everything's fine. Well, everything isn't fine, but I'm not in any danger. Even if it feels like I am.

I look at my clock and see that's it's around two a.m. but I quickly look away because the red numbers bring back the memory of the flames. It wasn't real. I wasn't even there. I have no idea if the car had burst into flames or not, but it's what I imagine every time I think about it. I see fire. Fire burning on and on.

I bury my head in my arms with the teddy bear Clem gave me close to my chest. I just want the night to be over so I can see her again. Because when I'm with Clem I know everything will be okay.

I'm just getting started. I've been making moves before the dawn. Writing in the darkness and I can go on and on and on.

I'm ready for what comes next...Are you?