Third

Part 2: The Burning

Author's notes: Part two. Yup. ::crickets:: I am really bored. *THWACK* Ow......hey Gia, whaddya do that for? Oh yeah, I'm supposed to tell you that there's Celena-torture this chapter. More so than the last. Flame me if you don't like it. My addie is LadyKat@kiryuu-girl.zzn.com. Although leaving a review is preferrable. Either way, I'll find a way to publicly mock your idiocy for the whole world to see. Happy flaming! ::evil grin::

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"Celena....." She cupped her face in her hands as the blood slowly began to soak into her nightgown. That voice...it....it was her voice but yet, it wasn't.....where was it coming from? "Celena....." Her breath grew heavier, quicker, more ragged.

"Who are you?"she called out, backing up against the wall.

"I am you...Celena..."

"No!!! Where are you?!? Where?" She slid down the wall, shaking her head.

"Inside you...."

"No...no....NO!! Go away!! Leave me alone!!"

"No Celena. I want to live; I will live again.....," the voice slowly died out. She wrapped her arms around her knees, gasping for air.

"Celena?"

"GO AWAY!" Allen poked his head into the bathroom.

"Celena? What's the matter with you?" She looked up at her brother as horrified tears formed in her eyes.

"Allen..." She jumped into his arms, crying. "The voice......I keep hearing it...."

"What voice?"

"You....you didn't hear it?"

"Hear....*what*?!?" Allen took Celena's chin and turned her head. The fresh cut came into full view. "Wha...what happened?"

"I woke up...and it was there. It....it was just...there...." Allen swallowed, realizing what *he* was doing to his little sister.

"Well, we'd better get that patched up before it gets infected. Okay?"he asked. Celena nodded and the two of them left the bathroom.

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"Van-sama," Merle jumped up onto Van's desk, worry in her eyes. "What's wrong?" Van leaned back in his chair and turned his head to Merle. He placed his hand on a folded piece of white paper edged in gold. He slowly opened it and laid it back down on the desk. Merle craned her head around to read it.

"It's from Allen." Merle looked up at Van.

"Allen-san?"

"Yes. It's Celena. *His* scar appeared on her face." Merle's mouth parted slightly. "And she's been having dreams.....*his* memories."

"Van-sama...." Merle jumped into Van's lap and licked his face. "No one's going to hurt you, right?" He smiled.

"No, of course not." She smiled and placed her head on his shoulder. 'At least, I hope so,' he thought as he ruffled her hair.

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"We're sorry, Dilandau-sama!"

*slap, slap*

"I don't need incompetents...."

Celena sat up straight. It was hot. She was surrounded by flames. Burning hot flames all around her. She tried to scream, but the thick smoke silenced her. It flew down her throat, choking her. The white-hot flames danced brightly in the dark room, licking at her skin. She tried to escape, but the flames grew. They blocked out any means of exit, and soon, all she could see were the flames. She could feel the fire searing into her skin as it crawled up her body. Looking at her hands, they were burned beyond recognition, bubbling brownish-purple skin offset by the bluish-red blood that seeped from the wounds. She tried to scream once more, only to be again suffocated by the smoke and the fire that leaped into her mouth and into her throat, burning her from the inside out. Without a voice to scream for help, without clean air to draw into her now scorched, blackened lungs, her eyes rolled back into her head, the pain numbing, and then blackness.....nothing.......

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Celena's scream echoed down the hallways eerily, like a tormented soul calling out for peace, for closure. Nothing. She panted heavily as she looked frantically about the room for flames and smoke; she was sure that they would leap out towards her at any minute.....but they didn't. Another dream.

'But in dreams....you can't feel,' a voice inside her said. 'You felt it. The heat. The burning. It was real, all of it.'

"It was real, Celena....."

"Not you! No!" She fell off the bed, curling into a fetal position against the wall.

"Yes! You can't escape me. Succumb...you will succumb....or you will burn...."

"NO! Go away, you bastard!" She felt a surge of amusement inside her. She was angry, terrified; but something inside her was laughing.

"Celena, you shouldn't speak about yourself like that. Here Celena, take something to remember me by." As the voice faded away, she felt a deep burning inside her eyes as everything went black.

"The flames; the FLAMES!!!!!!!"[1] she screamed, flailing wildly. Allen burst into his sister's room catching her and holding her still until she finally went limp. He laid her down on the ground gently, then stumbled back at what he saw. His sister's mouth was hanging wide open, her body sprawled out. But that wasn't what made him stumble.

Her shocked, pained, anguished eyes were of a deep garnet.

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[1] Am I the only one having a Fantasy Island flashback or what?

*Torture, torture everywhere, but not any for Akio-san. (Gomen for the Utena reference, I couldn't resist.) But that's always the way it is, isn't it? So how was it? Violent enough for you? No? Don't worry, there's lots more coming. This is actually the first fic I've done with serious violence and it's about time! Took me long enough, stuck on that damn humor kick. I still am of course, just less so. Well, now it's interactive time, kiddies. Isn't Interactive time fun? Sure it is. All you have to do is write in that box. And you'll feel all warm and fuzzy inside!! No, really! Review! Interact! That box wasn't put there just to look nice!!!*