Chapter Thirty-Five



Clear sighed and through the magazine she had been reading onto the kitchen counter in front of her. Nicolas had been gone almost half an hour and now it was completely dark. Clear hoped he would be able to find Annabel, if she was still alive, and bring her back to the cabin. Clear was surprised by how worried she had gotten about Annabel, almost like they were sisters. As long as Annabel was all right it didn't matter if she tried to understand her ability.
Clear decided to busy herself by doing something useful. She finally decided that she would make hot chocolate for Nicolas and Annabel when they returned. She walked over to the pantry and pulled out a box of Nestle Carnation hot chocolate and opened it.
She took tow packets out and returned the box to the pantry; she carried the bags back over to the counter and set them down. She walked over to the top cupboard beside the refrigerator. She pulled out two cups and shut the cupboard door. Clear set the cups on the counter and turned to face the freezer. She opened the freezer door and peered inside.
Resting, nestled among ice and over-frozen frozen TV dinners, was an almost full bottle of vodka. Clear thought for a minute and then pulled the bottle out, just in case she wanted some later, though she doubted she would.
Clear carried the bottle and the two cups over to where she had set the paper packets. Clear uncorked the bottle of vodka but left it open on the counter beside the packets. The packets were close to a knife block, the black handles rose up from the brown wooden block.
Clear studied the knifes for a few more seconds before she took her vision away from them. She walked over to the gas oven and turned it on; she took down a small pot from a rung above the stove.
She carried the pot back over to the sink and filled it with water. Carefully, Clear carried the pot filled with water back over to the stove. As she passed by the spot on the counter where she had left the packets, some of the water sloshed out of the pot. It hit the floor with a splash; Clear looked down and frowned.
She finished carrying the pot over to the stove, setting in on one of the burners, and turned around to get a towel to clean the water up with. Clear carefully avoided the water and walked across the kitchen to get a dishrag.
As Clear picked up the dishrag she remembered she had forgotten to light the burner on the over. She rummaged in a draw and pulled out a book of matches. Clear pulled one of the matches out of the book and struck it against the side. The match lit with a hiss and the red tip began to glow with heat.
Clear carried the match and the dishrag over toward the stove. As she walked, Clear forgot about mopping the water off the floor. As she neared the place where the packets, bottle and knifes were, her bare foot touched the water.
Clear went sliding forward; the match fell from her hand and hit the stove. The stove ignited with a "boom" and fire shot forward. Clear's hand flayed forward, desperately trying to grab a hold of something to keep her from falling.
Clear's hand batted the knife block at she fell; Clear hit the kitchen floor with a thud, landing on her back. Clear didn't have time to blink before one of the long bladed knifes fell from the knife block. The knife block had been knocked forward by Clear when she fell show the handles were dangling over the counter's edge, threatening to fall as well.
The blade of the knife fell and pierced Clear's side. Clear screamed with pain as the blade dug into her skin; her eyes clouded with tears and her head became foggy with pain.
Clear, however, was still able to realize that she was in big trouble. The fire that had ignited from the oven had exploded the vodka bottle, catching everything within its reach aflame. Some of the vodka had fallen onto the floor, bringing flames along with it. Some of the flames were so close to Clear that she could feel their heat.
Clear looked up to see the other eight knifes in the knife block dangling right above her. She was afraid to move, for fear of knocking the other knifes onto her. Clear attempted to inch away slowly but the knife dug into her side, which made breathing painful, almost impossible. Clear tried to push herself backward with her foot but her foot hit the counter and another long bladed knife fell toward her, impaling her shoulder.
Clear let out another cry of pain and gave up on moving. The fire had spread, catching things outside of the kitchen on fire. The couch was being to catch aflame, as were the drapes. Clear let out a slow cry as she realized that she would never be able to cheat her way out of the predicament she was in now.

Annabel raced down the sidewalk, her heart banging inside her chest; feeling like it was about to explode. She had to get to the cabin before anything happened to Clear.
As Annabel tore around a corner, she ran right into someone. Prefect timing, Annabel thought, as she fell backward.
"Annabel?" The person she ran into said.
Annabel looked up to see that the 'person' she had run into was Nicolas. "Nicolas, where's Clear?" Annabel asked as she hurried to her feet.
Nicolas did the same. "At the cabin, why? I was just coming to find you." Nicolas said.
"We have to hurry! Now!" Annabel commanded and began running again. Without asking questions, Nicolas fell in step behind her, heading toward the cabin.