Authors Note: Sorry this chapter took so long, I've been a bit preoccupied with the returning of school. I hope you like this chapter just as much as the rest, in my opinion is getting more and more exciting. ENJOY!
Claudia ran out of bed and looked out her window. No smoke was anywhere outside; Alessa's house was just around the corner so she knew it had to be safe. She crawled back into her bed. She could still taste the bile in her throat. She couldn't believe her dream was that horrible. She decided that after a few hours of freaking out, the least she could do is try to sleep. She closed her eyes and forced the images as best as she could out of her mind.
Claudia woke up and knew she would have to make breakfast. She boiled some eggs for her and her father. Her father appeared fine with the eggs she made which helped her sanity. She decided to visit Alessa today. She finished up her food and left for Alessa's after her father went to the church. She felt the wind pass by her face. It was an eerie feeling. She walked around the corner. She could see Alessa's house, nothing was on fire, and everything was fine. Claudia shook the images of Alessa on fire out of her head. She ran up to the door. She knocked a few times. Alessa answered looking somewhat eerie. "Alessa?" Claudia asked.
"Yes." Alessa answered.
"Are you…. Are you ok?" Claudia wondered.
"Yes, I'm fine." Alessa said looking at Claudia with sad eyes.
"Then why are you so sad?" Claudia asked her best friend.
"Mom, she yelled at me." Alessa said with tears filling her eyes.
"Why!" Claudia wondered what Alessa could have possibly done.
"Mom is mad because I haven't given birth to God yet." Alessa explained with tears flooding from her eyes.
"Well that's not your fault, perhaps it isn't Gods time?" Claudia suggested.
"Yeah, maybe you're right Claudia." Alessa said cheering up slightly.
"Well, I just stopped by to see if you were ok." Claudia said.
"Why?" Alessa asked.
"I just… I had a dream and there was fire, and…. Don't worry about it." Claudia smiled. "You're ok and that's all that matters." Claudia nodded.
"Why do you have to go so soon?" Alessa asked.
"My father wanted me to dust, vacuum and wash the floors, but I suppose you could come with me if you really want to help out." Claudia said to her friend.
Alessa smiled and put her shoes on. She followed Claudia to her house. Claudia looked over at her friend. Alessa was a little shorter than her. Claudia was only 5'3 but Alessa was about an inch shorter. Claudia looked at Alessa's black hair. She wished she had beautiful hair like that too. Alessa was very beautiful and Claudia wished she was too. She looked down feeling some envy, but not enough to react.
Claudia looked at her feet; they were bare as always, she knew if her father saw her without shoes he would surely scold her. She had strong feet, so it didn't bother her to walk on the ground like that. She looked up because she knew she was right outside her house. She opened the door for Alessa and walked inside. Even though all Claudia was doing was chores, it was nice have Alessa with her; they talked about so many things.
Alessa decided to dust for Claudia. "Oh, you really don't have to Alessa." Claudia smiled.
"No, I insist." Alessa said as she began dusting the living room.
Claudia began mopping the kitchen. "Hey Alessa?" Claudia asked.
"Yes?" Alessa asked as she stopped dusting.
"Ever wonder what our life would be like when we get older?" Claudia asked.
"Yeah, I've always pictured moving away from Silent Hill." Alessa said to Claudia.
"Me too, I always wondered what it would be like to live in a big city, get a good job, and maybe raise a family of my own." Claudia smiled.
"Well, when you get married be sure to send me an invite." Alessa smiled.
"I wouldn't forget about you Alessa, I'd invite you over all the time." Claudia ensured her.
Alessa smiled. Claudia went back to mopping. "I've been having weird dreams lately." Alessa said slowly.
Claudia looked at her. "What about?" She asked.
"Fire and creatures, big moths, even lizards." Alessa said.
"Fire?" Claudia asked.
"I had a dream the house was burning, but I was running away from it." Alessa explained.
Claudia looked down. "What is it?" Alessa asked.
"Nothing, just I'm tired." Claudia lied.
Alessa smiled. "We're all tired, lately it's as though everyone is like Zombies." Alessa decided.
"Well, thank you for cleaning my house. I'd better go contact Vincent; I should really study with him tonight." Claudia blushed.
Alessa smiled. "As you wish sister." Alessa hugged her goodbye.
"See you tomorrow maybe." Alessa smiled.
"Yes. Tomorrow." Claudia agreed.
Claudia and Alessa hugged goodbye. Claudia watched her go, but suddenly a flash of Alessa burning crossed her mind. She shook her head and closed the door. She decided that meeting Vincent was something she should prepare for. She walked up to her room and decided to put on a nice dress and do her hair up in a ponytail. She smiled; she thought she was somewhat silly for wearing her hair like this. She just really liked him, even though he probably didn't want to be with her. She grabbed her math work and began preparing it; he was inviting her to his house for the rest of the day. She was happy. Her dad was ok with it so she decided to wait for his call. About an hour later he called her finally. "Hey Claudia, are you ready to come visit me?" He asked her sounding happy.
"Yes, I'm ready. I'll be over in a minute." She said.
"Ok." He replied.
They both said goodbye and she left for his house in what was almost a power walk. She made it to his house in almost no time at all. "Hello Claudia." Vincent smiled as she walked inside.
Claudia looked around for his mom. "My moms at work." Vincent informed her.
Claudia nodded. "That's ok. So can we get started?" She asked.
He couldn't resist her smile. He nodded. "Ok, what are you working on now?" He asked her.
"Trigonometry." She said plainly.
They began working out equations together and Claudia was so happy. They had finished her final unit in two hours. Vincent smiled at her as she packed up her stuff. "Would you still like to hang out?" He asked shyly.
"Yeah." She smiled.
"Well, I'm not sure what you're interested in doing, but I'd really like to go to the store, I've wanted to look through books….. If that's all right with you?" He asked feeling suddenly dorky for suggesting it.
"I'd love to! I was hoping to find something to read on the days I'm in my room all summer." Claudia decided.
Vincent smiled and left with Claudia.
"I'm glad you decided to come along with me, Claudia. I usually get so bored going out alone." Vincent said to her.
"Oh, no problem. I'm happy to spend time with you." Claudia said shyly.
Claudia looked around as they walked. They were inside the book store and it was quite small but it was full of books. Vincent began looking through the fiction section. "How have you and Lucy been?" Claudia asked.
"Not too well." He said casually.
She was baffled at why he was so calm. "What's wrong? Is she cheating on you again-" Claudia tried to stop herself but it was too late.
He looked slightly hurt but carried on. "Yeah, she is. I guess I just though that was the first time when I caught her." He said.
Claudia looked down. She picked up a book that read 'White Lily' on the cover. She read the back and decided it was the book she liked. She had a bit of money from what she took out of her dads change and from helping clean Dahlias house occasionally. Vincent picked up four medium sized novels. "Wow, so many?" She asked him.
"I need something to preoccupy me until the end of this week." Vincent said seriously.
Claudia was stunned. "I'm kidding; I can't read that much in one month." He smiled going up to the cash register.
She paid for her book and was broke after that. "Claudia, would you like to get something to drink?" He offered.
"Oh, I have no more money, but you can get whatever you want." She smiled.
"No, I'll pay, I was offering." He smiled.
"No, I can't ask you to do that for me." She shied away.
"No, I won't hear of it, I'm buying you your drink, now tell me what kind of drink you want from the Coffee Shop or you'll get what I order." He said to her.
Claudia smiled at him. "Hazel nut." She replied.
"Ok, two hazel nuts it is." He smiled going inside and getting them their drinks.
"I had a really fun time Vincent. Thanks for having me over, I really love it." Claudia smiled when they walked back inside his house.
"Not a problem, when my mom gets off work she was going to make us some macaroni salad, potato salad, seasoned chicken and some carrots from out garden." Vincent said.
The sounds of that made her mouth water. Claudia followed Vincent to his room. "So, what marks did you get this year in school?" Claudia asked him.
"In English, I got 98, in math I got 96, in History I passed with 97, and in instrumental I got 95, I didn't do as well as I had hoped in Instrumental, I assume the Clarinet isn't my specialty. I got 96 in Science and the same with French. I passed Art with an 80, I was very disappointed and for my final class, my writing course, I received a 98." He said casually.
Claudia was stunned. "What did you get?" He turned to look at her.
She had gotten no higher than an 89 in science and an 87 in English. "Oh, I didn't get my marks back yet." She lied.
He shrugged. Claudia looked on his desk. A vampire novel sat on his desk. "Oh, I had no idea you liked these." She smiled picking it up.
Before she could read the label on the back he snatched it out of her hands. "Yes, well, nothing to see here." He flung it over his shoulder so it landed on his bed with a tiny thud.
"What book did you buy?" He asked changing the subject.
"White Lily." She smiled.
"What's it suppose to be about?" He asked, curious at the girly title.
"It's about a girl who doesn't fit in, and it talks about how she plans to change so she likes the way she is instead of caring what others feel." Claudia said to him.
"That sounds like it could be a good novel." He encouraged, even though he didn't like the sounds of it as much as some of his novels.
"I could really use it. I don't fit in, and I really don't like who I am." She said.
"Well, I wouldn't change you, there's nothing wrong with you, you're wonderful the way you are." He assured her, meaning all that and so much more.
She blushed. "Vincent I'm home!" His mother called.
Vincent and Claudia walked out of his room and into the kitchen. We'll be eating in twenty minutes, I've got almost everything prepared I just have to heat the chicken and carrots up." She said to him.
Claudia was sitting at the table talking to Vincent after dinner. "People used to pick on me all the time in school. They used to call me all sorts of names. Geek, Nerd, deadbeat, they just hated me." Vincent said pushing his glasses up.
Claudia looked down. "They've always been making fun of me. I got a slushie poured down my shirt last summer. The football kids hate me that much I guess." She allowed her long bangs to cover her eyes.
Vincent didn't speak. Claudia looked up at him after a moment. "Who did that to you?" He asked.
"Jimmy Vance, he and his pack of friends did it. Why?" Claudia wondered.
Vincent pushed up his glasses. "No reason." He looked at the clock. "Well its getting late and I know how impatient your father is with you returning.
"Yes, I should go." Claudia got up and walked towards the door.
"I'll walk you home." He smiled.
She smiled back at him and headed out the door.
Claudia felt something uneasy as they walked. Something in the air wasn't right. There was stillness. Like the calm before the storm. Claudia suddenly caught a scent of something in the air. Vincent looked back at her. "That smell…" He said.
Claudia paused, her heart was racing. "Fire!" She screamed running for an orange glow up ahead. It was in the direction of Alessa's house. Vincent chased after her. She began to scream as she saw it was Alessa's house. "NO! ALESSA!" She yelled with tears running down her face.
Vincent grabbed her arms to stop her from charging inside the burning building. The fire trucks were trying to put it out. "It'll be too late! She's already dead." Claudia cried to Vincent.
He felt his own eyes begin to water. He held onto her to stop the tears. Claudia's screams and cries went on forever, once they stopped emerging physically, they still carried on mentally in her head. This was the sorrow of an already broken girl, which no one could save.