by T. Rudacille
***
There was an ear-splitting whistling that caused me to fall to the ground, covering my ears. I looked up to see others crumpling around me. After several painful moments, my ears were soothed with an ethereal silence; it was like the calm before the storm. Then came the blast. For a second that was too short, I saw the wave of fire coming towards me. As it consumed me, my entire body burnt, and I saw clearly my flesh being blasted from my bones…
I awoke, yelling out and slashing my arms in the air to hold off what I knew could never be stopped. My entire body was dripping sweat, and I wiped at it furiously with trembling hands.
It had been so real. There had been no other reality, just the one where I met my death. Unlike when we first saw the creature outside the window, I couldn’t rationalize the dream away. It was real and it would happen. But when?
I didn’t know.
My phone rang about ten minutes later, some obnoxious ring-tone that I can’t remember. I looked at the caller ID to see Alice’s name.
“What?” I asked abruptly, rubbing my eyes.
All I heard were her breathy sobs on the other end of the phone and immediately, an alertness came over me that shook all thoughts of the most horrifying nightmare I had ever had from my head.
“Allie, what’s going on? Is it back?” I didn’t wait for her answer; I was already pulling my shoes on.
She continued crying for a moment.
“Alice!” I exclaimed, climbing out of my window with my car keys in hand.
“Quinn…” She whispered in a trembling voice, “I let it in!”
