The Flames Inside Of Her

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.

I did this.

This is why I’m supposed to control myself, but he makes me so uncomfortable. “ How do I fix this? “ I whisper to myself. I hear his footsteps through the house and before I know it, Theo’s slamming the door open. I turned around to look at him and his breath hitched. “ You see this? You did this to me! You fucking ruined my life! “ I screamed, all Theo did was laugh. He smirked at me, taking a few steps closer. He bent down and whispered into my ear. “ I don’t know what you’re talking about at all, little one. “

I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, my muscles tensing up, and my eyes growing wide. I turn and look away from him. I can not and will not break down in front of him. I walk closer to the blaze, scanning every tree in sight. The big oak tree in my backyard is completely covered in flames, I smile sadly. Looking behind me I see Theo sitting in front of our house crying. I almost feel guilty, I mean his fiance just died who wouldn’t feel pity for him? Me, I don’t feel any remorse to him at all, not after what he did. I’ll never see him the same way.

Before I know it my feet are dragging me closer and closer to him. I try to convince myself to stop, he’s not worth it. No, he’s definitely worth it. As soon as I’m close enough to him I grab the collar of his shirt. He looks up at me “ Ser please, don’t do this “ He begs. 

I crack an innocent smile at him, leaning down and whispering in his ear.  “ Awe but Theo, don’t you see? You made me this monster, you did this to yourself. You opened these gates and they’ll never close as long as you’re out there. And not in jail where you belong, you should be facing the consequences of your actions “

I drop his collar and he plops on the ground. I turn back to the flames and wave them away. All that’s left from the mess I’ve created are the ashes, the smoke, and the memories. Small smile dances across my lips and I retreat to the house I grew up in. I called this place home, I let myself stay here and pretend to be happy. I walk up the stairs and into Theo’s room. It’s a mess, as per usual. His windows remain open, the bed isn’t made, and his dresser drawers are open. I sigh as I tidy up the room I’ve hated all these years. 

I walk out of Theo’s room and open the next door on the left. Next is my parent’s room, the master bedroom of Rutherford Manor. As I walk into the room I open the windows on the side of the bed and sit on the corner of my parent’s bed. I look around and my eyes land on my mother’s closet door, I stand up and open the door. Walking inside my mother’s closet was like going to the candy aisle alone. I leave the closet door open and leave my parent’s room, making sure to leave that door open as well.

I walk down the hall, making sure to open the bathroom door on my way to my other brother, Andrew’s room. This is where I spent most of my time, Andrew was my best friend in the family. We’d sit on the floor and play video games for hours, or we’d paint. I glance at his paintings lining the walls, there’s one of our whole family. I sigh and sit on his bed. No one’s come in here since he died, except me of course. There’s paint all over the walls, our signatures are on the windowsill. I open the window and knock out the screen. “ Goodbye Andy-Man “ I whisper and l grab one of the paintbrushes that he carved his name into and place it in my bag. I leave the room, keeping his door open. 

Walking out of Andrew’s room I get a small wave of happiness and closure. Right across is my sisters Lilliana and Cassie’s room. I open the door and I can feel myself tear up almost instantly. The twins were like my little babies. It’s a shame that Theo and I are the only ones home, but my parents should have known better than to leave me here with him. I open their closet door and grab the stuffed kittens I got them, placing them in my bag.

Down the hall, to the right is my older sisters, Marline and Jessie’s bedroom. I smile as I open the door. Marline and Jessie always had my back, in every circumstance, no questions asked. I don’t know where I’d be without the two of them. I look around the room, the walls are covered with pictures of the three of us. The one that catches my eye is one of us playing snow soccer, it’s our favorite thing to do in the winter. Andy even kept score for us. I grab Marline’s extra glasses and Jessie’s hoodie. Just like I did with the rest of the rooms, I leave the door open when I exit.

I walk down the hall, towards the last room in my little field trip. I can hear Theo outside, raking leaves and screaming curses at me. I smirk, it feels so good knowing he’s the one feeling all this pain and not me. He deserves it. Finally, I see my bedroom door. Where my siblings' doors are white and light blue, mine black with flames decorating the trim. I painted them myself when I was six years old.

I walk down the hall, towards the last room in my little field trip. I can hear Theo outside, raking leaves and screaming curses at me. I smirk, it feels so good knowing he’s the one feeling all this pain and not me. He deserves it. Finally, I see my bedroom door. Where my siblings' doors are white and light blue, mine black with flames decorating the trim. I painted them myself when I was six years old.

Walking down the hall I look at our staircase, smirking ever so slightly. I wave my hands and I can feel the small flames on them, they’re so warming to me. Taking a deep breath, I put each hand on the railings and ran them across as I walked down the stairs. When I got to the bottom, I waved the flames in my hands away. I let a few flames travel to the wooden doors, the windowsills, and the roof. I take a deep breath and I open the front door, I walk out of this place that caused me so much pain and I laugh. Theo’s looking at me like I'm crazy, he rushes over to me “ Seren please, make it stop, please! “ He begs, falling to his knees. I giggle at him and ruffle his hair, whispering to him one final time. 

“ I told you years ago, you’d feel the pain I feel. This isn’t even a fraction of what you did to my head, but here we are. Let me help you understand that you, will go down with this godforsaken house “ 

I dropped my bags and waved my flames into my hands. It took me only a second to place them on his head, and before it, his whole body was engulfed in flames. I clapped the flames off of my hands and picked up my bags, walking away from the house and the person who did me so much harm. All I felt was relief and closure, after eleven years.