The Fire

Trigger Warning: This story contains vivid descriptions of fire, including descriptions of severe burns and brief mentions of death. Also contains physical violence.

Shortly after he turned 22, Leo started having dreams. There are two reasons why this was strange:

Firstly, most people have dreams before they turn 22. Leo once had a therapist tell him that everyone dreams, and that if he was forgetting, it was only because his REM cycle wasn’t being interrupted, which is a good thing. Generally, this is true. It was not true for Leo, but it gave him some comfort.

Secondly, the content of the dreams themselves. Every night Leo would see the face of a woman about his age, her eyes closed and her long brown hair splayed out on her pillow. Her eyes would move under their lids as if she was also dreaming.

Leo went back to therapy over this. To a person who has never dreamed, suddenly having such a vivid, recurring dream feels a bit like losing one’s mind. His new therapist told him that having strange dreams was normal, and that nothing was wrong with him. Generally, this is true. It was not true for Leo – there was, and is, certainly something wrong with Leo.

Tonight, Leo has his second dream ever. Instead of seeing the sleeping woman with the long brown hair, he sees himself. He looks some years older, and a bit ragged with scruff on his face and a severely wrinkled shirt. He’s at work, at the same job, at the same desk that Leo has now. He’s reading an email from management, reminding the team of the weirdly specific hygiene standards written in the employee handbook. At least they haven’t mentioned Leo by name, even if they are definitely talking about him.

Leo watches himself slowly stand up from his chair and pick up his tape dispenser. He can feel the slight heft of it, even watching from above and slightly to the right. It’s filled with some sort of sand to weigh it down. Leo uses it to bash in the screen of his monitor, ignoring the distant, “What the hell?” from one of his coworkers. He doesn’t stop when the plastic screen is completely shattered, or when he starts to break into the electronics, or when the wires inside begin letting off stray sparks. His hand brushes one of the wires and the faint, sharp buzz that Leo feels zip up his arm is not as unpleasant as he would have expected.

Leo watches in great detail as a spark flies right into a messy stack of paperwork and manila files, catching fast and soon spreading to the odd woven material of his cubicle wall. The person in the next cubicle shrieks and falls out of her chair, but Leo does not stop attacking his monitor. If he can see the growing flames, or feel their heat, he gives no indication.

Suddenly, Leo – the one having the dream, not the one in it – is outside. He sees the fire through the windows on the third floor, but in the light of day nobody on the street notices. Nobody except a woman with long brown hair, looking up and sighing to herself, “I told him he couldn’t stop it.”

Leo wakes with a start, breathing heavily and incredibly unsettled, mostly at the idea of still being at that same desk years from now. But nightmares come with dreams, and his floor manager has been giving him some managerial duties to help him potentially be considered for a promotion in the future. He’s sure he has nothing to worry about.

He has the dream ten more times (interspersed with dreams of that woman’s face) before he decides to quit his job. He read somewhere that dreams are supposed to be one’s subconscious trying to make a point, and clearly Leo’s subconscious doesn’t want him to keep being led on by his boss for two more years.

The dream changes. After a few more nights of staring at the woman’s admittedly very pretty face, Leo sees himself standing in line at the grocery store. In the plastic basket he’s holding is a box of snack cakes, the antihistamine he takes so he can smell a lemon without losing his voice, and a blue lighter. He watches himself wait for ten long minutes while the woman in front of him picks a fight with the cashier. Leo doesn’t seem to notice. He just looks exhausted.

When he gets up to the counter, he politely unloads his basket but ignores the cashier’s small talk. She clears her throat awkwardly and hands Leo his receipt. He smiles at her, then takes the lighter out of his under-filled grocery bag to open it.

“What are you—” Leo holds up the receipt and lights the corner on fire. “Oh! S- Sir!”

“It’s alright,” he says, right before throwing the rapidly darkening heat-reactive paper at her. Somehow, it lands in the pocket of her uniform vest and that begins to burn as well. The cashier screams and scrambles to get it off. She manages to do so without making contact with the fire, but in her panic she doesn’t pay attention to where she throws it. It lands right on a back-to-school display, sending the smell of burning plastic wafting through the air as the fire crawls through the thin packaging of index cards, notebooks, and loose leaf paper. The fire alarm goes off, but the sprinklers aren’t working properly.

Then once again he sees the brunette outside, watching this all unfold through the window. He notices that her eyes, usually closed when he sees her, are a fantastic blue.

“I told him he couldn’t stop it.”

After months of these changing visions Leo decides he should just leave. In the dreams he’s always somewhere familiar, somewhere local. Perhaps he’s just… starting to resent his hometown. So he packs up, breaks his lease, and moves out of state.

It’s there that he finally meets her.

His internet isn’t hooked up yet, and his phone plan has terrible roaming data. So, for the time being he’s pounding the pavement, the way his dad always said he should if he wanted to show that he was serious about finding work.

It isn’t working, of course. He keeps being referred to the website of whatever business he’s wandered into, just like he always told his dad he would be if he actually did this. If his dad was still alive, and if he didn’t desperately need to find a job, Leo would probably be smug about it.

Eventually he finds a café with free wi-fi and orders a drink so that he can sit at a table and fill out job applications there. He asks the barista if they’re hiring, is told to check their website, and turns to find a table.

And then he sees her, sitting at the counter by the window. The brunette from his dreams, with the lovely blue eyes.

He sits down beside her, staring at his coffee as he tries to think of the least awkward way to introduce himself. When he decides on something sufficiently normal, he looks up to find her already gaping at him. He throws his intended greeting out the window to ask, “Are you… okay?”

“You’re the man from my dream.” She sounds so sure of herself, which only strikes Leo as odd because while he is also very confident that he knows her, he would never have the audacity to sound sure of it; it’s ridiculous. Still, he breathes a sigh of relief and laughs.

“Oh, thank God. I had no idea what to say.”

“You’ve seen me, too?”

“Every night for a few months now.”

She smiles. “That’s so good to hear! I didn’t think I’d ever meet you.”

“I… didn’t really think you were real.”

“Neither did I, until I spoke to the angel.”

Leo’s knee-jerk reaction is to think, Oh no, this lady is off her rocker. But he reels that in, because this whole situation is absurd already. “What angel?” he manages to ask earnestly.

“The thing with the bright eyes. The thing giving us visions of our destiny.”

Leo goes pale. “Destiny?” This is exactly what he was worried about when he saw her. If she’s real, maybe the fire is real.

“The dream you’re having? I dream of saving a little boy from being hit by a car. The angel says that he’s very important.”

“I, uh… I don’t know, I- I don’t think my dreams are like yours.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m not doing anything important in mine.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. But I’m sure it is important, really. Even if you can’t see how yet.”

They see each other again. They go out for coffee, or lunch, or to walk in the park. The woman’s name is Annie, and she has apparently never tried to change her ‘destiny’ like Leo has. It takes him a couple weeks to admit what happens in his dreams, which have not stopped after the move like he hoped.

“I set a fire.”

“Oh. I can see how that would be upsetting to watch. When does it happen?”

“It keeps changing. Sometimes I’m a little older, sometimes a lot, sometimes I don’t look any different at all. In my most recent one I was wearing the outfit I’d planned to wear the next day.”

Annie looks confused. “But it didn’t happen?”

“Nope. Threw the outfit out.”

“Leo… I don’t think changing your wardrobe will change your destiny.”

“Yeah, well, until I find out what will, I’m gonna keep changing everything.”

Leo walks into a fireworks store with a lighter.

Leo rips his apartment’s smoke alarm out and pours lighter fluid onto his carpet.

Leo crashes his car into a gas station.

It never stops.

He wakes up still tired. His head hurts too much to fall asleep again, but he simply doesn’t have the energy to make himself do anything. He texts Annie to cancel lunch.

Leo: hey annie, sorry cant make it today

Annie: Oh no, are you feeling alright?

Leo: not sure. woke up with a headache, might be sick

Annie: Why don’t I come over with food then? I never feel like cooking when I’m sick.

Leo smiles at his phone. She’s so sweet.

One year after the dreams started, the Annie in Leo’s dreams opens her eyes. They are not blue. They’re white, burning like a magnesium fire. It hurts to look at, but Leo can’t seem to look away.

The thing with the bright eyes, Annie called it.

“You’re Annie’s angel.”

“Not just hers. But… yes.”

“She said you’d explain what’s going on.”

“Hm… I will answer one question.”

“Is it seriously my destiny to start a fire? That’s the whole point of me?” Leo’s tone betrays that he still doesn’t really believe all of this. He can’t dismiss the nagging feeling that he’s being lied to.

“Yes. You are fated to start a fire that kills 47 people, including yourself.”

Leo feels an anger well up inside him. “No.”

“Pardon?”

“No, that’s ridiculous. I’m not going to kill anyone.”

“I’m sorry, Leonard, but you are.”

“No. Why would I do something like that?”

“Because you become very, very tired. Oh! That was two questions, naughty thing. Wake up.”

Leo wakes up. He’s shaking.

The next time they meet, Leo almost expects Annie to have those flaming eyes. She doesn’t, of course. They’re the same beautiful blue they always are. Leo gives her a relieved, adoring smile, and she laughs.

“Well, you’re in a good mood today.”

“Ah, not really. Just happy to see you.” He always is. Somehow he feels like he’s known Annie for so much longer than the few months since he met her in person.

“Aw, what’s wrong?”

“I… met your angel.”

“Oh, good! Are you feeling better about your destiny?”

“No, not really. All it really told me was how many people I’m supposed to kill.”

“Give it time. It might answer more of your questions soon.”

“I dunno. What kind of angel is fine with so many people dying?”

“Have you read the Bible?”

Leo blinks, taken aback by the question. “Why?”

“Angels aren’t little babies with wings. They’re warriors.”

Leo chuckles. “For a warrior this one sure seems content to sit back and watch me do the killing. Far as I’m concerned, that’s called being a coward.”

Annie’s face grows very serious. “That’s not true. You shouldn’t say those things.”

He doesn’t expect that reaction either. “You’re acting strange today, Annie. Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she answers quickly, her usual smile returning with an unsettling ease. Leo frowns.

“Look, um… I know you believe in all this. And I get that, because for you this was some powerful being coming to you and saying, ‘Hey, you’re a good person, and you’re gonna do something good.’ But I can’t just stand by and let this happen. I can’t just kill people.”

“You can’t stop it, Leo.”

That makes Leo pause. I told him he couldn’t stop it, Annie always says in his dreams. “I can,” he argues, though his voice now sounds unsteady. “I will.”

“Fate is resourceful. Each time you run away from it, it finds a way to lead you back to the fire. Don’t you understand that by now?”

“Why are you saying this?”

“I’m not trying to hurt you, it’s just true. You can’t stop it. It will happen.”

“It won’t. I won’t let it.”

Annie sighs and smiles sadly. She blinks, and suddenly her eyes are burning bright like the angel’s.

Being awake Leo should be able to look away, but he can’t. He’s frozen, terrified and beyond unsure what to do.

“This is exactly why you’re so tired.” She gets up while Leo is choking on nothing, lost for words.

Annie doesn’t answer his texts or calls anymore. Leo hasn’t seen her since she walked out of that coffee shop with her eyes on fire. He can only come to the conclusion that the thing calling itself an angel has possessed her.

Poor Annie. She loved her angel. Leo shakes his head and reminds himself that she’s not dead. No past tense.

He just needs to find her, and get that thing out of her.

Weeks later, he realizes that there is one place he’s guaranteed to see Annie: the fire. So all he needs to do is go toward the dreams, instead of away, and then just not set the fire. Easy.

Oddly, the dreams keep changing. He figures he must be doing something wrong, but he can’t figure out what. He goes to each place he dreams of, and each time the dream changes. Annie is never there.

After a while the visions stop entirely. He just sees Annie, eyes still closed but now with a slightly smug look on her face.

In the end, he finds her by accident. He sees a woman with long brown hair in the background of a picture in an article, and decides to go to the city the story came from on a whim, because the woman’s eyes glinted a bit in the camera. Sure, the picture was taken at night with flash, but it could still be her.

He runs into her as he’s walking from his motel to the community center mentioned in the article. Literally, he runs right into her because he isn’t watching where he’s going. When he stumbles back and sees her, tears well up in his eyes. “Annie.”

“Leo? It’s so good to see you!”

Leo shakes his head. “That’s it? It’s been two years, and that’s it? It’s good to see me?”

She laughs that light, sparkling little laugh of hers. “Well, it is.”

“No. No, you’re not her.”

Annie sighs. “Alright, alright. You got me!” She blinks and her eyes burst into flame. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to get you the hell out of her.” Leo grabs Annie by the arm and drags her into an alley.

“Mm, and how?” Leo pulls out a knife as he pushes her against the wall. “Well, that answers that. I suppose the next question is ‘Why?’”

“Why? Because I love her, you bastard.”

Annie laughs, cackles even, throwing her head back and leaning against the wall as her knees try to give out. “Oh, that is hilarious. Leonard, you don’t even know her.”

“What? Of course I do.”

Annie grins and looks Leo in the eye, her own eyes once again a calm blue. She bats her eyelashes at him. “But you’ve never even met her.”

Leo just stares blankly at her while his brain frantically tries to process that. “Yes, I have.”

“No, you haven’t.” She grabs the front of Leo’s shirt and pulls him closer, seemingly unconcerned with the knife in his hand, to whisper in his ear. “You fell in love with me. Your angel.”

“You’re not an angel,” Leo whispers on a shaky breath.

“Perhaps not. What do you think I am?”

Leo pushes her back again. “I don’t care,” he growls. He raises the knife.

“She won’t survive if you kill me.”

“She’ll survive.” Leo plunges the blade into Annie’s eye, and the angel screams in a thousand harmonizing tones. Leo doesn’t have long to feel victorious, because when he pulls the blade out to stab the other eye, flames burst from the wound. They fill the alley and shatter the windows of the buildings on either side, making their way in like they can think, like they know where they want to go.

Leo’s screams start up as the angel’s peter out, and the pain of his skin beginning to melt forces him to drop the knife. He can’t keep Annie pinned anymore, so she walks out of the alley untouched by the flames.

“I told you,” she purrs, “you couldn’t stop it.”