chapter 15

I could feel time slow down. It was like it wanted me to savor every moment that didn't cause me pain. I saw the rain slow down in mid air, the wind completely stopped, and the bullet went in slow motion before causing impact in my shoulder. Time stopped for a single second, so it could let me savor every moment before the fire in my shoulder started.

"Amber!" I heard a voice yell in panic. It took me a moment to even get my hearing under control. It was like everything was fuzzy and the only thing I could focus on was the burning sensation spreading through my body.

"Doesn't feel the best, does it," I heard another voice said. I tried ignoring the fire in my shoulder so I could remind myself of what just happened. Luke with a gun. Trevor shot him. Luke shot me. But something was missing from the events playing in my head.

I heard Trevor grab the gun and walk over to Luke, pointing the gun at his head. Lydia helped me up, being very delicate with my shoulder. I saw Trevor's finger wrap around the trigger before I screamed "Don't!"

He turned to look at me and Luke did too. Antidote. That was the word. And if Luke dies then so do I. And I promised to find Jared after this was over.

"He said antidote. He poisoned the bullets," I said, my voice was weak.

"He can't poison you. Not while you're a pure," Trevor said with a confused look.

"You have no idea what Fallen Labs has actually found. When they found out about kids with extra side-effects, they gave us poison that can kill any pure. And an antidote so that we can bring them back to them for their experiments. And it's more painful for ones like her," He said, nodding at me.

"What do you mean like her?" Trevor said, looking back at Luke, angry.

"Her body will try to heal her faster. And with faster healing..." He waited for me to finish his sentence.

"Stronger pain," I said, looking at him.

"Exactly. The poison will kill her within 3 days unless you give her the antidote which, surprise! I'm the only one who knows where it is or how to make it."

"Princess, you're about to go through hell," Luke said smiling. Trevor knocked him out in one punch.

"Lydia, take him inside and tie him up in a chair. I'll take care of Amber," Trevor said, walking over to me. He lifted my arm and I couldn't hold the scream that came out of my mouth.

"Shit. Sorry," He said, trying to be more delicate. He supported half of my weight, walking to one of the bedrooms. He set me down on the bed and as soon as he did, I couldn't help but let a cry of pain out.

"Get it out of me! Stop the fire," I said, on the verge of tears.

"Hey. You're ok. He probably made it up just to save his own skin. You are going to be ok," Trevor said, cupping my cheek with his hand.

"Lydia! I need some rubbing alcohol and bandages," Trevor shouted. Lydia ran in with what he needed within seconds. Trevor took the things from her hands while she looked at me and then back at Trevor and asked "Is she dying?"

"Go make sure Luke doesn't wake up. Don't let him touch or grab you," He said, avoiding her question.

"Trevor, is she dying!" She asked, demanding an answer. Their voices went muffled for a second and my vision went blurry.

"I don't know! But I will be damned if she does. Now go," He said. I heard the door slam shut and saw Trevor walk over to me. He took my hand in his free one and took off the sweater I was wearing. He rolled down the sleeve of the T-shirt I had on, exposing the gun shot.

"This is going to hurt," He said. He opened the bottle he had in his hand and poured the liquid over my shoulder. I squeezed his hand so tight and couldn't help but scream in pain.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," He said. He stopped pouring the clear liquid on my shoulder and dried it with a cloth. He opened a bandage and put it over the wound on my shoulder and then wrapped something to keep it in place.

"You're ok now. You're ok," He said, kissing the back of my hand softly. He let go of my hand and walked out of the room, leaving me there to sleep. But all I could think about was the fire that was growing in my body. It felt like every inch of me was being burned alive with the invisible fire that nobody else could see or feel. This must be what burning in hell feels like. I couldn't focus on anything anymore. My vision went fuzzy then clear and it alternated every few seconds and the only thing I could hear was a ringing in my ears. Everything started to go black except for a tiny white light in my vision. I tried to reach for it and when I did, I was back home. The sky was grey and it was raining. It was in perfect shape. Pictures still on the walls, Fireplace burning, Dad sitting in the living room watching Duck Dynasty and Mom in the kitchen cooking his favorite meal. Baby back ribs.

"Mom? Dad?" I asked, walking towards them. They both turned to look at me with shock on their face.

"What are you doing here Amber?" Mom said. Her voice was sweet and soft like always.

"I...don't know. One minute I was with my friends and the next, I'm here with you guys. What is this place?" I asked, admiring the same house I have lived in my whole life but something felt different.

"Is Jared safe?" Dad asked. I turned around to face him and I nodded with a smile.

"Ok Amber, listen to us carefully. Whatever happened to you, you need to fight through it. You need to push through the pain. You will survive this," Mom said. I looked back at her and hugged her with full force.

"I've missed you," I said. She hugged me back and said "I've missed you too. I'm so proud of you. Of becoming the brave, beautiful girl I knew you could be."

She kept me in her arms but pushed me back so I could have eye contact with her. "Amber. Always remember that we love you and never ever forget that, but you need to wake up," she said.

"Wake up where? From what?" I asked.

"Open your eyes Amber. Wake up and push past the pain. I love you to the stars.." She said.

Her voice faded and I opened my eyes to a dark room. I looked around, confused on what just happened. I tried to sit up but the pain in my shoulder didn't make it easy. I let out a wince of pain from the soreness that was coursing through my whole body. And I could still feel the fire in my veins. I managed to sit up and get my feet onto the cold floor. I was undressed. I had a large T-shirt on and some PJ shorts on. I looked around some more but my vision was still hazy. I managed to stand on my feet and steady myself. I walked over to the closed door, constricting me to the room, and reached for the knob when I felt a burst of pain flow through me. I pulled down my shirt carefully and saw the wrapped shoulder, and the events came rushing back to me. Oh shit. Oh shit, I'm going to die. This is where I die. I'm dead, or at least was a few minutes ago. I pushed the thoughts out of my head and rolled my T-shirt back up. My legs felt weak and so did my arms, but they still burned with the invisible fire with every movement I made. I reached for the door knob with my other hand but it still hurt the same as the other. I turned the knob and saw Lydia standing in the kitchen on the small house. Her eyes were wide open with shock. She ran towards me and embraced me in a hug, being careful to avoid my right shoulder. I winced a little at her force but gave her the same embrace.

"Don't you dare scare the shit out of me like that again," she said, her dark brown hair falling in front of my face. I tightened my grip on her, ignoring the fire coursing through my body, making it feel like it has been years since I've seen her.

"I'm sorry," I said, apologizing for scaring her shitless. She pulled back and her light brown eyes met my dark ones.

"He's outside. He's been out there the whole time you were sleeping," She said.

"Please tell me that I have only been out for a few hours instead of a few days," I said, laughing.

"You have been out for almost 8 hours. It's almost 11 PM right now," She said.

"Have either of you slept at all?" I asked.

"Yes, I finally got my hour that I wished for earlier," She said in a teasing manner. I gave her a faint smile before she walked back to the room she was sleeping in. I tried so hard to ignore the pain in my body walking to the back of the small house but I couldn't help but wince once or twice. I finally managed to reach the back door and saw him, sitting on a dock that led to a lake. I opened the back door and started walking towards where he was sitting. When I finally managed to reach the dock, I carefully sat down next to him, trying to stop myself wincing from the fire.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey." He said. His voice was deep but something was hiding in his thoughts. I looked at him trying to figure what was going on in his head but I couldn't.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked, trying to sound happy so he couldn't hear the agony that my body was being put through. He looked down at the rock in his hands and started shaking his head.

"Trying to figure out how to break Luke. But someone seems awfully happy to have a gun shot wound," He said, finally meeting my eyes. I gave him a faint smile, but something in my shoulder had an uncomfortable feeling in it and stopped me from fully smiling at him.

"I'm just happy to be alive. Or at least alive for now. To get to see you and Lydia one last time," I said, trying to ignore the burning sensation that was now more intense in my shoulder.

"Hey, don't talk like that. We are going to figure this out. I will break Luke, have Lydia hack into The WildFires' servers again so she can make the antidote. I'm not giving up on you," He said, his brows drawing together and his jaw clenching.

"So it was real. They managed to figure out a poison for me. For us," I said, starting to get a shiver through my whole body. It was like I was in a fire, my skin at least but I was still freezing on the inside. He looked away from me and at the lake that had moonlight reflecting on the water.

"Yeah. It was real. But I will do everything I can just to save you. I can't let you go, not when I just got you," He said. He looked back at me and for the first time, I thought he was going to cry. I put my hand on his cheek and stroked my thumb across his smooth, medium colored skin. I dropped my hand back to my lap and my vision started to get fuzzy again. The fire was completely lit in my shoulder again and it went through my whole body like it was following a trail of gasoline.

"Amber? You ok?" He asked, his dark brown eyes meeting mine. I shook my head, trying to make the fuzziness go away, and responded with, "Yeah. I'm fine." He got up from his sitting position and I tried to do the same thing but as soon as I stood up, everything in my body went weak and was being consumed with the fire. I fell forward a little and he caught me before I fell completely. He looked down at me but all I could see was his face coming in and out of a fuzziness. He put a hand to my forehead.

"Amber, you're burning up. We need to get you to bed," He said. I couldn't feel my legs. All I could feel was the fire that was melting the skin off of them.

"I can't," I managed to blurt out.

"Why? What hurts?" He asked.

"Everything," I said. He scooped me up and brought me back inside to the house and the same, little room I was in before. He set me down on the bed and turned on the light. He unwrapped the bandage from my shoulder and lifted the patch that was covering the hole. His brows drew together in concern and then he looked at me. It felt so hard to breathe. It hurt to move a single inch of my body.

"Amber, keep your eyes open," He said. I let them open a little and saw him staring at my shoulder.

"Is it bad?" I said, trying to talk through the pain. He looked at my eyes and nodded.

I looked down at my shoulder and I could see what he was worried about. There was the gun shot but extending from the wound were black veins. It was the poison working its way into my system. They were small, you couldn't even see them go past my shoulder but I knew they were going to grow. Until it reached my heart, the fire was going to keep burning and stronger thanks to my faster healing. I cried in pain when I felt something stab my shoulder.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked.

"Something...is happening. It's like a stab whenever the poison works its way through my veins," I said, trying to hold back tears. He put the bandage back on and wrapped my shoulder again before Lydia came into the room.

"Trevor, I think he's breaking. He says he wants to talk to you," she said. Trevor looked at her and then back at me.

"I'll be back later to check on you, Ok?" He asked, putting a hand on my cheek. I nodded. He stood up and walked past Lydia before whispering something to her. As soon as he walked out, she closed the door and came over to the bed. I could feel the sweat that was on my skin, trying to cool me down.

"Do you think that you can hear the conversation?" She asked.

"I can try," I said, giving her a faint smile.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the sounds around us until I heard two voices talking.

"You wanted to talk to me?" I heard a muffled voice say. Trevor.

"Yes, I did," Another voice said. Luke.

"I might have some information of interest for you," Luke said.

"Unless it's about the antidote for Amber then I'm not interested," Trevor said.

"I have a proposition for you," Luke said.

"Go on," Trevor said.

"You get me out. Out of The WildFires," Luke said. The ringing started to come back but I tried to push through it.

"How do I do that?" Trevor asked.

"You call them, tell them you killed me and then they won't go looking for me since they don't want to waste resources," Luke explained. There was a brief moment of silence.

"What if they track me on the cell phone I use?" Trevor asked.

"The phone here is a landline. If you use it, they won't be able to track you. If you make the call then I will make the antidote for you," Luke said.

"But aren't you valuable to them? They will just come looking for us" Trevor questioned.

"My brother works for Fallen Labs. He gets me access to all of the experiments they have conducted and all of the results. The WildFires find me valuable because they have access to something that we can threaten kids with. But they also have other people that can access those files, so they won't care much about 1 person when they have almost 20 others. The nearest building with the chemicals for the antidote for your girlfriend is about an hour away. It will take me only a day and a half to make the antidote completely. But I will only do it if you help me get out of The WildFires," Luke explained.

"Why do you want out now? What changed?" Trevor asked.

"It's hard to explain," Luke said.

"Either you explain or I'm leaving," Trevor said. There was another brief moment of silence before I heard Trevors footsteps. Before he could leave the room, Luke explained his reason.

"I have 2 kids. One is a girl and the other is a boy. Their twins. I left them with their mother about 5 years ago, keeping in touch. I wanted to know when they would ever be captured by The WildFires and if they ever were, I would get them out. But they are on the run now. I never wanted them to get hurt and I hated being a part of the labs but I had to keep my kids safe," Luke explained. Twins? Could he be Cameron and Layla's father?

Trevor didn't say anything for a few minutes which only made the ringing worse. I needed one of them to speak if I was going to keep listening to the conversation.

"Ok, I will make the call tonight. You go out and get the supplies in the morning and you will have 1 day to make the antidote. Deal?" Trevor asked.

"Deal," Luke said. I heard Trevor's footsteps and then Luke said his name. "Trevor? There is one more thing you should know," He said.

Trevor's footsteps stopped and he asked, "What?"

"The poison is really painful. It feels like it's burning you alive but if she uses her side-effects, it's going to cause her more pain. She would barely be able to speak if she used it for long periods of time. Make sure that she doesn't use them because of her abilities. The fast healing is making the pain unbearable for her but if she tries to use her sight or hearing then it would overload her body and make it more susceptible to the pain," Luke explained. After that, I didn't listen any longer. I understood what he said about the pain since the ringing was the most painful it has been.

I turned back to Lydia and explained everything except the side-effects-causing-more-pain part. I didn't want her to know that she just opened me up to a new pain that was about to flare up at any second. She left the room as soon as I told her everything and when she closed the door, I let the pain go, instead of hiding it again. I ignored it while I was listening to the conversation but when it came back, it came back harder and stronger. My arms were aching and my legs were burning with more fire. My shoulder was the worst. It felt like there was fire and there was glass in it. Trevor walked in on me crying because of the pain.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sitting down on the bed, avoiding my legs.

"I used my hearing...to listen to the conversation. Lydia asked me to. It feels like there is glass inside of my shoulder, like there is fire and glass in them. Everything else feels so hot, so painful," I said, crying. He helped me lift my upper body so he could let me rest my head on his chest. He had both arms around me, while I was curled up into a ball.

"You're going to be ok. I'm here with you," He said, placing a soft kiss on my head.

"I'm sorry. For everything. The night in the warehouse and at the massage parlor and at the Wal-Mart. I'm so so sorry," I said.

"I know. I'm sorry too. I'm sorry for putting all of those things on you. I'm sorry for yelling at you and I'm so sorry for not being friends with you. Those were the worst 2 months of my life," He said.

"Mine too. I missed you everyday," I said. I could feel myself shivering from the fever. But I could also feel the fire growing inside of me. I grabbed his shirt and tightened it in my fist as the pain got worse. Everytime I did, I could feel his arms wrap around me a little tighter. I kept muttering under my breath and I don't know if it was the pain or if it was the fever making me say it.

"Talk to me Amber," He said.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," I whispered. He tightened his grip on me and I could feel myself fall asleep in his arms. But I let one more slip out at a normal volume.

"I love you," I said.

He took a moment before saying anything. "I love you too. From the day that I met you," He whispered. And the last thing I remember are his arms around me.