Prologue

Terror filled her as she glanced around.

It was blurry, it was always blurry. She couldn't make out anything through the welling tears in her eyes. Her head turned towards the night sky as she tried to understand why they were doing this to her. She was innocent. She hadn't done anything to condone these actions so why? Why must she die?

She took a deep breath only to choke on the smoke that filled her lungs. It was suffocating her. She tried to claw at her throat but found her hands bound behind her back. Her arms twisted tugging at the ropes that dug into her skin as the bare flesh of her forearms rubbed against the wooden pole causing an array of splinters to dig into them.

She cried out in fear and in pain as a violent coughing fit took over. She couldn't escape, it was no use.

Her fear increased tenfold as she spotted the orange and yellow flames licking around the edges of her bare feet. The heat was too much. She was sweating profusely as her body tried to maintain homeostasis, but it wasn't worth it.

The searing heat melted her skin as she released a bloodcurdling scream. The fire caught on the tattered end of her dress and traveled up her form singing as it went. The flames clawed at her dragging her deeper and deeper into the underworld.

"Nysa!" She heard the panicked shouts of her name but it was wrong. Her name was not Nysa. "Nysa! Nysa!" She couldn't tell if the voice was male or female, or anything really. She could barely make out the muffled cries behind the sounds of her own screams.

"Carina!"

Emerald eyes shot open at the sound of her name. There was a slight pressure on her shoulder as her startled, though sleepy gaze met that of her friend.

"Carina, you were having a nightmare."

She felt like she was burning. The nightmare that plagued her most of her life of the flames that slowly consumed her, melting her skin as the black smoke and stench of burning flesh filled her lungs. Her body was shivering as she curled up into herself glancing at the person before her.

"I'm fine, it was just a dream." She muttered reassuring herself and the person with her. But it felt so real. Like it actually happened.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The female asked. She was tall, and towered over Carina while standing. Her name was Abby and they were best friends since infancy. Abby was the one who coaxed Carina out of her shell and made her feel comfortable while in the presence of other people. She normally told her everything, but not this time.

"I'm fine," she ran a hand through her raven locks noting how her body seemed to be covered in a light sheen of sweat.

"You were screaming pretty loudly." Carina winced at Abby's comment.

"I'm sorry, I didn't wake your parents did I?"

"Oh no, they could sleep through anything, don't worry about them." The blonde smiled softly and glanced at the alarm clock the glowing red light reading 5:13 am. "If you're okay I'm going to get a couple more hours sleep."

"I'm fine," Carina repeated sliding out of the bed her feet shivering as they touched the cool wooden floors. "Get some rest, I'm going to shower and watch some TV or something." Abby nodded and headed back to her bed as Carina sleepily made her way to the shower.

She stripped her clothes and turned the water to cold before stepping into it. She could still feel the burning as the cascades washed over her.

"It was just a dream," she repeated to herself.