It was the scream that woke me. The voice so familiar that I had always known I won't cease recognizing it.

I jerked upright and met the darkness that spilled into every corners of my bedroom. My hand was clamped at my stomping chest, and my hair was damp from profuse sweat. Eyes wide and screaming, I knew it will attack me again tonight.

Then it happened.

Furnitures around me turned to tapering trees, which towered forever to the blackness of the ceiling. The parquet mulched into forest floor. Mom stood stilly before me, and dirt washed over her threadbare dress. My brother, Hayes, stood beside mom. His arms draped around her.

And beneath his dirt-caked hair was a pair of cobalt eyes, which screamed volumes.

My eyes have yearned a glimpse of their faces since after the forest fire.

I cried myself to sleep for countless nights, wishing my mom would be on my side once more. Desperate to fall under her comforting arms that I knew I will never get the chance to feel for the rest of my life.

Hayes...my brother.

It was his twenty third birthday that very evening.

And everything was perfect before the embers swallowed the night. The night that was imprinted permanently in my mind. Now I will never get the chance to see him again, to have bickers  with him, and everything else that siblings do.

I wanted to race for them.

It has been three years.

Three restless years alone and bereaved.

Now they stood barely meters away from me.

Faces I so longed to see.

Then a spark flittered at my periphery, and the next thing I saw was the fire that crawled the four corners of my room.

My breaths turned frantic, and my chest became stone-hard. The air hung thinner until there was hardly anything to inhale.

I can't breathe.

Tears pooled and stung the rim of my eyes, which was locked firmly at the bright dancing fire. Slowly, flames turned my bedroom into a blistering inferno. The trees thinned to black towering cinders like colossal strands of hair, dragging me on the fateful event three years ago.

The night when my family slipped off my fingertips.

My throat burned as though I had downed a bottle of chemical. And my stiff limbs howled for me to flee.

But I can't move.

A hoarse cry escaped my lips as I gripped upon my throbbing chest.

Please, stop. I mentally screamed as tears crawled down my cheeks.

Then lights flooded my room, and the horrid surroundings disappeared all at once, which left me frozen on my ruffled bedsheets.

"Kassryn!" Uncle Percy raced to my bed. His voice pierced with worry.

Seconds later his arms were around me, hands patted my back lightly as he hummed to calm my thoughts. But my mind still wrestled with the memory, and tears won't stop spilling.

Memories that will forever haunt me.

"It's okay, dear. Your mind's just dreaming about it, tricking you. It's over, and everything will be fine," uncle faintly whispered.

Those were the same words he uttered over and over again. But nothing was ever fine. The scars were never gone, and this wasn't just a mere dream.

This is a nightmare.

A nightmare I'm doomed to live over and over. I died every night with the trauma left on its wake, and I shall continue dying for the moons to come.

"No it won't! It never was, and it never will," I barely respond as tears choked my unsteady voice.

Uncle tightened his hug.

"Kass, listen to me. You've grown into a strong lady. You're braver than you think, and I know you will get over this. We will get over this," uncle muttered, puffs of his breath brushed against my ear.

"Your family will always be at your side, Kass. Your mother, and Hayes. They never wanted you to surrender in the traumas of your past. You can overcome it, and you will. I believe you will, do you believe in me?" Uncle Percy added.

My voice was stuck in my throat, and so I was only able to nod.

And as I wiped off a tear, and my vision slowly petered back, a figure stood by my room door. His brown hair reminded me so much of Hayes, but underneath those locks were green eyes, the color that pronounced the lush forest I aptly feared.

I knew not his name. And the angry red lines that sprawled his wrist made me uncomfortable, but in spite of the marks, when our eyes met, his frown turned to a smile.

And as if an unknown force had suddenly pulled me, I found myself smiling back.

A/N: This is just a preview of the story that I'm planning to write along with my current one. This one's a romance story, and I'm never good in writing romance. But after someone had told me to get off of my comfort zone, I'm thinking of writing my first romance novel.

So what do you think? Should I continue this? As of now this will stay as a mere PREVIEW of the story, and I won't continue writing it, unless I'm convinced this would work.

So comment down or simply vote on this chapter if you think I should continue writing Kassryn's story! :)

Lots of love.

-CAILLE