Dreams or Reality?

Chapter 32: Targeted

CHAPTER 32: Targeted

The vortex made my stomach churn uncomfortably but I never let my grip on my best friends loosen.

That sensation of timelessness and falling was so peculiar.

Now, I could tell you about the things we faced, the horrors we saw and the pain, both emotional and physical, we endured. But I don't think I could find the words. Really, the truth is, after the third challenge, I lost it and the rest is just a blur.

We had landed in a large square-shaped wooden room without windows or doors. Not really what I had been expecting. I looked around the room for anything unusual but the only thing I spotted were what looked like sprinklers in every corner of the room.

"Well, guys, um..." I said, trying to be a leader but unsure what was going to happen.

"HOLY FUCK!" screamed Mel and Sam just screamed. I looked over my shoulder and my gaze went straight to what I had thought were sprinklers.

They didn't shoot water, that's for sure.

Fire had exploded from the small black device and was now eating at the walls. Mel and I were scared of course, like anyone would be, but Sam's eyes were huge and she looked on the verge of a panic attack.

Mel realized why first, I had completely forgotten because it was such a small thing but now the memory hit me.

We had been playing truth or dare, I admit, it didn't work that well with three people but whatever. I don't remember whether it had been Mel or I who had asked Sam "Truth or dare?" but I do remember it was me who had came up with asking "What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you?" (The person who asks doesn't always know WHAT to ask) Sam had looked at her hands for a few moments, then at us.

"Well, uh, when I was little, about six, my mom had gone to pick me up from school, with my sister in the back seat 'cause she'd just come from preschool. Luckily my dad was at work because, um, a few minutes after we got home, the house was on fire. And-and we were in it!" she had taken a few deep breaths. "My mom had burst into my room, holding my sister and screamed about a fire. It was terrifying, we ran right past it, it was in my mom's room, we just kept running, all the way outside."

"You can stop there if you want," Mel had said, I had been shocked into silence.

"No, no, I might as well tell the whole story. Well, my, uh, mom called nine-one-one and my sister and I, we just stood next to the car. We watched the flames devour the house, my sister, she cried so much, but, um, I just stared, I thought I was dreaming, I didn't think it was real. My dad came shortly after the firemen, we stayed with my aunt that night. The next day we walked through the wreckage of the house, my mom hadn't wanted us to but my dad said that my sister and I might as well, I remember, it was all covered in ashes. there was almost nothing left. My sister cried again but I was just so lost, the only thing of mine we found was an old tarnished hand mirror my grandmother gave me."

"Oh, Sam..." I had whispered, but Sam just kept going, I could tell she was reliving it.

"A year later, my mom admitted that the house had caught on fire because she'd left her curling iron on when she went to pick us up. She'd smelt the smoke from the kitchen and that's when we got out.  The worst moment of my life, it wasn't the actual burning, but the wreckage that followed, when we realized what we'd really lost. That we'd never get it back," she had said, I remember feeling bad about asking the question but that's where the memory ended.

Back in the room, I could tell Sam was reliving her house burning when she was six. Her fear made sense now, compared to a few seconds ago.

"Sam!" I shrieked, hoping to get her attention. She just shook her head.