The smell woke me up.

An unbearable stench. Strong and sickening. It scorched down my throat, practically burning my lungs.

Jolting from the bed, I looked up in a daze. Smoke billowed my vision, and I coughed. My fatigue was quickly replaced by genuine fear when I realized what was happening.

The house was on fire.

Rapidly, I sprang off the bed, my legs entangling from the blankets. Tripping, I fell hard on my face, the burning, hot floor sending a jolt of pain on my cheek and hands.

I managed to crawl up, fixing my clothes. From a distance, the sound of firetrucks could be heard, screaming through the cracks of dawn.

“We don’t have much time,” a muffled, male voice said from behind the closed door, “Hurry up and get rid of all the evidence.”

An explosion sounded on my right, on the other side of the wall. 

I had to think fast. A few more seconds later, not only would they find me, but they would drag me back.

“Accelerate! Not a single trace should be left behind!”

I froze. That bitchy, authorative voice was distinguishable from any other one I'd had the misfortune to hear, throughout my lifetime. 

Rhea.

They were going to destroy everything. Erase Damian’s past and the memories he formed in this place. After the initial shock I’d gotten, I realized that they were trying to erase his entire life.

A burst of anger almost sent me running towards the door to beat the shit out of my sister. Nevertheless, I knew better than to let my emotions control me. I would have to be careful about this situation.

“My lady,” the male who’d spoken earlier said, “What should we make of your brother, once we find him?”

“Are you completely retarded?” Rhea snarled, “Obviously, you're going to cut off his arms and legs, so he doesn’t get away again.”

It was almost petrifying to realize that a single door was what separated me from my bitch-ass sister and the rest of the sorcerers. It was only a matter of seconds before they discovered I was closer than they believed.

I had to leave. Except, before doing so, there was something I needed to do.

Decidedly, Damian would have a difficult time trying to remember his past life, especially if everything fell victim to the blaze I bet Rhea had ignited.

I coughed into my elbow, gathered my wits and reached down to pull the dresser drawer open. My hand burned from the hot handle, but I needed to fish out what lied inside, no matter the consequences. 

A single frame was in the bottom of his sock drawer, lying facedown. It didn’t take a PhD in any medical field to recognize how much he valued that picture, which would explain my never taking it with me before. 

Younger versions of the Kara siblings, dressed in a pink dress and a navy blue suit, were grinning, the grandmother hugging them. Danielle and a broad-shouldered man I believed was Demetrius, were standing on the side, looking quite disinterested, as they awkwardly held each other.

The only picture Damian had of his whole family. 

Whenever I had broken into the house, I had expected the frame to be stuffed in the trash can, though to my dismay, it always stayed in the same, dark place. 

His parents' faces weren't even scratched off with markers. Maybe, Damian did feel something towards them. He'd never thrown it out, so I was guess it was safe to assume he saw it as an important memento.

And I wasn't about to let it vanish under my watch.  

I removed the picture out of the mantel, and folded it into my back pocket. 

By then, flames were licking the doorframe. I didn’t even have time to say goodbye to Damian’s room. To all the good, secret memories I’d spent here. I didn’t even have time to search for more things to add to my collection.

Instead, I pushed away my overwhelming sadness and frustration, and barrelled straight towards the window, glass shattering all around me.

Down I plunged, away from the sorcerers and Rhea.

                                                              * * *

The rest of the day went by in a blur. 

Mostly, I remained hidden. There wasn’t much I could do, with my bloody, dirty self wearing pajamas in broad daylight.

Whenever I sensed someone approaching, I would duck behind a bush or a tree, praying they wouldn’t do anything or address me.

Otherwise, I’d have to waste more energy disposing of their bodies.

As evening rolled by, hunger and fatigue made their way towards me. I proceeded to scurry like a little rat around the city, trying my best to remain hidden from viewers. 

Finally, a bridge came into my vision. It was located right next to a large hill, and underneath the bridge, there appeared to be a secluded, dark space below.

The perfect place to rest.  

When I reached the bottom of the hill, I sat under the bridge's shade, grimacing from pain. Several cuts decorated my feet, as I had lost my shoes during my wild escapade.

“Bloody hell,” I mumbled, irritated beyond belief, as I picked a thorn out of the sole of my foot, “Fuck my life.”

Not only was my stomach rumbling, but my headache had returned, my feet were killing me and the only source of clothes I had were a pair of red pajamas, gone ashy gray from the burning apartment.

I didn’t even bother checking my reflection in the river because I knew what would stare back at me: an absolute mess of a little shit.

Okay, so what was I supposed to do now? Where to go? Should I go and seek some help? Wait, no that would not work. Blackmailing or threatening would bring better results. 

“Dude. That’s one hell of a creepy-looking person.”

Properly assessing the situation was more complicated than I'd assumed it would be. Prior to this moment, I’d always know what was expected of me, and what my duties consisted of. Now that I was “free,” it was becoming increasingly difficult to figure out what to do from here.

“Maybe he’s on drugs or something?”

“Should we call the police?”

“I don’t know.”

My ultimate goal was to save Damian, but the big question was how.

“He looks awful. Like he got hit by several trucks and ended up thrown here.”

How was I going to get Damian back?

“Like he got trampled by a mob of girls after they discovered he was their secret, perverted Santa.”

How was I going to defeat my family, while on the run from the clan I’d left behind?

“Like he forgot to brush his teeth this morning and neglected his shower as well.”

“Ew.”

“Indubitably outrageous.”

Their sneakers brought them trudging towards me. 

God damn it. Seriously? They weren’t going to go away? I didn’t mind them talking about me from afar, but the fact that they had the audacity to come near me was pissing me off even more.

“Umm, hello? Excuse me?”

Don’t look at me. Don’t talk to me. Go along with your lives and kindly fuck off. 

“Oh, damn! Nicolas, dude, isn’t he – ”

“Aren’t you – ”

Shut up. Don’t say it. Don’t give me a reason to lift my little finger. 

“Damian’s boyfriend?” they said simultaneously.

Right, I was going to have to commit a double homicide after all.