Lost to the Flames // Self Para
tw: fire, vivid flashbacks
It all happened so quickly.
He didn't even finish passing the house.
Klaus Webster, the awkward, tall, scrawny science geek that people normally didn't look twice at, only wanted to go for a walk. Just a simple walk around town. He didn't realize that he would go home shaking and mute.
He was just going for a calm, relaxing walk. It was just starting to get dark out, and the view around him was absolutely beautiful. All of the houses were big and clean-looking, the sky was a dozen shades between blue, purple and pink, and the fire illuminating from the house across from him was bright as ever.
Wait.
Klaus quickly snapped his head, his attention directing at the flames. How long had that been going for? How had he not noticed? Klaus didn't know, and he was starting to feel light-headed as vivid flashbacks played through his mind.
He couldn't move.
He was frozen with fear and shock.
Why wasn't anyone doing anything? Where was the fire department? Aren't they supposed to stop this stuff as quick as possible?
Suddenly, a thought flashed into Klaus's head that almost made him pass out.
Was there someone in there?
What if this would be exactly what happened to himself? What if Inside that house there was a beautiful middle-aged couple and their youngest child, trapped inside. Choking on the thick gray smoke as they blindly looked for an escape? Not knowing that just outside the house was their fifteen year old son, staring helplessly as his home and family slowly burned to ash and dust.
Klaus wanted to do something. Scream for help, or call Kevin to come save them. But he couldn't. Something inside of him felt paralized, and it was stopping him from doing anything useful. He could only watch as huge flames licked the large walls of a once beautiful home.
Klaus thought of his brother. The most important person that would ever be in his life. He thought of his calm, soft voice. He thought of his faint dimples that showed on his cheeks every time he smiled. He thought of how those dimples showed especially when Klaus would show him a new experiment of his.
He thought of his desperate screams of terror as he and his home burned to the ground.
Klaus had to get out. His eyes burned from the heat and brightness of the fire. He couldn't see properly, and his heart was pounding so hard it was a wonder it didn't burst from his chest. He looked around him, noticing three fire trucks speeding to the house. He saw the crowd of people suddenly form around the view.
He looked for Kevin.
He looked for Malia.
He looked for Remy.
He looked for Zed.
When he didn't find any of them, Klaus turned and sprinted back in the direction he came from. He gasped for air, but continued running. He ran back to the place he was supposed to call his new home. He burst through the door, ignoring Kevin's questions about what's his hurry, and ran upstairs to his room.
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Four hours later, Klaus sat still on his bed. He hadn't moved since he got to his room, and only sat there. Completely zoned out from the world around him, Klaus could only think about the fire. Whether he thought about the fire he saw that day or the fire he saw four years ago, he didn't know.
He thought about what house could be next.
