Teaser Tuesday!

Okay, I promise I won't spam you with these all month,* but in honor of Día Numero Uno, I couldn't resist! A teaser from my NaNo project, tentatively (and emo-ly) titled Tears in the Ash:

When I open my eyes, the world is on fire, and I cannot move. There is nothing before or after the burning ground that encases me, white-hot. My skin chars where it hardens around me, a boiling cement coffin. I look up for one last glimpse of the calm blue sky, and I see them smile at me – one with ember eyes and hair like fingers of flame, the other a skull, dripping seared flesh onto my chest. Smell of cooked meat invades my nostrils…

“Melika! She gets like this, you know, during an episode.”

“Should we move her? I mean, is it safe?”

The skull’s jaws part in a grotesque smile. Smoke pours from the slits where its nose should be. A thin wail pierces my eardrums.

Suddenly, my cheek hurts. “Mel!”

“Geez, don’t hit her.”

“Someone’s going to think she’s dying. Mel? Can you hear me?”

I nod at the ember eyes. They fade to coals, mellowing. A soft firelight now. “Paige?” My voice is a croak.

“Girl, you scared the shit outta me. Come on, move your butt. We need to get you home.”

“Where –” I cough once, hard. “Where are we?” As soon as I ask the question, I notice. My gaze darts from Paige’s to the mountain behind her. Mt. Rainier, Seattle’s timeless monument to the youth of the human race. I blink sleep from my eyes. I don’t remember coming here. Paige says something else, her voice so low I can’t hear.

That’s when I register the third person standing beside us. Logan. Oh god.

He saw me; heard the screaming. “Shit, sorry,” I mumble and drag myself into a sitting position. I’m sure I look like a certified lunatic now.

“Melika, listen, don’t look down, but…” Paige bites her lip.

Of course I immediately look down. And choke back another shriek.

My hands are covered in blood.

* Disclaimer: this may be a lie