I'm just going to do a general disclaimer, even though nothing much happens: I claim no ownership of any recognizable content.

Chapter 1: Heat Wave

Riona awoke in the dead of night to an odd sensation. Beads of sweat poured from her skin and plastered her long, black, hair to her slick, wet, forehead and neck.

"Ugh…" She groaned, picking at her bangs and pushing them to the sides.

"Why does it have to be so hot?" It was late July, and California had been experiencing a massive heat wave. For days, the area's residents had been practically dropping like flies. People had been falling on the streets, left and right. At this point, n one even bothered leaving their homes! But of course, even that course of action had been dangerous. Due to the extremity of the heat, fires had been occurring all over! Wild fires, house fires, kitchen fires, ECT the list was endless! Then again, not all of those were accidents. Gangs, punks, even the average kid just playing a stupid prank, or purposefully getting revenge. Because the streets were deserted, it was the perfect time for them to strike. No one was safe.

Riona rolled to the side, causing her to accidentally fall off of the side of the bed, and reluctantly welcomed the cool carpeting.

"Ow…" She groaned, pushing her face deeper into the soft flooring. Her bed was two and one half feet off of the ground, and that wasn't the best thing to fall off of when you're still half asleep.

"… Why do I feel cold now?" She muttered, rolling over onto her drenched back. Oh, how she longed for rain! This drought had gone on long enough.

"… Water…" Riona uttered, willing for her eyes to open so she could simply get up and walk to the bathroom. Riona yawned, stretched, and pried her eyes open. She was glad that it was summer vacation, but did it really have to be summer? At least the school's air conditioning system worked properly, unlike the one that resided in her elaborate suburban mansion. Oh, no. Even though her family was among the wealthiest in the country, they were still last on the list.

Finally becoming annoyed with doing nothing, which was getting her absolutely nowhere, she slowly forced herself into a sitting position. Riona's limbs felt heavy, and in the time that she had been sitting on the floor, she was sure that somehow, her brain had gone numb.

"My foot's asleep…" She mumbled, yawning loudly. Riona grabbed the edge of her bed, and using the sheets, she hoisted herself up.

"Ouch…" She groaned, standing so that the blood in her leg could circulate freely. After waiting for a few seconds, Riona finally regained the feeling in her lower body, and stood without support. She moved slowly and silently to the door. Since she was up anyway, she might as well go down to the kitchen. Besides, once she was down there, she could probably stick her head in the freezer.

Mentally agreeing with the idea wholeheartedly, Riona reached for the door handle.

"Ouch!" She screeched, pulling away abruptly. Well that woke her up. Riona briefly examined her burnt fingertips, and then the doorknob before letting out a huge sigh. It probably just heated up due to the son shining on it all day; it was in line with the window after all. Taking no consideration of the fact that the blinds had been closed all day, or that her room faced west. She dismissed all of these contradicting thoughts, and walked to her private bathroom and wet a small washcloth. She cautiously put it to the doorknob. This time, instead of being burned again, she only felt a small tingling sensation. Sighing in brief content, Riona opened the door. As soon as she did though, she heard a loud, high-pitched scream.

"Mom!" She called, instinctively moving toward the noise, but before she could go any further, she jumped back. In front of her stood a gigantic wall of fire. Riona gasped,

"Not here too!" Her family had received a notice the previous week that both of their vacation homes had burned to the ground. Of course this was done on purpose, and the police were still investigation. No suspects were in custody as of yet.

This was bad. Riona's mind was racing, she had to get out, she had to call the police, she needed to get help, and she needed to find her parents!

Riona backed up as far from the door as possible, and as human as well as animalistic survival skills would suggest, she immediately looked for a way out. She wasn't going out the front, or the back, obviously. Most likely, she wouldn't be able to find the phone, and call the police. Her only options were the balcony, or one of the two windows in her room.

Panicking as the flames licked her bedroom's carpet, Riona turned and flung open the French doors and ran outside. The air was sticky and hot. Riona looked out over the rail. It was a long way down…

"Help!" She cried, but to no avail. The nearest house was too far away!

"Help!" She cried a second time, but once again, her cries fell up deaf ears. Riona felt tears sting her eyes as she turned and saw the roaring fire consume her bedroom. Billowing towers of smoke arose from the open windows and suffocated her through the open French doors as if it were a signal of some sort… Perhaps of a volcano about to blow. Faintly, much to her relief, she heard the steadily growing sound of emergency sirens coming toward her. Looking down, Riona realized how far away the bushes below were from her current position, but in her state of panic, she feared that help wouldn't arrive in time, and by the rate that the fire was spreading, that she would burn to death before they arrived. So, she took what seemed to be her only option. Riona sat on the balcony's rail, and swung her legs over the edge. Slowly lowering herself until she could feel the marble base beneath her feet. She was sure that she was going to break a bone or two, most likely in her legs if she fell right. It didn't help at all that she wasn't wearing shoes, since she didn't even think about them until she got outside, and found herself there. Oh well, it was too late now. Riona closed her eyes, and prepared herself, reluctantly for the fall and impact. Before she jumped, however, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye, and turned back to her room. Squinting, and holding her breath to avoid the smoke, Riona spotted her lava lamp that she had left on as a nightlight, just in case she needed to get up and had to light her way. The fire was drawing dangerously near to the cord. The problem was, it wasn't just that one. There were several electronics attached to that particular outlet. Her eyes widened as the fire climbed up the wooden cabinet that stood in front of the outlet and it burned. The fire moved back further, and that was it. She didn't have any more time to waste, she had to jump!

Riona turned, but before she could make the leap, she heard a somewhat disturbing noise and turned to see what it was. It was the lava lamp, it was sitting on top of a shelf, and the fire was almost upon it. Just as she finally jumped, the fire reached both the outlet and the lava lamp, causing her room to burst into flames and then finally let out a disastrous explosion, knocking out the poor girl before she hit the ground.

So, what'd ya think? Please review and give me ideas.