"Beautiful, isn't it?" she called over the roar of the flames. "Fire purifies everything it touches."
I lunged toward her but she danced back. "Your precious designs, your pathetic attempts at creating something beautiful—all gone. Just like your dreams of leaving us."
"You psychotic bitch," I growled, stepping toward her.
"Oh, I almost forgot to mention," she continued, her voice syrupy sweet. "Your divorce papers arrived this morning. Such a shame they were delivered to your car. All that paperwork... up in flames."
The realization hit me hard. Without those papers, I'd have to wait another year before filing again.
"You can't keep me here," I shouted over the roar of the fire.
"Can't I?" Tara challenged. She pointed toward the burning car. "If you're so desperate, why don't you check? Maybe something survived."
Without thinking, I ran toward the car, pulling at the door handle. To my surprise, it opened and I leaned in searching through the smoke filled interior.
Suddenly, the door slammed behind me. I felt hands push me further in and spun around to see Tara's triumphant face through the window as she locked me in.
"What are you doing?" I screamed, pulling at the handle. "Let me out!"
The smoke began filling the car and it burned my lungs. I'd been tricked. I pounded on the windows and gasped for breath.
"Bye-bye, Hazel. Enjoy your cremation." She blew me a kiss.
"Tara!" a voice shouted from a distance. Derek was coming.
Through the haze, I watched as Tara deliberately fell to the ground, grabbing a sharp stone and dragging it across her arm. Fresh blood welled up from the cut.
"Derek! Help!" she cried out. "She pushed me! She tried to kill me and then set everything on fire!"
I pounded harder on the windows, my strength fading as the smoke filled my lungs. "Derek! Please!"
When Derek reached us, he didn't even glance at me trapped in the burning car. Instead, he knelt beside Tara, cradling her head.
"Who did this to your perfect face?" he asked, wiping blood from her face.
"She went crazy," Tara sobbed. "She hit me, then pushed me down. When I tried to stop her, she threatened to burn everything."
I slammed my palms against the glass. "Derek! I'm in here!"
He finally turned, his eyes meeting mine through the smoke-stained window.
"How dare you," he snarled. "Because you don't like her, you're trying to destroy everything?"