Call Me Fire

CHAPTER I

“He literally lost it...”

Tonya ended her dramatic reading as her hand closed the book on her lap. She then scanned the group of bewildered kids sitting before her, giving each time to absorb what she just said. She was used to this. She knew that they would all go, ‘Ohhhh’, once they realize that she wouldn’t read again. Most kids were like battery-operated toys after all. Predictable. “The end--”

“Liar! You didn’t finish the book!”

Well, except for that one named, Jen of course. The little witch, sitting furthest in the group. Big rimmed specs covering half of her face, braced teeth, pigtails, and freckles, in-short, the making of a future nerd – if she wasn’t already one.

“You saying something, ma’am?”

“One more page. You haven’t read about the sorcerer coming back and cursing him yet!” The girl shouted, pointing the book in her hand, particularly that half-burned page she left untouched. “Aren’t you curious about his name? That’s the part where the sorcerer came back and said no one should say his name--”

“Oh, okay? Thanks for the spoiler, young lady.” Tonya smiled, standing up from the wooden chair she was sitting on. Using the old hardbound book in her hand, she mildly tapped on her butt to straighten the crease on her skirt. “You didn’t let me finish what I was saying. It isn’t the book that ended, it’s my shift here.”

Jen raised her eyebrows.“You shouldn’t be doing that with a good book, Tonya--”

“And you shouldn’t be demanding so much from a woman who reads you stories for free and got another job within the next thirty minutes,” she replied, shooting the smart child a sarcastic grin. “Any more debates, little missy?”

“What’s his name, Tonya?” Another kid from the crowd asked. A little boy this time, who was leveraging his elbows against his knees while looking curiously at her. It was Tom, one of the orphans in that care house. “Jen, said the sorcerer forbid his name. What’s his name?”

“Tonya, check it, please...” That was Saab.

“Please, Tonya...” Then Linda.

Recognizing the twelve pairs of eyes looking at her like little sleepless owls, wide-eyed and restless, Tonya let out a defeated sigh. “Give me a sec...” she said before opening the book again and giving it a quick flip. She was immediately looking at the last page, staring at the words written against the battered yellowish page. One deep breath and she began reading in a loud haunting voice, mimicking how the character would talk in that fantasy book.

“Thou, Dragon of Escovia...

Who had bathe in the blood of hundred men,

Endless, thou art shall walk this world.

Endless, thou art going seek but not see.

Endless, thou will exist but not live.

Endless, thou will die trying to find thy missing piece.

But thou shall not see.

Never will thy wings gracefully flap again.

Until the world remembers who thou have been,

Groaning thy name in angst.

Thou shall taste vengeance, Dragon.

Thou shall taste bitter vengeance, Arag...Arag... Araggg...”

“What’s your problem, Tonya? Say it! Say it!”

A child in front of her noticed how her voice stopped. It was a little boy sitting on the floor, eagerly pulling the hem of her skirt. Was it Brendon? She couldn’t tell, her eyes were scanning the whole page again and again as fast as she could. There was this sudden pressure building up in her veins but she couldn’t say why. Flipping the old pages back and forth, she searched some more.

‘It should be mentioned here somewhere... It should be...’

“Tonya! Read!”

‘What the h*ll?’

“What’s happening?”

‘Where is it?’

“What’s the dragon’s name--”

“I don't know. His name is burned.” Tonya closed the book, cutting off the last random voice that screamed at her. Giving up and realizing that there was nowhere in the book to find that detail, she picked her backpack from the floor and swung it on her shoulder. It was odd, but then it was also something she couldn’t deal with yet since her wristwatch already alarmed.

“You guys will have to suffer nightmares tonight making up a Dragon’s name. I have to go.” She gave the group one last smile, waving the book apologetically in her hands before turning her back. She still needed to return the book on its shelf or else she couldn’t leave that place.

“You had a hard time with them again?” Emily asked her as soon as she passed her by that room’s door. They were in that part of the library specifically made for loud reading, a bit isolated from the silent space where all the shelves and other readers were.

“Nope. They are alright. Just having afternoon nightmares because of a Dragon’s name,” she replied still walking towards the shelves.

“Are you talking about the brown Dragon book thingy?” the woman soundlessly laughed while looking at the book in her hand. It was a giveaway that Emily already read the book before she did. “I need to meet those kids. We gonna have a nightmare-themed pity party until your next shift, Tonya.”

“See you tomorrow too, Emily,” she waved the book without even looking at her co-volunteer. She was running out of time for her real job and a proper ‘goodbye’ was a luxury. Her watch was still beeping like crazy around her wrist telling her how little time she had left to run.

‘-D.-’ She quickly made a sharp turn upon seeing the letter in one of the shelf-markers. Both rushing with time and other busy people looking for books in that narrow aisle.

“Excuse me.” Slid through a group of unformed students blocking the way.

“Sorry.” She did it again when an old man suddenly appeared next to her face, stunning her a little leaning and making her lean her back against the shelf. She started walking sideways. “Sorry, sir. Sorry...”

‘There shouldn’t be a more perfect way to be late than this,’ she thought as soon as she reached the empty part of that aisle. Not wasting any more time, she brisk walked to the same shelf where she took the Dragon’s book and pushed it between all the mythical themed books there.

‘Touch down--’ Her thoughts halted in an instant when a sudden gush of warm wind blew her back. So mild and yet hot at the same time, she saw the tiny hairs on her arms stood like someone deliciously licked her skin from the tip of her fingers up to her elbow.

Slowly...

Lingering...

Like a sinful mouth had been dragged on her skin leaving coals on it and making her instinctively part her lips to gasped.

It was a short euphoria. Probably less than three seconds but then enough to leave her mind fragmented when she regained herself and confusedly blinked her eyes. ‘W-what was that?’

She bent her head back to look at the lone fan rotating on the high ceiling. The area she was in was a confined place with rows and rows of shelves surrounding her. The huge windows on every end of the aisles were all closed, letting the afternoon sun in through the clear glass but certainly not the wind.

‘D-Did I just imagine that?’

“Excuse me.”

A baritone voice jerked her out of wits, accidentally making the book in her hand fall on the ground. She rushed to picked the book up but then paused when the same gush of wind hit her again. This time like a sensual palm gliding from the back of her ankle up to that part where she hadn’t been touch by anyone else, cupping between her legs. She clenched her knees together when a sweet foreign ache hit her nerves, leaving her breathless and at the same time wanting more.

'Oh God, what was I thinking--’

“Are you done reading this?”

“Y-yeah.” She had to swallow before spatting that single syllable. Then, trying to look composed she straightened her back and glanced at the man kneeling like a knight next to her.

His head was down, one of his hands was on the book, and his glorious back was covered in a dark red leather jacket. He looked huge with his shoulder a little above her hips even though he was closer to the floor. How could she even forget the way her feet wobbly stepped back the time he slowly stood up and towered her like a king? He wasn’t just a little above six feet, he was obviously more than it, impressively tall, proportioned, and most of all...crazy intimidating.

‘Whoa...’

She wasn’t able to open her mouth when the unknown man dusted the book with his hand.Tonya wanted to see his face but then he swiftly turned his back at her and without any ado, silently walked away. She was frozen, when the beeps from her watch went louder by a notch, signaling that she was already late for work.

She forgot how to move.

All she remembered was how to gawk while asking,' Who the h*ll was that?’