Burning Flames

Moth to the Flame

"That was the best play I've ever seen." The man's voice sounded firm yet animated. He was smiling in the mirror. The smile was for the girl in the back seat. She didn't reciprocate the smile. Her frown deepened.

"That's probably because it's the first play you showed up for." Her small voice was tiny but carried enough venom to end a village.

Her little brother ignored the scene. He was too busy playing with his new action figure. It was the latest edition. The woman by the passenger's seat ignored it too. She knew better.

"Baby you know how work is-" his voice carried the strain and pain but she still cut him off saying, "You've said it a million times. Nice speech." She sounded bored as she looked out the window of the moving car staring at nothing in particular.

The man on the wheels looked hurt. He wished there was something he could do. There was a time when she was growing up and they had been so close. Then he had all the time in the world for his little Queen but things changed. He was a key figure in the research and finally, they had started making progress. The positive kind.

He turned around to look at his little Queen. She ignored his stare pretending to be fully interested in the window. He turned to face the road. They were almost home. That was when his phone beeped. He ignored it. Another beep... Then the long third beep. He swallowed hard. He knew what three beeps means. They had never had three beeps before.

"Daddy look." The boy with the action figure said pointing at the road in front of them before they hit the beast and it tossed their car away to the side like a piece of scrap metal. That was all she could remember. It went black after that.

She struggled against the hard body that held her firm. The hand on her mouth pushed her screams back to where they had come from. Her assailant moved closer.

"It's me, Audrey. Stop trying to poke my eyes out." Even though he whispered, his voice vibrated everywhere. She relaxed.

Anton.

How long had he been following her? How much did he see?

He let go of her signaling her to remain quiet like she was still a child. He pointed to the far end of the former lab. She followed his fingers to where multiple creatures waited hungrily. It had been an ambush after all. So much for thinking she was a stealth ninja. She nodded her thanks. He remained expressionless. His dark skin and steel-blue eyes made him look as deadly as he was. His accent and giant form was the only giveaway to his Irish heritage. Ever since he had rescued her that night from the crash, Anton had made sure he made himself her guardian. Now she was a woman, free to live her life the way she wanted to but that didn't stop Anton from feeling like he still had fatherly duties toward her.

"Can we go now? You can burn my ass about how stupid and stubborn I can be later." She said through gritted teeth. She knew he would let all hell break loose when they get back and she was going to try her best to be ready for it this time.

***

She wasn't ready for it...

"What were you thinking?!" Anton kept his voice low but it still sounded mean.

"Whatever it took to provide for the camp." She fired back. They were the only ones in the room and it did nothing to ease the knot in her belly.

"So getting yourself killed doesn't matter to you." Anton was pacing the small room he used to give instructions to the scout. He was known to pace anytime he got worked up and now, being worked up over this was an understatement.

"It shouldn't matter to you either." Surprisingly her voice matched his till the last sentence.

The silence that followed stretched an eternity for her. For Anton, it was just a few seconds. He smiled and said, "Nice try with the drinks."

She chuckled nervously trying to look innocent and failing.

"What gave me away?"

"You pushed too hard. The only time you push hard is when you talk about wanting to kill one of them."

She smiled. She knew Anton was going to catch up to her sooner or later. She punched his heavy shoulder. A slight tap. That was her way of showing she cared for the big man.

"Anton, did you see th-"

"I saw." His voice was cold and flat now.

He had seen the tall man walk into the building that was once the lab. He had seen the pale skin. Most of all, he had seen the eyes. He hadn't talked to the kid much since the night of the attack. The kid and his friends had helped them but in a way he blamed them. It made it easier to blame them. They had been happy to stay away from the survivors on their part of The End. It was time to get the secrecy out of the way if they were all going to live in the same geographical area. Anton still didn't know the kid's name and he never asked. But now, they were going to have that talk they had avoided having for so long.

"Let's go, Audrey."

***

The walk to the camp of the strangers wasn't far. They had been expecting Anton. They always knew things before they happened. Anton was already used to all this weirdness.

"We have been expec-"

"Save it for next time, Bob. I need to see him now." Anton broke in cutting off the pale man whose name was definitely not 'Bob' judging by the insulted look on his face. Anton grinned cheerfully at him while the man scowled before disappearing into a shed.

Audrey was a bit nervous. This was her first time here. There was no one in sight but she could feel eyes on her. The place looked deserted. There was nothing but two lone sheds. The one the pale man had entered was closer. The other shed was far off but it was the exact copy of the one a few feet from where they stood. Anton looked relaxed. She didn't.

The man returned giving way for them to walk into the broken-down shed. Inside the shed, Audrey caught her breath. There was nothing here but a trap door that led to an underground facility. The facility had state-of-the-art technologies and computers. She saw screens everywhere. The man led them past this room to an empty hall. The hall was so vast it looked like a ballroom. They got to a door and the man stood aside for them to enter. Anton strolled in without knocking and Audrey followed his shadow.

The room was vast. There was enough space to fit three elephants and a big pond for drinking. The only thing in the room was a figure at the far end. A man. Anton knew him as the kid from the night of the attack. The kid that had warned them and saved their lives. It had been ten years and Anton still didn't trust him.

The man looked up with a smile. His smile broke into fragments when he saw the girl standing behind Anton. He hadn't seen her or sensed her either. He hadn't even heard her. She was like a ghost standing there.

Audrey looked up and felt a vibration in her bones. Something about this man caused her to feel somehow weird. Her whole body resonated with static electricity. She just stood and stared stupidly.

Wtf is this???

The man's eyes lost their glow. Anton could look at them now without feeling like he was about to be consumed in an eternal flame. The blue-red eyes looked normal.

For once the pale stranger looked vulnerable and very unsure. Anton was sharp enough to notice this change and he smirked. The stranger regained his composure. His handsome face contorted in a pretense of an expressionless mask. He was trying too hard and they all noticed. Looking at Audrey made his heart race so he avoided looking at her altogether. Why was he feeling this way? Why did he suddenly feel like a fly in the presence of this irresistibly beautiful woman? He couldn't explain it and he didn't like it. Audrey didn't like it more. She had no idea what was wrong. All she knew was that everything felt so wrong. Her whole body ached for the pale stranger. Why? What was it about his stupid handsome slim face or even features or his obvious fake smile that looked perfect regardless? The only thing she would ever admit was awesome about his stupid face was his full bushy eyebrows.

He stood up from the spot he had been for the past hour waiting for the arrival of Anton and strolled to meet them, his long legs moving with graceful speed. He reached them grinning.

"Hi. I'm Rafael." he was talking to Audrey completely ignoring the presence of Anton.

"You're also nuts as f**k if you think I'm going to just tell you my name like that." Audrey fired back ignoring his outstretched hand.