PRISONER
1925 Words
“Get back!” She hissed. Brandishing her knives at him.
Michael froze up. Where did she keep getting new knives from? He wondered. There was fear in her eyes, but what did she have to be afraid of? She was the one with the weapons and the supernatural abilities.
“You stay right where you are!” She snapped.
“I haven’t moved!” Michael pointed out.
He was just as surprised as her. Looking around, the fire was spreading now. Leaping from shelf to shelf and engulfing everything in its path. He was shocked the alarm hadn’t been triggered yet. Or was it broken?
“What did you do?” He asked the girl.
Her lips were set in a grim line.
“I didn’t do that. You did.”
Michael blinked a few times. “No I didn’t.”
“I saw you.”
He almost believed her, because of how convinced she sounded, but still.
“How’s that possible? You’re the one that can shoot light out of your hands.” He threw back.
She shook her head, keeping her blade pointed at him.
“That was a combustion spell. It’s basic stuff. You literally shot flames out of your hands.”
“Is that a bad thing? You’re acting like that’s a bad thing. I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t even know I could do that. Maybe the ghouls infected me with something.”
He was panicking now.
“Ghouls can’t give you magic.” She deadpanned. “Fire mages aren’t supposed to exist. They were banned from doing magic. All of them tracked down and stripped of their powers, some slaughtered.”
This information made Michael’s stomach curdle. He didn’t want to be slaughtered. It seemed unfair.
“Why?”
“Because of things like this!” She waved her hand at the fire that was spreading. Smoke hung everywhere like a thick blanket. Michael was starting to find it hard to breathe. But she, on the other hand, didn’t seem all that bothered about escaping from here.
Where the hell was the owner of the store? Michael hoped the guy was okay. The heat was stifling and sweat dribbled down his back.
Michael felt so guilty. “Stop it then.” He shouted. “Use your magic or something. Do another spell.”
“It doesn’t work like that.” She quipped back, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her knife making her veins stand out against her skin. “I don’t really do spells, okay? My specialties lie elsewhere.”
She turned her face aside like this was a sensitive subject for her, and with a clenched jaw said,
“Let’s get out of here before we get roasted,”
She grabbed his arm, tugging him toward the back entrance.
It would have been a nice gesture if Michael didn’t feel like she was holding him to prevent him from escaping. Which was probably good thinking on her part, because he wanted to get away from all of this, crawl up on his cardboard box and forget this day even happened.
They managed to navigate their way to the door and stumbled outside. The girl doubled over coughing, but her hold on him was still as firm as ever. She had a really strong grip.
She recovered enough to push him to the ground.
“Stay there.” She barked.
Her hands were shaking. And she started to pace, her steps heavy and her boots thumping against the concrete floor. Her hair was the most fascinating thing Michael had ever seen. Even after escaping from a burning building, it still managed to maintain its smooth and shiny texture. He could have sworn the silver locks gave off a faint glow.
“What am I going to do?” She muttered to herself. “I should take you to the council, but they’d kill you.” She paused, and Michael could see she was seriously considering it.
“But those are the old ways.” She finally said and continued her movements. “Taking you to Aunt Paula would just be bringing trouble to her doorstep and her relationship with the council is already strained as it is.”
“You could just let me go?” Michael suggested, hopefully.
She quelled his hopes with a stern look.
“And if someone got hurt because of you?” She demanded.
Michael felt his shoulders tense up, she was behaving like he was some fire-breathing monster about to go on a rampage.
He gritted his teeth.
“I don’t randomly shoot flames out of my hands.”
The girl stopped and gave him an odd look. Her eyes were unnerving. They made him feel like she was excavating his soul and dredging up all of his deepest and darkest secrets.
“Are you going to tell me that’s the first time that has happened...?” She said and hesitated, her nose wrinkled up. “I don’t even know your name.”
“It’s Michael.”
She puffed out a sigh.
“I’m Eden.”
Michael thought it was a beautiful name. He also thought it’d be unwise to say so.
“Has this happened before, Michael? And don’t lie to me. I’ll know.” She threatened.
“I don’t think you will.” Michael replied, little too confidently.
She reeled back, shock registering on her face. Michael grimaced. He shouldn’t have said anything, but his lips moved of their own accord.
“Your powers have something to do with that thing I was feeling in my head, right?” He said. “And obviously it didn’t work, for some reason. You can read people’s thoughts, can’t you? You kept asking me how I was blocking you out of my mind. So I just put two and two together. You’re like a psychic, right?”
There was a begrudging respect on her face. Like she was admitting to herself that he wasn’t a total i***t. It both offended him and made him happy.
“My powers are not really welcomed in the supernatural world.”
Her eyes were downcast, and she chewed on her bottom lip. “I guess I’m just like you.” She said with realization dawning on her face and her hand fell to her side. “Psychics have a bad history, just like fire mages.”
Michael found this hard to believe.
“What kind of bad history? You just read minds, don’t you? Seems like a helpful ability to have.”
He was thinking about the illegal gambling place behind the Chinese restaurant. If he had her abilities, he’d have enough money to sleep in a motel for a change.
Eden pursed her lips and a haunted shadow passed over her face. Michael understood that look all too well. He saw that expression on his face whenever he recollected the things he’d seen in his dreams, things he was felt he was going to be capable off. Turning the sky to flames, leaving the world in ashes.
Vivid images of himself standing at the peak of a mountain. Except he wasn’t a boy anymore, he was a beast, large made of flames…Michael was suddenly very glad Eden couldn’t read his mind.
Eden said nothing else and a moment of silence passed between them. Pregnant with a lot of conflict. She seemed to come to a decision.
“I’ll call my friends. We’ll discuss what to do with you.”
Michael sighed. He had a feeling he was never going back to his cardboard box again.
“Am I your prisoner now?”
“No. But you can’t leave. If you try to run away I’ll cut off your legs.”
Michael swallowed. She was one scary chick. Yet he wasn’t put off by it. Instead warmth flowed in his belly and something in his chest purred and scratched, sniffing the air, provoking a yearning for her deep inside of him. Mine! It roared with alarming intensity that made him wince and rub his forehead.
“What’s wrong?” She asked sharply.
Michael’s response was quick.
“Nothing.”
She already thought he was dangerous. If he told her he was hearing a voice in his head, there was no telling what she’d do. Probably tag him as crazy and put him down like a rabid dog.
She brought out her phone from her pocket, dialed a number and placed the device to her ear.
“Hey Jessie…Yeah I had to dip out. I saw something…” She looked at Michael. Her eyes were rife with conflict and an underlying current of, was it interest he saw?
Michael broke eye contact first. He felt his heart pounding and his palms became sweaty. There was something about this girl that made his insides turn all squirmy and uncomfortable.
She continued to speak and Michael listened to her one side of the conversation:
“Can you get the others to come with you to the store close to Greenwood?”
Eden paused for a moment and then her cheeks colored. “Yes Jessie the place we saw Killian last time.”
She ended the call.
“Okay, we’ll wait for my friends.” She said to him.
Michael responded with a somber nod. He was genuinely afraid of what he was allowing himself to get into. He looked up at the burning building.
Blackwood was a small town, the fire department would be here any minute. Anything that involved the authorities was a no for him. Yes Eden threatened to cut off his legs if he ran, but it still seemed like a reasonable risk to take.
“Are your friends psychic like you?” He asked her.
Her lips pursed, as if weighing whether it was worth it to tell him anything.
“No. Jessie’s a conjurer and the other two are circle members.” She said.
"Circle members? What’s that? An elite cult for magic users?”
She gave him a disparaging look.
“The circle consists of a line of true elementals, blessed by the sentinels themselves. They’re the most powerful people in the supernatural world.”
“Oh.” Michael was lost.
“The full circle consists of the three great elements. Water, wind and fire. But fire was too temperamental. They always caused trouble…”
She trailed off, lost in thought. “It’s weird that you would turn up now, just when the council have been arguing about the full circle being the only way to defeat the dark wolf…”
Michael felt a faint notion that he’d heard that term before. Dark wolf… Hadn’t the ghoul said something along those lines to him back in the store?
While he mulled over this, Eden tensed up suddenly and spun around her hand raised, but her reaction wasn’t fast enough. An invisible force slammed into her and she flew backwards and crashed to the ground, knocked out cold.
“Eden!” Michael yelled and ran forward, to check on her.
That same force smacked him away a few feet back. He groaned and rolled, his head was woozy. His vision darkening at the edges on the brink of going black.
“Take her.” A gravelly voice ordered.
Footsteps approached.
“What about the boy?” Another voice asked.
He felt a sharp object caress his chin turning his face. He tried to see who it was, but he was losing consciousness. He passed out before he could hear a response.
- Writer
