Fire And Scar
354 Words
Six years ago.
The night air reeked of smoke, thick and choking. Aria stumbled through the crumbling hallway, coughing, one arm shielding her face from the searing heat. The flames licked up the walls, roaring like a monster unleashed.
She was eighteen, barefoot, dressed in nothing but a sleep shirt and shorts. She barely remembered how the fire had started — only that she had woken to the crackle of flames and the scream of the smoke alarm. Her parents... she didn't know where they were.
A beam groaned overhead. She ran faster.
Suddenly, arms — strong, sure, unyielding — wrapped around her. She gasped, fighting, until a deep voice cut through the chaos.
"Stop struggling. I've got you."
She looked up, vision swimming. His face was a blur: dark hair, sharp jawline, eyes like steel. He lifted her easily, cradling her against his chest, and pushed through the crumbling door, out into the night.
Sirens wailed in the distance. The cold air hit her skin like ice. She shivered, half-conscious, burying her face into the stranger's shoulder.
"You're safe now," he murmured. "I've got you."
That was the first time Aria met kael Hale.
Weeks later.
The hospital smelled sterile and too bright. Aria sat cross-legged on the bed, a bandage wrapped around her right arm. She had minor burns, a few cuts, nothing life-threatening. But her world had turned to ash.
She stared at the man in the chair by the window. Tall, commanding even when seated, dressed in a dark suit. He had visited every day since the fire, sometimes bringing books, sometimes just sitting quietly.
She didn’t understand why. She barely knew him.
"Why are you here?" she whispered.
Maxim's eyes met hers, unreadable. "Because you survived."
"But why do you care?"
He didn’t answer. He only got up, walked over, and gently brushed a strand of hair from her face. His touch was careful, almost reverent, as if she were something fragile and breakable.
Aria's heart pounded. She didn't understand it yet, but something about this man made her feel seen in a way no one else ever had.
- Writer
