Flame (Fireborn) (3 page)

"Oh my gosh, I
can't breathe!" The girl "next" to me shouts above the
cheering to her friend. "I'm so excited! I can't believe they're
going to be here, in our town, in our
school
. Eeek!" she
squeals with girlish pleasure. Her friend replies back with similar
shrill sounds.
Candace
. We have Calculus together, but no one
would know it looking at the wide space between us. It's crowded.
Unusually so, but not a single person thinks to move closer to me.

The second aircraft
lands in a cornfield next to us. The screen's split. One half shows
images of the ambassador and a few of his cabinet members. The other
zooms in on a spot that is probably a door, but it's hard to tell
because there are no lines defining it. Someone's trying to talk over
the loud speakers, but it's buzzing in the background. The real
action is in front of us.

We have an advantage
where we are. They call it Lover's Cove. It's corny, and almost no
one says it without rolling their eyes or giggling, but it gets the
point across. It's a place for lovers. We're on a hill overlooking
the drive thru. Vendors are selling their ware like this is a
sporting event. I can't fault them though. Even I, Kenna Parker, am
toting bloody, almost rare beef patties slathered with cheese, and a
deliciously fattening blend of mayonnaise, spicy sriracha sauce, and
a touch of sour cream.

The yellow visor over
my head is doing a poor job of blocking the heat. It doesn't help
that a small cart is strapped onto the front of me like a rectangular
backpack carrying sides of cinnamon sticks, fries, and nachos. The
mass of people below surges forward, bellowing for more as the
ambassador moves closer. Their combined cries overpower Alex's shouts
from behind.

"Lemonade!"
he yells. "Chucky burgers!" The black Goth clothes and low
hanging metal chains are in stark contrast to my yellow, overly
bright uniform. His blonde hair is dyed purple at the tips. Being the
nephew of the owner lets you get away with things like not wearing
the work uniform. I let him promote the product since I've been
unable to move for the last twenty minutes. The crowd behind has
grown too large to navigate through.

"I bet the
students are in the second one!" Candace yells to her friend.
The squeals and dreamy sighs following her prediction are enough
confirmation. The split screen is now unified. The main cameras face
the second aircraft, and two figures appear. The first is a girl. She
observes the crowd with confidence. Her blonde brown hair and heart
shaped face is as perfect as any can be. She's dressed in a stylish
suit. Glowing eyes crinkle as she smiles, waving like a pageant
queen. The second figure behind her garners an even louder response.

At first his face is
hidden in the shadows, but his eyes glow before his features become
visible. He's tall, towering over the girl like a giant. His black
hair is darker than the coals we use in the restaurant to smoke meat.
When he ducks through the door, his entire face is seen, and a wave
of sighs and giggles greet him.

My eyebrows shoot up as
I take a step back. He is without a doubt the most handsome man I
have ever seen. I'm not surprised because the Saguinox are known for
their beauty, but something foreign flutters through my body. It
makes my skin tingle. This is such a strange feeling that I tense.
Unable to take my eyes away, I keep looking. A square chin and sharp
cheekbones make his appearance hard and intimidating. Even through
the screen an air of arrogance emanates from his presence. The first
word that comes to my head is
intense
. Hypnotizing. If I
weren't carrying twenty pounds of food, I would've put a hand over my
head and swooned the way that Candace dramatically did. Fortunately
the smell of grease has a way of sinking through your skin and into
your brain. Right now my brain is telling me that
I'd
be the
fried one if I dare drop anything.

"Oomph."
Someone bumps into me. Bright blue eyes look down into my hazel ones.
"Sorry." He seems surprised. "I didn't see you there."
I mumble something incoherent back. Ugh. I'd only been standing here
in an extremely yellow uniform for the last half hour. I might've
felt hurt if I wasn't so used to it.

He does a double take
as he notices the uniform. "Are those
wings
coming out of
your arms?" he asks. Instantly, he bites his lips as if he's
said something embarrassing. Most people don't come out and say it
the way he does as part of the whole Minnesota nice thing, but
curiously stare at the odd choice of work uniform. A yellow shirt and
flared golden skirt paired with knee high orange and black striped
socks and black flats; all of which are mandatory during work hours.
The owner Chuck thought it'd be "eye catching" to add small
arm accessories in the shape of fluffy, yellow wings that, when
paired with the rest of the getup, made you look suspiciously like a
giant chick.

He's waiting politely
for an answer, and I nod. "Well that's… interesting," he
replies courteously. He turns, and disappears into the group. Within
seconds, I'm by myself in my invisible bubble, in a crowd of
hundreds. I glance back at the screen. Ambassador Damien is waiting
to address the crowd. Even though the mayor is speaking, the cameras
focus on the Ambassador's side profile. They capture his prominent
nose and the golden luminosity sparkling beneath his thick lashes.
Angel eyes,
the crowd chants. It's a rhythm that reverberates
in my head.
Angel eyes, Angel eyes, Angel eyes…

Energy and adoration
pour out of every person here with ferocity. Yet, the only thing I
feel as I watch his Saguinox smile light up the screen is a sense of
resignation.

A lone surfer, barely
floating above an empty ocean.

That's what it feels
like inside my soul.

At first, the sun
blinds me. It's unbearably bright, the sort of brightness that
pierces your vision even when your eyes are closed. I shield them,
and the wind whips my face, blowing my brown hair behind me. I hear
her laughter and I turn. She's waiting, gesturing at me. She's
wearing a floral dress, and shielding her eyes, too. Her face is
blurry, but I know she's smiling; I can sense it from where I'm
standing.

"Over here,
Kenna," she yells from afar.

I'm ecstatic. "Mom!"
My voice sounds small in the wind. "Mom!" I run to her, but
I'm slow. No matter how fast I move she stays in the distance with
her dress flowing around her.
Wait,
I try to say.
I'm coming.
Something changes, and she looks up. Out of nowhere a shadow suddenly
appears above us. It's a ship, and its engines are drowning her
words. It hovers above her, and she stares at it, transfixed.

"Mom," I
yell again. "Stay there!" Unexpectedly I'm afraid. The ship
isn't moving. It's right on top of us like smog, and I'm not sure
what it's trying to smother. A door opens, and stretches to the
ground like a ladder.

A figure appears.

At first he's blurry
too, but then he takes a step forward and I recognize the handsome
Saguinox alien from the drive in. He's not looking at my mom. He's
gazing at me. I stare back. Somehow despite the distance, I see his
face clearly. His glorious black hair, glowing eyes, and strong chin
make me breathless. I can't read his expression, but I don't care. I
just want to look at him.

"Kenna!"
My mother's voice breaks my spell. She runs toward me, and for one
second her face is abruptly in focus. There's fear there. I run
forward, trying to reach her. She's shooing me away, but I won't turn
back. I won't let her leave me again.

There is a sound
above us, like something being unleashed, and I know it's important
to run faster. I try to warn her. "Don't look up!" I shout,
but she's motionless. She's lost control of her body. Her eyes are
wild, trying to tell me something important. The air is chaos around
her like a fan is blowing from underneath. Her mouth opens.

It's a trap.

I can't hear the
words, but they're in my head.

"What?" I
stop in mid motion.

Her face contorts,
and the voice is no longer hers. "Run!" it tells me. "Run,
Kenna!" I don't hesitate, and I bolt, reversing away from the
ship, sensing the danger. Abruptly, I become aware of a thick
blackness growing around me. The man from before is no longer by the
door, and blackness is leaking from it like a poison. I stumble to
the side to avoid it, but it's no use. The dark fog encircles me,
floating closer and closer. When it touches me, a cold tingling
envelopes my body. I freeze. I don’t know if the fog is freezing
me, or if I'm too shocked to move. All thoughts disappear when the
tingling starts at my ankles and travels to my knees. It moves
further up, and I forget everything. My blood is icy, and I'm chilled
from the inside out. Dimly, I'm aware of a voice. It's too weak to
penetrate through, so I ignore it. There's something stronger calling
to me now. The fog is icy cold- deliriously so. How can something so
cold feel so good?

"Move, Kenna!
Get away!" A feeble sound pierces through my delicious haze. I
blink to clear away something nagging my mind. My body sways with the
intention to lie down.

"Wake up!"
The voice is loud, booming in my mind. The birthmark on my finger
burns, and a shaft of heat shoots up my arms, and down my body. The
blackness shifts, looming above me, attempting to cave in like a
collapsing roof. When I look up I see the dark abyss that waits for
me. Its mouth opens to take me…

Wake up!

Cold hands shake me. I
welcome the iciness because my body's on fire. Dad's face is unclear
at first, but the smell of alcohol drifts into my nose as a pungent
breath.

"Kenna, wake up.
Whas wrong wi' you?" His voice is slurred, but his eyes are
blinking, attempting to focus on me. I sit up, almost begging him to
touch me again. I feel so hot. I palm my forehead, but it's
impossible to know if I have a fever when my hands feel even hotter
than the rest of my body.

"Hot," I
choke out, fanning my face.

He nods. "Feels
like a f-f-furnace in h-h-he…"
Here,
he attempts to
say, as his words slide together like fluid. "Did y…turn…on..?"
His question hangs in midair. I don't need him to say more because a
decade of experience has taught me to decipher his drunken code talk.

"I didn't turn on
the heat," I reply. It's September in Minnesota, but it isn't
nearly cold enough to use the furnace. We can't afford to have heat
early. The house isn't big, but I'm lonely at night.
Maybe it's
because I'm usually the only one home.
The thought reminds me of
a time when it was different, and I push it away as fast as it comes.

Dad rubs his eyes,
making them redder. I check the digital alarm next to my bed. It's
4:30 in the morning. He's still dressed in a light jacket.

"Did you just come
back?" I ask softly. He nods.

"Did you go with
Jack?" I press.

"Don't need to,"
he answers vaguely.

"You shouldn't be
driving when you've been drinking, Dad," I'm unable to hide the
exasperation in my voice. It doesn't matter though because I'm
talking to air. He's turned away; his mind already wandered off. He
circles unsteadily around my bedroom until he comes to a framed
photograph. It's the only thing of value I own. He stares like he
expects it to move. In the picture, Mom's brown eyes peek
mischievously over my head as she hugs me in her arms. The side of
her smile is noticeable behind my thick head of hair. He studies the
picture. I wonder what he sees. The silence feels immeasurable.

"Dad?" I prod
gently in the stillness. He doesn't respond. I walk behind him, my
feet soft on the cold floor. I stand quiet as a statue. When the
silence becomes heavy with more than just alcohol, I whisper, "Go
to bed, Dad."

For a few moments I
think he doesn't hear me, but he turns, moving as quietly as when he
first slipped in. He walks through the door. He never looks back. My
eyes flicker back to the picture that means the world to me. He'd
turned it face down.

At first, the sun
blinds me. It's unbearably bright, the sort of brightness that
pierces your vision even when your eyes are closed. I shield them,
and the wind whips my face, blowing my brown hair behind me. I hear
her laughter and I turn. She's waiting, gesturing at me. She's
wearing a floral dress, and shielding her eyes, too. Her face is
blurry, but I know she's smiling; I can sense it from where I'm
standing.

"Over here,
Kenna," she yells from afar.

I'm ecstatic. "Mom!"
My voice sounds small in the wind. "Mom!" I run to her, but
I'm slow. No matter how fast I move she stays in the distance with
her dress flowing around her.
Wait,
I try to say.
I'm coming.
Something changes, and she looks up. Out of nowhere a shadow suddenly
appears above us. It's a ship, and its engines are drowning her
words. It hovers above her, and she stares at it, transfixed.

"Mom," I
yell again. "Stay there!" Unexpectedly I'm afraid. The ship
isn't moving. It's right on top of us like smog, and I'm not sure
what it's trying to smother. A door opens, and stretches to the
ground like a ladder.

A figure appears.

At first he's blurry
too, but then he takes a step forward and I recognize the handsome
Saguinox alien from the drive in. He's not looking at my mom. He's
gazing at me. I stare back. Somehow despite the distance, I see his
face clearly. His glorious black hair, glowing eyes, and strong chin
make me breathless. I can't read his expression, but I don't care. I
just want to look at him.