Wind Warrior (8 page)

Xander offered his arm, which she quickly
took, and led her inside. The inside of the convention center had
been transformed into its own Wonderland. A snack table to the left
as they entered offered tea and small pieces of cake. Despite the
general corniness of the event, Xander was genuinely impressed with
their details.

His attention, however, kept drifting back
to Sammy. “You look amazing.”

She smiled. “You said that already.”

“
It’s worth
repeating.”

They found a couple open seats at one of the
round tables. An assortment of drinks in various stages of
consumption was spread around the table but their owners were busy
on the dance floor. A cascade of conversation topics ran through
Xander’s head but he dismissed each in turn every time he looked at
Sammy.

She looked over and caught him staring, not
for the first time that night. “You’re unusually quiet.”

Xander cleared his throat and chose to take
a sip of his drink.

Sammy smiled. “Don’t tell me you’re the type
of guy that only talks a good game right up to the point where the
girl actually likes him.”

“
This is our first date,”
Xander finally said. “I don’t want to scare you away just
yet.”

She placed her hand on his. Her skin seemed
to burn against his clammy hand. “You’re not going to scare me
away. I’m a big girl. If you have something you want to say, just
say it.”

Xander turned his palm over and slid his
fingers between hers. “This is going to be a horrible conversation
piece for our first date but I really have to say it. Ever since I
met you, I can’t stop thinking about you. I don’t want you to think
I’m some crazy stalker or anything. This isn’t even really me. I’m
normally so standoffish and—”

Before he could continue, Sammy grabbed a
hold of his lapel and pulled him into a kiss. Her lips were warm
and smooth against his. She pulled back as quickly as she had
begun.

“
You talk too much,” she
said.

Xander’s eyes were still closed but a smile
was plastered across his face. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

He risked opening an eye and caught sight of
her coy smile. He suddenly felt more relaxed than he had in
weeks.

“
Do you want to dance?” he
said.

She stood without saying a word and, with
their hands still interlocked, pulled him onto the dance floor.

He felt awkward pushing their way past the
dancing students. He wasn’t the best dancer and the fast pace of
the music currently playing left him very self-aware.

The song that was playing ended as they
reached the center of the dance floor. The flashing multi-colored
lights shut off and the room was cast into a dim glow. From the
speakers around the room, a gentle melody began.

Sammy slipped her arms around his neck and
laid her head on his shoulder. He slipped his hands around the
small of her back and she let herself sink into him as they
danced.

Xander wasn’t sure how long the song
actually lasted. It couldn’t have been more than three or four
minutes, but it felt like a blissful eternity while they shared
their moment on the dance floor.

When the song finally ended, they both
seemed satisfied and walked back to the table. Someone had walked
around the room during the slow dance and lit candles in each of
the centerpieces. The Wonderland decorations became hauntingly
beautiful in the dim candlelight. Patterns danced on the faux
trees. The cardboard smoke rings from the caterpillar’s pipe seemed
to sway in an unseen breeze.

Before Xander could admire the ambiance for
too long, Sammy nudged him to get his attention. Following her
gaze, Xander frowned deeply. Jessica was walking purposefully
through the crowd, followed closely by a stocky football player
whom Xander only mildly recognized.

Jessica’s expression told him that her
civility would be kept to a bare minimum. After the amazing evening
he’d had thus far, the last thing he wanted was a confrontation
with her.

“
Let’s just leave,” Xander
offered.

“
No,” Sammy said adamantly.
“There are some things that probably need to be said before we
go.”

Jessica and her date stopped at the far edge
of the table. The rounded table offered just enough distance
between the two couples that physical contact was an impossibility,
though Jessica’s spite knew no such bounds.

“
That’s an awfully cute
dress,” she said wickedly. “Did you make it yourself?”

Sammy stared at her but didn’t reply. Xander
felt like the temperature in the room had suddenly been turned up
by a few dozen degrees. Sweat began beading on his forehead and he
was glad he had an undershirt to catch the moisture beginning to
roll down his back.

“
You know what?” Jessica
continued. “You don’t have to answer that. I’d rather you didn’t
talk right now and let me say what I have to say. I don’t know who
you are. I don’t even know your last name.”

Xander frowned slightly. He was on a date
with Sammy and he just realized that he didn’t know her last name
either.

“
But since you’ve shown
up,” Jessica said, leaning across the table as far as the space
would allow, “you’ve caused me nothing but trouble. I happen to be
president of the largest sorority on campus. If I wanted to, I
could make your life a living hell. And you may think to yourself
that no one is that petty—but you’d be
wrong
.”

She leaned back a little, having said what
she needed to say. “Now, is there anything you’d like to say before
I walk away from here? An apology, maybe?”

Sammy nodded softly. “Your dress is on
fire.”

Jessica looked down in horror as a small
flame ignited the end of her sleeve. She screamed and her date
grabbed the nearest drink and threw it on her. The cranberry juice
soaked the entire front of her dress, staining the white apron.
Jessica’s wrath toward Sammy was immediately forgotten as she
stormed furiously away, her date trailing further and further
behind.

“
That was the best rebuttal
I’ve ever heard,” Xander said in awe. “I don’t even think she
realized she’d leaned across the candle.”

“
I certainly wasn’t going
to tell her,” Sammy joked, though the humor felt
strained.

“
Are you okay? That was a
little harsh, even from Jessica.”

Sammy nodded. “Do you mind if we just get
out of here? I don’t really think I want to be around when she gets
back.”

“
You got somewhere in
mind?” he asked.

“
I don’t live that far
away,” she said. “Maybe you can walk me home.”

The cool night air felt wonderful against
Xander’s flushed face. They hadn’t spoken since leaving the
convention center but he was satisfied without meaningless
conversation. They walked hand in hand, strolling down the vacant
and quiet streets of White Halls.

He didn’t recognize the part of town through
which they walked but that wasn’t entirely unusual. The town was
pretty well separated by College Street and he rarely had a reason
to come to this side of the small town.

Looking over, he saw Sammy’s distant stare.
The jovial attitude he’d come to appreciate over the past week
seemed curiously absent, as though she had a lot weighing on her
mind.

“
Penny for your thoughts?”
he asked.

She shook her hair and reached up with her
far hand. She brushed some of her hair out of her face but he swore
she also wiped the corner of her eyes as though wiping away a
tear.

Xander stopped and pulled at her hand,
forcing her to stop as well. “What’s wrong? You’re not still
bothered by Jessica, are you? I told you that you shouldn’t worry
about her.”

“
It’s not Jessica,” she
replied sadly. “You’re just such a nice guy and you treat me so
well. You’re just so different from what I expected when we
met.”

“
Shouldn’t that make you
happy?”

“
It should,” she conceded.
“I’m just not a good person, Xander, I’m really not. I’m going to
break your heart and you’re going to hate me.”

“
Unless you tell me that
our first date was really horrible or I’m a terrible kisser, I
don’t think you’re going to break my heart.”

His attempt at humor elicited little more
than a weak smile. Sammy looked down at her feet, unable to even
make eye contact.

“
Our date wasn’t all that
bad, was it?”

“
No, it was perfect.” She
seemed nearly on the verge of tears.

“
Then what is
it?”

Sammy pointed to an abandoned house across
the street. The windows were boarded over but someone had removed
the planks from the front door. With only a few interspersed street
lamps on the road, the house looked dark and foreboding.

“
Come with me,” she said
softly. “I have to show you something.”

He followed without question, eager to find
out what was bothering her so badly. “You don’t live here, do
you?”

She squeezed his hand as she led him across
the street.

The front door opened with an ear-piercing
screech as the rusted hinge fought against the intrusion. The smell
of dust and mold assaulted his senses and he had to bite back a
sneeze. A few footprints crisscrossed across the foyer but they
looked old. New layers of dust and dirt had already settled into
those ancient steps.

The hardwood floors groaned with each step
they took, betraying the otherwise stagnant air of the abandoned
house. Looking around, Xander appreciated what the house once
represented. Despite most of the crystal having been stripped away,
he could still tell that the chandelier above the staircase was
impressive.

“
Why are we
here?”

Sammy didn’t reply but led him to the
staircase heading upstairs. He could see her shoulders heave with
emotion as she walked and a sense of dread settled into his gut.
Good news didn’t come from an emotional woman in a decrepit
building.

Each stair creaked in turn as they climbed
the stairs. Debris—a collection of empty cans and stained
bottles—littered the first stairwell landing. On the upper floor,
he could see small scorch marks against the wall where the
wallpaper had bubbled and peeled against the heat. More empty cans
sat nearby, remnants of what Xander had to assume were small
cooking fires.

Sammy led him to a back room, the door of
which was already ajar. As they stepped inside, she turned toward
him. Her eyes sparkled with tears and the mascara had run at the
corners of her almond eyes. The sight was heartbreaking and he only
wanted to reach out and comfort her.

“
Wait here,” she said,
placing a hand gently on his chest.

The room was empty, aside from the pair of
young lovers. A set of windows was cut into the far wall but
plywood had been placed over the glass ages ago. Only faint slivers
of light from the streetlamps outside filtered around the edges of
the wood and softly illuminated the room.

Sammy walked to the center of the room
before stopping, her back facing him. Her shoulders rose and fell
as she took deep breaths. Xander looked around, wondering what all
this was about. He was so consumed with his curiosity that he
almost missed her gentle whisper.

“
I’m sorry, Xander,” she
said in a barely audible voice. “I’m really sorry.”

She spun on her heel and the room suddenly
illuminated with vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows. With a flick
of her wrist, a ball of flame leapt from her hand and flew across
the room.

Her aim was slightly off and the ball struck
the wall just beside Xander, showering him and the room in a
blossom of sparks. He could smell the pungent aroma of sulfur mixed
with the toxic scent of melting wallpaper and plaster.

Her hands were sheathed in flames and the
flickering colors were reflected in her smoldering eyes.

Reflexively, Xander raised his hand and the
room was filled with swirling wind. The flames on her arms danced
wildly in the wind, alternating growing smaller against the breeze
before flaring even brighter as it burned away the oxygen in the
room.

Sammy raised an arm defensively in front of
her face. The power swelled inside Xander, seeming to feed off his
fear and adrenaline. As the wind flowed through him, he felt it
pressurizing around her. He closed his hands into a sphere in front
of him as he squinted against the gale-force winds.

As quickly as they had begun, the winds
died. The glow from the fires diminished as well as Xander realized
that Sammy was completely encased in an air bubble.