Ultraviolet

Chapter Fourteen: Fire and Blood

The National Mall

Washington, D.C.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

The sun was setting as Isi trudged up Maryland Avenue towards the Capitol Building. It was almost five in the evening, and though the warmth of the sun would soon be gone, it wasn't getting much colder. Uncomfortable, she unlaced the vambraces and pulled them off so she could roll up her sleeves.

The day wasn't over, Isi knew. But she was getting hungry again, and she didn't think the little café she'd had lunch at would still be open. Her feet ached as she crossed the circle to lean against the statue of Andrew Garfield in the center. Her coat was still looped over her arm—she'd thought about asking Quinn to quickly drop it off at home, but she had no other place to put her phone.

She dug it out now, meaning to call V to ask if anything had happened. Quinn had been gone for a while, after all... maybe they were battling the flames even now. She put her phone back in the pocket. If that was happening, she didn't want to distract either of them from the task at hand, even if she was irritated with them for leaving her out.

Light and warmth blazed behind her and blasted her away. She narrowly missed hitting the base of Andrew Garfield's statue and fell into the long grass of the circle on her hands and knees and flipped herself over to stare at the massive wall of orange and yellow flames that had sprung up in the street.

A car skidded to a stop just short of the flames—another one had been caught halfway through the barrier just as it had come up, and the front of the hood spun, spitting sparks from the friction as it skidded across the asphalt.

There was a roaring in Isi's ears. Maybe it was the flames, maybe it was voices calling out... the people from the cars in the circle were backing away, their faces masks of terror. She felt numb, but the heat was rapidly thawing her. There was only one thing that this could be.

Hellfire.

She grabbed up her coat and scrabbled for her phone, almost dropping it several times, her hands were shaking so badly. But she managed to dial V.

"Hello, starling," he said, sounding tired. Frustrated.

He's not going to like this, Isi thought. Aloud, she said, "He's here."

Silence on the other end of the line. Was V in shock? Then— "Isi—starling—I tried to—"

Panic. It was panic in his voice, twisting it to something that made fear settle in Isi's stomach like a cold rock. Whatever he was trying to say, it wasn't good. "What?" she asked.

"I can't get there. I tried, starling, I—" More cutting himself off. More panic. More strange voice that curdled her stomach.

"What are you saying?" she asked. Even to her own ears, her voice sounded high and silly and girlish. Foolish.

"I tried to get there! To help you! But something—something is blocking me from getting in. I can't—starling, don't do anything foolish. You can stay away, you know—someone will have noticed—"

"Yes, I think so," Isi said breathlessly, staring at the flames. The wall followed the contours of the circle, but she could see that it continued down Maryland Avenue and up First Street, cutting off the Capitol Building. If she had to guess, the walls encircled the National Mall. Cutting them off. And if V or Quinn couldn't get in... what could the human authorities do? Cut off Hellfire's exits and hope for the best? Try to fight the fires? If people couldn't get through, Isi had to bet that water would do very little.