The Chapters

Chapter Five

I watch as the girl closed the door with her free hand. She's still facing us, never once turning. The smile pasted on her face remains.

Ruka and I are both silent. I'm not sure what type of person we have on our hands, but she definitely isn't normal.

The girl turns her gaze on me, and stares for a full minute before opening her mouth.

"You're the Carcia," the girl says in a soft voice. "Right?"

My mouth opens, but I don't say anything. I'm too nervous that my voice will make her pounce.

"But I can see your eyes," the girl muses, tilting her head as she looks at me. "Does that mean you're the other one?"

I still can't say anything, frozen like an animal in headlights.

"Are you?"

"The other one?" I finally get out. Looking at her face, I immediately regret speaking.

The girl's eyes flash and her smile disappears. "You're not him. You sound different."

I start sweating. "N-not...?"

"Who are you?" The girl's soft voice chills me to the bone.

"I-I'm... " I want to look at Ruka before answering, but I can't look away from the girl's face. "Mica."

The girl smiles again, but it see much more sinister this time. "Oh, so you are him. Does that mean our Hand got you in time? Clever Albin."

"You're from the Death Towers, aren't you?" Ruka speaks up.

The girl swings towards her, frowning. "No. Why are you talking? I didn't ask you to."

Ruka's diversion allows me to quickly scan the room. There's little that would count as a weapon, but Rey's phone is still on the ground. If I could reach it, I might be able to do something to alert someone. As discreetly as possible, of course.

I'm about to communicate my idea to Ruka when the girl raises her left hand. A cut appears on it, soon making a hole big enough for me to see blood underneath the skin. At least I think it's blood.

Red flashes through the air and suddenly the girl has another fire blade in her left hand. I realize that the fire came from her blood. Or her blood was the fire she was using.

Majorly creeped out.

While I'm sure my face is a mask of terror, Ruka looks eerily calm. "Do you know my name?"

"No," says the girl coldly. "I don't care, either."

"Well, then, can I know your name?"

"No."

I desperately want Ruka to stop talking, mostly because I'm afraid of what the girl will do to silence her. While the girl turns her back to me to face Ruka directly, I try and make a face at her, telling her to stay silent. She doesn't see me at all, but is staring the fire-powered girl down.

The girl takes a threatening step forward. "I want you to leave," she whispers in her soft voice. "But if you do, you'll probably just come back with more people to try and take me. Maybe a Hunter."

Ruka laughs, a low sound that has no quiver of fear in it. "You're worried about that?"

The girl shakes her head. "No. It would be merely an inconvenience."

"Have you heard the name Hemal Rao?"

The girl tilts her head. "Yes."

"He was my younger brother."