Flame Touch

Chapter 8-Knox

I blinked. Sagittarius, I know that name. I should at least. It's one of those star thingies. Is this a strategy? Confuse your victims and while they're muttering to themselves, steal all their stuff? This is either some really weird kid or a burglar mastermind.

I stumbled over my words, "Saggi-sagite-sagitar..."I struggled as I tried to get the word form in my mouth looking like a walrus with a tooth ache in the process. I glanced back up at the boy who was now sitting on my desk table with an elbow on his knee. He cocked his head to a side (which I thought only looked cute on puppies, WRONG.) "Um, if my name is that hard to pronounce, you can just call me Taris." he said as if he were apologizing.

I shook my head repeatedly and looked at him again, "You-your eyes. They look like..." I bit my lip. Would this sentence end awkwardly? "Like unbaked blue caramel?" The boy blinked and shifted his weight so that I could see a pack of arrows on his back and a bow. Then it hit me.

Holy crap! He's going to stab me with an arrow like they do in Vampire movies! Or is that a stake?

"Unbaked blue caramel? Well, that was... unexpected. I thought you were going to say that they looked like your eyes." He held my gaze for a second then continued, "If you are curious," he looked again at me for my approval, I nodded my head, "I have your type of eyes because you come from my star," his ears turned red, "well... I mean, everyone born from this star have the attributes, and you just so happen to have the eyes and-" I stopped him with a very blank stare. Poor guy is delusional. Maybe I should call the hospital I thought, but since I am ever so cruel, I decided to play his little game (*cue evil laugh muahahahaha*).

"If you need some help, I'm sure there's a place nearby that's much better suited than my bedroom" I said slowly and noticed he was giving me the same exact stare I had given him a couple minutes ago. He shook his head vigorously. "I-no-it-ugh! This is impossible! Here let me explain and please don't interrupt or I think I might as well get one of your aspirin things to reduce the pounding in my head." I secretly smiled at this outburst, it was something that I would say. I nodded my head. I was curious at delusional-boy's story. "Okay. Let's get one thing straight. Your mom is your mom your dad is your dad and your brother is your brother and so on and so forth."

"I wish that brother one weren't true."

"No interrupting!"

"I'm commenting!"

"Are your comments done?" I nodded. "Okay. I'm sure you've heard of the constellations right?" So those were the star thingies I was trying to think of earlier! I nodded again immensely pleased with myself. "Good, think of each of those constellations has a colony with a symbolic figure. Much like your England with its Queen. People who belong in these colonies are not related to each other, but have the same features and abilities. Got it?" I closed my eyes for a while. He talks like he's not from earth, weirdo but then I opened them again and nodded my head. "Well, now it gets a little weird. Let's take me for example," he gestured to himself, "I'm Sagittarius the archer. I have a strong connection with the stars, so therefore I have certain control over luminosity."

"What the heck is a luminominity?"

"Fire."

"Ah." What was that hospital number again? 415-22 umm...

"You think I'm crazy don't you?

"That pretty much sums it up, though it's probably a bad crazy, not a good crazy." I laughed, but the boy who called himself Taris seemed troubled. Oh no! What have I done! I totally forgot that when you tell a person they're crazy and they are then they'll turn into the incredible hulk or something! My TV knowledge has failed me! NOOOOO!!!!

"Give me your hand."

"Eh?"

"Hold your arms out for me."

"And why would I do that?" I asked even though my arms were already lifting.

"Just trust me." Yeah. Trust the guy who barged into my bedroom, claims he's born on a star and other weirdo things. Totally gonna do that. I held my hands out in front of me. You're gonna regret this.

Taris smiled a little and took one of his arrows out of his little bag. He place the point of one of the arrows on my skin.

"Close your eyes."

"Eh?"

"Just do it."

And I did do it, for no apparent reason. As soon as my eyes close I felt a tingle up my arm. It was warm. No, scratch that, hot. Really hot. Under any other circumstance, I would have screamed my brains (little they may be) out, but I didn't. For some reason I was (oh gosh) enjoying it? It felt as if I was being pumped with liquid adrenaline. The heat washed away every source of fear that I had and every thought I had vanished in a stream of pure rush. I didn't care about being robbed! I didn't care about Kentucky! In that moment that seemed like a second, I was god.

Then the rush stopped.

I opened my eyes to see Taris looking at me.

"Well, it seems that you enjoyed that?"

I could only nod my head. I felt a very big grin on my face as I relished in the feeling that I had experienced. "Wow, wait, did you just pump me with some type of drug like ecstasy did you?" I asked, my blood suddenly turning cold. He laughed and shook his head. "I don't think any of your drugs could stimulate that type of effect," he pointed his head towards the place where the arrow had touched my arm. A symbol was placed on it.

"That is the sign of the Fire archer. I have one as well." He rolled up one of his sleeves to reveal a much bigger, but similar sign traveling the length of his arm. "It gets bigger when..." his eyes drifted towards my clock. "Listen, there's a lot more that I have to tell you, but later. Do you have any place that I can sleep?" he asked. I looked at him with utter bewilderment. Though I kind of sort of maybe didn't think he was all crazy, he couldn't have seriously expected me to give him a fully stocked bedroom right? Especially not in my bedroom! Taris spoke up again, "Alright, that's a no. Can I stay in your attic then?" Nobody looked in my attic. Ever. "I guess so." I said with a shrug of my shoulders. Wait! What am I saying! I'm letting a complete stranger take refuge in my house! What is he's a fugitive?! I glanced at the mark he left on my hand again and inwardly sighed. "I'm too nice" I thought as I nodded my approval again. Taris grinned and pointed again to the clock. "Shouldn't you get going? The box shows a 5 and a 30 and to my knowledge you wake at a 6 and two zeroes." I looked at the clock and almost jumped out my skin. It was 5:30! I had thirty minutes of sleep left until I had to get ready for school! I've gotten about an hour or two of sleep! I stayed awake until Taris had gone to the attic, then I fell on my pillow and tried to get some shut-eye before six.