Call Me Fire

CHAPTER 17

THE SILENCE BELLOWING INSIDE THE ROOM WAS UNNERVING.

Burning candles in the dark, a mat made of straw carefully rolled over a wooden table, and four shiny black stones with ancient symbols etched on each were all it took for Tonya's mind to be filled with nothing but broken alphabets.

Shifting her gaze between the runes and the woman doing the divination, Tonya clasped her hands together and leaned a little toward the table. She had been sitting inside that place for countless minutes, and each of its passings made her confusion bubble harder.

"Umh..." She wanted to call the girl's name but then paused, not knowing what to say. "About the thing... I-I mean the one you said earlier—"

"Someone powerful." It was only then that the grunge girl, who happened to be a Wicca, seemed to breathe again. Then, fluttering her eyes, she ran her delicate hands over the runes and stopped at the fourth on the table. She held it up as if wanting Tonya to look at it. "You're in trouble."

"I know."

"I mean bigger trouble than you think." The girl put down the rune in her hand while looking at her seriously. Contradicting how peaceful she was while reading stones, the Wicca frantically started collecting all her things on the table and quickly put them inside a pouch. Her eyes were suddenly alert when she looked back at Tonya. "You know what? You should leave this place as soon as possible."

Tonya couldn't tell when the solemnity in the room exactly shattered. One moment, it was ghostly silent, and the next, it was chaotic. However, she wouldn't just sit there and let the girl instruct her to leave without answering what she came there for. Thus, she raised a hand and stood up as fast as she could. "I do not understand a thing! What did the runes say?"

"The runes said you should leave." The Wicca was fast, almost violent, when she pointed at Tonya. "'Someone powerful is coming here, and he is after you!"

"I still don't get it. Who in this blue earth are you talking about—Shit!"

Buzz!

It was the sound of a screaming buzzer that cut their banter like a double-sided sword. For a second, both of them ended up just staring at each other while holding their breaths. As the woman with Tonya said, someone did come and was eagerly pressing the doorbell outside like it was a Morse code button.

Buzz... Buzz...

"Who's that—"

"Fuck!"

Tonya wasn't given a chance to finish her question when the Wicca anxiously bolted to one of the cabinets in the room. Not a second was wasted, and she started rummaging through the drawers. Her hands were suddenly competing with the impatient buzzes, throwing pouches, envelopes, and all else her fingers were landing on. "Come closer, woman!"

"I'm getting really confused now. What's going on?"

"What are you?!" The Wicca's voice overpowered Tonya's question when she straightened her back, harshly turned, and, to Tonya's shock, threw what looked like gold dust at her from head to toe.

Without giving her a chance to recover, the Wicca then charged towards where she was, her sharp eyes focused on Tonya's horrified face. "What. Are. You."

"I... I don't know." Tonya blinked. Her mouth opened and closed to say something, but she didn't manage to say anything more than a groan when the mark on her chest burned. One of her hands quickly lifted to her chest in an attempt to lessen how her skin was hurting. "I... I really don't know what's going on—"