ENEMIES

8 - Blaze

Arachne

The wind whistles, feeding an ever-growing flame, engulfing what was our second home. The vibrant mix of orange and red flames burn my eyes as I stare into them in shock, my hands covering my mouth as I breathe in black smog. I turn to look at Jake's alight furious eyes. He curses so loud he must've woken up the whole block. This was our escape from all the chaos of our families. Our haven. Now it's all just a blur of heat and ash. I turn to my right as a ringing starts sounding in my ear. There were about three or four Blacklore members standing there, all covered in soot. Jake yells again. I put a hand on his shoulder for comfort, for there was nothing we could do as the fire consumed the building. I was almost glad Zara wasn't here to see our years of work and labor turn into a heap of nothing. Jake runs up to Lachlan as he seems to have remembered something. Cursing once more he wipes his forehead and grabs Lachlan's soot filled shirt.

"Where are they?! Did you save them?" He roars. Everyone stares, even Lionel whom I forgot was there until now. Lachlan looks as if he wants to jump off a cliff.

"S-save what" he stutters not looking Jake in the eye. I bite my lip nervously, these sorts of arguments didn't need to be happening right now, for all they were doing was feeding into the chaos of the scene.

"You know what! The bottle and book" Jake demands shaking him. Lachlan locks eyes with me pleading. I didn't even know what was going on, and even I knew Jake was furious, his usual grin and shining eyes replaced by rage. First Zara and now this.

"I-I'm sorry. We had to leave, I forgot them in the safe" Lachlan quickly yells turning his head again expecting a blow.

"What part of guard it with your life do you not understand?" Jake whispers in a dangerous tone before throwing Lachlan onto the ground and kicking dirt into his face. Then he kicks him again, this time in the side, and again, and again. Lachlan's screams echo. Jake brings his boot over Lachlan's face. Dread builds up in my stomach as I witness the injustices of what was occurring. Barely thinking I run between them and shove Jake away.

"That's enough! He's just a kid" I yell. Jake ignores and spits at Lachlan.

"It was her dying wish Ara. Fuck, you weren't there when she was bleeding out in my arms. I'm getting them" he sneers determinedly, before looking back at me, as if he was disappointed that I stopped him beating up someone who was barely out of puberty.

"Give me your jacket" He asks sticking his hand out expectantly.

"What, no" I respond incredulously hugging it tightly across my chest, I only had my nightgown on underneath as I left my home in such a hurry after the news broke.

"Come on Ara, it's either that or I make Lachie take off his shirt" He responds dryly looking back hungrily at the entrance to the hideout. I huff as I pull off my thin jacket and throw it at him, crossing my arms defiantly. He ties the sleeves behind his head making a makeshift mask covering his nose and mouth. Then he runs towards the fire.

"JAKE" I yell, what did he think he was doing. This stupidity and recklessness were going way too far. At first, I try running after him but even I know I can't stop him, because the time my screams reach him, he's already inside. I bite my lip in anticipation, there wasn't much I could do but wait. Great, now I'd lost two of my friends in one day. Jake would need a miracle to get out of this one and I wasn't sure that Charlotte would be in the mood to heal him.

I walk over to Lionel as a sorry attempt to pass the time. He was seated on a nervously on a ledge, a reasonable distance from the fire. I notice him inching away as I sit down beside him, a tired sigh escaping my lips.

Sometimes I hated being a part of Blacklore.

I watch as dirt-faced Lachlan stands up and begins walking away from the scene. I yell out his name, my only chance to gain a little bit of context regarding the whole situation. He turns around and looks at me with wide, darting eyes. I beckon for him to come and so he slowly limps over, painfully holding his side and looking at me with resentment. It was no secret how much Lachlan was terrified of Jake, despite being a part of the same gang. But then again, Lachlan was afraid of everyone, probably myself included. Along with him comes another member whom I had forgotten the name of, he was tall, bronze skinned and heavily tattooed. I look at him in what I hope was understanding before turning to Lachlan.

"What was it that Jake wanted so badly" I ask folding my arms and skipping the pleasantries.

"Well, there was this bottle with a paper inside, as well as this diary. They nicked them from the Manor" Lachlan explains quickly in a strained tone. I tut to myself, thinking about its possible significance, especially what made it so valuable to Zara and Jake. Even though I was close with both, I couldn't help always feeling that they'd leave me out of some things. As if they had a shared secret between the two of them, I was always left guessing.

"Do you know? Its significance?" I ask Lachlan, my eyes widening a bit. He just laughs dryly and nudges his friend, looking at him as if to say, 'what the hell is she on about'.

"Arachne, Jake and Zara wouldn't let me within a ten-foot radius of their secrets. Probably family related, but if you don't know, hell if we do" he replies honestly, I shrug, it was worth a try, no matter how much of a long shot it was.
My mind quickly turns to focusing on the shooter as Lachlan strolls away, surely the two events were somehow connected and whoever decided to shoot Zara also tried to burn down her place. But no one I knew of had the guts to pull something like that, and not to anyone, but to Zach Crow's daughter. It was an insane act of courage, something that couldn't be overlooked. And now I might lose Jake in this horrible fire after his impulsive thinking sent him back in there. I walk over to Lionel and sit next to him.

"I'm sorry about before. Jake can be... mean when he sees someone, he doesn't know that well. Plus, you have to understand Zara is his best friend, there's nothing he wouldn't do to get his revenge" I say looking at him,

"And I really am sorry about your family, and I'm sure Jake is too, he doesn't hate you lot considering he grew up around many witches" I explain, Lionel nods. He still doesn't seem like he wants to talk, but he sits by my side, nevertheless. In fact, we sit there in silence for almost half an hour.

"He warned them" Lionel says breaking the silence, his voice cracking a little on the end.

"Warned who?" I asked curiously,

"Jake. He warned my family before Zach- you know. They didn't listen" Lionel says in a monotone voice. Like he was trying desperately to suppress his pain.

"Oh. That's kind of him" I blurt out before realising that it wasn't perhaps the best thing to say. Lionel just gives me a weak smile.

"Yeah, I was shocked too. Didn't matter though" he murmurs, I wrap my arm around his shoulders. Lionel flinches at first, then just gives in and rests his head on mine.

"My family never liked me too much, being a boy and all. I'm surprised it hurts as much as it does" Lionel admits quietly.

"Loss always hurts more than you'd expect, it's a sort of pain you can't prepare for, or imagine" I say wistfully, however true my statement was, it didn't change the fact that loss was so common in Obsidian. It had now been socially accepted as a part of everyday life, people like Jake and Zara were so used to seeing dead bodies, they were barely fazed by them anymore. I still wanted to hold on to the horror, sadness and pain that I felt, an attempt to avoid the desensitisation that most on Obsidian were conditioned to feel.