Shadow Taking Over

15- The Healer

Evidently, she was not hungry whatsoever. Eve had learned that eating was not as much of a necessity as it used to be. Lance had fed her some scraps from dinner some nights ago. That was enough to tide her over for a little while longer.

Tired from the nonstop action, Eve decided this was the perfect opportunity to kick back and relax. She eyed the back of the J shaped couch with temptation. It was made of leather, which could withstand intense heat. A chance at an actual,  comfortable seat was worth the risk of it melting from underneath her. Eve felt a surge of overwhelming excitement as a childish idea arose. She took three steps back to gain momentum before leaping over the back of the couch. Her speed gained her two bounces upon landing. Laughter erupted from her without any sign of stopping. Her arms shot up to the ceiling in glee, then dropped to either side of her head. One leg hung off the edge with her boot pressed firm in the carpet while the other stretched. Her hair splayed out in all directions. Eventually, she remembered where she was and the early hour, so she shushed herself.

Without realizing, Eve nodded off for an inordinate amount of time. What woke her up was a mixture of shouting and thundering footsteps. She rose up over the back of the couch to see what was happening. There was a dark skinned woman, older than her by no more than 5 years, with a bath robe whipped around her. She looked like a soft person. Her facial features suggested as such. A lamb, however, an extremely pissed off one at the moment. Every step she descended on the staircase thudded louder than the last. Her dread-bun bounced behind her, threatening to break the elastic that kept it together. When she made eye contact with Eve, she strode faster. Eve stood up and kept the couch between them. Ace was in tow. He seemed content with her anger.

"When I said you could crash here, bring a friend, I didn't mean you could bring a girl who sets everything she touches on fire!" She exclaimed.

"Talia, she's too burnt out to have set anything ablaze," Ace offered. He flashed a smile in Eve's direction.

"You know this for sure?" Talia, that was her name, inquired with a huff.

"I just tested that theory." He shrugged. With one look at the couch, he was assured.

Talia shot him a glare. "Ace!"

Eve hopped over to get between Talia and Ace. She faced Talia, who was the first person she had met that was shorter than herself since the change. Talia's composure relaxed slightly when Ace was partially out of sight, but she was still annoyed. And suddenly very warm. Talia caught a rush of the heat that naturally omitted from Eve. She released her tight hold over the robe.

"Hi," was all Eve could think to say.

Talia let out an exasperated sigh. She abruptly marched away from the two and into the kitchen. They watched her leave in silence for a moment before Ace took Eve's shoulder. He nudged her forward as he strode carefully after Talia. Eve followed. Talia busied herself with brewing a pot of coffee. She dropped her robe off to the side to reveal plain colored pajama pants and a tank top. From the cabinet above, she retrieved three plain mugs with her index and middle. There was a square cloth covered table in the center of the kitchen. Ace had already taken a seat there. Eve awkwardly stood behind him before he pulled a wooden chair out for her. She refused, worried that the chair would combust. As Talia had said, she burns everything she touches. However, the couch from the other room had remained intact. Perhaps Ace's theory was correct. After all of the excitement from today, it wasn't unlikely that she had "burned out."

After Talia finished with the coffee, she flicked the machine off and joined them at the table. She poured half into each mug, distributed them, then left the pot at the center beside containers of cream and sugar. Ace and Talia both downed a large gulp of the hot liquid, but Eve would not go near it. There was a long period of silence before one of them broke it.