Fire's Catching

Chapter 6 - The last symbol

Forrest and Joy look horrendous. They are definitely not in shape.

"Okay, Forrest, seriously," I grab his arm. "You need to tell me what you saw. What did you see Valentina do?"

"You don't need to grab me so hard," Forrest whines. "Remember the fact that you're, like, super-strong?"

"Sorry."

"It's fine ..."

"Now?"

"Oh, yeah, Valentina," Forrest puts on a thinking face. "So, she was with someone else that I couldn't see. Someone smaller and wider. She was wearing a black suit and had her hair up in a sleek ponytail," I can almost physically see hearts in Forrest's eyes as he's describing his vision. "Anyways, she was, like, floating up in the air, her hands by her sides."

"Floating in the air?!"

"Yeah, but I don't really think that's the most concerning part. She had flames in her palms, and worst of all-"

"What? What was worst of all?" I ask, actually really invested now.

"Let me finish! Stop with all the interrupting!"

"Okay, go on."

"She was laughing."

I just look at Forrest.

"How is that worse than floating and having fire-hands?" I yell at him. He cowers and shrugs.

"I mean, the laughing means that she's most likely a sociopath. That means that she doesn't understand the difference between right or wrong. It's scary!"

I stare annoyed at him before realizing something. She might be a sociopath. Even worse; she might not. She might know that it's wrong, and still laugh. Enjoying it. This is seriously messing with my head.

I tell the others about my encounter with the shadow, and we can all agree that they're most likely, almost definitely, Valentina. The shadow was slim and tall, which fits my memory of her. She was always one of those with a mask on Halloween too, so it makes sense that she would either have a mask already or know where to buy one. It was such a special mask too. Almost like it was made on commission.

We start walking back to the clearing, the fire gone as soon as the shadow, or Valentina, disappeared. The walk is really long, I don't remember it being this far when I ran, but that's probably because I ran a lot faster than how I usually do. Or how I used to do. This is all very confusing. I wish we could have some peace and quiet to get used to our new skills without these terrifying events. First dying birds, then a forest fire, scaring away all the inhabiting animals. What does Valentina have against animals?

We step into the clearing that's now dark. The trail back took us until dusk. I really wish we had reached the clearing before, it's really eerie now. Forrest walks over to his pile of stuff and ring of salt to gather everything. I see Joy in the corner of my eye. She's using her left hand to grab her right arm tightly, clawing away at it. She's obviously scared, I don't blame her. I take a step closer to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"You okay, Joy?"

She flinches away, startled. She must've really been in her own head, not paying attention to anything around her. That might turn out to be deadly in times like these. Her gaze finds its way to my eyes. Her green irises shine slightly in the calm moonlight, tears sparkling on her cheeks. She really is a light. A beautiful light. It's such a shame that she doesn't see it herself.

"I'm fine," she sniffles, wiping away her tears with the sleeve of her knitted sweater. "Don't worry about me, I'm just being silly."

I sense that she could use some more comforting words, but nothing comes out. I've never been good at making others feel better, it's always so awkward for me. My mind is usually racing with thoughts, but the second someone close to me starts crying, they disappear. I do the only thing I can think of, which is patting her shoulder a couple of times, before turning to Forrest. He's coming over to us, now with all his future-junk in a bag. I notice him searching for something in my expression, but I brush it off by treading towards the tree line.