Fire Scarred

Chapter Ten

     "No. Nope. Not possible. No way. Uh-uh." I shook my head furiously. "I refuse to even consider it. I mean, why would he anyway?"

     "I don't have a clue, but he was here, and he's the only spirit I know of that'd come to Woodland Creek," Leo retorted. 

     "But why?" I sighed, exasperated.

     "I told you already! I have no freaking clue what-so-ever! Geez."

     In the heat of the argument, I had forgotten my friends were standing only a few feet away in the mess of the two newest destroyed cabins until Ray spoke up. "Ciris was here? And Leo thinks he did this?" Her voice was soft, like she was scared to even be speaking. I guess she had a right to be. The wind had begun to pick up and the air seemed to grow thicker with each passing minute our disagreement raged. Once, I even had to pop my ears. Darn air pressure. 

     "Ciris was here, and you didn't tell us. But you told him?" Noah jerked his thumb in Leo's direction.

     My arms crossed over my chest. "Yes, I did. Ciris can't gobble up your soul, but he certainly could his. I'm not going to compromise his life to save your jealousy. Sorry to disappoint."

     Noah put his hands up in a defensive position. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking."

     Josh cleared his throat with a glance between Leo, Noah, and me. "So, it may have or may not have been Ciris. We don't know for sure. How about this? Cora, just ask him."

     "That does seem to make sense," Georgia nodded. "I can't believe it was Josh who thought of that."

     He stuck his tongue out at her and she hit him playfully. I looked between the two and took note of their flirty banter, my eyes growing large. How had I not noticed this before?

     "Okay, I will," I agreed, pushing my thoughts of Josh and Georgia away.

     "That's later. What are we going to do now?" Noah asked. "We can't just sit around and do nothing. Can't y'all do something to reverse whatever happened?"

     I looked to Leo expectantly. "Any ideas?"

     "Not at the moment." He shook his head. Clumps of his sandy hair fell into his tired green eyes. It hadn't looked like he'd gotten much sleep the night before with the dark circles framing his eyes and his mop of messy hair. His whole demeanor had changed overnight. I almost wanted to reach out and smooth his hair away from his eyes and somehow swipe the shadows adorning his face; hold him until he fell asleep and stick around to make sure he didn't have any bad dreams. It was an absurd thought. I didn't even completely know why it crossed my mind. It just . . . did. His state was pretty much my fault anyway. Everything lately was my fault.

     "But I'll come up with something," Leo finished. Another sleepless night. It was written all over his face. Not like anyone else noticed.

     "So, are we done here?" Noah asked, tugging slightly at my hand.

     "Umm, yeah. I guess so," I muttered in response.

     "Well, then, let's go. Breakfast and whatever we decide to do on this wonderful school free day awaits us, and I just can't wait to get started." He flashed his perfect white smile. "And since it's a 'teachers' work day', as they call it, we're allowed to leave for the day with your parents' permission. Maybe we can catch a movie in town or something like we use to."

     "Sounds like fun," Georgia piped up. Josh quickly nodded in his agreement.

     "Let's do it!" Ray squealed. "What about you, Leo?" She inquired, her lashes fluttering in what I supposed were meant to be flirtatiously. "Are you up to joining us?"