Playing With Fire

the centre

     Emberly arrived home a few hours later. Hope was at work, as she should have been too. Emberly didn't want to go back to work though, not after what happened, or what she thinks happened. She was still confused. She decided she should get some sleep, thinking this had something to do with sleep deprivation. As she laid her head on her pillow, her eyelids felt heavy. Thoughts were stirring in her brain.
      There's no way they could know my mom. This is all crazy. It's my imagination. They aren't real. I just need some sleep. She repeated over and over until she drifted into sleep.
     What felt like 5 minutes later to her, she woke up. Something felt off. Hope. She wasn't home yet, but it was 7:00. She's usually home by 6. Emberly's ears perked as she heard a creak.
     "Hope?"
     No answer.
     She got up and carefully tiptoed out of her room. She was just paranoid, right? Right?
     Emberly realized her clothes reeked of sweat. Her body was limp from lack of energy from that day's experience. She slowly changed from her red work shirt into a Superman t-shirt and from her khakis into black jeans with rips up and down the front. She stood in front of a mirror and looked into her grey eyes. They were bloodshot from exhaustion.
     She realized she was thirsty and went down the stairs for water. She grabbed a cup and turned on the faucet. When the cup was full she turned the water off and brought the cup to her mouth. She hadn't realized how dry her mouth was until that moment. Emberly drank it all and set it in the sink. She turned around and saw Hope.
     "Hi, Hope. You scared me. I didn't hear you come in." Hope just stood there and stared. "Hello? Are you okay?" What happened next made her heart stop and her eyes widen. Hope lifted her hand and clasped it to Emberly's neck. She couldn't breath. What was happening? She reached for into the sink behind her for something, anything. She felt her finger grace a glass plate. Emberly grabbed the plate and smashed it over Hope's head, making her hand release. Immediately, Emberly dashed for the door, Hope in pursuit. As she raced out the door and across the street, she looked back. Hope disappeared. Emberly was distracted and wasn't looking when she ran into something, a person. She screamed and struggled to get out of the person's hold.
     "Hey, hey!" said a familiar voice. Emberly looked up to see deep blue eyes looking back at her. "Are you okay?" Emberly immediately stopped trying to escape the person's grasp,
     "Evan?" She asked. It can't be. He's just a fragment of imagination. Just a hallucination from sleep deprivation. 
     "What's going on?" Evan asked.
     "I don't know. Hope, she," Emberly cried, "she just tried to kill me." Her breath was shaky as she spoke. She was trembling from fear. "I ran away and she's gone now. I don't know where she went."
     "You're okay. You're going to be fine." Evan comforted her as. Emberly couldn't help herself, she hugged Evan. He jumped back a little in surprise. He could feel her heart beating out of control. He pulled her out of the trance of fear. "We can't stay here. It's too dangerous. I'm going to have to take you to the Centre." Evan noticed the look of confusion on her face. "Do you trust me?" He asked.
     "I don't know." Emberly responded. "But I have no choice." She pushed back her tears and her mind was blank. She didn't know what to think. 
     "Come on this way. We need to get to the old amusement park, we can portal from there."
     "What?"
     "You really don't know anything?"
      Emberly nodded her head. "Sorry, no."
     "Let me put it as simply as possible. I'm a Frayer. I hunt shadows. Shadows are monsters, basically. I protect Humans from them."
     "Aren't you Human?" 
     "No, and as far as I can tell, neither are you."
     "What are you? Or...we.."
     "Well, there are Warlocks, Werewolves, Faeries, and Spartans. Spartans are battle-beings, evil ones, they control shadows. Frayers are part Spartan, part warlock. Only, the evil in us is taken over by the good."
     "What?"
    "You're tired. I'll explain more after you get some sleep. We're almost there." 
     "I'm fine, and I'll be better when you tell be where we're going." Emberly was getting angry.
      "Centre. Headquarters for Frayers. The Council wanted me to bring you there anyways, they're interested in why a Frayer has been living the life of a Human. We're here." They stood in front of the entrance of an old amusement park. "Grab my hand."
     "Why?"
     "Just do it." Evan sounded urgent and annoyed. Emberly grabbed Evan's hand and heard a faint whisper from his mouth. "Sanctuary." Once the word escaped his lips the amusement park turned into a large brick building. "This is the Centre."