Alpha Obsession

Chapter 43

I set myself on fire

Amy Lentz was the one who found me first. If it had been any one of the staff members that found me, things may have gotten far more complicated. I was literally sitting in the center of a crime scene covered in blood. There were so many things wrong with the sight she must have gotten when she drove into the destroyed area. Except, the students at Viridian are strange like that.

Even though I was barely responsive and she didn't want to get any blood on her hands, Amy pulled me over to her rundown Mazda and started dialing a number. "Come on, Chad, pick up...Hello? Oh god, thank you. Chad, it's an emergency." She started describing the situation quickly but I didn't bother chiming in. My mind was still climbing out of the pit I'd let myself fall into.

"Whose blood is it? Chad is on his way, but he says that he'll need to know. We've got you, alright. We've got you," she was trying to sound reassuring, but it was obvious that she was barely restraining her own panic.

"It's mine," I said without thinking. The words came out on their own. There was no denying that a large part of me felt like I had been the one bleeding out on the floor. "I mean, Hunter's."

Amy helped me get into the passenger seat and even buckled me in. "It's going to be ok. Chad is the best at this kind of thing. He'll know what to do. Just have to hang in till he gets here. That's all I-we have to do." Amy had a habit of talking too fast and rambling when she got stuck on a train of thoughts. I liked that she was so transparent sometimes.

She got into the driver's seat and pulled out of the lot, heading for a place on the other side of the school. We went through a carwash because apparently, that's one of the things she was told to do before heading to a small lot a few blocks away from Viridian High. Chad's van came up beside us soon after. He looked friendly and cool as always, but he at least knew not to try making light of the situation. He carried a bottle of soapy water and a change of clothes.

"Amy, mind waiting in my car while I help him clean up?" he directed. I didn't question it when he told me to strip the bloody clothing and sprayed me with whatever was in that bottle. I was still on autopilot. "You're pretty lucky that you didn't get anything in your hair or shoes. Otherwise, you couldn't head straight home from here. I'm going to head over to the lot and see how much cleaning up I can do before anyone catches on. Will you be ok on your own for a few hours?"

"This is the weirdest town I've ever heard of," I said honestly. "I'll manage. There's something I've got to do." My head was beginning to shake off the shadows of despair. A plan was forming in the back of my mind and I was eager to start moving again.

Chad looked at me with cautious concern for the first time since arriving. "What exactly do you have to do right now, Jake?" he wanted an answer that I wouldn't give him. I couldn't, not if I actually wanted to do it. I started walking down the road, farther away from the school. "Don't do anything stupid, Jake! I've got enough to clean up on my plate already. Don't go adding more!"

I left him there and headed straight for the nearest convenience store. I grabbed a lighter, a gallon of oil, half a dozen sponges, a pair of gloves and shoved them into my backpack. It took me over an hour to make my way over to the Blakes' neighborhood, but that was only because the weather slowed me down.

The sky had filled with giant thick clouds that cast down tiny droplets of water so light that it felt more like mist than rain. It was the wind that stood in my way, however. For whatever reason, the air was charged with energy and the mad howling of the wind filled my eardrums as it slammed against my body. On any other day, I wouldn't have as much reason to press on, and I probably would have turned back to head home, but that wasn't the case anymore.

I strode into the cul-de-sac and stood at the edge of the street in front of the Blake home.

There was anger. Burning, sweltering, feral anger. It was like a caged beast had been born inside my soul and felt caged by the ribs lining my chest. The wind whipped my hair out of place and kept up its rampage, grinding against the houses, eliciting groans from the sleeping trees, and swirling everything that wasn't bolted down into a whirlwind. I knew something was wrong with me, but I just didn't care.

I pulled out the ingredients from my bag and soaked a sponge with oil. My eyes narrowed till the only thing I could see clearly was the house in front of me. The bright yellow paint that reminded me of that demon's eyes. Those eyes that glowed brighter as he stole my freedom, as he stole my life! He took everything from me! He played with me and toyed with my feelings, making me trust him and even care about him. He made me think that what I felt and wanted actually meant something, and then he took it all away!

I lit the sponge and felt the heat spread over it. I launched the flaming mass at the house before the flames could spill onto my hand or clothes. The sponge itself burned into nothingness quickly, but the fire latched onto the roof where it landed. I screamed and continued igniting and firing the makeshift fireballs, hoping to feel satisfaction when it was all done. A couple of them soared onto the roof while the rest pitched through windows and smacked into the front wall of the building.

Soon the flames were spreading over the building and beginning to engulf the demon's den, but something was wrong. I'd done what I set out to do, and I had not a scratch on me. Yet, inside my heart, I was still burning in flames. With every breath I took and every thought I had, I set myself on fire.

Bonus weekend chapter! It's a bright and cloudy morning here in Potsdam, so i'm uploading a second chapter this weekend, and oh how much goes on in this one chapter :D

The other students in this town sure are something mysterious arent they. Makes you wonder what other messes Chad has had to clean up before. But oh boy, rage never leads to anything good does it. Especially when it follows so soon after grief. It does seem a little surprising too doesn't it? I mean, we've seen Jake angry before, but launching fireballs at someone's house? Do you guys feel like that was a perfectly natural way for him to react to the tragedy...or could have been something else?

(Note, just because flaming sponges look really cool and act a lot like fireballs DOES NOT MEAN you should try it. It's very EASY TO GET BURNED by spilled oil if you're not fast enough and super careful!)