The Mind Thieves

Prologue

Her heart in her throat, the girl stood slowly, her scraped knees stinging in protest, exposed to the chilly air through the holes in her jeans.

The girl turned her head reluctantly. A wave of shock almost drove her to her knees again as she took in the sight around her. Her jaw trembled and her hands shook. Ashes settled around the demolished scene, settling on everything around her and filling her nostrils with the smell of fire, reminding her of the nights she used to spend sitting around a campfire with her friends, cuddled in a thick blanket in hopes of keeping the cold mountain air from penetrating her skin.

She could hear her friends laughter and the crunching of pine needles under their shivering feet. She had been cold then too, but it was a completely different types of chill. It was a good type of chill. The kind that made you crave hot chocolate, while being snuggled comfortably in a warm cabin with a lighthearted novel nestled in your lap. With that type of chill, you knew their was always a friend nearby that you could penguin huddle with and act like you were literally freezing to death.

This was a completely different type of cold. It penetrated much deeper than her bones. It invaded her heart. It invaded her mind. It was the type of cold that was inescapable. It was the realization that she was a murderer.

With that thought, the girls grim silence was replaced with a gut wrenching sob. For a moment the girl thought her actions were no longer her own again as the sobs came one after another, seemingly unstoppable. Her eyes burned with smoke and to her immense relief, her tears blurred her vision, blocking the view before her. But it couldn't make the guilt crawling through the pits of her stomach go away. It couldn't erase the memory of dripping gasoline, the feel of the smooth metal lighter in her hand, and the way the knob on the lighter resisted her fingers at first.

The lighter failed to create a flame the first few times, and each time no flame appeared, relief filled her body, only to be crushed again as her thumb found the knob once again. Finally a flame burst to life, so innocent in itself, flickering reds, oranges, and yellows. it's glow reflecting onto her fingers, warming them. There was no hesitation as the girl drew the flame to a thin rope. As soon as the rope caught the flame, the girls promptly collapsed onto the ground. It took her a second to gain her bearings with her newfound control, and only a second more to realize she was moments away from burning along with the rest of her assignment.

Instinct took over and she scrambled to her feet, barely making it a dozen meters before an explosion knocked her off her feet again, searing her back in the process. For a moment she remained their, gravel biting to her cheek, knees, and palms. She welcomed the burning sensation in her back and the taste of blood in her mouth. It offered a nice distraction from the reality of the situation. She wondered why they had even bothered with the rope. It was not like she was valuable to them. They should have just let her die with everyone else in the building instead of leaving her to deal with the aftermath.

Now as she stood, the gravity of her actions weighed her down as if she were already buried six feet under the heavy dirt. She might as well be.

The girl closed her eyes and forced herself to breath in slowly. Instead of a welcomed breath of fresh air like she had been hoping for, she got a mouth full of dirt and ash, and she coughed, a feeling of severe claustrophobia overtaking her, feeding her panic even more. Her chest felt too confined and her throat felt like it was constricting on itself.

She heard it before she saw it. Sirens. Her eyes snapped open as the sound of sirens became louder and louder. She struggled to determine which direction they were coming from, the sky a grey haze.

Eventually, knowing she couldn't just stand around long enough to know for sure, she took off running in a random direction. She knew she had chosen the worst possible direction when the sirens rang clear in her ears and red, white, and blue flashing lights appeared in the distance, permeating the smoky air.