Spark A Revolution

Chapter One: Seraphina

Author's note: Please note that this is written from a different point of view than my other novels. Wanted to avoid any confusion. Please see the end of the chapter for full author's note.

I wrung my hands, trying to find a way to channel my nerves. Ew, my hands were so sweaty.

Great, I thought. Just what I needed.

I walked towards the twenty-four-hour dairy, straightening my back and acting confident. Fake confidence translated to real confidence... well I mean most of the time.

Shaking off this thought, I opened the door. The little bell rang as I opened the door, as it had every time I walked in. Nerves started to set in as I walked into the store. Get over it, I told myself, you've done this before.

I'd been scoping the store for several days now. The same guy had been on every night, and I memorised his routine. Every twenty minutes he would check his phone. Every hour, the bathroom. The store was quiet at night, so he must have been bored out of his mind, especially considering he was the only one on. I almost felt sorry for him; but not enough for me to not follow through with my plan.

After browsing for a few minutes, I ducked into the bathroom and locked the door. The bin had recently been empty, so I chucked a couple of crumpled up paper towels in. I rubbed my hands together, the friction causing my hands to get even warmer. After they were nice and warm, I clicked my fingers. There was a spark, but no ignition. Fuck, stupid sweaty hands.

I wiped my palms on my jeans and started rubbing my hands together again. Once they were warm again, I snapped my fingers again, and this time the spark ignited and a small ball of flame appeared. Finally, I thought. The flame hovered above my cupped hands. I smiled at it, watching it dance in my hands.

Breaking my stare from the gorgeous flame, I placed the flame above the rubbish bin and watched as hovered above it. I had learnt my lesson from last time that starting the fire while I was in the bathroom. I ended up setting of the sprinklers and almost got caught. Also, I had learnt to target shops that didn't have a sprinkler system.

I unlocked the door and double checked that the flame was hovering above the bin. Focusing on the flame in my mind, I walked out and back into the shop. I continued walking through the aisles. Picturing the flame in my mind, I let it drop into the bin. Now all I had to do was wait. It wasn't too long before there was a burning smell wafting from the bathroom. The clerk ran into the bathroom to investigate, looking panicked.

As soon as he was gone, I darted behind the counter and rattled the till until it opened. The clerk had been complaining about how it didn't close properly, so I knew rattling it would open it. It sprung open with a ding, and I grabbed the cash. I slammed it shut, and I could hear cursing coming from the back as the clerk struggled to put the fire out.

Smirking, I ran out of the store, cash in hand.

And straight into a cop, dropping the cash.

"Oh, sir I'm so sorry," I said, trying to act normal.

"Is everything alright ma'am?" he asked, looking down at me. He then noticed all the cash.

"Yes, thank you," I said, trying to gather everything before things turned sour.

Suddenly, the clerk burst out of the store, yelling about a robbery. The cop looked down at me before grabbing my arm and hauling me to my feet.

"Girl, did you rob the store?" the cop asked.

"No," I said. "This is my money."

"That's her," the clerk said, approaching the cop. "She's been casing the place for days."