Fight With Fire

34

I feel like Gretel, walking aimlessly through the forest with only the shadows keeping me company. Only instead of walking through the forest, I'm walking down the abandoned hallways. Instead of hearing twigs snap under my feet, the creak of the floorboards echoes down the halls. Instead of leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind me, there's the small red drops of blood tracking my route.

I had scrambled down the stairs and towards the health center as fast as I could before I lost too much blood. I couldn't bind the cut because then I would lose the excuse to be out of my room in the middle of the night. I had dragged my wrist across the sharp edge of my desk knowing that a knife would make the cut look too clean. I had cut just deep enough to draw a steady blood flow but not enough to cause permanent damage. It didn't hurt that I was going a little numb from being away from Finn for so long as he was preparing for his trial.

I restocked my ink supply first knowing that getting into the classroom would be easy. Now I just had to get some needles to replace the ones that Gwen broke.

I take in a breath of relief when the door is unlocked but gasp when the door swings open revealing a boy waiting patiently in a chair. I mentally curse myself for not checking if there was light flooding under the door.

"Hey Ella..." Rory starts, drawing his eyebrows together. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" I rake my brain for an answer to his initial question as he studies me.

"I'm doing what everyone but you are doing. Trying to prove what I can do so I get placed. Even if it means taking the night shift to stop kids from stealing all the drugs." Rory sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I guess it doesn't matter now because of the job trials. I'm assuming you need help with that." He concludes motioning to my arm.

"What?" I reply. "Oh ya, that." I stare at my arm, wondering how I forgot about it.

"Yes that." Rory chuckles and gets up from his chair. He comes towards me and grabs my arm. I instinctively pull away and step back, knocking into the door frame.

"My Aerdell is Healing, remember?" Rory quickly flashed me his iae before grabbing my arm again. He wraps both hands around my wrist and applies pressure with his thumbs all the way down the length of the cut. When he lets go and steps back, there is no trace of the cut that was on my arm.

"Wow." I drop my wrist and look up to Rory. "I'm always surprised by that Aerdell."

"I know. Everyone is." He whispers more to himself than to me.

"What?"

"I'll go get the book, I have to report everyone that comes in here." Rory turns around and walks through a door on my right. As soon as he is out of sight I go down the hall on the left to the storage room. I get the syringes from where I took them last time and shove them in my pockets before scrambling back to the main room.

"I'm going to say multiple deep cuts from a fall down the stairs." Rory states walking back into the room.

"Do you have to say I fell down the stairs?" I ask as I fall back into the chair Rory was sitting on.

"You did not show up at my doorway, or should I say Finn's doorway, covered in blood. Also may I remind you that you already fell down the stairs once and you got a concussion from it?" Rory asks lifted an eyebrow at me.

"How do you know that?" I get up from the chair to face him and narrow my eyes at him.

Rory shrugs, "Records." He taps the large book under his hand and I groan in response.

"I'm assuming you're going to a hospital for your job trial?" I ask as Rory puts the book under the counter.

"Changing the subject I see." He gives me a cheeky grin before continuing. "Yes, I'm going to multiple hospitals with Adrian and Finn."

"What are they going to do at a hospital?" I snort at the idea of them around sick little children.

"Make me look better." He replies with a wink. "Congratulations by the way, but you probably heard that a lot."

"I did." I agree with a nod.

"Here's something you haven't heard before: why are you stealing syringes from the health center?" Rory smiles mischievously as the smile drops off my face. I open my mouth to reply but am cut off by Rory's loud laugh.

"You should've seen your face right then! That was PRICELESS!"

"Ha ha, very funny." I roll my eyes as Rory keeps laughing.

"No. That's not funny. Funny would be telling my roommate, about this little robbery of yours." Rory leans forward and it takes all my self control to not react.

"You really think I care?" I shoot back indignantly.

"I do, I really do. I think this is one of the many things that you have been keeping from your little boyfriend. Imagine how heartbroken Finn would be." He laughs before clapping me on the back. "I'm just joking chum, don't sweat it. I'm not one to get in the middle of relationship drama."

"You're so annoying." I say through gritted teeth as I punch him in the shoulder.

"And that really hurt." Rory mocks as he rubs his shoulder.

"I'm going to go now and leave you to your sitting and waiting." I say turning around and walking out the door.

"Ella, wait." Rory replies, walking after me.

"What?"

"Why'd you let yourself be so vulnerable? I mean, the great Ella showing up in the middle of the night bleeding. I've never seen you so... weak."

"The great Ella is just as human as everyone else. Being injured doesn't make me weak."

"It does if you did it to yourself."

There is heavy silence as his words sank in. I have a habit of underestimating people. I had never thought of Rory as anything more than Finn's roommate but he sees right through my. I had never though Charlie was anything more than a struggling child but he changed my life for the better. I had never thought of Gwen as anything more than a scared coward but she is fighting against more demons than me. I had never thought of Olivia as anything more than more than another elite with an impressive Aerdell but she has a fire that burns bright. I had never thought of Adrian at all. I had never thought of Finn as anything more than a friend. Is he more than a friend?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything from my words... I just meant that I was surprised. Everyone looks up to you, I look up to you. I guess it's kind of scary because you were supposed to be the one that has everything figured out." Rory says gently.

"Well isn't that what you need to survive in this society? False confidence?"