The Heat of Fire

Chapter 5

I walk outside, escorted by the men. My bare feet (I took off my converse off before I went to bed) squish in the mud. I feel cool water tap my shoulders and scalp. We walk down the field to a large van. I don't trust this entirely... "So, what are your guys's names?" I say, trying to make small talk.

One of them smirks. "I'm special agent Ross and that's special agent Snow. Now can you get in the car?" I roll my eyes and duck into the van, finding a pleasantly warm interior. The walk in the cold weather with the rain made me chilly. The car ride is silent, and short. We eventually pull up in front of a large, white building, one that I've somehow never seen from the skywalks before. "What is this place?" I say in wonder.

"This is Ojai's main government building." To my surprise, one of them actually answers me. I walk in, wishing for shoes. I leave muddy footprints on the cold tile floor as we approach a front desk. "We've got Ms. Williams here to see her biological father," Snow says to the lady at the desk. She hands him ring of keys, as well as a tablet.

"You're good to go." She says blandly, directing us to the back corridor. Snow and Ross engage in a quiet conversation. I try to listen in, but I can't hear them. I don't want to see my "dad." All he's ever brought me is pain and suffering.

Ross steps forward and takes a key out, unlocking a steel door. Inside, there is a room with 4 metal chairs, and a window, along with another door leading into a separate room. I shuffle inside. When I look in the window, I see him sitting there, looking amused. His black hair is short, and his face is wrinkly. He waves at me. I clench my fists and swallow. "Ms. Willams, I'm going to have you go in there now. Your father has requested a private audience with you, so we can't listen."

Ah, another great law. A prisoner is allowed one, and only one, private conversation for 90 minutes with a person of their choosing. It would be illegal for anyone to listen in. I smirk and step towards the door. Snow opens the door for me. I stalk inside and face my father. "Hi Naomi." He says.  "I haven't seen you in a while. Why didn't you come visit?" He inquires. At this, I clench my fists.

"You left me on the streets! If I hadn't been smart on my own, I would've died!" I fume. "Naomi, we both know it wasn't like that. I left for a day to go get some money, and when I came back, you were gone!" He argues. "No, it was a week!" I rebuttal.

"Ok, ok. So maybe it was a few days. Big deal. I knew you'd live!" I turn around and press my fingers to my forehead.

"Whatever. What did you want to see me about?" I ask, ready to get this over with.

"It's about your biological mom. Hualing." I quickly spin back around.

"What about her?" I stammer, trying to hide my curiosity. The only thing that I've ever known about her is her name. Hualing. My dad also says that she was from China, and that he had met her there on a trip.

"There's something else you need to know about her. I need to tell you this before things escalate. She had a younger sister, and her parents had died when she was a little girl. But somehow she survived all that time to meet me. But by then she had been separated from her sister. I think her sister's name was Lei. Hualing was really torn up about it. Gee, I wish I had never come back to this place." My dad says, looking away.

I, too, wish that he had never left. The Great Fires have been exclusive to North and South America. I had stayed there, I could have a chance at a normal life, one with my real parents.

"Well, I already knew about most of that. Just not her sister. Or her parents." I say, wondering if there was anything else I needed to know, or if I could just get back to sleep. It was around 4 in the morning.

"Ok, ok. I arrived in China to meet with my lifelong buddy, and she was working at one of the restaurants we went to. After that, we started to date. I stayed in China for 9 years. We left when you were 4, but she didn't want to come with us. She kept trying to convince us to stay. I think it was because her sis had gone to America too, and she didn't want to loose her only family. So we got in a big fight the night before we left. And those were the last words I ever spoke to her. Angry ones." He begins to tear up.

"We left on an airplane, and a few months later, I had received word that she had been killed in a fire that had broken out in the kitchen where she worked." At this, he sobbed.

I have never seen my father cry before. I decide to give him a moment before pressing him to continue.

"There was something about her though. I had always known, but she told me an hour after you were born. She had said that 'the family trait had been passed down,' and that you had been born with 'special abilities.' Now, I don't know if it was true, but once she explained it to me, it made sense. Her ancestors, all the way since like, 600 BC, had been passing down the trait. And they had gotten it from a dragon. I'm still not sure about that part... but anyways, each member of the family had to have 2 children to pass the trait. There were two abilities, and the children would receive one, while the other got the other one. Your mother, Well, she said her sister had been born with the fire trait. But she wouldn't tell me what you, or her were born with. She had always been afraid of her sister, because she, from what I hear, had been quite the loose cannon. Lei had left because she 'didn't want Hualing to control her life anymore.' It was known that they had a rivalry. But it had been clear that you had gotten the ability. And that's what made her death even more crushing. She had been pregnant, with your sister."

I gape at him, deeply saddened by this. "Why did you leave if you knew?!" I shout at him.

"I don't know, I don't know! I thought that eventually she would come with us, and get on that plane in the morning. But she didn't, and it was too late to turn back." He says, putting his head in his hands.

I sit down on the cold metal floor, my head spinning with what my father had told me. I was going to have a sister! And there was all that nonsense about "the family trait." I remember my dreams, especially the one with the black, snakelike thing. Could that have been the dragon? I shake my head.

Why am I even thinking about this? It's my dad who's telling me this! He's lied to me before! Maybe this is a last hurrah to ruin my life.

We stay where we are for the remainder of the time. Snow comes back with the keys and opens the door. My father says, "Goodbye Naomi."

I don't know what to say. I just look over my shoulder while snow forces me out of the room. Today, I saw a side of my dad that I've never seen before. It made me feel like I still had a dad, my real one. But it made me feel sad. Snow locks the door.

"Alright miss, we'll be returning you to Spork now." Ross says. The rest of the way there is a blur. It's still raining when they park at least 15 feet from the door.

"We'll see you later, Ms Williams." The agents say, before driving away. Cold water pours down my back, and mud squishes in between my toes. I walk to the door, shivering, and hoping that Spork's boilers have been turned on. Alas, the haven't. I slowly walk to the bathroom, where I wash my feet off. Then, I go to the history classroom. A few people are still standing by the window, marveling at the rain, but most are back in their sleeping bags. It's 5:15 right now. I tiptoe over people, trying not to drop water on them, and make it to my sleeping bag.

"Naomi!" I hear. Dante is trying to catch my eye by waving his hands. "Naomi, where did you go? You saw the rain, right?" He whispers sleepily. I nod, and then whisper back, "I'll tell you tomorrow. Goodnight!" He nods before laying down and closing his eyes. I fall back on my sleeping bag, and turn to face the wall. I don't think I'll be going to training tomorrow.

My mind wrestles with the information I've learned, and I come to the conclusion that my father wasn't lying. He wouldn't ruin his only private call to lie to me. And I already know what the trait I have is.