Flicker

IV

I held my breath and waited. And waited. And waited. I slowly looked down the hall where the hospital room was, and not seeing anyone, I started towards my designated escape. Turning to the window, I froze, coming face to face with a scowling face and two piercing blue eyes.

We stood completely still for a second, neither of us moving, neither of us saying a word. Arms still crossed across his chest, Diamond said, "You don't know what you're doing."

I huffed and rolled my eyes. "I know exactly what I'm doing: I'm leaving this crazy place."

Then Diamond did something I was not expecting. He turned around and opened the window. "I'm not going to keep you here. If you want to go, then go. Just know you'll always have a place here." Reaching into his pocket, his fishes out a set of keys and tossed them to me. Then stepping out of the way, he watched me climb silently out of window and into the night.

***

Diamond's matte black Audi took me all the way back to my apartment, where I noticed Sophie's car wasn't there anymore. It was awfully quiet as I walked up the rusty metal stairs to the second floor, and as I twisted the key into the lock, I pushed open the wooden door to my apartment to find it empty and dark. Sophie was not here.

Sighing, I flicked on a lamp and threw my backpack into a wooden chair in the kitchen. Not bothering with my bed, I climbed onto the sofa and instantly fell asleep.
***
I awoke to the sound of someone unlocking my door. Groggily, I opened my eyes a fraction of an inch and peered through the tiny slit to see a figure in the doorway.

"You know, Soph," I said with a yawn. "I had the weirdest dream."

Opening my eyes fully and sitting up, I made the connection that the person in the doorway was definitely not Sophie.

As the darkly cloaked figure started towards me aggressively, I bolted off the couch and started to the kitchen area. The shiny glint of metal drew attention to the knife the figure had in their hand, and I quickly ducked to avoid being stabbed in the forehead. With all my strength, I shoved the kitchen table as hard as I could into the figure who went toppling down upon impacted. Darting for the door, I scooped up my backpack and ran towards the stairs, scrounging for a set of keys in my pocket. Before I could hit the stairs, two more shadowy figures blocked my path. I turned back around only to find the one that I had taken out with a table had resurrected and was ready to rumble.

I could feel myself panicking, the familiar buildup of disaster burning through every muscle, vein and bone in my body. This was not going to end well.

"Amber!" I heard a shout and looked down to see Sophie and Diamond yelling and waving at me. Diamond quickly dashed up the stairs, and elbowed one guy right in the face. Plowing his shoulder into the other one's back, he turned back around and swiped the first guy's feet out from under him. Both bad dudes grounded, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the original intruder.

"We've got the hurry," he said with urgency. "There will be more here soon."

The entire time, the overwhelming feeling of tension had been building up, and I couldn't hold it in any longer. With a gasp, I looked down to see that the shrubbery close to the building had burst into flames. Diamond jerked me towards his Audi, but I fought him and pulled back towards the burning bushes.

"We have to help them!" I shouted above the noise.

"We don't have time!" He yelled, pulling my arm towards him. With a quick twist and an even quicker heat up, I raised the temperature of my hand enough that he was forced to let go. I sprinted towards the building, grasped the fire alarm handle and pulled with all my might. Blaring sirens gave way to streams of people as black smoke poured out of the apartments. I ran back to the Audi, jumping in the backseat and slamming the door closed right as Diamond tore out of the parking lot. I fumbled for a seat belt, but with as many sharp turns as Diamond was making, I found myself more thrown around than a tossed salad.

Clinging desperately to the door handle, I sucked in oxygen as Diamond weaved in and out of cars on the road. I glimpsed his speedometer, and all I knew was that we were going wayyyy faster than the 40 mph speed limit.

Finally, after making turns on two wheels multiple times, he slowed down and started down a familiar dirt road. So familiar, in fact, that I had just been down it less than twelve hours ago!

"Oh no, not this place again!" I shrieked, and clawed at the door to the Audi. It seemed, though, that Diamond had thought through the situation thoroughly enough to make sure the child safety locks were on. I desperately rammed into the door, but to no avail. That only made Diamond increase the speed to 60 mph.

"Please, Amber it's the only place we can keep you safe!" Sophie cried, but I didn't really listen. I lunged between the front seats and toward Sophie, straining for the unlock button so I could jump out here door. With a squeal, Sophie's hand clutched the lock button, and I pried her hand away. The only problem being that now there was no unlock button.

I stared right at the spot that I had seen one just moments before but now existed nothing but smooth black interior. Giving up with hat idea, I flopped back in my seat and started pounding on the glass windows. As my panicking intensified, so did the need to light something else on fire. For a split second Diamond caught my eyes in the rear view mirror.

"Amber!" He shouted, and I froze. Not literally, but his voice was so cold and demanding I didn't really know what else to do. I shivered as a chill passed through my body, only to realize it was a bit more than a chill. Diamond had frozen my hands solid, in ice so thick and heavy I could barely lift them. I sat there, pouting and gaping at my ice cube hands until he pulled into the hotel parking lot.

***

Sitting inside the hotel lobby-turned-gaming-room on a giant red beanbag, I watched Jasper and Gar team up in Black Ops on Xbox while Sophie held a hair dryer to my hands. Slowly but surely my icy appendages had begun to shrink in size. I, however, was still fuming (both physically and metaphorically).

"We tried to warn you," Sophie said softly, waving the hairdryer over the blocks of ice. I focused on the droplets of water hit the ground, and watched as the slight color change in the carpet disappeared almost as immediately as it had appeared. Having heat/fire powers did come in handy occasionally.

I side-eyed Sophie. "You knew they were coming and didn't bother to tell me?"

Sophie's mouth fell open, and she faltered. "No. Well, yes, I mean, no? Sort of? It's complicated." She ended with a sigh.

So I sat there, rethinking my life. My best friend potentially knew some bad dudes were coming to, what, chop my head off? Run lab experiments on me? Finally arrest me for that $10 sweatshirt I stole from a JC Penny's? Who knows, but either way she more or less let me walk into a dangerous situation without protest. What kind of friend does that?

"I know what you're thinking," Sophie said, and her voice hinted at a small amount of guilt. "And it wasn't my idea. I didn't want to let you go back to the apartment."

So it was Diamond's idea. Of course! It all made sense, him opening the window and giving me the keys to escape. He wanted me dead, but why? I didn't even know the guy!

"He wants to talk to you when we're done," Sophie said as she blow dried the last chips of ice off my hands. Impatient, I quickly ignited my hands on fire to melt the last of it and then got up and stomped to Diamond's office. If he truly wanted me dead, then he wouldn't get it without a fight.