Scarlet Flame

Chapter 3

Mason tugged on me. He said something, but I zoned him out. All I could think of was Xavier. How he never told me til now that I can control fire. How he didn't tell me enough about the Aqua Raiders. And, most of all, how he just laid there, bleeding.

"Scarlet, come on! We have to go," Mason yelled into my ear. I finally reacted and stood up, not taking my eyes off Xavier.

"I know where we can stay," Mason shook me to get my attention. I stood there in a trance for a few more moments, then nodded.

"Let's go," I choked out. Mason grabbed my hand and led me away.

We made our way down several unfamiliar streets. People ran past us, away from the Aqua Raiders. As we ran, I looked at all the stranger's faces. They showed fear.

After we weaved in and out of streets, Mason stopped us at an old building.

"Here we are," he led me inside, locking the door behind him. Looking at my surroundings, I didn't realize that someone else was there.

"Scarlet, this is Dean. He's my older brother, and he can control fire. Just like you," Mason gestured to a guy who resembled him.

"Hey. It's... Uh...Nice to meet you," I mumbled, not really in the mood to talk.

"Hey," Dean said in response. Apparently he wasn't either.

"If you want to be alone, I understand," Mason whispered to me. I nodded.

"There's a bedroom down that hall you can sleep in," he pointed.

"Okay," I sighed. Walking down the long hall, I opened a door that led to a small room. There was a bed in the middle. It clearly hadn't been used in a while.

I laid down on it and stared at the ceiling. Unable to stop myself, I burst into tears. Xavier was all I had left of my family. We weren't blood related but he took care of me when no one else had.

Now he was just...Gone. It was all my fault. If I had just stayed beside him or... Or not of even gone to the festival then none of this would have happened.

That night I cried myself to sleep for the first time in a long, long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Scarlet? Run. They're coming. Run!" Xavier ran towards me, urging me to run.

"Who's coming?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. The Aqua Raiders.

"Look out!" Xavier yelled. He pushed me out of the way as someone swung a knife at me.

I heard Xavier cry out in pain. Looking up at him, I froze. He was covered head to toe in blood.

My hands launched towards the attacker, burning him with hot flames. He yelled and stumbled to the ground. I shot another burst of fire at him.

"Scarlet, wake up! Wake up! Now!" Xavier yelled to me. I looked at him in confusion. He limped over to me and shook me.

"Scarlet, wake up," My eyes flew open to face Mason. He was sitting on the bed, giving me a worried expression. It was all just a nightmare.

"C'mom. Breakfast is ready," he said softly. I sighed and got up.

"Something wrong?" Mason asked as we walked down the hall.

"Yeah, something is wrong," I replies sharply. "The only person who I could trust was murdered last night! Everything is ruined. I was supposed to live a normal life, but now I'm stuck hiding from people in here!" I continued yelling.

Mason backed up a little, a shirt look on his face. "I'm... I'm sorry-"

"No," I cut him off. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't of snapped. It wasn't your fault. You're just trying to help," I said using a soft tone.

We walked into the kitchen where a little bit of food was on the table.

"It's not much but...It's pretty much all we have," Mason rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's better than nothing."