Doctor Strange: The Eternal Flame *DISCONTINUED*

Chapter 4

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

----

Ooh, baby! Peter's here! There's gonna be a lot of him throughout the story. Almost every chapter will contain his POV. We're gettin' there!

----

Muffled voices contemplated choices. Choices that would change the universe of a small and lonely girl. Give her a completely new and crazy life, crazier than the one she had already lived before. Her entire existence a mystery to even the wisest of the world. This girl sat in a cage of her own creation, one that couldn't be broken. Well, it could, Stephen and Wong just couldn't figure out how. Samrah was still in the bubble of bright orange and yellow light, hugging her knees and swaying back and forth.

Despite their countless attempts to shatter the shield protecting Samrah, the thing refused to break. It merely wiggled and then returned to normal. It was like an ocean that was suddenly disturbed by the simplest crashing of a few items and then calmed by some unknown and invisible force of serenity. It perplexed and annoyed the poor girl trapped inside of it. Stephen and Wong had stayed up through the darkest hours of the night trying to help her and fix the mess created by the Sand Demon.

Samrah shivered as its blood red eyes entered her mind. She took a deep breath and closed her eyelids. She had to be strong, she couldn't break in front of two people who were so strong and sure of themselves. How would she seem to them? Weak and fragile? Maybe she was but she wouldn't let them figure that out. Stephen already looked like he expected more from her and she was hellbent on delivering it. There was something about his eyes that made her want to make him as proud as humanly possible. Samrah was going to prove herself...in whatever way she could.

That opportunity was apparently closer than she had expected because Stephen had mentioned something about training. Training? But for what? A marathon? Ooh, maybe he was training her for school! He had mentioned that earlier but one thought kept creeping into her mind that made her want to curl up and hide in the darkest room she could. The idea of being trained for what she had seen, being trained to so what he and Wong could do. Magic...that's what she identified it as. That's what it looked like, that's what it felt like.

When Stephen had conjured the ropes of light Samrah had been immediately entranced by how they worked. Where they came from and what they did. She felt a weird connection the crazy amount of cold energy Stephen pulsated on a daily basis. Samrah could normally feel the presence of a person. Ever since she was five when she had needed it the most. Every living thing gave off a certain amount of energy. To her, she specified it as a person's life force. The younger they were, the more they radiated. It was the opposite for people who were older but the case was different for Stephen and Wong.

Wong was emitting more than the average person but Stephen was like a cold current of water. Splashing her from every angle and making her body shudder with a feeling of excitement and fear. She somehow felt a deep respect for this feeling. It felt cold and calculating but protective and brave. It made her just as confused as he looked whenever their eyes met. Samrah didn't know why he was confused or why she was confused. Sometimes she wondered if anyone else out there could feel her. What would her essence feel like? Small and unnoticeable or as furious as a raging fire. She liked to think she was the former... It made hiding an easier thought.

Samrah knew they were talking about her because Stephen had that look in his eyes. The confusion and fire inside of them represented whatever conflicts were warring within himself. She didn't know what about her made him so distraught and it made Samrah feel bad often. Whatever it was she would fix it. Samrah didn't like it when anyone felt uncomfortable around her, it made her feel uncomfortable. His brows were creased and his lips were pressed together. His black hair was shuffled and sweaty. He was constantly running his hands through his hair, tussling it up as he would let out a sigh. Wong was speaking rather passionately to Stephen and Stephen was nodding considerately. They were probably talking about her training specifically and it made her heart thump loudly in her chest.