fire starter | l.s [1]

fifteen

However, I did not sleep at all. My eyes never closed for longer than a few seconds. My night was filled with myself almost falling asleep but for some reason, my body would shake me awake. Every time I dared to close my eyes, my body was flooded with anxiety and I had snapped them open at once. I was at war with myself and I couldn't tell if I was winning or losing. However, much to my luck, the sun was now starting to peer over the tops of the trees, releving me of the darkness the night held. 

With the sweet relief of the sun, I sat up from my spot on my sleeping bag. I scanned our camp set-up, making sure everybody was sleeping safe and soundly and they were. Chubs, however, was sleeping in a contorted position with his mouth open slightly, soft snores escaping. I've never needed a camera more in my life.

"Morning," Liam spoke softly beside me, running his hands through his hair.

"Morning," I replied, smiling down at him.

"You sleep okay?" He asked, pushing himself up from the bed.

"Yeah, yeah, I did. How about you?" I lied.

"Like a baby," Liam let out a loud yawn.

"I never got that term," I say, more to myself than to Liam.

"What do you mean?" He asked, cocking his head to the side and offering a small smile.

"Well, babies do not sleep well at all you know? They stay up all night crying and stuff. So when a person says that, does that mean they were up all night crying? Maybe it's a cry for help. Are you okay?" I explained but Liam didn't reply, he just smiled brightly at me. "What? Why are you staring?"

"No reason," he replied, kicking his blanket off of him, "You hungry?"

"Don't change the subject, Li," I laugh, jabbing a finger at his chest.

"I'm not changing the subject. I want to know if you're hungry. So, are you?" He continues to avoid my question.

"Not really," I shrug.

"Not really? Does that mean yes but you don't want to eat?" Liam questioned.

"I'm not hungry," I lie, turning away from his gaze.

"Okay, well we should probably get moving. Could you wake up the others?" Liam asked, standing up from his spot on the couch.

I hummed in response, turning over to face Zu. Her hands were still tucked under her pillow and her long hair had fallen over her face, creating a small curtain. Gently shaking her shoulder, I cooed her name. The child's face scrunched up and there would have been a groan to go along with it if she spoke. Slowly, her eyes opened, and she was sitting up in her bed. I did the same to Ruby and Chubs, soon the whole group was awake, and the sun had fully risen.

Ruby and I were busy packing up the groups stuff while the others ate their breakfast. Liam had insisted I had some food, but I declined. Even if my stomach rumbled loudly, they needed the food more than I did. After a long argument about which direction we should go- giving me the indication that they, in fact, had no idea where they were going- Chubs decided on keeping East since it was called East River. The brains of the group, everybody.

The walk this time was a lot less pleasant. I had no energy whatsoever and I felt like I was going to collapse any minute. Nobody else was particularly happy about the walk either. Liam, who was quite excited to be going on this whole journey, was lagging behind with his shoulders hunched over. Ruby was silent and had no evidence of a smile on her usually perky face.

The forest was starting to become scarce now, just field of yellow, dead grass and many road signs were littered along the road. Most of them were graffitied to warn others about the dangers of the youth. Not that it seemed many people had been taking this road anymore. It was almost totally silent, there were no distance sounds of cars or city noise. Not even a bird whistle could be heard, it was extremely unnerving, to say the least.

Chub's, who was walking beside me, let out a loud groan of frustration after he had let out another sneeze. As I was going to bless him, I was cut off by the sound of a fast car in the distance. At first, I thought nothing of it, neither did anybody else. But then we heard loud gunshots. My mouth dropped open, along with my bag. The car was nearing closer, somebody was sitting at the steering wheel. Another hung out of the window, holding a rifle. Two other cars were close behind, with more people hanging from windows.

"Shit," Liam cursed, dropping his belongings, "You guys stay back," Liam gestures to Zu, Chubs and I, "Ruby, help me."

Ruby nodded and stepped up towards Liam, narrowly missing another bullet. We were in the middle of the field, but that didn't stop them from shooting and driving off the road, on to the field itself. With his eyes glowing blue, Liam had held his hand out and stopped one of the cars from coming any closer. He was letting out grunts of pain and blue veins started to pop out of his arms. Ruby wasn't doing any better, her hand was out in front of her but I saw no change in our current situation. 

"Liam, I can't," she let out a shaky breath, pulling her hand away.

"It's okay," he replied, his voice strained as he held up his other arm and tried to hold off another care.

I knew what I had to do. Despite my hatred for using my powers on other humans, I don't want my friends to get hurt. They're much more important to me now, especially after what happened with my mother. If she couldn't let go what happened in the past, then maybe I should be the one to do so. If I let Serena's death hang over my head my entire life, my life won't be long at all. I swallowed the large lump in my throat that had formed in my throat, due to my anxiety. I was not going to let that control my life anymore, either.

Outstretching my hand and taking a large step forward, I focused all my energy into the familiar tingling sensation forming at my wrist. Soon, sparks had flown out from my hand and shot across the ground. Pushing harder and adding my second hand, I felt a new wave of energy come over me and with it, a sharp pain emitted all over my body. Within seconds the whole field had burst into large, orange flames. I retreated my hands, breathing deeply. My whole body felt like it was floating in the air and there was a wet feeling just under my nose. Liam was calling my name, but his voice was distant, and I could barely make out the phrase he was saying. And with that, everything had gone to black.

I hope the story is getting more interesting now, I have great things planned!!