fire starter | l.s [1]

seventeen

The training rooms were always dimly lit when we were practicing our powers. Cate says it was dangerous to practice with heavy lighting, so we needed the absolute minimum. As Cate did her usual morning talk, I stared down at my tightly laced black boots. As I stared, another foot nudged my own and I looked up to see Ryan's gleaming face. I smiled timidly back at him and refocused on Cate.

After she had finished talking, the partners all started to get together in different sections of the room. As usual, Cate would always be watching Ryan and I as I was the only person who could create enough fire for the task at hand. Even though it was extremely exhausting, and I hated using my powers, I still did it to please Cate. I feel like I owe my life to her.

Standing at our normal positions, I held my hands out, ready to show Ryan. A toothy grin from the dark-skinned boy was my indication that he was ready for me to show him. Sucking in a deep breath, I focused all my energy into my hand which resulted in a successful attempt at creating fire. There was an approving look from Cate and she moved on to the next group.

"Wanna try?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know," Ryan replied, scratching the back of his neck.

"You'll be fine I promise," I smiled, showing him how he should hold out his hands.

"Okay, ready? One, two, three," on the count of three I felt a new type of power surge through my body but it didn't feel good. It felt poisonous.

Before I could help it, I had lost control of the fire and I couldn't aim it anywhere. Loud screams were scattered throughout the room, some of them were my own. However, there a was a louder scream, more painful. I tried to stop the flow of the seemingly endless fire, I felt as though I was going to pass out. Cate was screaming now, I couldn't really hear because my ears were ringing but I got bits and pieces of it.

"Amelia! Stop... hurt!" Her voice called out.

I squinted my eyes to find the source of the voice and my powers very quickly died down. I looked at the half singed room, my stomach falling out to my feet. Turning, I saw....

"Ryan!" I called, running to his side, almost tripping over my own feet. His body was burnt to a crisp and his chest wasn't moving up and down like it's supposed to. This time, I let out a more painful scream, "Ryan! Wake Up!" I shook his body rapidly as the many tears flowed down my cheeks. I repeated his name as if it was the only thing that had left my mouth. I screamed until my throat felt dry and two hands had wrapped around my arms to take me away. A new form of guilt settled down in the bottom of my stomach. He was my friend. I had killed my friend. My vision blurred from the tears that had settled in my eyes as I was dragged away from another innocent life I had taken.

There was a shaking of my own shoulders and my eyes snapped open, adjusting to the surroundings. Liam had his hands on either side of me and the other three were crowded behind him. My chest was beating quickly and there was a wetness of my cheeks that had now become too familiar. Liam brought his hand to my hair and brushed away a few strands, his other hand holding me up at the small of my back.

"You're okay, Lia," he said softly, bringing his hand down to stroke my cheek.

I didn't respond with words, I just reached out and wrapped my arms around his neck tightly. There was a moment where he didn't hug back because it was so sudden but then there was also the moment when he hugged back, snaking his arms tightly around my back. I buried my face in his chest and took in the feel of him. The feel of how his fingers lightly pressed into my back and the feel of his broad chest keeping me safe from everything I've ever done. We hugged for a while, we hugged until there was a cough coming from behind us. Slowly, I recoiled my arms from his neck and he moved his hands away from my shoulder. Ruby was biting down on her lip, trying to hide an obvious smile and Chubs had his arms folded with a grin on his own face.