Rise

Chapter 8

I keep the gun tight in my hand as Jason leads us through halls. The same halls I ran through two weeks ago. Jason takes us up stairs and through the door. This time I can look at my surroundings more thorough now than what I did before. The top part of the walls that I thought were beige ended up being more of a creme color, The light from early morning making everything right. The bottom half of the walls covered in Italian marble all the way down to the floor. Beautiful painting hung above the marble, all spaced evenly, and all in golden frames with intricate designs. Another thing I didn't notice was that I had my flame back. Heat surges up and down my body, I feel alive and finally in control of a situation. I can see it in the others that they have their powers back as well. Cal stands taller than before, his heat covering me in warmth, Fin looks less worried and paranoid. Kira stays in the back of the group, everyone towers over her, she seems to be back to her normal self. Even Alana, her jumpy, observant self, looks normal. Jason and I are leading the group, but she is right behind us, keeping her eyes on her surroundings and staying alert. People watch us in perplexity, instead of turning right, like I did, he takes us left. We walk through the hallways uneasily. We pass a few guards who do even bother to spare us a glance. They don't even look like they care, that or they don't notice who we are. Jason opens one of the huge double doors leading us to what look liked a mess hall. I stare around in confusion. Why the hell are we here? At first, no one notices us. We might actually get away with this. I hear a woman scream, I turn to face her and I regretted it immediately. Clara as the first person I see, her mud brown hair and striking emerald eyes were easy to spot and it didn't take her long to figure out who I was. The guards watching the doors have their guns aimed while families and stragglers blur along, barely shadows as they run to safety. Do they think were that dangerous?

It doesn't take long for the soldiers start shooting when a blaze of fire burst from the crowd, curling through the air like a flaming snake. It thunders overhead, making the already bright room brighter. Shadows paint the walls and twisted facs, transforming the serene mess hall into a nightmare of red light and gunpowder.

"So you want to fight with your ability huh? I can do that." A small smirk forms on Clara's face, her eyes flickering from the floor and back to me. Suddenly a vine erupts from the floor, swinging at me with full force. I start chucking fire at the vine to slow it down then I surround myself with a cage of flames. Once the vine disintegrates, I let down the wall and start attacking her with every inch of power I got. Clara stomps down hard on the floor, it cracks upwards right in my direction, flinging me backwards. I flip through the air, combining my brothers flame with my own, wrapping the inferno around her body and slowly bring it down, crushing her against a raging fire and the floor I hear a scream and smell the burning flesh, I push a bit harder. I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Cal look at me then nods his head, telling me that it's time to stop. The flames disappear quickly. I stare down at Clara.

"I promised I wouldn't hurt anyone. I didn't want to hurt anyone." My voice was strained. I'm not as good as hiding my emotions like my brother or Ki. I tend to express how I feel instead of keeping things civil. It was true, i didn't want to hurt anyone, but I promised my brother I would get us out, he means more to me than anyone.

"I thought we all could get out of this without a scratch. But you had to run in here, guns blazing" Flames slowly crawl up my arms, the heat is familiar and a small comfort that I take in stride.

"You were the one who put a gun to my head. What the fuck did you expect Adara!" Jason's voice rings through the destroyed room. He must have found his way over to the Rise soldiers during all the commotion. The main doors of the mess hall swing open, the guards go still and silent as stone. Five people walk down the makeshift aisle, three are men, they look to be in their early thirties and two women who look to be in their late twenties, they all look physically fit but their demeanor seems rather harmless. They still manage to put me and the others on edge, actually they seem to put everyone on edge. Jason's eyes widen when he sees the group of bodies come closers.