Claimed By Zodiacs

Chapter 27

# Aria Fireheart

I watched behind the shelves as the petite girl with violet eyes went out to stop the intruder. Meanwhile, the mean redhead sat on the couch, a hand on her dislocated shoulder.

*I must have pushed too hard... *

Before I knew it, I was already creeping up to her without a sound. She stopped murmuring as she caught a glimpse of my impressive footwear. Her sharp gaze reminded me of someone...but who was it? Or is it that I knew her somewhere?

"Does it hurt?" I whispered, just to break the ice.

"It doesn't...damn you... Of course it hurts!" she hissed. "Aiden trained you too well kid." She winced. "Gods! I hate the both of you. You two are freaks of nature."

* Aiden... *

The mention of the name struck a chord, and I could feel a tightening in my chest. That Aiden had planted a ticking time bomb inside me. Who is he and what is he to me?

Her puffy eyes of gunmetal blue studied me without shame.

"You really don't remember me?"

A flash of a grinning medic in green scrubs flashed at the back of my mind. Once, then an avalanche...of her hunting barefooted with a boy wearing a smile that reached his eyes...of her playing fetch with hunting dogs...of her chinking glasses with a dashing redhead, both eyes crinkled with unabashed laughter...of her calling my name amidst the burning woods and screaming children...of a young girl's voice shouting back for help...

That girl was me.

I tested the words in my tongue before blurting it out.

"Miss Maddie," I muttered at last.

Her irises turned a livelier shade of blue at the mention of her name. Or maybe it was just the light.

"Have you been crying?"

She swallowed a laugh about to escape from her lips. Gasping for air, she wiped the stray tears from her cheeks.

"Stop making fun of me kid. I, Madeline Wildfire, never cries."

"O-okay." Yet it's not okay. The name Wildfire echoed in my head, too much that it started to hurt. I am supposed to remember the name. I need to remember that name.

She must have noticed my internal battle because she stopped.
"You're about to faint."

"Nevermind me." I reached out to touch her dislocated shoulder. She tensed then relaxed as my hands instinctively found the right points of pressure. Without a word, I pushed, making her cry out in pain. She gasped after I'm done, face beaded with sweat.

I watched her back rise and fall for a moment before asking another question.

"The name Wildfire makes my head spin. Why is that?"

A teary-eyed Maddie glanced my way. She opened her mouth to reply but was cut short by the petite girl from earlier, sprinting inside the room like a lunatic.

"Aria! Oh..."

We watched as the redhead wiped the tears that started flowing.

"Don't look!" she warned as she wiped her snot like a baby.

We tried, but it was futile. My guts tells me that this woman seldom cries...and this moment here is gold. The waterworks had started pooling, and there's no stopping it. I glanced away only to meet dilated violet eyes. The incessant ticking in my head intensified as I studied the random freckles on her nose and cheeks. I closed my eyes to recall anything but I couldn't. Those eerie violet eyes ogling me threw my memories off the window.