The Elementals; Fire

Chapter 14

Roman let out a weirdly high pitched squeal and tried to put out the growing fire on his front, not really succeeding all that well. No one moved, and the guilt started to creep into my body. It wasn't until Luka put out the fire with a wave of water, did the reality hit me of what I had done. No one else saw it like I did, though..

"Well done Layla!" The congratulations coming from Lukas mouth shocked me as much as the fire, that was now put out from Romans chest. The said person also had a massive grin on his face, like he hadn't almost just been burnt to a crisp. I could feel my eye starting to twitch, a sign that I was stressed, tired, and not in the mood for whatever was making me feel this way.

"I told you to stop" My voice held no emotion, and it wiped the smiles off of everyone's faces.

"Layla, it worked, do you feel it?" I did feel it, I had memorised the feeling and the way the fire had pushed itself off my palms and into the air, but I was too busy trying to shake off the guilt and a different kind of angry to be able to rejoice and celebrate.

"That's not the point. I told you to stop, I didn't want to do it, but you pushed me over the edge. Talia, Roman, you could see I didn't want to do it, yet you didn't do anything to stop it"

"It's the only way, we tried other methods and this was the only one that worked, you've got to understand that" Talia was the only one trying to reason with me, Roman stood with his eyes on the ground, Luka had an unreadable face on, the anger on me turned to hurt.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't like being pushed into things, and this is by far the worst thing you've done, and I don't know if I can over come from this" I could feel the hurt spreading deeper into my bones. I thought they truly could've been my friends, but friends don't do this, especially without my permission.

"Layla it was for the be-" I cut Luka off, I was sick of hearing him, and that really was a first.

"I don't care if it was the best for you, it wasn't the best way for me, and that's all that should matter" and with one hard long look into his eyes, trying to to crumble under the sweet blue in his eyes, I turned away and started walking towards the house. I'd managed to get through the back door and through the kitchen before I felt a cool hand grasp my arm, I pulled it out and away, ignoring how nice the coldness contrasted with my skin.

"Luka not now, I'm going home" I didn't want to look at him, because I knew if I did, I would melt and forgive, and I didn't want to do that, quite frankly I wanted that to stop happening.

"Layla please, it wasn't our intention to upset you." I outright laughed at that, could you blame me?

"What? You really thought you could make me angry and not upset me at the same time? That's asking for a bit much isn't it?"

"It's the only way to make it happen, I know we keep saying that, but it's true. You wouldn't have been able to do that, to get that feeling without being truly at the end of your tether" I shook my head, I didn't agree with that.

"You guys didn't even ask for my permission, you just dove straight into it" he didn't respond for a second, and I thought I had him.

"Would you honestly have got so angry if we had told you beforehand? If we had just come out and told you, oh by the way we are going to make you angry, but we don't mean it? You're telling me you would've reacted the same way you did back then?" He, in fact, had me there, because I knew deep down, I wouldn't have reacted the same way, I just responded my sighing.

"Layla" the way he softly said my name, he almost sounded sad, and hurt. What did he have to be hurt about? He wasn't the one who had set his friend on fire.

"Please turn around" I couldn't, I changed the subject instead.

"I could've seriously hurt Roman, Luka. He was on fire, it could've been a lot worse"

"To be honest Layla, we were supposed to be prepared for someone to be set on fire, I'm a little disappointed in Roman for being distracted enough to know blow the fire away" this angered me, unfortunately, enough to make me spin around so I could tell him exactly what I thought to his face. Except when I looked into his eyes, the words fell from my mouth. They looked as sad as his voice sounded. He took my silence to his advantage. Taking a step forward, I could feel the chill slowly creep through my body, in almost a comforting way.

"We never meant to hurt your feelings Layla. I never meant to hurt your feelings"

"It certainly seemed that way" even breathy, I couldn't help but shoot that back, because it was the truth, he sure did seem, on many occasions, to want to make me angry and wind me up.

"It might seem that way, but I never want to see you, or anyone in this group, genuinely hurt or upset, especially to hear a voice so devoid of emotion, or a face so let down like yours did."

"It was a step too far" He seemed to be getting closer by the second, but I wasn't complaining.

"Maybe so, but it was necessary. We thought with your fire, it would be painless and take a short amount of time, but you resisted, very well actually, and I was glad, but not as glad as I was to see the beautiful fire come from within you" His eyes were still captivating mine, but I could sense the sincerity in them, nevertheless, I shook my head.

"It's dangerous" He frowned, clearly disagreeing with me.

"Dangerous? No. Magical? Definitely" I rolled my eyes at his discreet pun, now was not the time.

"You've seen how angry I get, and how quickly. What's to say I would explode over something so small, and hurt innocent people?" This was the small fear that had been implanted into my brain when I first saw my ability with my own eyes, I didn't want to be cause of anyone's injuries or death. Lukas eyes softened and he grabbed my hand, and gave it a soft squeeze.

"I haven't known you long, but I know for a fact you wouldn't ever do that, intentionally or not. You aren't that kind of person, mentally or physically" I felt my body warm up, but this time not in anger.

"You can't be one hundred percent sure though" he squeezed my hand again, and it reassured me.

"Trust me, I can be" and I believed him. Staring into his eyes, I realised I trusted him with my whole heart, and I barely even knew him, but in that moment, I didn't care. I couldn't see anything but him, and the emotions that were running through his eyes, I was sure the same were running through mine. I was always the do first, think later kind of girl, and this was no exception. The moment he started closing in, I felt my eyes flutter and close, and I started doing the same. I could feel the chills violently rack through my body, but in a delightful way, in a way I enjoyed. I could feel his cool breath lightly fan over me, and I waited in anticipation for the final move. To experience what I knew would be something excellent, any second and I knew I would be in complete bliss.

"Oh my Goodness!"