The Glorious Flame (#2)

Chapter 32

Inferno

     "Give me a sign-ah-ah-n! Hit me baby one more time!" Inferno sang, laughing as she tumbled onto the sand, dropping the empty bottle of liquor. She looked to Rouhem who sat there, clutching his stomach as he too sang along.  

     Inferno looked to the bonfire, entranced by the flame, and the dark blue outline of the ocean and the wet sand. The waves crashed, the moon glowed, and she could even hear the seaguls cry out. "Rouhem." 

     His eyes shifted and focused on her. She admitted to herself that she has met stares by many men for very different reasons, innocent or not, but there was nothing quite like his focus trained on her in this world they lived in, something she was certain to never be met again by any other being. "Yes?"

     As her sickness chipped at her supernatural enhancements, it also chipped at her usually high tolerance for whiskey. Maybe it was the alcohol speaking. "I hate my family." There, she said it. 

     He leaned him head back and smirked. That lazy gaze brought all kinds of shivers over her, especially as the low hues of the yellow and orange fire illuminated his peculiar eyes. "Now why is that?" 

     Inferno fed the glass bottle to the fire. It shattered, bringing life to the flames. She wished the whole world would burn, just so they would feel what she felt constantly. "They left me, Rouhem: Mommy," she drawled, "Daddy, hell even my brothers let me go. I mean, how evil can a child be to deserve such a thing?" She was slurring by the end. She looked around to search for another bottle. 

      "Why did they leave you?" 

     Inferno snorted, and lain herself on her side. Her back was feeling a little better, only because the whiskey did great at numbing her agony. She looked to him and lifted her shirt up, maybe a little too much, but she was pretty sure there was nothing left he hadn't seen. "I was shot right there, an arrow sliced through my stomach. I was a child. I think the boogeyman spooked them. They thought they were protecting me, but they really were sending me into the arms of a demon who could make the boogeyman quiver," she giggled, "and I hate them for it." 

     His handsome features wrinkled with concern. "They sent you away to protect you?" 

     She made air quotes when he said 'protection'. "Did you notice me rolling my eyes just then?" 

     He didn't laugh like she wanted him to. "What happened to you that made you hate your family so?" 

     Inferno felt the slightest bit of consciousness at his alarming question. Did she dare reveal something so grotesque? "If I told you what happened," she leaned forward, "I'd have to kill ya'."

     "I suppose you deserve to keep your secrets as do I," he conceited, laying down next to her. She liked his near vicinity. 

     Inferno tugged at one of his curls. "I doubt your secrets could be so bad. I mean, there are few things that can out-pity my pity-party." 

     He smiled. "You might be right, but let's not test that fact. Let's get back to you." Wow, the light hit his smooth complexion perfectly. 

     "Me?" she laughed and scooted closer. "What about me?" 

     It was his turn to tug one of her locks. He looked entirely entranced. "I'm no Dr. Phil, but I am guessing that you must want something from your family." 

     "Yeah, their resources-" 

     He shook his head. "There are plenty of other rich and dangerous people that you know. You don't need them that badly. You chose them for a reason. Maybe its time you figure that out?"