Everything Upside Down

S I X T E E N: The Truth Twisted

"Don't come near me!" Sophie choked, her voice barely getting through her gritted teeth.
Fintan lowered the fires edging onto the roof for a moment, but Sophie didn't relax. "Why don't we just talk first?"
Sophie wasn't stupid, she could tell he was stalling for something. But so was she. Sophie was at least going either the Black Swan or her previous captors could track her down. Either way, she needed time to think.
Sophie took a few, small steps away from him and the gesture was enough to let Fintan know she was listening.
He waved his arm at the destruction around them like it was a painting in a museum. "Look at all of this"
She warily eyes the flames behind him, but Fintan shook his head. "Look closer" he whispered.
Sophie took a deep breath and concentrated on the flickering shades of orange, red, and blue folding into each other. Sophie soon realized that Fintan didn't mean for her to look with her eyes. The flames felt like an extension of her body. Sophie didn't even realize her hand reaching to touch a small one no more than a few inches from her feet. She should have been petrified, but somehow the flames were calming.
She just wanted to touch it...
"Sophie!"
The voice broke through the mirage of flames like a knife. Sophie spun around to see a dark haired boy with eyes of pure turquoise pushing himself up and onto the roof. He gracefully landed to the floor and joined by her side in seconds. Sophie couldn't explain it, but just like the flames, she felt drawn to this boy. But her attraction wasn't fake likes the fire, it was something different than that.
Trust.
Fintan smiled coyly at the boy's flustered face and drew the fire back. "Mr. Vacker, I was wondering when you would show up"
The boy, a Vacker, stepped forward and his surprise was shook shaken off. "Don't touch her" he said, his voice so low and dark that Sophie didn't doubt what he would do to save her.
Fintan grinned with gleaming teeth. It was always a game with him. "It's not me you should be worried about. I only arrived minutes ago," he paused darkly, "Yet these flames were here when I arrived"
Sophie furrowed her bore and scanned the area. He was right. The burns covering the ground were long and dark, creating a wick chessboard of the fields.
Sophie clutched her stomach when she realized what had happened. The Vacker boy hadn't yet, so he turned to her. "Sophie, what does he mean?"
Sophie couldn't bear to meet his eyes, she was too ashamed even if she didn't know who he was. Fintan answered for her luckily.
"Don't you understand? It wasn't me who set these fires....."
Pause.
Flames cracklings.
Faint shouts.
The cries of animals.
"It was Sophie"