scorch | c.h

one

Five Years Later

With her knees tucked closely to her chest, she sat along the scarce edge of the river bank, looking at the way her reflection moved and rippled with the wind. She'd never liked her reflection, always doubted what she could see from the outside. But she was even more afraid of what was inside of her.

The young woman, just peaking at seventeen years of age, was looking around the desolate area in search of somebody. But like always, she was alone. Not that she minded, though. There was only one problem with being alone; you were left with your dangerous and endless thoughts with nobody to tell you how wrong you were.

The clouds seemed to thin out and reveal the cyan blue skies, stretched across the city. Light gusts of wind whispered against the tree tops around her and disturbed the blades of grass she was sitting on. She'd even seen a few ducks here and there as she sat, the wind blowing through her caramel curls.

"I'm sorry, Janice," she spoke quietly, as if she were right next to her and they were attempting to make amends. But Evangeline knew Janice wasn't to be found anywhere in this city. They'd moved mere months after her incident.

Eva picked a blade of grass and watched as it flew away with the current of the wind and landed in the lake somewhere.

"I wouldn't hurt you on purpose," she whispered. "Never."

She held up her right hand, uncurling her fingers from the prior fists they'd made and watched as fire danced from her palm, small flames glowing in her eyes. Every time she looked into the fire, she saw her sister, at eight years old, getting burned all over her precious arms. Evangeline cringed as she remembered the pain etched across Janice's face. She knew if they met again, she still wouldn't be forgiven.

She closed her fists and clenched her eyes shut in an attempt to vanquish the memory, but it would only come crawling back from the depths of her mind.

Suddenly, an unnatural sound rang throughout the tranquil lake, that being her mobile phone.

"Hello?" she spoke, dusting off her jeans as she stood.

"Eva, do you mind coming to help with the shop? It's getting pretty busy here and my cashier called in sick this morning," her guardian, Jasmine, asked.

Jasmine was a woman in her early thirties, who'd wanted a child since she ever remembered. Unfortunately, she was unable to have children in her lifetime, so when she found Eva, wandering the streets alone with tears flowing from her big, brown eyes... she felt obligated to take care of her.

At first, Evangeline was scared of hurting her, so she'd try to stay away in order to keep Jasmine safe. But just like the motherly figure she always was, she wouldn't let up until she found out why Eva was so distant.

She knew that Eva could bend fire, but to her, that wasn't a problem. In fact, she believed her little Eva was even more special in that sense - so she helped her to control her powers, not to be afraid of them.

The pair lived above Jas' flower shop in the city, working with one another and creating beautiful floral arrangements. It was almost as if they were mother and daughter. Almost.

"Yes, I'll come and help out," she breathed quietly into the phone and cleared her throat, "I'll be there in ten."

And with that, she hung up and begun to walk back home.

-

"There you are!" her guardian cheered, her long dark hair swaying about as she exasperatedly arranged bouquets for a growing line of customers. "I think a lot of people are having the same idea for Mother's Day, not that I mind though. It's business!" She clapped her hands and escorted me to the checkout till, running to the back room to fill the next order.

The pair worked in perfect harmony until the crowd had died down to just mere people looking at the bouquets already on display.

Just as Eva thought her help wasn't needed any longer, a young boy walked in and looked around for a brief moment. Once he'd caught sight of her, he smiled widely and made his way over with an unspoken confidence.

"Would you mind coming to help me choose some flowers for my mum? I figured since you were beautiful yourself, you'd pick something beautiful for her."

Eva blushed and nodded, walking around the counter to lead him to her favourite flower: the purple lilies. She loved that they weren't the traditional white colour you'd expect, and they matched perfectly with orchids and hydrangeas.

"Why are these purple?" the boy questioned, holding them with curious eyes.

"I-I.. don't know, really," she spoke sheepishly, distracting herself by picking out some other flowers that accompanied the colours and then some greenery to tie it all together. She placed it in a beautiful, pink box and tied a delicate bow around it. "Would you like me to put a message in?"

He nodded and revealed his perfectly white teeth, digging through his pockets for his wallet.

Eva wrote Happy Mother's Day in her beautiful cursive writing, then pausing when she realised she didn't know his name.

"Calum," he spoke, knowing she'd paused for him to introduce himself. She nodded in gratitude and signed it, putting it with the arrangement and ringing up the order.

Calum paid with a permanent gleaming smile, sending her a small wink as he left.

She almost smiled back, but she remembered that she couldn't be too friendly towards anybody, otherwise they'd come back and want to get closer to her. She didn't want that at all, so she just huffed sadly and retreated upstairs to their apartment, wanting nothing more than to sit in her room and listen to music.

The thing she thought as she walked into her room was why me? Why did I have to be dangerous? I don't want any of this.