Bright Fire (Bright Fire Series Book 1) (5 page)

Chapter

12

"What are you going to tell her?" Alec asks as we walk out the door.

"I’m not sure. I don't want to lie because she can see through it, so I'm going to have to keep it to a minimum. Maybe I'll tell her my biological father is a serial killer."

He chuckles. "Technically that is not a lie."

"Yeah, I know, but it still feels like a lie."

By the car, there is a homeless man screaming into the night. He looks like those men that stand on the side of the road talking about the end of days, complete with a cardboard sign. As we get closer to him, I can hear bits and pieces. Bright…is…saved. It sounds like total gibberish, so we keep walking. The cardboard sign says; 'she will be saved!'

Just as we pass him, the homeless man grabs my shoulders. "The Bright Fire is the key. The Bright Fire will save her. The Bright Fire is her only hope."

Alec grabs the homeless man’s hands and bends them both back with a sickening snap. The man howls out in pain and Alec pulls me along to the passenger side of his car.

"Why did you break that man’s wrists?"

"He was harassing you and my job is to keep that from happening."

"He is a crazy old homeless man screaming about a woman who was going to be saved. How big of a threat could he have been?"

"I'm not willing to take that chance."

~~~~

At
Lyla's house, I go to the door, and Alec is right behind me. "Where do you think you’re going?"

"With you, of course." He looks at me like I’m an imbecile for not knowing the answer.

I hold up my hand. "Look, this possessive ‘I’m not letting you out of my sight’ attitude is wearing thin. There is no way Lorraine is going to let you in her house, let alone Lyla’s room. You can wait outside. Right here." I point at the stoop for emphasis.

"OK, but if I see or hear anything I'm coming in guns blazing."

My eyes widen and he holds up his hands. "Kidding, kidding. I don’t use guns, relax. But do try to hurry because it’s rude to leave people on door stoops you know."

I roll my eyes and walk into the house.

"Delfia Stryker! What the hell happened to you at school today? I got a call from Ms. Thorpe, in a frenzy. She said you and this boy left school early after some sort of tussle. I was worried sick. How could you do that to me?" Lorraine is on a rampage, and if she is a force to be reckoned with in a nightgown, I can’t put words to the scene of her wrath in a business suit.

"I’m sorry. I wish I could explain it, but I can't right now." I look down.

"Is this about your parents?"

I jerk my head up.

"Because, you know it's normal to lash out after the death of a loved one." Her face softens instantly.

"Yes. This is about my parents, my real parents. They are trying to get in touch with me, seeing as I don't have any other family. I just needed time to think. I've decided to go back home until I can figure out what I want to do. Thank you so much for letting me stay here, but I don't want to overstay my welcome." I feel sick inside with guilt over lying so well to someone I love so much.

She looks stunned. I take this moment to run up the stairs to Lyla’s room. I hurry in and shut the door. I’m sure I only have a few minutes before Lorraine attempts to stop me.

"Hey," I say and move toward her bed. She doesn’t look up.
Great
. The silent treatment; which means I’m in big trouble. She’s looking down at her phone. "Look, I know I had you worried but some stuff has gone down and I've had a terrible, with a capital T day. I could really use my best friend right now." She continues to stare at the phone,
no dice
. Time to bring out the big guns; guilt. "Listen, Lyla. Please, please don’t be upset with me. I had to take off, the same people after my parents are after me."

She jerks her head up, her face full of concern.
Gotchya

"It’s just that I found out who my real parents are today. And believe you me, I did not want to know. To top it off my dad is a psycho that makes Manson and Bundy look like Queen fricking Elizabeth, and I don’t know exactly what to do about it."

At this point, I stop, and her jaw drops. "What? Your real parents? Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I didn’t daydream about them often. But when I did, I dreamt they were doctors or astronauts."

"Your mom isn't a psycho too, Is she?"

"No, she’s his prisoner. It’s a long story. Anyways, I have to go. I have to try to make sense of this, and I can’t do it here and put you and your mom at risk. I didn’t exactly tell your mom the truth, so I need you to cover for me. She’ll probably catch on fast, but I just need a little time to sort it out. I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"

"Yes. But if your dad is a psycho, shouldn’t we call the police?"

"They can’t help. Trust me, this is way bigger than that. You are my best friend, and I love you, but I need you to keep this between you and me for your safety. If anybody strange asks if you know me, lie. You’ve never heard of me." I can hear Lorraine banging around downstairs. I have maybe two minutes tops. "Promise me, Lyla."

"OK, I promise." I give her a deep hug. I fight back tears because I have no idea when I’m going to see her again. But I know I have to get away to keep her safe. I shove the thoughts away and leave through her window. I don’t have it in me to battle Lorraine.

Chapter

13

I slowly climb out of the window. It’s not that far of a drop, and I’ve done it a few times before, but the toe of my Chucks catch on the lip of the trellis and I slip. I wait for my butt to impact with the lawn, but it doesn’t. Instead, I feel strong arms curl around my legs and neck. It’s Alec. I almost forgot he was waiting for me out here. I look up, and he is smirking this heart-stopping grin that did funny things to the rhythm of my pulse.

"Smooth." He smiles and places my feet on the damp grass.

"You think so? It’s all in the landing," I say sarcastically.

I straighten my T-shirt and brush off the non-existent dirt from my knees. I walk towards the car. I want to get away from the feeling his smile gives me and the warmth of his arms around my body.

"I’m only kidding," he says because the silent treatment bothers to him.

"I’m not even upset about that." I realize it’s true as I say it. "I’m mostly mad at myself for lying to the only two people I have left that care about me."

"What am I chopped liver?" He places a hand over his heart as if he is physically wounded.

"You know what I mean. People who are not bound by some mythological nonsense to protect me."

"It’s not like that." He scowls.

"I know, I'm just crabby. I just wish it were still simple like when we were kids, and Lyla would stay the night, and my dad would read us stories. Back then it was so easy and safe. I miss safe."

"Your dad read to you?"

"Well sure, didn’t yours?"

"No." I catch a small glimpse of sadness in his eyes. Before I can question him about it, he deflects. "What did he read to you?"

"Oh, mostly fairy tales with knights in shining armor and fairy princesses. The usual stuff. Occasionally when it was just him and me and my mom was off at her sister's or something, he would read other stuff. It was like our own little thing that no one else got to share. There is this one about a girl who is a total badass and takes on this monster and saves the day. It was one of my favorites because it wasn’t the same damsel in distress stuff in all the traditional fairy tales like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty." Oh shoot, what was the name? He hasn't read it to me in a long time but how could I forget the name? "Something about a shiny, no, crap there was a girl with a weird name. Bright…. Bright um."

"Bright Fire," he says softly.

"Yeah, that’s it!" I jump up. "Oh! Do you think? But no that guy was just a homeless man."

"At this point, do you honestly believe it is a coincidence?"

"No, I guess not."

"Where can we find the book?"

"I don’t know my house maybe or a library?"

"I doubt it will be in a library. Something tells me it’s a one of a kind."

I freeze. "Alec, I'm sorry, but I can't go back there. No way Jose, it's not happening." Panic rises in my throat. How can I go back to the place where my parents ceased to exist? And on a whim hoping for a clue from a book no less. "Sorry, you're going to have to do this one on your own Mr. Guardian. I'm not up for this."

"I wouldn’t know what I'm looking for, and you need to pack some stuff anyways."

"Pack stuff?" I look at him with curiosity for a minute before he continues.

"You have no place to go, and I don't have girly stuff to accommodate you at my house. So, unless you want to sleep in boxers and go without a toothbrush, then we have to go." His grin is annoying me. For a second, I swear he sounds hopeful about the boxers part.

I shake my head to clear the distraction. "Fine but I need to go at my own pace no rushing me. To you this was a fallen hero; to me this was my life, my childhood, and my happiness torn to shreds. Can you manage to muster enough consideration for that?" I snap. I have no idea where that came from. I don't mean to take it out on him, but he's the only person around.

"Of course, my lady." He bows asking me to lead the way in some medieval tradition. He's trying to break through my crabbiness.

I smile a fraction and start walking to the car.

We talk the whole way to my house, or rather I talk about my childhood. I talk about what my parents were like, anything and everything. He seems like he really wants to know, and it feels good to focus on the positive.

We pull up in front of my walkway. Was it
my
walkway anymore? What was going to happen to this place? I take a deep breath, and as I look at Alec, his face is understanding and supportive. I turned the knob and open the door.

Chapter

14

The door opens to silence. The kind of eerie silence where you can hear a pin drop. There is no happy man with scruffy hair waiting to greet his two favorite ladies. There is only cold air and faded memories.

Tentatively I take a step into the foyer and look around. I’m not sure what I think is going to happen. Maybe goblins and ghouls to appear, but to my relief, it’s still silent. I can feel Alec relax imperceptibly next to me, and I know the coast is clear.

Right down to business. I have a mission, and I need to focus on it to keep me from breaking down.

"OK, so maybe we should check my dad’s study. He kept all sorts of books in there."

I lead the way into the study. It reminds me of a college professor’s office. The smell of paper and ink instantly put me at ease. I start sorting through books on the shelves lining the right wall.

"I can't remember what it looks like. It was so long ago, and it isn’t like there is any rhyme or reason to my father's collection as far as I can tell." I sigh in frustration. I had hoped to walk in, find it and be out in five minutes or less. Why on earth do I think anything could be that easy?

"Patience grasshopper." Alec tries to diffuse my tension. I notice the more frustrated I get, the more at ease he gets. It’s like we are two sides to a coin with our mindsets. It’s disconcerting to know we make such a good team without really knowing each other.

This prompts a thought. "Why do you always ask about me and give nothing of yourself in return?"

He stops his search of the left wall. "Um, I don’t know? What do you want to know?"

"Anything really. I just feel like I don’t know anything about you, besides you are a guardian, and I am your charge. What's your favorite food, book, hairstyle, anything."

He chuckles. "My favorite food is anything edible. Favorite book, well, I don’t read a lot outside of my studies and fashion doesn’t interest me."

"Wow, how insightful," I say sarcastically. "Wait, you don’t read? How does anyone not read?"

"Not all of us are bookworms, you know."

"Yeah. But still books are the way of escape; to enter into a fantasy world."

"As if you aren’t already doing that."

"Well yeah, but you know what I mean. I don’t necessarily have a favorite book, but my favorite genre is YA fantasy where the reader is drawn into a whole other world of fairies and trolls."

"Please tell me you aren’t going to make me read a book where vampires glitter and werewolves look like male supermodels."

I snort. "Not all books are like that you know." I move from the right wall to the desk. Sifting through my father’s things makes me feel like I’m violating his space, like a common thief.

"I’ll make you a deal. You find me a good book, and I’ll try to sit and read it."

I notice a false bottom in one of the drawers and shimmy it open with a pair of scissors. It’s here, tattered edges and all. I can’t grab it. My body feels limp at the sight of a childhood relic, and the memories cause a lump in my throat.

"Or, better yet. How about I read this one?" Alec is behind me, and I jump a little. He reaches in and grabs the book. He turns it over in his hands. "Hmm,
Bright Fire Saves The Day
by Cassandra Park." He flips through the pages, and a slip of paper falls out.

He picks it up and hands it to me without even looking at it. "It’s for you."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I know it’s not for me and you are the only other person who knew about the book. My guess is it’s for you."

My hands are trembling. I want to read it, but I want to read it in private. This is a moment between me and my dad, not Alec.

He must read my face because he clears his throat. "I’m going to do a sweep through the house." He quietly slinks out of the study and disappears behind the door.