Daughter of fire

The escape

I feel a tingling in my hand while I try to calm down. The fire inside me is restless. I waited for my entire life for the moment when I could leave this place and see the world outside. And yet now that it is so close, I cannot help but think of all the things that might go wrong or what disaster I may cause if I could no longer use my powers exactly when I need them the most or even the possibility that the end of the world might come as soon as we may escape. I may go a little too far with worrying, but I can't help it.

The power was shut down a few minutes ago, which was a sign that Gabi had managed to free up that A-type subject and now heads together to the meeting point. Even if the plan is already in progress, all I can do is wait for Miri to come and get me out of here.

I started to walk around the room, not being able to relax for a second. I try to look at the place where I spent almost all my life one last time, but there is nothing to look at. All the pieces of furniture are ashes now, further proof of my burning anxiety. I was not able to sleep all night, and a feeling of fatigue begins to take over me. Now I am really starting to regret that I set the bed on fire.

The sound of the rotating lock makes my heart stop for a second. That must be Miri who finally had the courtesy to come and get me out of here. I run to the door and wait frozen in place for it to open.

"What the hell!"

In her place, The tall Brother with the scar on his face stands before me. Something went wrong. Something went horribly wrong. I'm trying to act surprised, but I don't think it's coming out as I intend. But there is no time to think about it because I hear him screaming at me while grabbing my arm.

"Come on! I do not have much time to explain. I'm with Miri and Gabi, I have to take you to the meeting point." 

I have no time for that now. I have no time for contradictory arguments in my head to make up my mind. I have no time to decide whether to trust him or not. I have no time and period.

I run past him and try to find my way to the meeting place and lose The Brother on the way when I run directly into someone's rock solid chest while a pair of familiar arms roll around me. Daniel is as surprised as I am when we look at each other. Behind him, there are Liana and Miri.

"How did you get out?" Asks Miri, clearly starting to panic.

"Didn't you send someone?" I knew that something wasn't right about that Brother.

"Who? What?" Miri is in full panic mode at this moment and I don't think I am too far behind either.

"Oh, goddam! I knew something was off."

Before she or I have the chance to say another word, we see The Brother running towards us. For a second he seems surprised to see the others here too, but he recovers quickly enough and takes out an electroshock device from its pocket. This couldn't go any better... No, wait, the end of the world might still come.

Like the serial killers in horror movies, he slowly approaches us with his face screwed up in a crazy smile.

"You have burned yourself with this little escape game!"

"Very bad choice of words…"

In situations like these, you have two options: To be the victim or to be the criminal. If I would have been alone, perhaps, my conscience would have made me accept my fate with tears of helplessness in my eyes, but I am not alone and I will not allow the psycho to approach Daniel and Liana an extra inch not even over my dead body.  

I can't describe what happens in the next few seconds, it's too fast for my mind to process the information. The whole scene, in my head, seems to be composed of distinct images, like a photo album, forever graved in my mind. The Brother rushes like a wild animal to its prey, Daniel tried to throw himself between us, Liana and Miri screaming, and I, I explode. I burst out like a volcano that had been under pressure for too long. I erupt for all the moments I didn't. Now it's The Brother's turn to scream, while he and the vast majority of the corridor are burning.

Heat is so high that the iron from which the walls are made starts to soften and flow slowly. It looks like Hell in front of me. While the desperate screams of The Brother are the materialization of absolute agony, I stand in the midst of my obedient flames and smile. I smile like a devil who savors the macabre dance of terror he himself created. I smile like The Mother and The Father when the damn poisonous liquid was flooding my veins. 

And that makes me want to vomit, disgusted of what I had become.

In the end, everything turns into ashes. Liana and Daniel seem too shocked to draft another gesture, but Miri is looking delighted at my masterpiece. Her eyes are full of hope that this power, however demonic and fatal, will take her out of this place. A hell for a hell.

"I think we need to change your classification. That definitely was not B-type."

That's what makes me get out of the trance I let myself fall into. We have no time to lose.

"Does it matter any more? Run!" I say.

I turn around and grab the still shocked Daniel and Liana, practically dragging them after me. Miri follows us closely. I wonder if they heard the last words of The Brother. I wonder if I heard them or was just a hallucination lost between the flames.

Back then I was too caught in that macabre dance of fire to pay attention to him. But now? I don't understand anything. The world outside is a safe place, isn't it? A place filled with happiness and chocolate. No, this can't be wrong. The world is not that cruel, is it? The Brother tried to confuse me. That's what must be it.

I must focus now. I'm sure I should be smart and ignore those words, but something inside me keeps repeating them again and again and… 

"We tried to save you from that dying world outside. They will use you! They will be the death of you"