RISEN: BURNING FLAME

Part 1 - Chapter 4

Ava POV

It was a dream come true… The place had everything we could need, and think of. My bedroom had a Queen size bed, and two bedstands with lamps. In front of it there was a chest with a TV on top. Close to the window were two chairs with a little table, and an empty bookcase for me to put my favorite books.

It was plain but functional, and I am sure that if we stay here, I am going to make this space my own.

Vicky, a random girl that came like a fairy godmother with food, clothes, and toiletries for us, was very energetic, and funny. She and Arman had a little friendly bickering, and it amazed me how Arman, was very fond of her.

Arman, the tall blonde guy that will steal my dreams, and my thoughts during the day. He is handsome, a little rough around the edges. He has this dangerous Viking vibe, but deep down, the way he treated Vicky and the way has treated me so far, showed me he was just a big softy with the bad-boy looks.

When another girl arrived, I felt a bit jealous about how she hugged him, but when he introduced her as Talia. I sighed, it was his younger sister. Talia also came with things for us, and when he decided to leave us to talk, the place felt empty, even when I was with Roger and the two girls.

It was as if Arman´s presence filled everything around me and made me feel protected. Roger decided to leave me with the girls, when we were under Barry´s roof, there were very few females around… actually, I was the only one who lived there permanently. There were others but they came and went, and usually invited by the guys. I never interacted with them, I just saw how beautiful they were wearing makeup and sexy dresses.

After four years, this is the first time I can have a girl talk. I was a late bloomer and I remember Roger explaining everything to me and helping me through my first period, at the age of 14. So yeah, I am way behind on female companionship, sorority, and friendship.

“So, Ava tell us about yourself…” Talia asked, and I lowered my gaze. I didn´t want to tell my sob story to them, the people who were giving me a second chance in life.

“Long story, short. I am an orphan and Roger is my foster brother. He has been taking care of me in so many ways that I owe him my life. Then we met Barry, and he abused us until the supernatural team helped us…” I said in a very vague way.

“Alright, you don´t need to go into the specifics… after all, we are strangers to you…” Vicky said in a kind voice, clearly filling the blanks in the hardships we had endured.

“So, do you have any questions about us, you know we are supernaturals…” Vicky said and I slowly nodded.

“What kind of supernaturals are you?” I asked.

“The good kind…” Talia laughed and then Vicky continued, “Arman… he is a dragon…” She explained, “My mate, Darius, his brother Stephan, and me, we are demons…Dominic, well he is a rare angel-demon, while his twin sister is a demon angel…” Vicky said,

“What about you, Talia… Aren´t you a dragon?” I asked and she shook her head.

“I am not of age, yet… So I have no idea if I have a dragon like my dad, or if I have my mom´s nature…” She explained, “My mother is an angel…” She finished, and I nodded. It was too complicated to get everything right. But it didn´t escape how Vicky again used the word ´mate´

“That is so cool…” I said, and they shrugged their shoulder, I guess what was something out of this world for me, was their normal way of being for them.

“Well, among our group you will find Lycans, Angels, Demons, Dragons, and some mixed ones like Iris and Dom… there is a griffin and a witch too…” Vicky said, “We don´t hang out with Faes or Mer-People… but some of them are cool…” She finished, and I felt completely overwhelmed by everything. I was talking to species way more powerful and superior than me, and that was frightening. One wrong move would be game over for a human like me.

“Any other question?” Talia asked,

“Well…” I paused, “You have used the word mate several times… is that something like in the human world? Like a friend?...” I asked, feeling a little dumb when both of them chuckled.

“No, it is not a friend…” Vicky said,

“For supernaturals, as you call us, a ´mate´ is our lover, partner, companion… something close to a husband, or soulmate,” Talia said with dreamy eyes.

“When you come of age, you are ready to find your mate…” She explained “In earlier times you could be walking around and scent him or her… but recently the best way to find your mate is The Moon Ball… once every six months, the Lycans ask for their Goddesses´ blessing, and they make a huge event around it. Most people find their better halves there…” She finished…

Moon Ball.. I have heard about it… it was the Ball where a guy chased after me, after growling the word ´mate´.

“Do humans have mates?” I blurted,

“No humans don´t have mates… but they can be mated to a supernatural…” Vicky explained, “Humans don´t feel the mate bond and pull the way a supernatural does. Usually between two supernaturals, things move really fast between them…” She said,

“On rare occasions, they don´t…” She looked at Vicky and she blushed… “That is correct, every couple chooses how to handle their own pace…” Vicky finished.

“Anyways, humans don´t feel the same as us, and when a supernatural is mated to a human, well things are a bit trickier than between supernaturals. The supernatural has to hold its urges, and has to conquer the human traditionally… Of course, the mate bond will help, because the human deep down will feel that connection, would be drawn to him or her and eventually they will end up together…” Vicky said.

“Dominic said I was your brother´s mate…” I mumbled looking at Talia…

Surprisingly, she heard me, “Yeah, and that makes you my new sister…” She hugged me, cheerfully.

“But I… I don´t even know him… He is a stranger to me…” I said, all my feelings going up and down in a rollercoaster kind of way. They were frantic, going up and down. Sure he was hot… hot was an understatement… but I was also, broken… I didn´t deserve something like this… I have never been worth it… So it was exhilaration, happiness, and then sadness invaded me because I knew I didn´t have a chance with him.

“Look, mates are a blessing. Arman has something in him that will complement you perfectly, and I can tell that you are the perfect match for his unruly dragon…” Talia said, and I lowered my gaze, tears filled my eyes, I am far from perfect…

“Ava… I understand this is overwhelming…” Vicky paused, delivering the understatement of the year. This was far beyond overwhelming… I felt like drowning in my own emotions and doubts. “But, you don´t have to decide anything right now… why don´t you give him a shot? I mean get to know him… He is a great guy, and with him, there is never a dull moment… I know for sure, he will go at your own pace…” Vicky said and I could tell that she was very fond of Arman, and that made me feel somewhat at ease… When we met Barry no one vouched out for him, but for Arman, everyone was rooting for him, saying good things about him…

Do I want to see where this goes? Sure, Would I be able to fall in love with someone? Probably, Would I be able to heal to the point where I can be in a committed relationship? Of course, if I put the work into it, Would I be able to love him? I would try, for sure, becuase if what they say is true, he deserves to be reciprocated… the only question here was, Would he be able to love me back, even the broken pieces, the damaged ones? That, well… I would have to find out.

“How about this, you sleep on it, I don´t think you would have to mate and mark him anytime soon…” Vicky said, and I looked at her,

“Mate? Mark?” I asked,

“Yeah, once you accept the bond, you move forward solidifying your bond… Mating well, it is having intimacy with him, and marking… well that is consolidating the bind into an eternal soul bind. You will connect with your partner in a way that he would be able to feel your feelings and you would be able to feel his…It is amazing…” Vicky said and I shivered, just the thought of having that bond with someone seemed terrifying.

“Yeah, I need to sleep on it…” I said, and Vicky gave me a side hug.

“Now that the awkward chat is out of the way…” Talia beamed, “I brought something for you…” She jumped excitedly… and handed me a box.

I opened it up and it was a brand new cellphone… a state-of-the-art phone, one I could only dream of seeing in a commercial on the TV. “I got you a cellphone that works here in Central City… I saved my number and Armans… You can ask for Vicky´s if you want to…” Talia said.

“I can´t accept this…” I said almost stuttering in my words.

“Of course, you can… how in the world will my brother be able to locate you or talk to you at odd hours?” Talia said and I blushed, just thinking about talking to him gave me the jitters.

“Thank you… as soon as I get money, I will pay you back…” I said and Talia waved her hands,

“If that makes you feel comfortable, but money is not an issue here…” She said when Vicky elbowed her ribs…

“Taly, I think she should hear the rest from Arman…” Vicky said and she nodded.

“Anyways, tomorrow there is a gender reveal party… everyone is going to be there…” Talia said, “Dominic´s sister is pregnant, and we are all finding out the baby´s gender…” Talia said, and I hesitated, “You can bring your brother…” She waved her eyebrows, and I slowly nodded…

“Alright, then… Vicky, you will be in charge of their outfits… maybe a little shopping would do them good?” Talia said and Vicky nodded…

“Yeah, that´s for sure…” Vicky said,

“But I don´t want to go shopping… we still don´t know the amount of rent we will have to pay for a place like this… Roger and I saved all of our money, and a place like this is going to drain our account very fast…” I explained while they laughed.

“Sweetie… this place is rent free… this is one of the apartments we use for warrior in rotation…Dom saw it open and booked it for you permanently… Vicky, Dom, and Arman they all live here on the top floor…” Talia said, and I looked at her appalled, the last time I lived with someone rent-free was with Barry and it was way more expensive than paying lots of money for the place we lived in, which by the way, was not as nice as this one.

“I will talk to Roger about all of this…” I said, not knowing what to think about anything anymore. People are just not that nice, right? There has to be some trick here as well.

A knock on the door broke our conversation and I realized that it was past dinner time. Talia opened the door and the smell that came into the apartment made my stomach growl.

“We brought food..” A guy with shoulder-length hair said, Vicky quickly stood up and wrapped herself in his arms… the poor guy barely salvaged the food.

“Ava, this is my mate, Darius…” Vicky said, and I nodded. “And you already know the other two…” She finished and I looked at the door and Arman and Dominic were also there.

“Come in…” I said, “Let me call Roger…” I made my way to my brother's room and I found him sitting on the edge of his bed. His eyes were covered with tears.

“Hey, what´s wrong?” I sat next to him,

“Nothing, Ava… I failed you… and I will always feel like a failure if you don´t get the happiness you deserve…” He said and leaned into my shoulder.

“Well, you are not that… look, whatever happened in the past, will remain in the past… now look the place we are living, we will have jobs, education and we will build our lives away from Barry, away from the Flannigans, and away from everything that hurt us… this is a new start… let´s make the most out of it…” I said and he extended his pinky shoulder…

“Together…” He said wrapping our fingers.

“They brought food, and apparently we have a party tomorrow…” I said and he chuckled.

“You are becoming a social butterfly…” He chuckled and I smacked his head…

“Shut up… let´s go, I am starving and the food they bought smells delicious…” I said and he laughed,

“Always, your Achilles heel… little glutton…” He chuckled making me pout. We entered the living área laughing, this was nice… I felt safe and protected.

Arman looked my way and our eyes locked, and suddenly my heart fluttered… was this the bond they were talking about?

They bought Chinese food, and it was delicious. Dominic was a lot quieter than before, while Arman kept staring at me. The only one carrying a conversation was Vicky´s mate, Darius.

He was a medic, and newly appointed head of the health department, with another guy called Evangel. Darius was a demon, and the other one was an angel. What a combination! They are completely opposites… or so we humans believe, because Darius being a demon, seemed like an angel when placed next to Barry.

We talked and laughed, and somehow all of this felt surreal. Icky said that she had some work to do, but after that, she would take me and Roger out to a shopping center where we could buy whatever we needed… when we tried to protest, Dominic jumped in the middle and handed us two debit cards. “Make yourselves comfortable in this city… Our protection program covers the initial shipping, so you can settle… Use those cards, each has 5K… plenty to get you started…” He said, and my jaw dropped, that is a lot of money!

“Buy something nice for tomorrow, it is a formal party… no need of a suit, because it is just friends and family…” Dominic said, and I nodded, then looked at Roger, and he was giving me a soft smile. Yes, behind all that guilt he felt, he was also relieved that we were in a better place than before.

“You must be tired…” Darius said standing up, holding Vicky´s hand… “We should all go…” He said and Arman´s eyes flashed gold… his deep blue eyes switched and I was mesmerized by it.

“Good night…” Darius and Vicky said, followed by Dom, and Talia… Arman stood at the door looking at me… Somehow something took over me, and I walked towards him, wrapped my hands around his firm waist, and leaned into his chest.

“Thank you for everything…” I mumbled and he tenderly pulled me towards him and kissed my head.

“Nothing to thank me for, sweetie…” he almost growled the words, he kissed my head again and then softly pushed me away from him… “I have to go…” He said, and I nodded.

“See you tomorrow?” I asked, hopeful about what we could become… or maybe needy, because it just felt right to be in his arms.

“I will give you a call, I have some things to do, but I will be picking you and Roger up to go to the party…” He said and I nodded.

I was hoping to see him earlier but beggars can´t be choosers. As soon as he left, again emptiness in my heart was eating me away. Was I that desperat to have someone love me that I am getting really atached to him?

I just hope my heart can endure all of this because I am sure, I won´t be able to survive another Barry.