By the time Kyle and Audrey had exited the theater and were walking back to the apartment, the rain had stopped. Water still dripped from the gutters and rooftops, but the sky was clear of any storm clouds. The stars were out; small, dim in the hazy smog of the city lights. Kyle and Audrey walked side by side, stepping in perfect time with one another. Kyle was laughing, the stress of the day forgotten in the moment with his sister.
"Come on, you have to admit the movie wasn't that good," Kyle teased. Audrey just shrugged, a small smile on her face. True, there was not a lot of plot, and the characters were lacking depth. She didn't care. Hugh was hot! And she knew that her brother had always had a thing for Scarlet.
"It wasn't the best," she conceded. "But then again, how would you know? You fell asleep halfway through the movie," she jabbed, and leaned into her brother. He laughed and pushed her over, laughing harder as she stumbled to regain her balance.
"Graceful,' he applauded, when she wobbled back to her feet."Really graceful." Audrey smiled at him sarcastically and brushed herself off. He was going to pay for that one. She reached out her hand to him, and when he took it, she swiftly pulled him off his feet and into a nearby puddle. He landed with a splash, soaking him through his over coat.
"You did not just do that," he laughed, wiping his muddy hair away from his face. Audrey laughed and skipped away from him as fast as she could. She heard him clamber back to his feet behind her. She laughed and started running half heartedly. "I'm gonna get you!" He called from behind her. She ignored him, turning into a dark alley to escape him. Then she stopped, dead in her tracks.
"You'll have to try harder than that!" he called, turning the corner. He stopped too. In front of them, barely a few feet away, stood a man. His hair was unkempt and dirty, and he was dressed shabbily. That wasn't what had stopped Audrey. It was the hungry look in his eyes, and the fact that his entire right arm, from finger to elbow, was literally in flames. They licked up and down his skin without burning him, seemingly coming out of his flesh. But that was impossible... wasn't it?
"I don't want to hurt you," his voice rasped. He sounded as if he were full of the same smoky flame that covered him, his voice crackling like the fire. "Give me all the money you have on you, and I'll let you walk away."
Audrey just stared at the flames in his hand. She was captivated, and terrified. It was impossible, she knew that, and yet this man was literally on fire. He wasn't normal. The man noticed her gaze, and it was almost as if he heard the thoughts behind it. "You think I'm a freak," he said without expression. "Well, I'm used to that sort of treatment by now. Go ahead, stare." The flame around his hand flared brighter. Audrey stepped back, bumping into her brother. She felt Kyle wrap his arm around her waist and pull her behind his body. The man on fire laughed a choking, malicious laugh.
"Did you hear what I said? Give me all your money!" his voice rose in volume. He was angry; Audrey could see it in the way the flames turned brighter, growing hotter.
"Look, we don't want any trouble. You don't want to-" Kyle started to reason with the man, his voice calm and reassuring, but Audrey could hear the urgency and fear behind his tone. The man obviously heard it to.
"Don't want to! Of course I don't want to! I didn't want this! I didn't want to be the freak on fire!" the man screamed. "But I don't have a choice anymore, do I?" With that he hurled a handful of fire toward Kyle.
"No!" Audrey shouted. Ripping herself out of Kyle's grasp, she pushed him over slightly as she dove in front of the flame that was intended for him. In hit her, directly below her left shoulder. She fell to the ground, pain searing through her with the burning of the fire. The man sneered, and his hand caught flame again. He raised his palm, and this time shot the fire in a steady stream towards Kyle.
The flames never reached Kyle, however. Audrey felt the heat as they passed over her, but inches away from Kyle, they suddenly fizzled out and disappeared. Kyle looked shocked, but behind it was a look of intense concentration. The man looked shocked too. He fired handful after handful of flames towards Kyle. Each time, the flames appeared to rebound off of some invisible force field and disappeared without a trace.
"How the hell-" the man on fire was incredulous. Slowly, a look of comprehension dawned on his face. "You're like me," he said in wonder as he stared at Kyle.
On the ground, Audrey felt her pain subsiding. The wound was still there, she could see it, but there was no feeling. No pain. The burning sensation was gone. Well, not gone, exactly. It was if she had absorbed the fire, like it had soaked its way in to her body and was no pulsing through her blood stream. She felt hot, a hotness running through her core and into her palm. She also felt power. She lifted her left hand, aiming her palm towards the man. As she concentrated on the heat within her, her palm suddenly burst with the same flames that the man had been throwing before.
Kyle and the man on fire stared, incredulous, as Audrey rose slowly to her feet. Her hand still burned with the man's fire. "Go away," she said, her voice quiet and threatening. "Leave my brother and me alone." The man looked frightened. He nodded, and turned quickly to scramble away from the scene. As he neared the end of the alleyway, he stopped and turned back to them.
"I thought I was the only one."
With that he turned and ran off into the night. Audrey looked back to her brother, and the flames in her hand faded and went out. Kyle stared at her, and she stared back, full of fear, and curiosity. "What the hell was that?" she wondered out loud. Kyle just shook his head. He reached out for her, but she noticed his hesitation. He was frightened, she knew that, but of her? Or of the situation they were in? His hesitation didn't last though, and he touched her burn gingerly. Now that the fire was gone, she felt the pain returning.
"Ow!" she said with surprise. Kyle nodded solemnly.
"Let's get home, clean you up." Audrey nodded, and with Kyle supporting her, they walked off towards the apartment. In the alley behind them, the last sparks of the man's fire died out.
