Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership over the ideas of others incorporated into this fic. It all belongs to it's rightful owners.
introductions
Panic is the first emotion to hit her when she wakes up to an unfamiliar ceiling.
Panic, and then fear.
That fear has her stumbling off the bed in a hurry and almost tripping onto the floor before everything comes flooding back to her in a second; she's safe.
Relief hits her then.
But it's only a brief respite before a crushing guilt weighs down her shoulders, forcing her onto the floor in a hunched position, head buried in hands, knees pulled up to chest. The memory of what she'd done to that man is at the forefront of her thoughts.
She doesn't even know if he could have survived.
She might have killed him, another body to add to her count of the last few months, and she hadn't been able do anything about any of them.
She hadn't wanted to hurt anyone. People she'd felt threatened by have fallen victims to these flames since that moment months ago when her whole world shattered in a sea of fire and ashes. She's figured that it must be some sort of fight or flight response her body has.
But it hadn't always been that way. As a kid, she'd been bullied by her classmates and friends had been hard to come by so she was no stranger to threats, but she'd never responded so violently.
She knows that he is the cause of her newfound reflex to any feelings of danger, or fear.
There's no other explanation. It was the beginning of it all. Suddenly, the memory of what happened months ago, and all the incidents since then, start cycling through her mind without any conscious thought.
Flashes of scenes, of flames, that she tries to block out bombard her mind and she's left defenseless against the onslaught of memories.
Her breaths start to quicken, and she feels the beginnings of a panic attack coming on, tingles shooting up her fingers in response, spreading throughout her palms as the panicked fear escalates, and she squeezes both her hands and eyes in a fight for control.
She doesn't want to have another outburst.
She can't have another outburst.
Not now.
Please, not now.
"Little one?"
The concerned voice breaks through the images running through her mind, like a wave crashing onto the sand, sudden, and she looks up towards the door startled.
Irina, her mind provides. Irina, who had seen what she'd done and hadn't crucified her for it, who had instead shown her she wasn't alone in this world. Irina, who had asked her family to welcome her into their home, who had offered to help her learn to control the flames.
Irina, who has given her hope.
She uses that knowledge of the woman to center her to the present forcing the memories back to the recess of her mind, rebuilding the compartments that held them at bay and allowed her to keep going.
Her fists uncurl as the panic resides, and her body soon follows.
"Y-yes?" She calls out, only noticing then that her body had been shaking as her voice stutters, and the tremors start to lessen.
"Breakfast has been made, come down whenever you're ready."
"Okay, I'll uh, I'll be down soon."
There's a moment of silence that stretches on for only a beat before Irina responds, "Alright, little one."
And then she's left to pull herself together into a semblance of calm once more. Getting up, she heads to the bathroom attached to the room she slept in and splashes water onto her face from the sink.
She watches droplets run down her face as she stares at her reflection.
It occurs to her then that she hadn't given Irina her own name.
.:.
Irina makes her way towards the kitchen where Tanya is just finishing up making the breakfast food they'd bought for their new guest.
"So?" Kate inquires from her position on the stool besides where the little one is to sit as Irina walks in.
"She seems fine for now, but that had to be some sort of breakdown she was having. Humans do not take in breaths that quickly, and their hearts should definitely not be thumping that fast."
"What do you think happened?"
"We can only guess that the events of the past day must have hit her all at once to have such a reaction. It seems she recovered rapidly however, so maybe it was some sort of confusion," Tanya speaks up.
Shaking her head at her own confusion about the girl's sudden reactions that had her speeding upstairs to check on her, Irina makes her way toward the other side of the kitchen counter besides the human's reserved seat.
Sometimes, Irina wishes her ability was to read others instead of blocking them out, but it's just a fleeting feeling of frustration at the lack of knowledge about others.
She's not really sure about anything involving the human girl she's brought to their home.
Well, she's not sure about anything but the fact that they have to help her.
She just hopes that they can.
.:.
Once early morning hit and the groceries had opened, Tanya had volunteered to go out and buy some food since they'll now have a human to feed. Not to mention, it would seem weird to the girl if there's not much in the way of food when she's still under the impression that they're still human themselves.
Tanya's watched enough cooking shows to know how to make a simple egg, bacon and pancake breakfast, so she's also volunteered to cook the food with the help of detailed instructions in the form of steps.
She actually finds the motions of doing so calming, but she could do without the smell.
Kate had grumbled about the scent of human food for a bit before a stern look from Tanya had quieted her. Irina herself didn't care much for it either way, though it's not really all that bad in her opinion, it just takes some getting used to.
Besides, both other sisters know Kate just likes to complain about things, it's one of her many favorite pastimes.
The sound of light footsteps descending the staircase causes all three sisters to turn their heads in that direction as the girl comes into view, wearing the clothes she'd been given yesterday by Irina.
Kate's clothes.
She makes her way towards them somewhat shyly, and Kate waits only until the little one is close enough to hear her to say, "You could have asked for my permission, you know," and pointedly looks at the clothing the girl's wearing, a teasing lilt to her voice that seems to go over the human's head entirely.
"Oh! I-I'm sorry, I didn't know - "
She's cut off by Irina, who has walked to stand besides her, placing a comforting hand on the small of her back and gently urging her towards the seat Tanya had just placed a plate of food in front of, "Ignore her comment, she has a unique sense of humor that seems to thrive off making others uncomfortable."
It's another one of those pastimes of hers.
"You haven't even introduced me yet and you're already speaking badly of me," Kate 'tsks' as she narrows golden eyes at her sister before turning a softer gaze to the human, "I'm Kate by the way, the superior sister." Her words are accompanied by a slight raise of the chin and a straightened posture before a smack to the back of her head has her hunching while rubbing said spot in soothing circles, "Hey! That was uncalled for."
Tanya ignores her and addresses their human guest, "Speaking of introductions, I don't believe I caught your name yesterday, dear."
The question brings a blush to the girl's cheeks as she answers, "It's Isabella."
The rush of blood only brings a slight darkening to each of the sister's eyes, undetectable to the human eye, before they shake off the slight burn in their throats and continue on with the conversation.
"It's nice to meet you then, Isabella," Kate says, holding her hand out in invitation, looking forward to the handshake.
Bella goes to clasp the hand offered to her but is once again cut off by Irina, who is shooting her own glare at the other blonde, "Why don't you go ahead and eat, little one, I want to talk to you afterwards."
Kate retracts her hand in irritation at her spoiled fun, while a slightly confused Bella just turns to the plate of food and does as told.
Tanya shakes her head in the background in mock disapproval.
.:.
She's not sure exactly what happened but the past moment's weirdness quickly leaves her mind at the first taste of breakfast.
A moan escapes her mouth at how good a home cooked meal tastes, and with a sight blush she looks up at the sisters to see them all with identical smirks on their faces. It only causes her to blush more.
She can see the resemblance in all three of them, the same similarities Irina and Tanya share evident in Kate as well. But there's also marked differences between them all, enough that if it weren't for those similarities one would not believe them to be sisters.
Kate looks like she might be taller than the other two, and her hair is both completely straight and a pale blonde in comparison to her sisters. And though the kindness shines in her eyes as well, there's also a spark of mischief that has her feeling both curious and frightened of what's going on in that mind of hers.
She hopes she doesn't find out any time soon, it's sure to be at her discomfort.
Looking up towards the sister she knows most, her eyebrows furrow when faced with Irina's questioning eyes. She realizes as the blonde's eyebrow quirks up that she'd been staring at them all for a bit too long and she quickly turns back to her food.
As she clears the eggs off the plate and moves on to the pancakes, she wonders if her face will be permanently tinted red in their presence.
And then she thinks of how she wouldn't mind it much if it meant staying here.
Throughout it all, she never questions their lack of eating.